Chen's World Blog

Here is the first assignment that I had to do in the snow, very cold and slippery. I wore heavy clothes, but I was still very cold because I didn’t move around very much. If I were a photographer that day, I would’ve been fine and had fun. But I was the videographer that day, and I had to stand still. It was not necessarily fun, but it was great experience for me.

Before Thanksgiving, I was sent to the Overstock warehouse to take photos of 400 new employees, in addition to it’s 1100 employees, that have been hired for this holiday season. It was not difficult to shoot photos of new employees, but it was hard to show that they were recently hired. Anyway, I ended up taking photos of a woman who was hired two weeks ago and an overview photo of the warehouse as I was on a scissor lift (first time I got to ride on one of the those lifts, exciting and scary).

What impressed me the most was the size of the warehouse. It’s huge! I’ve never imagined a warehouse so big. I talked to one of the long-time workers there and he told me that the warehouse is almost 4,000 square feet and Overstock has another warehouse close by, and it is bigger than the one I was at. Overstock only have warehouses in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Christine Vigil, foreground, one of the 400 additional people who were hired for the holidays, cleans the shipping labels off the packing boxes at the Overstock's warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009.

Overstock has hired 400 additional employees to work for the holidays making a total of 1,500 employees at its warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009.

Salt Lake City is a very active city. If you just look at how the politics are involved in the sports activities; you would understand. As many people who live in Utah know, the Utes and BYU are big rivals in football and they will play against each other this year on Nov. 28. The two city mayors some time ago have decided that the losing team city mayor would ride a bike from his city hall to the winning team city hall. The total distance is about 50 miles. I think this is a pretty big deal for the mayors because it’s not only embarrassing, but also physically hard work. Last year, BYU lost to the Utes, and the Provo mayor Lewis Billings had to ride his bike from his city hall to Salt Lake City’s city hall.

This is a big football game not just between two colleges but as well as the two cities. I have to say that I am surprised to know that these two cities are right next to each other but are such big rivalries. Anyway, whatever the result will be, it’s an entertainment for everyone…except for the losers.

Provo Mayor, Lewis Billings, and Brigham Young University mascot, Cosmo the Cougar, left, and Salt Lake City Mayor, Ralph Becker, and University of Utah mascot Swoop, right, ride bikes to the press conference of the second annual Food Fight Rivalry Ride at the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City, UT.

Last Saturday was a good day for the BYU Cougars and for me. The BYU Cougars crushed the WY Cowboys in a NCAA college football game with the winning score of 52 – 0. Last Saturday was also good for me because it was a sunny day. I’ve heard that the weather in Laramie (University of Wyoming) can get really brutal sometimes. Thankfully, the weather had mercy on me. I didn’t have to use the big jacket and snow boots that my editor loaned me.

Here are some photos that I took from the past Halloween. I just want to share them with you.

Yesterday and today, there was some heavy snow in the morning. It was very cold, hard to see the road, and difficult to drive. Anyway, I got a snow picture and just want to share it with you.

People bundle up as they walk on Main Street during the heavy snow in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday, Oct., 27, 2009.

Today was a stressful day, but it was fun. I got the chance to take pictures of the college football game between the Utah Utes vs. Air Force Falcons. My day started out very differently than I planned. I was planning to get the 400mm lens from the office because the 400mm lens is a great lens for the game (almost every pro uses it). However, we only have one 400mm and one 600mm left in the gear pool, and I am not the only photographer for the game. The paper sent two photographers to the game. I ended up using the 600mm monster.

In the beginning, I really didn’t get used to the lens. I was like, just let me go to the roof of the stadium to take the photos because the focal length is so close. Eventually I got used to the lens and got some decent shots.

One more thing, during the first half of the game, the weather was not pretty at all, and I wasn’t prepared for the rain. I had to take off my jacket to cover the lens and the camera and I, myself, got soaked. But again, it was a great experience and FUN! Lol!

I have to say that I am very lucky to be able to get these photos. I was really late for the game because of the accident on the way. I was hoping to get six good ones would be enough for me. When I got to the high school, I couldn’t find the soccer field because the campus is really BIG. When I finally got the soccer field, I couldn’t find any parking spot. I was so frustrated and stressed. It’s like one of those things that when you were in a hurry, anything that could go wrong went wrong. Finally, I was able to find a parking space far from the field, and I had to run to the field with my camera bag and a big heavy 400mm lens. And guess what, when I finally got to the field, I was at a spot shooting the pictures against the sun. I was like, now I am dead. I was not going to run across the field to shoot the game because I was way too tired. Surprisingly, I got some good shots, I think. You judge. I bet you couldn’t tell that I was rushed to the field before taking these photos.

As I was driving to a high school girls soccer game on State Road 89, I suddenly saw a car that caught on fire and some people just standing aside, about 30 or 40 feet away from the car. I was like, great photo opportunity, so I stopped and took some photos. And yes, I was late for the game because of this, but I think it was worth it because I also got some good photos from the soccer game despite that I was late.

Layton City Fire Department fire fighter Cannon Parry, right, and Mike Graham, left, put out the fire from a 1998 Dodge Stratus Thursday afternoon between East Sunset Drive and State Road 89 in Layton, Utah. No one was injured and the driver, Trudy Brotherson, was able to escape from the car with her dog, Pink, before the car caught on fire, according to fire fighter Mike Graham.