Quick Post: Uganda

A young girl at the Kukanga School

I'm in Kampala using very slow internet, so I'm going to try to post up a few pictures and will post more extensively sometime when I get a faster connection--maybe from Namibia.  I've been visiting schools for One School at a Time.  You can google their blog to see more info!  Cheers from the equator.

Students at the Bbinikila School.

Girl with headscarf, Kassanda Boarding Primary School.

Girls, Kukanga School.

Picture for a winter day

Bei outside Oaxaca, Mexico in 2007.

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I finally succumbed to the crud that's been rampant on campus here in Laramie.  It's not the flu, but it's nasty anyway, and I haven't moved much today except to eat--strangely and annoyingly, my appetite is undiminished by illness.

It's the dog days of winter, so here's a favorite image from a warmer place.  This was taken in a village near the city of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico, on a Thanksgiving trip in 2007.  

Fall Portraits

Bei at the Blair-Wallis area near Laramie.

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I love taking portraits, but I don't do it often enough because mostly I go out shooting in remote places by myself.  This fall I'm shooting a few Senior Portraits--a tradition that has emerged since I was in high school back in the Middle Ages.  It's a big deal for high school seniors now to get formal or not-so-formal outdoor portraits taken.  I did a couple last year and am doing a couple this year, but I'm too busy with school to shoot many.  I won't post them because I didn't ask permission to plaster them on the internet, but I did go up to Blair last night to take some photos of Bei while the leaves are so nice.  Tomorrow I'm heading to the Snowies with a senior to shoot some portraits with Medicine Bow Peak in the background. That will be fun.  

Photo geek information:  Since I only have one strobe, that's what I'm using here.  Manual exposure for background, SB800 through white umbrella camera left, TTL, thin clouds or shade are best.

Portraits in Uganda

Recess at the Kyamulinga School in rural Uganda, 2009

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In 2009 I had the opportunity to travel to Uganda to photograph schools and students for Boulder-based non-profit One School at a Time.  It was a fantastic trip and I look forward to being able to afford to return sometime to work with them some more.  One School partners with rural Ugandan schools (one at a time) and does a great job of bringing the school community into the partnership so that the projects are shared and sustained.  The kids at these schools are remarkable.  They are poor, living in a subsistence economy with very few resources, but they are driven to succeed at school.  I wish our kids could somehow see how good they have it here and not take our schools quite so much for granted.  

Since returning from Uganda, I've joined the One School board of directors, given a number of slide shows on their programs, and generally tried to help out.  Ellen sells delicious Bristol Bay salmon (thanks to a friend at Misty Fjord) here in Laramie twice a year and the profits go to One School.  Many of you know about this.  

I'll be doing a show at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder this fall and will show some of these photos, and others, there.  I also maintain a blog for One School--I just posted some of these portraits there along with others, so have a look if you are interested and spread the word.  One School does a lot of good things with a very small budget, and unlike many non-profits, almost all of their funds actually make it to the ground in Africa, thanks to a huge amount of volunteer work and personal sacrifice by the directors.

Spring Dance Recital

Bei in full costume for this spring's dance performance.

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It's the end of May, which means that a large number of parents in Laramie, and probably throughout the U.S., have made it through another season of end-of-year performances and ceremonies.  For us this year, the list included the all-school choir sing (1 hour), an orchestra concert (1 hour), an elementary school awards ceremony (1 hour and 45 minutes!), and the annual Laramie Dance Center performance (3 hours).  I've posted about the dance program before, and of all of Bei's activities, it's the one she loves the most, having danced since she was tiny.  

The best part of the dance performance for me is watching the littlest kids, in their extravagant costumes, attempting to follow their teacher's instructions, which are communicated either from the wings, where the dancer's attention is clearly focused throughout the dance, or by teachers on the stage with the dancers, who labor to herd the (mostly) girls in the general direction called for by the choreography.  

Here are a few photos from this year's performance.

Photo geek info:  It's dark in the A&S Auditorium and the dancers are moving around, so I shot at ISO 3200 this year from about 1/80 - 1/125 sec. from f5.6 - f8, depending on the dance.  You can either shoot at high ISO and try to stop the motion/minimize the blur, or give into it and shoot at slow shutter speeds for motion blur. 

Motion blur.

Very small dancers trying to mimic their teacher.

Cowgirls.

The challenge of trying to watch two teachers and dance at the same time.

More motion blur.

A baseball dance.

Cousins

Bei with her cousin Jesse on the Olympic Peninsula, 2010.

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I wrote a short post last year about a quick visit to Austin, Texas, where my two sisters live with their families. Bei has no less than six first cousins, scattered literally from coast to coast and from north to south. My brother, Clark, lived close to us (in Denver) for a while, so Bei is close to his son, Jesse, and they still love to get together even though now Clark and his family live on the Olympic Peninsula. Jesse's enthusiasm is unbounded, and is currently directed towards baseball, but I suspect that he and Bei will manage to find common ground when they (hopefully) see each other this summer.  My sister Emily's daughter Sofia, loves to hang out with her older cousin, Bei. They have a mutual interest in fashion, and generally sidestep their less sophisticated boy cousins.  Em's son, Manny, about Bei's age and an avid guitarist, is a rising young star in Austin's music scene with his band, Taco and the Enchiladas. My other sister, Kim, has a son, Ruess, who recently earned his black belt.  

Ellen's sister, Connelle, in New Jersey, has twin Chinese daughters, Lauren and Leigh, who are older than Bei. They are currently slogging through a tough crew season, and are incredibly talented academically and artistically. Bei has always loved Lauren and Leigh, and now soaks in every insight into their teenage world.  

Collectively, the cousins are a formidable group of kids.  

My parents were both only-children, so I never had first cousins, but I had three siblings.  Bei is an only-child herself, so I love that she has this large group of cousins in her life.  I wonder what stories they will remember together when they are grown up?

Bei and Jesse, Olympic Peninsula, 2010.

Bei and Jesse, Olympic Peninsula, 2010.

Jesse, Lake Crescent Lodge, Olympic Peninsula, 2010.

Bei, Point Breeze, Virginia, 2010.

Jesse, Pt. Breeze, Virginia, 2010.

Bei, Ruess, Sofia, Manny, Pedernales State Park, Texas, 2011.

Leigh (L), Bei, and Lauren (R), Snowy Range, Wyoming, 2011.