Dr.Pepper and The National Championship

The Dr. Pepper Tuition Throw Competition is finished! I am thankful to say I came in 3rd place and won a $7500 scholarship! It's definitely not $100,000, but I will never allow myself to be ungrateful whenever I receive help. 

I placed fourth in fourth in overall voting. Everyone signed up and voted for me were an invaluable help. I wouldn't have made it to the next step without all of you. 

Dr. Pepper contacted me after the voting competition to inform me I received a $2500 scholarship and an all expense paid trip this year's National Championship between Alabama and Notre Dame. Upon arriving, we competed in the tuition throw. I came in 3rd place, and Dr. Pepper decided to double our scholarships as well! 

As a student and filmmaker, I've learned creativity and monetary gain are synonymous in the struggle towards relevance. We yearn for artistic expression, but find ourselves hampered by the need to survive. We laugh about the characterization of the starving artist, neatly categorized under creative expression vs. realistic living, but it bears truth. 

I understand money is a necessity. More importantly, I realize it is an important, yet secondary piece in the expanding path towards my long-term goals as a filmmaker. This is a step, and I'm already searching for the next ladder to climb. 

If you haven't seen my Dr. Pepper video yet, here it is!

Terry Rice

I'm always looking for new talent to submerge my work around. Sometimes I find interesting models around campus. In other instances I find myself working with the closest people around me.

T.Rice is my neophyte. This is a common term used by fraternities to signify a younger member in your respective chapter. Terry has been looking to break into modeling for a good amount of time, but we never got around to working together because of the busy schedule of the fraternity.

We finally got around to working together and the products are on point.

I have a good amount of new work floating around my FLICKR. I'd recommend checking out the link and seeing my latest work.

Update: I was accepted into NYU. Along with being accepted into USC, I'm waiting to hear back from UCLA and Columbia!

New York, New York

New York, New York!

I made it back from The Big Apple last Thursday and I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences I've had in a very long time. I've lived in a few places: Mississippi, Alabama, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. I've also been able to leave out of country to Belize as well as France for The Cannes Film Festival.

Still, my trip to New York went beyond my expectations. I can honestly say I loved it, even for the small amount of time I was out there. As I stated in my last post, New York University asked me to come out for an interview for their graduate film program. They told me a phone or skype interview would suffice if I couldn't make the trip, but I wanted them to understand how serious I am about this opportunity.

I ended up speaking to the faculty and administrators that helped me raise the money to go to Hollywood for the CampusMovieFest finale. They once again helped me gain the amount necessary for my plane ticket and hotel. Everything was set!

The interview was very interesting. I spoke with the Dean of the program and two current professors. They didn't focus on the technical stills I have. Instead, they focused on my ability to create a story, my background as a African-American from the south, and what kind of stories I wanted to craft. They even put me on the spot, and made me come with an impromptu scene for a feature length film based on my experiences in New York. Overall, the interview wasn't a grill session. They were genuinely interested in my character, the person who I am.

After the interview, I had a day and a half to scour the city and figure out whether I could see myself living there. In this case, I decided against bringing my cameras with me. It would've been an extra bag on the flight, and I didn't want to stand out as a tourist. The last part was negated as I furiously took snapshots with my Iphone to cover my experience.

I'm not going to inundate you with a thousand pictures, but I actually sifted through them and found a few I really like.

To check out the rest of photos check out my FLICKR. Also, be sure to follow me on twitter @QueTheLights

The Graduates of 2011

2011 was an amazing year for me. So many things went right I have no room to complain about the day to day problems in life.

I don't want to focus on my year in this post, you can check out A Year in Review for that. I want to focus on the individuals who made my year special by accomplishing what I'm gearing up to achieve in a few months, graduating.

Essence Peasant 

My tenure at The University of Alabama has been phenomenal. There is very little I can say I haven't done as a student. Most importantly, I'll be the first male in three generations to finish college. 

Crystal Pope

College isn't a privilege. It isn't a given right. I have a lot of friends whose family members all went to college. To them, attending an institution is another inevitable step in life. They rarely realize for the majority of individuals, college is a limited secondary option. For the most underprivileged, it is only a dream. 

Scott Hill 

I am blessed to say I had options. I had five or six schools offering full scholarships. I ended up choosing to go to Alabama to stay near my family. I didn't want to be too far from my younger siblings.  I have some misgivings about my school, but I know I made the right choice. I wouldn't have stayed here for nearly four years if I didn't.

Caitlin Jones

I know a lot of people who attended UA and didn't come back after the first semester. I know a lot of people who attended UA then transferred to another school. I know even more who couldn't handle the amount of money required to attend college and couldn't finish. 

Charlsa Mitchell

I'm just happy to be where I am. I don't take my blessings for granted. There are so many people who wish they were in my position. 

If you'd like to check out more of my graduation photography check out my Flickr! Click HERE. 

FStoppers Behind The Scenes Contest: Broken Reality

Photography by Kevyn Bryant of K. Bryant Photography

It's been an unbelievably eventful day. A plethora of pure awesomeness has made me once again realize how much I love being a filmmaker. 

This is a behind the scenes video for the 2011 FStoppers video contest. I directed and shot the video while Doug D. did the edit. 

Photographer, Kevyn Bryant, decided to make a set of photos dedicated to the memory of the devastation that hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama on April 27, 2011. 

Kevyn and I both were in Tuscaloosa when the tornado hit. The tornado bypassed us, but hurt many other people. It also destroyed hundred of homes in the Tuscaloosa area. 

Our FStoppers challenge then became the best way to convey the devastation Tuscaloosa endured in a creative and powerful manner. 

We put our heads together to figure out what theme would best suite this assignment. We decided on Broken Reality. In Tuscaloosa, there is a new normal. People have gone back to their regular routines, but all around us we can still see the ramifications of the tornado. Many individuals live in an encampment of disillusion and disbelief. You never think the tornado will hit you, until it hits you. 

Once we figured out the theme and how we would go about making it, we needed three things. 

-A first location to use for HDR images

-A second location to shoot our model

-A model (duh)

I knew a house near the main intersection of Tuscaloosa. It was on a field where hundreds of houses use to sit before the tornado hit. By this time, the majority of the houses had been plowed down, but this specific house still stood. 

I used it on a short film I shot recently, and I suggested we use it again for the HDR images. After we finished up at the house we needed to find another location to shoot the model we would use. Kevyn contacted Rae Marshall, a photographer and artistic model we knew at school, and I talked my friend, Sarah, into letting use use her apartment to shoot Rae. 

We put this all together over the span of two weeks. We finished all of the main grunt work in Tuscaloosa, and shot our behind the scenes interview in Montgomery, Alabama (Kevyn and my girlfriend live down there and her birthday was coming up, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Yes, I'm terrible). 

Once we gathered all the footage I stored everything on my Laci Harddrive and took it to my editor, Doug D., along with an outline of what we wanted. 

Four days later, we had a finished product. Best of all, we were featured on FStoppers main page after submitting our video. 

To see the feature click HERE. 

Along with this awesome news I found out Que The Lights was The Black Weblog Award's Judges Choice for Best Video Blog and Best Photography in a Blog. 

This has been an amazing day. I hope yours was just as memorable. 

Working for New York Times

If you've read the title of the post you should already know what's coming. A few days ago, I got contracted by The New York Times to do freelance photography work.

I caught the job from Marquavius Burnett, the assistant Sports editor at the school's newspaper The Crimson White.

Last week Alabama took on LSU for what I would consider pre-emptive National Championship game (because most people should already have realized by now on one could beat these teams other than themselves).

The New York Times was covering the ongoing tension at each school and needed shots around campus to choose from.

Marquavius hit me up on twitter asking me if I wanted the job, but I didn't get back to him in time and another photographer picked it up. By some stroke of luck whoever the other photographer backed out and the spot opened up again.

There was no way I was going to let anyone jump on this before me. I shot a good amount of pictures for them, and they decided to go with my shot of the Paul Bear Bryant statue for the article.



I also took a few more shots of Bear.





Along with a few students from the University to cover everything they needed.



You can check the article on the New York Times site. The biggest outcome of this entire endeavor was the satisfaction of knowing individuals outside of my circle consider me a good photographer.

It meant a lot to know I was the first person Marquavius came to. I'm happy the other photographer (whoever you may be) opted out and gave me the chance to pick this job up.

This only makes me want to work harder.  Seeking validation in for my work is not my main priority, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make a difference.

To read more on my previous accomplishments check out the Featured page on Que The Lights.

Not An Isolated Incident

I'm almost back in full swing. October has been an unbelievably stressful month for me. The deadline for UCLA's graduate school application is November 1st. Writing this post can be considered my break time before diving back into my work. There is little time to relax. Every other school I'm applying to has a deadline of December 1st. I'm gearing up to shoot another short film, plus I'm currently working on a short documentary with a few of my classmates.

College has taught me there is a trifecta concerning most student's lives. The three points are education, social life, and love.

If you are doing exceptionally well in two of the categories, you're more than likely suffering in the last one. There is no such thing as being phenomenal in all three. What you consider multitasking I define as doing multiple things very poorly. At the moment, my educational goals and love life are quite prosperous. Unfortunately, I've had very little time to just kick it with my friends.

For most, senior year is considered the final coast. You should've been setting yourself up these past three years to glide effortlessly into the post-graduate lifestyle. I know me. There is never a time where I'm not working. It's the nature of staying above everyone else. Being honest, if I had to choose between friends and advancing towards my goals...I know what I would choose.

Recently, The University of Alabama student body got its feathers ruffled when unknown perpetrators plastered racial slurs on campus buildings. The administration consistently plays events like this as rare occasions on campus, but most students at UA realize racial animosity is a constant enemy. Racist incidents happen on a regular basis on campus. The administration has just become very adept at damage control.

A good majority of students were fed up with the problems, so a protest and march was assembled by university students to condemn the ongoing racial and homosexual slander prevalent on campus.

The protest march was known as "Not An Isolated Incident." I've been far more hands-off around campus because of classes, but I knew this was an event I should capture.

Sometimes I'm not absolutely sure if this campus will ever rise out of its past, but it's good to know people are willing to stand up against people who like perpetuate discrimination of any kind.

To view more of the Not An Isolated Incident pictures go to Que The Light's Flickr. Be sure to look up Que The Lights on Twitter.

I Gotta Hustle

Now that Homecoming is over life has gone back to relative normality. I have far more time to work on projects I'm not obligated towards. At the moment I'm working on a music video for Alabama rapper, Drama. I've come into contact with some very talented artists because of my work with North Greene records.

I usually shy away from doing music videos. This doesn't mean I'm not interested in the industry, but many of the artists that approach me usually have very sub-par music. Anyone that knows me understands I'll turn down money if a project doesn't interest me. In this case, if your music isn't well done I'll pass.

Drama and Trent surprised me. When I listened certain tracks I felt as if I were listening to something on the radio. From there I've been working with both. I'm focusing on Drama's video at the moment, but I'll more than likely work with Trent soon. Still, I have done some photography work for him.

You can find Trent on Twitter. To check out more of Trent's work click here. I recommend "I Gotta Hustle." To see more of our work together go to Flickr. Also, Que The Lights is now on Twitter. Be sure to follow us!

The 15th Lake

Homecoming is Oct. 7th and my entire life for the past month has been dedicated to coordinating our show. Stepping (or if you're a part of my fraternity hopping) is a choreographed style of dancing typically seen in the African American Greek community. If you've seen Stomp The Yard, you've seen a very basic representation of stepping.

If you're in the Tuscaloosa area I'd recommend coming to see the show. Even if stepping doesn't interest you you'll have the chance to see a show I personally brought together. You won't be disappointed.

Besides the step show, I've also been handling new types of cameras. I believe a good photographer or  cinematographer has the ability to pick up any type of camera, camcorder, dslr, etc, and make something spectacular.

Yea, there is a certain limit on any piece of equipment's ability, but this is when talent and technique should come into play.

I decided to shoot a time lapse around Forest Lake. This is the lake near 15th Street in Tuscaloosa, AL where the storm crossed over. It's been a recurring theme in all of my work dealing with the Tuscaloosa Tornado. After riding by the area one day and watching the sun set I knew I had to get out there.

Shooting took around four days. I filmed with a Sony HDV, edited in FCP, and graded in Apple Color. The music is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Using the HDV was a huge step a large step away from my DSLR, but I wanted to prove to myself I could create a powerful piece of work even when I'm outside of my element.

Click on the thumbnails below to check out some of the pictures from around Forest Lake the day after the tornado.


You can also check it out the video on Youtube. I'm always looking for new followers and interesting people on twitter as well as tumblr.