Return To Rec 2015

Penn State's Devin Foster drives to the basket during the Nittany Lions' Return to Rec game against ULM.

On December 10 and 12 the Penn State men's basketball team played two games in historic Rec Hall as part of their Return to Rec series of games in 2015.  On the 10th the Nittany Lions played host to Canisius defeating the Golden Griffins 81-67.  The game against Canisius was also Penn State's Pink and Black game where the Nittany lions wear pink and black jerseys in omage to Penn State's original school colors, pink and black.  Two days later, on the 12th, the Lions hosted Louisiana-Monroe in a hard fought 54-50 win.

PSU Women's Soccer: 2015 National Champions

Penn State players celebrate a goal during their NCAA tournament second round game against Boston University.

The Penn State women's soccer team won the national championship this past weekend.  The Nittany Lions, who finished the season 22-3-2, and who also won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, dominated their opponents through most of the NCAA tournament.  Penn State kept a clean sheet in each of their six NCAA tournament games, outscoring their oppents by a combined 20-0 margin.

Some Catch Up: The 2015 State College Spikes Season

Danny Marting slides home for an inside-the-park homerun against Connecticut on July 10, 2015.

The State College Spikes (Short Season-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) closed out their 10th season in September.  Although the Spikes finished short of the playoffs, State College finished the year third in the the New York-Penn League Pickney Division with a respectable 41-35 record.

PIAA District 6 Softball Championships

Central’s Olivia Smith and Marissa Snyder celebrate a Smith’s game tying run during the Lady Dragon’s District 6 AA championship victory.

On May 27, the PIAA District 6 softball championships were held at Penn State's Beard Field.  After an hour and a half rain delay to start the day, eight teams played in four games to decide the district champions for the four classifications.  The championship winners were West Branch (A), Central (AA), Bellwood-Antis (AAA), and Mifflin County (AAAA).

PIAA District VI Track and Field Championships

Bellefonte’s Bryce Steiner, and Central Mountain’s Bryce Mansfield, compete in the 300-meter hurdles during the PIAA District 6 AAA Track and Field Championships in Altoona on May 14.

On May 12 and 14, Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletics Association's (PIAA) District 6 held their track and field championships at Altoona's Mansion Park Stadium.

It's Been a While, So Here's What I've Been Up To

The Penn State basketball pep band plays a tune duing the Lady Lions' Pink Zone game.

Just like the title of this post would indicate, it's been a while since a last posted anything, so here's a quick rundown on some things I've been up to recently...

A Top-5 Wrestling Matchup: PSU vs. Iowa

The scene inside the Bryce Jordan center for the PSU/Iowa wrestling match.

On Feb. 8, the Penn State wrestling team took on Iowa in a top-5 showdown inside the Bryce Jordan Center.  15,967 fans packed the BJC to watch what promised to be an entertaining dual match, and the two teams did not disappoint.  The Nittany Lions stayed with the Hawkeyes through the final match, but PSU eventually fell to Iowa 18-12.

PSU Lady Lions at Rutgers

Penn State's Tori Waldner fights for rebound.

While on a trip to the New York City area a few weeks ago, I attended the Penn State Lady Lions' women's basketball game at Rutgers.  PSU was unable to to pull off the upset, but the Lady Lions held a five point lead midway through the second period, and gave the Scarlet Knights all they could handle, falling to Rutgers 76-65 at The RAC.  The following post includes a few photos from the game.

HDR and Photojournalism: Part 1 - Against the Use of HDR

The front page of The Washington Post with the "culprit" HDR photo.

Note: This is part one of a two part post regarding the ethics of HDR photography in photojournalism.

In 2012, The Washington Post ran a High Dynamic Rage (HDR) photograph on the front page of the Jan. 13 issue of its newspaper (see image image above).  The image sparked a debate among photojournalists as to whether or not the HDR photo violated photojournalism ethics.

So, what's the problem with The Post running the HDR photo?  To understand why an HDR image may be considered unethical in photojournalism, first people need to understand what an HDR image is.  Simply stated, and HDR image is an image that is usually comprised of, three or more images, of different exposures, of the same scene laid on top of each other in some photo editing software.  When combined, these multiple images produce one image with greater color saturation and greater shadow and highlight detail.

With that bit of background knowledge, that then begs the question, is HDR photography ethical in photojournalism?