Keehn Photography

keeping Austin weird

2012-01-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Sights from my months spent living and working in Austin with my aunt Nancy and uncle Bill above Lake Travis. This was my first sight as I walked in the door:

And five minutes later, I found the scorpion was captured by its prey - a little house spider!

Dia De Los Muertos. My abuela Kay Keehn, who learned and loved unceasingly.

Don Dickson, 63, sifts through the remains of his home of 19 years on Canyon Road in Steiner Ranch, where a fire broke out five days earlier and destroyed more than 20 homes. "We start building new memories today," he said. Texas has endured the worst drought in history, with over $250 million in damages amid the Bastrop wildfires that displaced thousands.

Eric Odom, 17, and Nina Gomez, 16, talk and eat under the Banister Ln. bridge as an Amtrak train rumbles overhead Saturday in Austin. "We just had the munchies so we came down here," said Odom. He said they spend several hours together under the bridge every week.

How to start the morning, with fresh grapefruit juice.

Covering the UT Ballroom Dance club

I worked in the bakery at HEB and eventually the night-shift of donut frying and baking! I would make my own pizzas to get me through the night.

Beautiful way to end shift, 6 a.m.

Jason Salas, husband to my bakery buddy Malinda and former executive chef of Green Pastures, prepares spaghetti in the humble kitchen of their apartment in South Austin. "Being a chef consumed all of my time," said Jason, who literally began "at the bottom" cutting vegetables in the basement at The Driskill hotel for six months, before eventually cooking for Bobby Flay, who offered him a job. "I turned him down, because I met Malinda," he said. Jason is looking for another day job while remaining faithful to his craft and "true love, a family."

Of all countries to choose from, my palate stayed at home with this delicious burger.

onething 2011

2012-01-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

I joined the College Station House of Prayer crew on a trip to Kansas City for the annual onething conference hosted by International House of Prayer. This year was titled "Jesus: Our Magnificent Obsession," and that He is! With a healed mind, the hope of my calling and joyful freedom, it's truly going to be a new life in His glory. Click the photo to view an audio slideshow:

Thanksgiving 2011: New Traditions

2011-12-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is gaining new traditions with a growing family. The Keehns (my mother's side) celebrated an exciting family trivia game that will include "new blood" next year. ;-)

This year's holiday brought back many memories of gathering at my grandmother Kay Keehn's home in Seguin. The four daughters have ensured the history and value for tradition lives on with the grandkids, and we will furnish new but familiar traditions for our children.

Click the photo to view a slideshow:

Kathryn Fox, 7, swings in the hammock at my sister's home in Bryan, near College Station.

Russo's Spot

2011-11-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

First shots with my new 28mm f2.8. About to hit the spot.

Robert Russo unloads wood for his concrete company Sunday. He built the covered skate spot with his son, Ben, about five years ago. A skater in the 80s, Russo has since hung up the boards.

Ben built a skateboard press and sells boards for $7.

"Chicken," as she is named, is the lone survivor of nine chickens that produced eggs for the Russos, until a wildcat raided the coop last year.

Thrashed my board.

times beneath the train tracks

2011-10-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

On my way to skate an unexplored ditch, I found this couple sharing a moment as the train roared overhead.

Eric Odom, 17, and Nina Gomez, 16, talk and eat under the Banister Ln. bridge as an

Amtrak train rumbles overhead Saturday in Austin. "We just had the munchies so we came down here," said Odom. He said they spend several hours together under the bridge every week.

Skateboard Wonderland

2011-09-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

A skater in my neighborhood built this wonderland two minutes from my house. I was in awe. When nobody answered the door, I couldn't help myself from skating the strange and magical place. Then some other boarders showed up and I felt relieved that "anyone can skate."

Click the picture for a slideshow.

For Melissa and Cory Smith

2011-09-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before taking engagement photos for Melissa and Cory Smith around the South Congress Bridge in Austin, I honestly didn't feel happy. I don't want to be solely a wedding photographer or portrait photographer, but I needed to get out and see that it's all about making good pictures for people. They are a couple of high school sweethearts from 5,000-population La Grange, Texas.

Click the photo for a slideshow of favorites.

Steiner Ranch Wildfire

2011-09-09T12:59:00.001-07:00

Don Dickson, 63, sifts through the remains of his home of 19 years Thursday on Canyon Road, five days after a fire broke out in the Steiner Ranch area of Austin. Click the photo for a slideshow.

The Dock

2011-09-01T11:11:00.001-07:00

Click photo for a slideshow!

Entering the cabin area, I found my cousin Carl Langner sleeping. It was his 28th birthday the day before.

Bill's Bus Yard

2011-08-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

Click for a slideshow and description:

Special Olympics

2011-08-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

It was a sigh of relief to be out shooting sports. I came to watch and snap some shots of my friend Eric Mullins, an all-sports athlete and spokesperson for the The Special Olympics, compete in a softball tournament at Koger Stokes Complex, across from SAC.

Erich bats.

Special Olympics photog John Bost

Limo Joe

2011-08-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

"Limo" Joe has lived behind Home Depot for over six years. He got the nickname Limo because he once ran a limo service, along with two other businesses, before money "became God."

"I went crazy and gave all the money to my kids," he says. Limo's daughter serving in the marines will send him clothes and food, but he refuses money he doesn't ask.

Since then, Limo says he's found everything he needed in life by losing it. He has almost died three times on the streets, but surviving physically is the only hard part for him. Giving up his idol of money allowed Limo to find the joy and peace of Christ and his Spirit, and a humility that only comes with a reverent fear of God.

I was blessed to deliver food to him and other homeless on the Northside as a part of the Bread and Water ministry at Northwest Community Church.

They wonder about "the girls" who come down from Austin on weekends to walk the streets to make money, using it to buy makeup at the Walgreens nearby. They complain about the system, those in leadership who cannot offer any solutions. "Give us bags and pay us to clean up the streets," Limo once asked a judge in vain.

Proverbs 22 is one of his favorite passages from The Bible.

Another Old Room

2011-08-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

A brief poem is necessary for this room where I've grown ten years. The next dwelling awaits in Austin! Next week, I begin staying with my aunt and uncle above Lake Travis, where I'll freelance and save money until, hopefully, UT calls my name.

Ready to leave this room;

return upon new seasons:

Remember what has changed;

realize what never could.

Searching through a prism,

seeing the light and shadow of life;

sensing absence and presence.

Soul stirring in a cold wind.

Tomorrow's room isn't as reminding,

the rent in a new town or city,

teaching you more about living.

Tell me again because I'm tired of unwinding.

The Roswell Ranch

2011-07-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's dry in Texas. Really dry. But that didn't stop my mom, Jan, cousin Roger and Tia Nancy from making a day-trip out to our cousins' 15,000 acre hunting ranch in Eagle Pass, Texas, where good times with greatly missed family awaited us. Click pic below to view a slideshow!

Wedding!

2011-07-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

I could not be more happy for my sister Lisa Cleveland and the love of her life, Michael Niswander. They met at His Hill Ranch Camp (Comfort, TX) in 2007, and their relationship grew as counselors there. Below, they began to skip and smile in a new life together. Click to see a slideshow! A note on the pics: black & white shots are included in addition to color as personal preference.

Click for rehearsal pics:

And the wedding:

Lisa - UNT Music Graduate

2011-05-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

It was a special moment watching my sister walk across the stage. Click pic below for a slideshow!

Sights

2011-05-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

The original office (now abandoned) of the Southwest Workers' Union on the Eastside, where Megan and I took a tour recently. Click the photo to view a slideshow of recent sights.

Blue Baker Cookies for Kids Contest

2011-04-30T19:04:00.001-07:00

Click pic below for a slideshow!

Moving Day

2011-03-27T12:08:00.001-07:00

It was a long day of moving, sweating and painting with Megan and her family as they begin another chapter in life, together. Megan lived with her mom, Elaine, Nichole (sister) and Richard Chamberlain for over a year before her grandparents moved into a new home with Elaine (another tiring weekend however fun). The town-home sits among a cluster of similar structures on a random and lonely back street off Mainland Road. It's a narrow, intimate space that - thanks to a northern wall of windows - floods with ambient light that will (hopefully) lessen the electric bill. The backyard deck hangs over a long yard full of oak trees, with a lone cedar as a foreigner to the native oak forest in south Texas before cedar were brought from Eurasia and planted in 1900, sapping water from the natural ecosystem. My favorite element of the house is a small triangular window near the ceiling, a cut-out showing the trees, sky and stars, like a picture frame.

Click photo below to view a slideshow:

Lisa and Mike, Engaged!

2011-03-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

I love these two. It's impossible not to laugh when they are with you, together. My sister Lisa was engaged to Mike Niswander Jan. 25th.

Click photo below to view a slideshow:

Trunk Organizer

2011-03-19T13:16:00.001-07:00

I spent about $25 to build an organizer for the trunk of my 2006 Honda Civic EX. Check the specs...

The Trunk Organizer. Features include skateboard racks for two boards, top shelf and changeable dividers. All components can be removed or manipulated slots and Velcro attachments.

The grain of black-stained cedar, the most lightweight wood. The top shelf provides an additional nine inches of storage space above the trunk floor (eleven inches).

The organizer weighs only 20 pounds without the skateboards.

Velcro dividers allow manipulation with ease.

Rear complete with cooler for food and drinks. It is the main storage area, providing the full 19 inches of trunk height. Seat drop-down lock (only accessible from inside trunk) are rigged to allow interior access but can be switched back with precious cargo.

Upgrade!

The Beatles, brains and bambinos

2011-03-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Richard Turner, owner of Redbone Guitar Boutique, 4343 McCullough Ave., through a portrait of Paul McCartney in “The Beatles Cave,” a section named for a club the group performed in in their early days featuring memorabilia. From 9 a.m.-noon Sundays, Turner hosts “The Best of The Beatles With Richard Turner,” the longest-running show on ...KSYM 90.1 FM. He started the show in 1986 while attending RTF classes. Read more: http://www.theranger.org/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-beatles-fan-1.2506796

Pictures from a competition where six teams of faculty and students answered trivia questions for the title of "The Big Brain on Campus."

Trophies display a cartoon.

Martha Buchanan, student success professional in arts and sciences, waves a child's chair as she enters the stage Thursday, as part of team Mugwumps in Big Brain on Campus in McAllister Auditorium. Her team finished second of six teams.

Jeff Hunt, chair of theater and speech communictations, asks trivia questions.

English Professor Patricia Portales crosses out Sesos Pequenos from the score board after they were eliminated.

Economics Coordinator Bruce Norton watches the final moments of the competition with political science Chair Paul Wilson. Norton's team Entourage won the competition last fall.

Team Know-Nothings team members Tim Rockey, dean of continuing education and workforce development; John Visintainer, philosophy chair; Vernell Walker, dean of professional and technical education; Dr. Conrad Krueger, dean of arts and sciences, pose for a photo after winning the competition. Behind them, Nick Benedetto, administrative secretary for professional and technical education, lowers his head after his team, the Mugwumps, finished second two competitions in a row.

Bambinos at the rodeo!

Corey Verstraeten, 10, laughs as his friends, Tanner Bowman, 8, Sarah Haby, 11 and Tillman Haby, 11, play with the "Footsie Wootsie" foot massage chairs Feb. 8 at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo on the grounds of the AT&T Center. "We were given $5 and we turned it all into quarters," said Sarah, who, along with her cousins, is missing school to enter pigs for competition at the rodeo from Atascosa, Texas, southwest of San Antonio in Bexar County.

Bobby Salinas Jr., 9, holds his $60 rubber band gun Feb. 8, while listening to advice from Stephen Morris, who has hand-made the guns for more than 35 years at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. "He's earned it," said his dad, Bobby Salinas Sr., adding that his son wakes up at 6:30 a.m. everyday to help raise hogs for rodeo competition at their ranch in Mullin, Texas, 300 miles north of San Antonio.

Given Chance

2011-03-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

My life has been a blessing of many blessings. I don't believe in chance, only the opportunities God gives us to make the most with until the next one (every moment!).

The essay below was submitted, with one edit, in my transfer application to the University of Texas at Austin, the only school I applied. The university is the only real choice for me, as no other school in Texas offers a communications degree in visual journalism. I just hope they choose me.

Given Chance

Hands cuffed, swelled in pain under the weight of my mistakes. Eyes exhausted, fought tears of regret but could not hold back my joy, finally realized. After abusing drugs to the point of feeling nothing, the life I lost for years was given back with a flash of light in the mirror, a confession of what kept me from pulling over sooner from the cycle I was caught in. I was given a second chance at life; a "blessing in disguise." There was a time I didn't believe in God, and a lot changed before then to bring me to where I am now –– forever grateful.

What I naively deemed "just a phase" of using drugs, didn't end until the night I pulled out of a parking lot without my car headlights turned on. During the years before I turned 17, what began as pure exercise turned into pure experimentation that trapped me. Skateboarding has always been a form of self-expression for me, yet the gravitational force between my body and the ground moving beneath me also led to following friends down ditches to a place that, in our fragile adolescence, we unknowingly depended on for each other.

Every moment in my life has felt somewhat like a dream since then, moving so fast as if all the choices have been unconsciously made for me. Getting arrested was the catalyst in a series of events that changed the course of my life indefinitely. My parents mercifully bought detox necessary so I could work as a drummer in "The Jammin' Janitors" at Sea World. This "dream job," that was my first, ended bitter-sweetly when the show was cut, leaving me to apply as a photographer that next summer. Observing guests treasure their photos influenced me to study the craft for my senior mentorship project. I wouldn’t have received a head start in my career of choice if the one in 135 lottery balls hadn’t rolled out so I could attend Communications Arts High School. In a similar fate-like fashion that preceded every event until then, my teacher chose for me to study photojournalism, my practice of three years at San Antonio College that is now my passion and lifestyle.

I am convinced I’ll never have to "work" a day in my life. I've always loved my jobs, and always will if I'm helping people. I owe everything to my parents, and everyone that ever helped them. No matter how hard I work to achieve my goals, I know it's because they instilled character and belief in me from the beginning. My father is a home health nurse, his compassion and strong work ethic lending to my own. Two older sisters shared their gentleness, my privilege of a humble heart.There were many others, too, that offered everything they could along the way. Dusty vinyl records of The Alamo City Jazz Band and artistic photographs, objects of a life's musical talents and creative eye that I have experienced in my own, were passed down from my mom's dad, who I never had the chance to meet after a drunk driver took his life during her pregnancy. Surely, I would not be alive if my mom, the most resilient person I know, did not survive her own birth after a rare abdominal surgery that doctors told reporters the fourth morning, "was hopeless. God had a hand in its success."

It was in that moment of reflection in the backseat police car window, of finally seeing myself for who I really am, that reminded me of who I never wanted to be. Every event that followed has reinforced my belief that while changes in life occur unexpectedly, it's up to me to make the most of my future by embracing the significance of every person, place and opportunity that came before. My life as a photojournalist is just beginning. Looking back at where I came from keeps me focused on each new day, when I can be so much more.

The Wat Dhammabucha

2011-02-25T09:25:00.001-08:00

Down a narrow road that winds behind suburban San Antonio, past old houses and the last remains of land once called "the boondocks," lay one of San Antonio's more hidden gems of cultural diversity: the Wat Dhammabucha Buddhist mission. The bright-red and golden sign hangs amidst a hill-country style neighborhood of mostly Thai immigrants, a hill-top view of the Leon Valley water tower as traffic moves along Bandera Road.

I had only a faint idea of golden Buddha statues and ornate temples that could form a backdrop to my portrait-feature assignment of a student who chose life as a monk over a career in music after coming to the United States from Thailand in 2004.

Accounting sophomore Surasit Mankongsakulkit sits in the temple Sunday before a statue of Buddha, who isn't worshiped but simply followed for his philosophy of attaining self-enlightenment.

A Buddhist monk enters the meal hall Sunday at the Wat Dhammabucha Buddhist mission. Shoes are removed before entering buildings as a Buddhist practice of “keeping what is unclean outside,” Mankongsakulkit said.

Wan Wallace prays Sunday in the meal hall before the monks begin eating. The mission began more than 20 years ago based on Theravada Buddhism, strongest in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. Theravada means “the doctrine of the elders” and emphasizes attaining self-liberation through meditation and concentration.

Mankongsakulkit passes food down the line Sunday in the meal hall. Buddhist practice holds that the monks eat only one meal daily, which is provided by local restaurants and other Buddhists.

Mankongsakulkit talks with fellow monk, Phra Pong. “We work a few hours a day,” he said, noting that 10 monks help keep up the 15-acre mission grounds.

Mankongsakulkit talks with Elby Flinn Sunday with his dog, Sassy. "You guys have been great to the neighborhood," Flinn said of the Buddhists. For over 20 years, the mission has strived to protect the wildlife and natural landscape amidst an increasingly urban San Antonio.

Surasit Mankongsakulkit uses a leaf blower near the temple while working Sunday. Mankongsakulkit wakes up at 6 a.m. to chant with the other monks before his 9 a.m. class here.

Architecture, Society and Culture

2011-02-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

I watch trees sway through a tiny window as a warm breeze throws itself against the buildings, structures of concrete walls and cold steel that leave much to be desired by the senses. We are slaves to the architecture that should be serving us. Yet we have a choice; the cultural decisions we make can also have a functional purpose in society and our architecture.

Here are a few shots I took while covering a presentation by my architecture professor's Design 4 students on a theory in architecture that is being enforced, thankfully, by the professionals of our age: space surrounding a structure or object- the available resources of the natural landscape, the cultural purpose of those creating it - is what influences creation of the object. This theory contrasts with the centuries-old, hierarchical practice of a city created by powerful figures and institutions that deplete the surrounding environment.

The "illuminated creations" shaped by the student represent the cavity-minded view that instead of experiencing just the thing, the object itself - a common mindset of Western culture and architecture - structures are formed by the space surrounding it, a bottom-up process of influence, history and correlation.

Don't we just want to break the windows and let the breeze flow through?

Professor Dwayne Bohuslav gives feedback to his Design 4 students while they model "illuminated wearable creations" Feb. 15. Bohuslav received $1,000 from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects and lighting from Del Lighting to fund the project. Four teams will compete with their costumes at the private AIA San Antonio Beaux Arts Ball Feb. 26 at the Grand Hyatt, followed by an exhibition at AIA's Pearl Studio, 200 E. Grayson, and at Luminaria downtown March 12.

Architecture sophomore Judith Fernandez models her costume Feb. 15 while team members Marcela Resendez and James Stopher watch. The design represents themes of stereometry, the process of determining the volume and dimensions of a solid, or the kind of space we live in.

Lucas Cornelius, Ivonne Perea, Oscar Rincon, and Judith Fernandez.

Asian Festival

2011-02-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Seeing, tasting and hearing new things today at the Asian festival at the Institute of Texan Cultures renewed my life-long passion to one day travel the world, to feel and share the most that I can, anywhere. Click the photo to view a slideshow!

The Tinikling, a famous dance of the Philippines where jumping between bamboo rods gets harder and even more fun to watch.

Creation's Wonders

2011-01-20T12:51:00.001-08:00

Seed falls in the wind

The first winter solstice, full lunar eclipse - in 375 years!

Caterpillars and Moths

2011-01-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful variety of caterpillars I've seen squirming around San Antonio College...

Now, apparently, this is the North American Puss Caterpillar, one of the most poisonous on the continent, that turns into this:

From the Family

2011-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Some moments with family in 2010:

Dad gearing up to battle the yard, haha.

Sink repair!

Mike and Lisa after running the Rock and Roll Marathon.

Waffles in the morning.

My mom and tia Nancy visit St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Seguin, where they grew up.

Cousin Roger, Eagle Scout and Austin's Westlake High School '11 graduate.

Foster's tongue sticks out.

Farmers Market Finds

2011-01-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

While sifting through photos taken last year, I found these beauts from a visit to the Pearl farmers market...

Oyster mushrooms.

Mini bell peppers.

"It's Possible"

2011-01-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

While taking a slow exposure during the 24th Martin Luther King Jr. March, two friends walked into the frame and hugged...

Tamala Price hugs longtime friend John Keno Monday at Badger Street and Martin Luther King Drive during the march. Price said she abused crack cocaine for 16 years on that corner, where she lived in a vacant home there until being evicted ten years ago. "The people look at me like they saw a ghost," she said, describing how she "finally broke down and prayed to God one night" and recovered after spending only three months in a rehabilitation center, became a nurse and eventually built her own home. "It's possible," she said. "It really is possible."

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Copper and other chemicals burn green, blue and violet flames in the evening fire. Click to view a slideshow.

Pops hugs a tree while shopping at the farm:

A few photos of my nephew Ethan Erich Wimberly, born Nov. 19, and 2-year-old niece Eva Kay Wimberly with family:

Rain finally falls while at The Cove, a lovely organic-eats restaurant near SAC.

Click the photo to view a slideshow of Christmas morning and evening on the river downtown!

"Mine" became Eva's favorite words this holiday season :-P

Mom pouring Tang into the orange spice tea mix.

Fall 2010 Portfolio

2010-12-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

Art freshman Elisa Rodriguez sleeps among the fiction Dec. 12. "I was just tired today, so I looked for somewhere to sleep," she said. Click the photo to view a slideshow of the semester's best.

Featured audio slideshow:

Featured Video:

Virus: A Haunted House at San Antonio College from Journalism Program on Vimeo.

Lanier, Fox Tech Chili Bowl Gala

2010-11-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

On any given year this time, thousands of fans would gather at Alamo Stadium to witness what nobody would then call "history in the making," but now exists as only a memory for so many since 1942: the Chili Bowl.

Fox Tech high school has begun its transformation into a magnet school for the West Side, going from hundreds of graduates to only one hundred, meaning too few students for a football team.

Graduates of Lanier high school and longtime football rivals Fox Tech gathered Saturday to "keep the tradition alive" at the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum:

"How have they changed?"

People dance, laugh and drink.

A graduate shares wise words of many years with youthful Major Julian Castro.

Lunch with the Los

2010-10-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

A few shots from an unforgettable afternoon lunch spent with my photo Professor Dr. Lo and classmates at his house

Courtesy of Dr. Lo
So many delicious dishes.

A Year of Love

2010-10-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

Megan and I celebrated one year Oct. 4, downtown at the SA Museum and riverwalk reach. Click the photo for a slideshow!

Portraiture

2010-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Some recent shots taken for portraiture class at school:

food pantry closes to the public

2010-10-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

Joseph Sky Martin carries a bag of grapes Wednesday while leaving the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry in the basement of the Catholic Student Center at Belknap and Courtland. Martin said he uses the pantry to help support his family of four, however, the pantry will serve only students and staff at this college beginning next week, from noon-4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

History sophomore Angela Henry grabs cans off the shelves while social work sophomore Brent Walker moves boxes Wednesday at the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry in the basement of the Catholic Student Center. "I felt kinda naive because I didn't know it was here," Henry said on her first day volunteering. "Everyone is so friendly that it makes me want to do more."

Economics Professor Susan Spencer, coordinator of the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry, reacts Wednesday to the surplus of canned food available in the pantry, located in the basement of the Catholic Student Center on Belknap and Courtland. The pantry recently won $5,000 in a Pepsi Challenge and were able to buy new appliances and food. The pantry will be closing to the public for reasons declined mention by Spencer.

Volunteer Carla Calderon carries food Wednesday while volunteering at the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry in the basement of the Catholic Student Center at Belknap and Courtland. "You can't come here and just leave, because it's so rewarding for everyone," said Calderon, who has been volunteering at various food pantrys since 1989.

Education sophomore Richele Brooks looks for a recipient's file Wednesday while volunteering at the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry in the basement of the Catholic Student Center at Belnap and Courtland. "I don't like having to tell people that we can't help them anymore," Brooks said of the new policy requiring that only students and staff at the college may use the pantry. Thousands of files will be discarded, she said.

Kysean Ferreira, 3, waits to pick out a toy with volunteer Carla Calderon Wednesday inside the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry in the basement of the Catholic Student Center at Belknap and Courtland.

Volunteer Carla Calderon apologizes to an unidentified man Wednesday at the Phi Theta Kappa food pantry because the pantry is unable to serve the public beginning next week. "It's upsetting because (the pantry) helped alot," the man said.

All photos copyright protected by The Ranger/Tyler K. Cleveland

At Shishas

2010-10-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Paul drinks tea.

David smokes shisha.

Corn Maze in Hondo

2010-10-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Some pics from a visit to the corn maze last week with Meg and family. Photo notes: I was rather tired on the afternoon, so my pictures quality/quantity are less than usual!

used mom's white shirt as a reflector for this one of Mae.

]
REALLY unfortunate that I didn't keep all my eyes open for this one, because after I took my finger off the shutter, a child walked right in front of my camera eating a corn on the cob ...that third layer!!!

Spurs game with Kin Man Hui

2010-10-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

A former Ranger staff now shooting for the SA Express-News, Kin Man Hui offered to take me along to the Spurs game last Thursday when I-10 rivals the Houston Rockets visited the AT&T Center for the final preseason game.

When I decided to become a photojournalist four years ago while mentoring with the Express-News for a senior project, I dreamed about joining the pros along the baseline of an NBA game. Getting there again with the greater responsibility of an assignment, along with improved abilities and well-earned equipment, remains my goal.

Being a huge Spurs fan, my interest in what I called "newspaper photography" was fueled by watching how close photographers were to the action, providing viewers with images of what I consider the closest level that watching a game can get, without actually being there.

So I parked my car at the Express newsroom, and Kin Man drove over to the AT&T Center. I had no idea about how close to the action, and realizing that my dream job is reality, I was about to get.

I owe enormous thanks to photo editor William Luther, who taught me a great deal during my first year, Kin Man and others at the Express-News who helped me get out there.

Kin Man put together a great slideshow on mysa.com with a few of my pics! Click the photo to view a slideshow of my pics from the night:

Tyler Cleveland/Special to the Express-News

Lilly and Ginger go to O.P. Schnabel Park

2010-10-09T06:57:00.001-07:00

Ginger, the months-old terrier hound mix that Megan found on her street, jumps up a step while hiking with Lilly, the much older and less spry Boston terrier. Megan discovered that the owner didn't want Ginger after three days of wandering on the street, her neighbor said.

Click the photo below to view sights from the recent dog-hike:

Snail World

2010-10-09T06:53:00.001-07:00

Warning: don't click below if squeamish!

Interior LED lights

2010-09-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

How to install interior vehicle lights from Tyler Cleveland on Vimeo.

Henry helped me complete an instructional video project for school while installing my red LED lights in the Civic. Some shots from the other night's harvest moon:

First Video: Cooking With Mama

2010-09-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

My first video of 83-year-old Esther Morales making flour tortillas at SAC as a part of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Some techniques to improve upon:

1) use a tripod ANY chance you can to have steadier shots.
2) use a lavalier mic (attachable) during interview to amplify voice

Welcome Autumn

2010-09-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

The Autumnal Equinox took place at 3:30 a.m. today, when the sun completed its move southward to bring the northern hemisphere out of the heat, the southern hemisphere out from winter and into spring.

This fall holds the challenge of producing videos, slideshows and photos with on-location lighting for my news photography 2 and portraiture classes. The stories I'll tell may be the last in my work for The Ranger before transferring to a university in the Fall of 2011.

For three years now, the fall has meant hours spent hustling around the unlevel, brick-tiled ground of campus, my efforts to make better pictures than a semester or season before made worthwhile by the simple fact that I enjoy showing others what they may not have seen.

Grammy award-winning saxaphonist Joe Posada plays jazz flute to Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" Sept. 10 in Loftin.

Officer M.C. Romero writes a ticket Monday as math freshman Esteban Lara moves his car from Lot 20 for faculty and staff. "We don't like to give tickets any more than they like to get them," Romero said. Monday was the first day tickets were issued this semester.

Josh Davis, three-time gold and two-time silver olympic medalist, at the Josh Davis Natatorium Monday on the Northeast Side, 12002 Jones-Maltsberger Road. Davis will speak about achieving success at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept.30, in McAllister Auditorium.

Kinesiology freshman Rueben Ortega is fed a lateral by business administration freshman Nathaniel Castro during 4v4 flag football Tuesday, sponsored by the office of student life, at San Pedro Park. Ortegas team, "Victorious Secret" won against "The Longhorns" 7-1 and competed to win iPod Shuffles.

Photographer Keith Carter walks across the stage while giving his lecture, "Autobiography in Fiction," Monday in McAllister. Carter said, "that our life stories are told by what ideas, places and beliefs we belong to."

English sophomore Emerald Travieso waits an hour in line Monday in the Engish Department Office to re-register after her classes were dropped, along with 2,400 other students. Education sophomore Stella Pina said that a frustrated student posted a notice instructing classmates to call Chancellor Bruce Leslie.

Faculty and staff toast Sept. 10, while counselor David Rodriguez's band "True Stories" plays at The Cove, 606 W. Cypress. It was the first time that faculty and staff celebrated "SAC Night."

Theatre sophomores Beatrice Ramos and "Z" Badillo carve styrofoam sculptures for the play "Waving Goodbye," which premiers at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in McCreless Hall. The sculptures, which Romas and Badillo volunteered to work on for weeks, will be destroyed after the final performance, they said. A sculputure from last spring's "Amadeaus" hangs on the wall after they refused to destroy it for all the work they put into making it.

40th Anniversary Surprise Party

2010-09-13T19:08:00.001-07:00

It's going to be something when I get married, let alone for 40 years; a love changed by many seasons.

I had the opportunity to record an anniversary surprise party for a family friend at Fleming's Steack House in the Quarry.

Click the photo for a slideshow:

Custom Interior

2010-09-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Henry have spent many hours on customizing my interior:

Lego Civic

Yes! Seven paint cans later. Up next: custom seat/door panel covers.

21st Birthday List

2010-09-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm turning 21 soon (Oct. 10), so I thought I would make a birthday list, not for the sake of material desire, but to reflect on recent experiences that, in a way, acknowledge an increasing understanding of self, of who I am and what I hope to be for the future.

#1

A succulent (for the home).

Both succulent and cactus, they are a vivid images of a Texas landscape I've grown up on. The often painful life that also flowers protection and empathy. The harsh reality of existence made beautiful by its impermanence. ;-)

Henry jams out at Paul's ranch in Yancey, Texas.

#2

A watch

Childhood memories of an orange silicon-banded watch, probably themed by some Disney character like Aladin or Buzz Lightyear. The watch is also my refusal of existing by constant I-phone or cellular referral. Turn them off for a second. Enjoy uninterrupted silence that relies on listening, not transmitting; finding truth without googling it.

Fossil Chronograph Watch - $99. I believe it's been purchased already ;-)

#3

Glass jars (cork or clamp)

I imagine myself storing various juices in these bottles, like a medicine man providing natural health for his children or loved ones. I like that idea. ;-)

$5-7 at Hobby Lobby

#4

A second Super Nintendo controller and Super Mario Kart.

Dug up from the grave of garage storage, my Super Nintendo is running again! Thanks to Henry providing lost cords, I can finally enjoy games like F-Zero, Zelda: A link to the past and Pilot Wings. However, a second controller is needed for some awesome two-player gaming like Super Mario Kart!

Game is $10 and a controller is $1.50

#5

Texas birds book.

Every time Megan and I see a bird we can't recognize, we want to know what it is. National Geographic makes a great Texas Birds book (available through Amazon).

#6

iTunes giftcard.

Since hearing segments on NPR about Stewart Copeland and his writings for The Police, I've been itching for some of their best hits. Henry plays songs I've never heard before in his car which provides relief ;-)

#7

Glass clip frames.

Any number or combination of 16x20, 8x10, 4x6 and 5x7 frames to be filled with memories and placed on my wall. They are relatively inexpensive and can be found at Michael's with coupons available (it's a non-sale, regular priced item)

Sunday at Pikes Creek

2010-09-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

There were rapids, perfectly cooked chicken that tasted like it were a bigger bird (baby turkey?), fishing and good fellowship during our Sunday service at Pikes Creek, outside Bandera.

Click for a slideshow:

ZOO

2010-08-30T18:30:00.001-07:00

Click the photo to view a recent trip to the zoo with Megan and her family:

ESPN

2010-08-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

The Ranger got a request from ESPN for a photographer and writer to cover the Madison-Steele football game, featuring Madison's Malcolm Brown and Steele's Aaron Green, the No. 1 and No. 5 prospective running backs respectively. I actually enjoyed talking to and watching professionals from the Express and wire services more than I did making my own pictures!

ESPN chose two action shots from the slideshow I submitted to them.

Road Trip to North Carolina

2010-08-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Megan and I took a week-long, 4,000-mile road trip to my cousin Amy in North Carolina, among other attractions. We were very grateful to have stayed two nights at a family friend's house in Louisiana, where Megan slept close to a taxidermied deer :-D. We spent a day at the French Quarter in New Orleans and found surprises at every corner. Rain was a constant theme throughout the trip, as we endured a brutal thunder/lightning storm at North Carolina's Outerbanks, islands famous for the Wright Brothers' flight (Kitty Hawk). Time spent on the beach was priceless; we did nothing else but soak up rays and let the waves take us. It was great to catch up with Amy among delicious southern cooking and the modernizing city-scene of Durham. Although we missed the tour by mere minutes, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was gorgeous and I look forward to applying to their outstanding journalism school. Our final destination was Grandfather Mountain (6,000 feet) in Linville outside Boone. A great way to wrap up the summer!

Henry's Car

2010-08-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've been trying out a few car shots lately.

Running around the car (left) popping the external flash. Fun stuff.

Yancey Ranch II

2010-08-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Paul, Henry and I took our second trip to Paul's ranch in Yancey, Texas, between Hondo and Devine. We had a percussion jam:

E-Rock in Summer

2010-07-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Nathan, Megan and I took a day-trip to Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg - a 425-foot-high (1820 feet above sea-level) granite batholith, an underground rock formation uncovered by erosion.

click the photo to view a large panoramic

The first well-documented explorations of this area did not begin until 1723 when the Spanish intensified their efforts to colonize Texas. Tonkawa Indians believed ghost fires flickered at the top, and they heard weird creaking and groaning, which geologists now say resulted from the rock's heating by day and contracting in the cool night. A conquistador captured by the Tonkawa described how he escaped by losing himself in the rock area, giving rise to an Indian legend of a "pale man swallowed by a rock and reborn as one of their own." The Indians believed he wove enchantments on the area, but he explained that the rock wove the spells. "When I was swallowed by the rock, I joined the many spirits who enchant this place."

"Enchanted Rock State Natural Area." Texas Parks and Wildlife. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 05 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Jul 2010. .

Mosaics

2010-07-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

Megan & me making mosaics:

Megan finished early and found something else to do ;-)

Megan's flower

My sunset over hills and what I was aiming to represent Jesus' empty tomb ;-)

El Natural

2010-07-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

A baby tree (not sure which kind) at sunset

Asps invade!

Crickets invade!

extermination...

a wasp flies. note: shot with an 800mm film lens attached to my Nikon D80 (becomes 1200mm).

A spider hides

The Quadrangle

2010-07-21T12:06:00.001-07:00

Megan and I visited the Quadrangle, the oldest building at Fort Sam Houston built in 1876 as a supply depot, but now houses ducks, deer and peecocks. For more info, click here.

New Beginnings

2010-07-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Visiting my family in Bryan (A&M College Station) is something I always look forward to. It's a time when I can leave things in San Antonio behind for a few days, and enter a home where I often find new ideas and purpose, returning home with a new beginning. Lately, there have been new beginnings for my family, too:

Celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday.

Laurie plans for a baby boy while Eva, 18 months, runs at me.

Taking a ride in the van.

Coincidental matching dresses.

A tree hundreds of years old outside the historic new home of my cousin Susan and Dave Fox.

Sister Lisa with Kathryn.

Dad teaches Sophie how to play the guitar.

Once Upon A Tortoise

2010-07-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

Click the picture to view a slideshow:

There once was a turtle
Megan rescued from a ditch,
Driving it to a little lake,
Where we thought it could swim.
But instead the turtle sank.
And in its fastest stride,
Which wasn't that fast at all
The turtle went aside,
But we thought it needed water.
So she picked up the turtle,
Its limbs hanging out in trust
As if we cleared a hurtle.
Yet the decision to thrust
Came without prior knowledge
Of whether our turtle could survive in water
Yet she threw him in,
And splash!
Our turtle was
A tortoise...

Comparisons and Contrasts

2010-07-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

This man, a restaurant manager at Zio's, wears a personality of Spongebob and West Coast Choppers:

Father and Son. Hair bright with age, dark with youth. They share a life of laughter.

He looked at the camera and she at him, and you could see that they were like the dancers, celebrating their love for each other. The one semi-decent photo I was able to snap at the
rehearsal dinner of my cousins Micah and Sarah Sagebiel:

Perhaps this connection was made out my feeling ill at the time, but this is what photography is all about: seeing more and feeling something more because of it. The caption is a great place to express that :-)

Kelley & Aaron Miller's Wedding

2010-07-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'm no wedding photographer, but being one for a day gave me a new level of admiration for the work they do. Making pictures during the ceremony was intense but thrilling, and my efforts to add a story-teller's touch to the happiest day of Kelley and Aaron Miller's life together were not unrewarded!

All of the photos can be viewed/purchased through snapfish (flickr)

Click the picture to view a slideshow of my favorites:

Eight Months European

2010-06-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Megan and I are practically European. She is Austrian. I am Danish. We celebrated the eight-month mark with afternoon tea (PG Tips, "best in the UK") followed by fish and chips at the English Tea Shoppe, a quaint and quiet hole-in-the-wall. We then walked through the Huebner-Onion Natural Area, the property of Joseph Huebner and his family, who immigrated from Austria in 1858 and erected three limestone houses and a stagecoach that provided "overnight stay if travelers were unable to pass over the flooded creek." Along the trail towards his grave, we saw things he might have seen, and other things he never could.

Click to view the sound-slideshow:

Using Her Inner Resources

2010-06-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

When Megan told me she was bored and had nothing to do, I couldn't help but think of a poem I read in my American Literature class. She tapped her "inner resources" and created front-seat covers for her car. Custom-fit, hand crafted covers. And they...look...great...

Dream Song 14

by John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatingly) "Ever to confess you're bored
means you have no

Inner Resources." I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as Achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.

"Complete satisfaction"

The Blue Baker

2010-05-13T16:41:00.001-07:00

It was a few months ago that I received the opportunity to photograph some menu items at The Blue Baker, the deli/bakery of my cousin's husband, Dave. Click the photo to view a slideshow.

Tyler K. Cleveland/The Blue Baker

Three Picture Story

2010-04-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

My three picture story assignment portraying a husband's loss to the 2008 stock market crash - monetarily and emotionally. The assignment was critiqued by fellow classmates.

critique: good lighting on husband and flash use on foreground. You can tell he is worried.

Hands and elements of photo add detail. Good expression.

Strongest image. Light through doorways on important elements adds to readability. Ties in previous two photos.

Fighting for Rights

2010-04-23T19:11:00.001-07:00

Business freshman Jesse Darnel puts on makeup outside the board meeting Tuesday at Killen. Darnel said that the current district anti-discrimination policy does not protect her as a transgendered student.

Orange House Finch

2010-04-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

An orange variant male House Finch rests outside Timo's Coffee House Monday. All male finches have the potential to be pink, orange or yellow, depending on their access to carotenoid pigments in food when they are molting (shedding old feathers and growing in new ones).

Lightning

2010-04-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

Finally got lucky with a lightning strike:

Nikon D80, 50mm f7.1 @2.5 sec, ISO 100

Lauren Balderas - Senior Portraits

2010-04-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorites from the senior portraits taken at O.P. Schnabel Park

Boxing Club at San Antonio College

2010-04-16T17:31:00.001-07:00

My major project on The Ranger this semester has been producing a multimedia piece of the boxing club students training for the event that took place April 9 at SAC.

All media copyright protected by Tyler K. Cleveland/The Ranger

Ringside physician Oscar Gutierrez inspects the mouth of psychology sophmore Andrew Rohn of the blue team at San Fernando Gym before the boxing event Friday, April 9, in Loftin. Rohn and his brother James, dietician sophomore, fought on different teams but refused to fight each other.

Business sophomore Donald "Texas" Bradley of the blue team at San Fernando Gym warms up before the boxing event Friday. Bradley said that while he may not be a more experienced boxer, he has been street-style fighting for eight years.

Finance sophomore Jose Vargaas of the red team knocks down Chris Clark during the sixth round of boxing. Vargas, a veteran in the military, said training for the event was harder than anything he'd ever done.

Leonel Rivera-Rodriguez of the Air Force Academy is hit by business sophomore Fred Perez during the final bout in the Mall. Perez and the red team at Luna's Boxing 4 Fitness Community Center won four of the seven fights against San Fernando Gym.

Back to the start

2010-04-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Megan and I hung out on the six-month mark of our relationship on Easter Sunday, April 4, at the park off Guilbeau Road, which has seen many events in my life's growing, including the first time I'd seen Megan in years since highschool and our friendship in middleschool.

A suicide note

A kite flies

Massages, Protest and Planting

2010-04-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Tyler K. Cleveland/The Ranger

Education sophomore Alexandria Bell (right) of Northwest Vista College helps Joy Wagnon, 5, prepare a biodegradable planter made from newspaper Saturday, March 27, at the Botanical Gardens. Bell said that her biology class requires 10 hours of volunteer community service - thirty percent of her grade - which she said is fun with enthusiastic kids.

Tyler K. Cleveland/The Ranger

Members of Trinity University's Gay and Lesbian Association gather at Our Lady of the Lake University Saturday, March 27, to protest against Westboro Bapitist Church's support the death of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old homosexual who was beaten and left on the side of the road on the night of October 6, 1998, dying four days later. Our Lady of the Lake University was putting on a play about Shepard.

Yancey Ranch

2010-04-10T16:16:00.001-07:00

I took a day-trip out with my friends Paul and Henry to Paul's ranch in Yancey, in Medina County, with the unexpected awaiting us at this aging property - the house Paul's grandfather built decades ago - and our itching for adventure in the bush; we blew up ant piles, investigated the antique car junk yard, and found a piece of family history escaping the changing times yet slowly weathering away.

Click the photo to view the slideshow:

Nichole Turns 24

2010-04-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Click the photo to view a slideshow of (my girlfriend's sister) Nichole's 24th birthday:

Easter Weekend with Eva

2010-04-05T18:20:00.001-07:00

Click the photo below to view a slideshow of Eva's Egg Hunt:

Click for a slideshow of our evening out:

Drums!

Planting strawberries

Eva's Easter gift

a vigil for Jasmayne "Jasz" McCullough

2010-04-01T23:03:00.001-07:00

Please read the story written by Ranger reporter Zahra Farah: http://www.theranger.org/news/memorials-pay-tribute-to-sunshine-on-a-skateboard-1.2206127

Music sophomore Hanna Carothers tapes a letter written in memory of Jasmayne "Jasz" McCullough during a vigil Monday sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Association at Dewey and Belknap Place. Carothers said she used to wrestle with McCullough, a student at the Gatway to College Progam at SAC, and she wanted a rematch after losing to McCullough in their final round. McCullough was shot to death at a party early Sunday.

Art freshman Joseph Picucci, Jasmine Culton and Victoria DeBenedictis, a student at the Gatway-to-College-Program at SAC, watch videos of Jasmayne "Jasz" McCullough during the vigil Monday.

Jasmine Culton relives memories to the laughter of friends during the vigil. McCullough was remembered for her ability to make others laugh and enjoy life.

Cat Jefferson grieves for her best friend.

Jasmine Culton and Sarah Crook address friends of Jasmayne "Jasz" McCullough. Culton, McCullough's best friend since the sixth grade.

El Taco Carro

2010-03-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

This taco cart at the Advanced Auto Parts store off Bandera Road serves up delicioso lengua and al pastor mini tacos (below) from 7:30 p.m. - midnight week days, and until 3 a.m. on weekends. I'm going to try their Suadero (cow thigh) and tortas next time.

Friday the 5th

2010-03-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

Eating calzones at Main Street Pizza.

Megan wanted to give the pregnant(?) dog her quiche...maybe she should have.

"...and after that, I'm going to take over the whole world!"

What many students feel like after a long week:

"Happy Birds"

2010-03-05T21:17:00.001-08:00

Whenever Megan spots them, it's usually (but not always!) acknowledged with saying "happy bird!" :P

These are two pics I snapped for her Thursday while running around campus:

You know which bird eats the most worms...or pizza crusts?

Swimming

2010-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Psychology sophomore Anthony Vasquez swims Feb. 19 in Candler.

Biology sophomore Alysson Kline from Brazil swims the butteryfly stroke

ASL Talent Show

2010-03-04T15:42:00.001-08:00

Rachel Menchaca bids on a sculpture of a hand signing "I love you" Feb. 20, during the silent auction of the American Sign Language Talent Show in McAllister. The auction raised over $6,000 for the Rea and Barbara Henrichs scholarship fund.

American sign language sophomore April Lopez browses the silent auction with her husband Eddie.

Lab technician David Raymond lunges at interpreting sophomore Amy Calvet (left) during a Jerry Springer spoof. Performing as the opposite sex, Calvet told Raymond he was breaking up with her.

Interpreting graduate Sharon Zarb-Cousin signs to Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine"

American Sign Language Professors Brian Barwise and Darin Dobson perform the skit "Two Heads Are Better Than One"

American sign language sophomore Ariel Johnson signs "this sucks" Feb. 20 while performing the skit "It's A Hard Knock Life" from 'Annie'.

The audience cheers Feb. 20 following a dance to Sonny & Cher's "I've Got You Babe" by Blanca Zamarripa and lab Director David Solis. Applause in sign language involves silently waving your hands in the air.

Ash Wednesday

2010-02-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

Financial aid advisor Madeline Lester prays Feb. 17 during the Ash Wednesday service sponsored by the San Antonio College Catholic Student Association in the Craft Room of Loftin. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of lent, a period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter observed by believers with repentance and fasting to strengthen their relationship with God.

Radio-television-film sophomore Michael Contreras, prays.

Theatre sophomore Lupe Zapata recieves ashes from sociology sophomore Brother Jonathan Irrobali.

Recent from the Ranger

2010-02-18T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is my finally updating the blog with news and feature photos:

Corinet player David Jellema and drummer Michael Waskiewicz of the ragtime band Second Line perform during Fat Tuesday Feb. 16 in Loftin. The band's name refers to the group of rowdy fans and admirers that follow the front line during parades in New Orleans.

Housekeeper Juanita Hernandez exits Chance Academic Center after her shift ended Feb 2. Plans are currently in progress for the loss of six housekeeping employees.

International student portraits:

Yonggun Lee, South Korean international student and engineering sophomore, poses with the flag of South Korea east of Moody Jan. 21. Lee moved to San Antonio from Incheon, South Korea, in 2005.

Anesa Sankar, nursing sophomore and international student from Trinidad, holds a postcard of her native country Jan. 22. Sankar moved to the U.S. in 2006, and plans to graduate next year.

Business sophomore Allen Evans talks with Shannon White, program and clinical director of the Center for Family Relations during the service-learning and volunteer fair Feb. 10 in Candler. After recently being laid-off, Evans sees community service as a way to give back while unable to donate funds to the church.

Opening of the Chill Lounge:

Architecture sophomore Carlos Montalvo, along with his wife Felcia and 18-month-old daughter Isabella, pose for a picture taken by architecure sophomore John Silva Friday during the grand opening of the Chill Lounge, on the first floor of Chance. Carlos Montalvo and Silva were part of the 14-student team who began designing the lounge in Professor Isabel Garcia's fall 2008 Architecture 2470 class.

Richard Castillo finishes his drink in the limo before entering the Black and White Ball hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Association.

Marketing sophomore Caitlin Taylor laughs during the Black and White Ball hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Association,at Koehler Cultural Center. Taylor said she purchased the suspenders off ebay for $10.

A hole drilled through the second-story balcony doesn't drain enough water Feb. 3, at the Jean Longwith Radio-Television & Film Building.

After waiting in line for 45 minutes, biology freshman Ji-ae Im and laboratory science sophomore Hana An of Korea are told by admissions clerk Dana Arnold that they are in the incorrect line for receiving a parking permit Monday in Candler.

single accreditation

2010-02-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

The community rose to the defense of St. Philip's College, calling it the pride of their east side that the board of trustees continued to exploit: single accreditation of the five colleges would cause the college to lose $7 million in grant funds and it's status as a historically black institution.

Denver McClendon, Chair of the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees, emphasizes that no decision on single accreditation will be made during the meeting Jan. 12 at Killen. Members of the community and organizations spoke for up to five minutes following a Citizen's To Be Heard format.

Concerned citizen Nettie Hinton speaks against single accreditation, to the applause of those in attendance at the board oftTrustees public hearing Jan. 12. Hinton said the board had "raped" St. Philip's College of it's programs and students' ability to perform at the highest potential.

Chancellor Bruce Leslie watches as Chair Denver McClendon lowers the gavel in the unanimous decision against single accreditation of the five colleges Tuesday, Jan. 26, at Killen Community Education & Service Center.

Rusty Boyd, networks training specialist at st. Philip's College, texts her friend the news about the Alamo Board of Trustees' unanimous vote against single accreditation of the five colleges Tuesday, Jan. 26, at Killen Community Education & Service Center.

61st Stock Show and Rodeo

2010-02-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

Nursing sophomore Jennifer McClean rides the mechanical bull during the Wild West Rodeo Roundup Feb. 10 in the Fiesta Room of Loftin.

Agriculture science sophomores Jason Brister and of Palo Alto College identify the different pig meats for Sage Sale, 14, of Nueces County during the swine skillathon Feb. 9 at the 61st Annual Stock Show and Rodeo. 18 students of agriculture Instructor Weldon Riggs at Palo Alto College volunteered to help run the skillathon, which tested youth through age 18 on their knowledge of pigs, awarding the most skilled senior a $12,000 scholarship.

Powe Acosta and her sister Carmen ride Power Feb. 6 at the fair grounds of the 61st Annual Stock Show and Rodeo, in the parking lot of the AT&T Center.

Clark Toalson, 13, washes his cow Lindsey Feb. 6 in Cattle Barn 2 at the 61st Annual Stock Show and Rodeo, in the parking lot of the At&T Center. After drying her with a hair dryer, Toalson will enter Lindsey into the American Brangus show.

Ashley Bennet and Trey Russel kiss on the ferris wheel at the fair grounds of San Antonio's 61st Annual Stock Show and Rodeo Feb. 6, at the AT&T Center parking lot. Bennet and Russel came to see the rodeo from Ingleside, Texas.

23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. March

2010-01-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

Kamilah Souvenire, 13, plays with her Nintendo DS during the opening ceremony before the Martin Luther King Jr. march. The theme for the march was education. Her aunt told her to have a better attitude.

Jessica Howard, vice president of academic affairs, covers a blanket over her daughter Claire Parkin, 5, while football players of the University of Incarnet Word stand by before the march on Martin Luther King Street Monday. Howard said it was her first time attending the march.

Mayor Julian Castro (center, left) and his twin brother Joaquin Castro led the march.

Marchers sing We Shall Overcome as they begin the three-mile trek up Martin Luther King Drive.

San Antonio has boasted one of the largest, if not the largest march, in the nation. This photo was used as the front-to-back cover for the Ranger.

President Dr. Robert Zeigler, Jessica Howard and her friend Yolanda Jimenez carry a banner reflecting the theme of the march.

Tyler Ingraham, political science junior at St. Mary's University, who is running for District 1 Chair of the Alamo Board of Trustees, holds a sign against single accreditation of the five colleges - which would cause St. Philip's College to lose over $7 million in grants as a historically black college.

Amelia Beake and Althea Barbara talk about the second coming of Jesus outside their residence at 2034 MLK drive. "We're gonna see alot of changes happen these next ten years," Barbara said.

Robert Ellison, who has attended the march for over ten years, holds a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. giving his "I have a dream" speech August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Ellison said the march was a dream come true.

Marchers Jesus Figueroa (from left), Laura Hernandez, Paloma Safuentes, Genevive Rodriguez and Marisa Gonzalez drum while chanting "What do we want? Justice!"

Participants gather at Pittman-Sullivan park.

Ida Walker prays during the celebrations following the march at Pittmann-Sullivan park. After having back surgery three months ago, Walker didn't think she would be able to do it. "God helped me," she said.

“Take a look down at the sea of humanity, and see the dream Dr. Martin Luther King was working for,” Mayor Castro said.

Osualdo Delgado shoulders a manikin depicting "how we should carry eachother regardless of color, as brothers," he said. Delgado made the manikin out of saran wrap and clear tape until 2 a.m. (six hours) the night before.

ALL PHOTOS COPYWRITE PROTECTED BY TYLER K. CLEVELAND/THE RANGER

Winter Break

2010-01-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

A collection of photos from this past winter break:

Click the photo to view the Christmas slideshow:

Click to view slideshow of my niece Eva:

Click for slide show of winter break photos:

Blue Moon

2010-01-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

A blue moon - a second or "extra" full moon of a month - rises on Dec. 30. Most years have twelve full moons, but since the lunar calendar ends with an excess of about 11 days compared to our Gregorian calendar, a second full moon appears every three years. New Years Eve wont see another blue moon until 2028.

Spurs game: the gift of VIP

2009-12-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, James Seales, gave me his pair tickets - over $275 a piece - to enjoy the Spurs-Minnesota game last night.

Megan, who knew James from middle school, joined me on the third row.

James posted the offer on facebook that morning, and about ten minutes after I responded, he text-messaged me: "hey, when is the last time you went to a Spurs game?"

He said he had not seen my reply on facebook.

"I was going through my phone list," he told Megan and me, "and I came down to Tyler Cleveland and remembered all the times in Mrs. Wampler's class (freshman year) where you would yell "Ginnooooobili,"" referring to the times I shot paper balls into the trashcan.

It was a perfect night for Ginobili, who came one rebound away from his first triple-double. He came out of the huddle jumping and passing like a globetrotter, obviously feeling good after a recent undefeated roadtrip.

The night was an unforgettable and once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I can't wait to be awarded the best seats in the house one day: sitting indian-style on the baseline with a media badge that says "San Antonio Express-News," hopefully before Manu Ginobili retires!

Shot with my sister's Canon Elf 10mp:

Manu signs autographs. I was about a minute too late.

Bill Land and Sean Elliott for FSN Southwest.

Manu laughs with Dejaun Blair before the game.

Warm-up defense by Manu for Tim Duncan.

Tony Parker

Matt Bonner (left) has a fractured right hand. Michael Finley has a sprained ankle.

Former Ranger photographer Kin Man Hui shoots for the San Antonio Express-News.

Food served in the VIP section

A fan waves a pair of shorts featuring the colors of Manu Ginobili's native country of Argentina.

Megan turns 20

2009-12-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Megan began a new decade on Dec. 27, 2009. I'm very blessed to have loved and be loved by this girl, not knowing where I would be in the next 20 years without her. Here, she opens her gifts after a delicious feast at Red Lobster. Thought I might try some animated gifs for this one. :)

new chair, new year:

Notice the dog:

the comfy sheets!

pearl earrings. Isn't she gorgeous?

older sister Heather watches on

Jade got cut. Lilly is old. :)

Enchanted Rock

2009-12-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Click the photo to view a slide show of our visit to Enchanted Rock:

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Finally posting the photos from this past Thanksgiving. It was a great time laughing with my cousins and experiencing the holiday with a new generation.

Click the photo to view the slide show:

A Christmas to remember

2009-12-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

Every year, over 50,000 families in San Antonio don't get the chance to celebrate Christmas like the rest of us.

As a part of my final project in speech class, I joined a group of nine classmates in giving a needy family Christmas this year. In three weeks, we gave "persuasive" speeches and held a bake sale to raise over $2,500 in donations, providing the Martinez family of five children - three of them triplets - with a Christmas they will never forget.

On a mission to pick up a donated fridge and industrial freezer.

Joy spills over in the Martinez home.

posing for the camera

Jasper (left) takes in the moment. We are fortunate to have the things we need at hand.

Martina is from Germany. She was the treasurer a major part of the project's success.

The Martinez family said it would take a couple days to soak in.

She picked up the phone right before our team member was getting ready to choose another family.

Leon Creek

2009-12-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Stevenson Holiday Concert

2009-12-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

Jim Cain conducts the wind ensemble to Sleigh Ride Tuesday at Coke R. Stevenson Middle School. Cain has directed the band for over twenty years.

Jim Cain stands still following the concert. Cain said that he still deletes e-mails from the district requesting notification of retirement. His wife, Virlie, who works as a librarian at William H. Taft High School, said they plan to retire together and "always wait another year."

Assistant director Pam Trevino (? center) watches on as Jim Cain conducts the wind ensemble to Sleigh Ride. Trevino entered Stevenson's halls after former assistant director Gordon Bade died unexpectedly in June 2008.

Pam Trevino laughs with Virlie Cain following the holiday concert.

Megan Semmelmann played clarinet, while I played percussion from 2001-'04.

Gordon Bade taught music to students at Stevenson for over 30 years. He was a joyful and lovable person to know, and I remember how well he played the clarinet. Bade married his wife, Becky - a fellow musician - during a performance intermission, with the band playing Frank Sinatra's “I've Got a Crush on You,” the San Antonio Express-News reported in an obituary. Bade was 58.

warm gym; cold night.

1st Multimedia Piece: Just Juice It!

2009-11-24T16:03:00.000-08:00

Psychology sophomore Anthony Vasquez holds up a glass of vegetable juice at his residence off Ashby Street Nov. 16. Vasquez tells people who don't like to eat vegetables or are afraid to try certain ones to "just juice it!"

Producing a multimedia piece can be a time-consuming, sleep-depriving and technically challenging medium to tell stories with.

Yet the supplementation of sound (and sometimes video) to still images enhances the story-telling capabilities of photojournalists, giving readers a better sense of what the aspects of life - the people, places and events that characterize history - are like by the greatest extent that they can be told.

After several evenings reporting, photographing and recording classmate Anthony Vasquez go through his juicing routine, it would be several evening-till-mornings of editing, splicing and writing before my first multimedia piece was completed.

And I don't think it's done, really.

My photojournalism professor, Dr. Edmund Lo, a former photo editor at many publications (including top Hong Kong and Taiwan magazines), has reminded me that it's never going to be perfect in the story-telling business. The story won't always be fully told and from every angle; A finite amount of time is allotted for our coverage of news that never stops and an infinite amount of other stories waiting to be told. "You've just got to get it done, and move on," he told me.

So I wish I could have photographed my fellow juicer as he serves meaty dishes at the P.F. Changs, the restaurant he has worked at for about as long as he's been a vegetarian (four years); I would have liked to spend an extra evening at his residence downtown, a kind of vintage-style pad, to maybe catch the carrot juice mustache.

But from what I did manage to present in writing, sound and visual images over the course of two weeks, readers can gain a broader perspective of the community and deeper understanding of, well, juicing!

View the published story and soundslide here

Vasquez buys produce from Finca Pura Vida at the Pearl Farmers Market Saturday, Nov. 7. “Produce that was recently picked has about 100 percent more nutrients than old produce,” Pura Vida said, adding that "produce loses most of it’s nutrients in the first three days."

A pill-minder sits on the counter of Vasquez's kitchen Nov. 9 at his residence on Ashby Street. "Vitamins can contain up to 4000 components, and your body just flushes it out,” Vasquez said, adding that nutrients in juice are easily absorbed and stored in the cells for later use. "An average size carrot has over 110 percent of your daily value of vitamin A."

Vasquez pours fresh carrot-radish juice. He said that a "12-ounce cup of juice is like four bucks" at Whole Foods, "and from what I buy I could make like ten of those and still have juice left over."

Vasquez eats an organic peanut butter and jelly sandwich with powdered green tea in Professor Jim Mammarella's Speech 1301 class Nov. 13. Kinesiology professor Andreia Brown said that vegetarians must combine food sources to create a complete protein (nine amino acids) for the body, which the peunut butter and jelly sandwhich can provide.Vasquez drinks at least one 32-ounce bottle of green tea everyday, which he says is a healthy alternative to coffee and provides more antioxidants.

Vasquez laughs with co-worker Matt Mauldan at P.F. Changs Nov. 13. Vasquez is a bar tender and server at the restaurant, always around meat but trying to "get people involved in eating vegan foods.” Vasquez will drink alcoholic beverages on occasion, avoiding those that are made with yeast or isinglass, a clarifying agent made from the swim bladders of fish.

PHOTOS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED BY TYLER K. CLEVELAND/THE RANGER

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2009-11-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

Since the final Easter my family spent hunting for eggs on the farm, or Christmas gathered around my grandma Kay's Christmas tree, Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday.

It's the one time of year where all or most of the family comes together - recently at my sister Laurie's house in Bryan, College Station - to give thanks for all of our memories and those being made for the day.

Click the photo to view a slide-show of last year's Thanksgiving:

Lady Rangers Undefeated

2009-11-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Story and photos copyright Tyler K. Cleveland/The Ranger

Biology sophmore Bethany Watson (from left) and american sign language sophomore Stephanie Munoz of the Lady Rangers Volleyball team, block the ball during the first set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. Watson "dominated the middle," said Coach Marisa Martinez, "shutting Trinity down." The Lady Rangers won the set 25-19 and went onto defeat the Tigers in four games.

Coach Martinez speaks with her team between games.

Biology freshman Faith Monsivias goes up for a kill during the Lady Rangers' second set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. With the first group on the bench, the Lady Rangers lost the set 13-25.

Starters of the Lady Rangers volleyball team, and coach Marisa Martinez (right), react during the second set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler.

Kinesiology sophomore Kasandra Larios (from left), communications sophomore Nicole Plata, and business administration freshman Jasmine Perez of the Lady Rangers volleyball team struggle to keep the ball in play during the third set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. Midway through the set, the Lady Rangers improved their play by mixing up the first and second group, winning 25-22.

Fans cheer as biology sophomore Bethany Watson (middle left) celebrates a kill by kinesiology sophomore Kasandra Larios in the third set during the Lady Rangers volleyball game against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. "She was really impressive with her kills," coach Marisa Martinez said of Larios. After trailing 16-21, the Lady Rangers rallied ahead and won the set 25-22, going onto defeat the Tigers in four games.

Stacie Robinson (from left), team manager Isabel Longoria, and Desie Baker of the Trinity University Tigers react during the fourth and final set against the Lady Rangers Volleyball team Thursday in Candler. The Lady Rangers won the set 25-16 and defeated the Tigers in four games.