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I've been a staff photographer at the Lawrence Journal-World since the summer of 2005. My love for photojournalism was cultivated in college with long hours spent at the University Daily Kansan. Fresh out of school I spent a year as a contract photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before taking a job as a staffer for the Topeka Capital Journal where I spent the next three years.
Although I primarily work with still photography, my duties at the JW include covering news, features and sports with the use of still images, video and audio clips. A few highlights from the last few years have been covering the 2008 NCAA championship run as well as the Orange Bowl victory.
I feel fortunate to work with such a knowledgeable and hard-working staff.
Beyond being the greatest stage in college basketball, the Final Four is also an incredible melting pot for fun, humanizing and quirky moments among players coaches and fans. It's also the ultimate landing spot for little stories that have built there way up to the national stage throughout the month of March.
Most Kansas basketball fans can recall from memory the classic photo of the game’s creator James Naismith standing proudly on the left with the coach Phog Allen to his right. The two figures of basketball royalty are both wearing fedoras and the only thing stopping them from holding hands is a basketball that they hold together. The image portrays the two as allies and collaborators in lock step, cradling the game in its fledgling years. But a new book on Phog Allen suggests reality wasn't nearly as picturesque.
If you ask one of the student managers for the Kansas men’s basketball team, they might tell you the hustle element doesn’t just exist between the whistles. In fact, they’d probably tell you it is required in every nook and cranny of the program, and this includes the laundry room. By Nick Krug
Recently, editors at the Lawrence Journal-World approached the photo department about incorporating video and still photographs shot from a drone into our reportage. Initially, the idea was met with some hesitation, in part because of the potential costs. But speaking at least for myself, I also was a bit nervous about crashing the thing and getting blamed for trashing a piece of expensive equipment.
If my calculations are correct, Kansas University men’s basketball opponents are more or less good for about three to four court-stormings a season. I’ve learned a few things about how to protect myself and how to convey the gravity of the moment without getting trampled.
Looking through images I’ve made during 359 games has taught me a lesson about being somewhat selective while shooting, but I also learned a little about the importance of meticulous archiving practices.
Several readers have commented to me before that they can often pick with a great success rate which Journal-World photographer shot a particular photo on a given day without looking at the credit.
I'm always going to put a premium on quality over quantity. However, there are days when it would be really beneficial to be paid by the image...