High School Hoops

I haven't been shooting much basketball this year which is rare for me. I did get to shoot a game last night: Muncie Central vs Pike High School. Muncie beat Pike who is ranked in the top ten in the state and has one of the best players in the country Marquis Teague.

Jesse's Wedding

Jesse James Smith, 20, has leukemia and only months to live. He decided to spend it married to his long time girlfriend. With the help of Riley Hospital for Children and the Indianapolis Colts he proposed at a recent Colts game. Many other people and companies came together to help him complete his goal.


Jesse's Wedding - Images by Chris Bergin

On Assignment: Swimmer Portrait

Portrait of a swimmer from a local high school who has broken several school records. She was a really good sport as we dumped bucket after bucket of water on her.

Duck Hunt

I was sitting around the office yesterday trying to come up with something good to shoot when I saw a Facebook post saying there was a goose hunt at Prairie Creek Reservoir here in Muncie. I couldn't resist, despite the 9 degree temperature. After hunting for the hunters I found them and they were kind enough to let me shoot some pictures as they packed up for the day. 

HSPA Awards

The results came in from the Hoosier State Press Associate awards, a state wide newspaper contest that covers many categories including a photo category. I picked up a few awards including first place spot news, second place spot news, first place multiple picture package, first place video story, second place video story and finalist for picture of the year. Here are some of my winning entries, and the links to the videos.

Springfest: http://vimeo.com/11053703
Vinyl: http://vimeo.com/10969428

Connor Haughn




Police Surrender


Dog Rescue

On Assignment: Nursing Home

We recently did a story at The Star Press that talked about local nursing homes and how they were rated by the state and federal government. Most of them were ranked horribly. The scores are based on a number system where 0 is the best score meaning no deficiency's were found. The state average is 174. Some of our large local nursing homes were in the 400's.

This image is from a small local nursing home in New Castle, Indiana who just adopted a black lab that now lives there. The residents love the dog and other smaller animals the home has (bird, fish). This nursing home scored one of the best in the area with 32.

On Assignment: Food Drive

A local food drive here in Muncie where people drive or walk through and volunteers load up their cars with food items. The drive is held each month, however this November is the busiest the volunteers have ever seen it. It's quite a sad site to see as many hundreds of people line up for help.

Spot News

It's been a busy past week and a half of shooting news in between regular assignments. I shot 4 fires, couple of accidents, and saw a man get run over by a car while he was volunteering his time giving food to the needy. Lets hope it calms down a bit soon. Here are a few spot news images. 

The weather this week has been great, with highs in the 70's. Driving back from an assignment I was pleased to find these two guys painting the side of a building in downtown, Muncie.

On Assignment: Controlled Burn

From the newspaper office in downtown Muncie, Indiana we noticed a lot of black smoke near Ball State University. I went to investigate and found that they were doing a controlled burn in one of the nature areas north of campus. I stuck around for a few minutes to shoot some pictures as they were wrapping it up.

Storm Damage

We get plenty of storms here in Muncie, Indiana but not many at this time of year.  This storm hit around 10:30 a.m. but no one knew about any damage, not even the emergency services, until around 1 p.m. At least one tornado touched down and damaged a few houses and uprooted a bunch of trees.


Storm Damage - Images by Chris Bergin

On Assignment: Demo Derby

I love shooting these things. Destruction + rednecks = cool pictures



Demo Derby - Images by Chris Bergin

On Assignment: Barn Fire

One of my favorite images of the year so far. This was a barn fire that I showed up late to with firefighters just putting out hot spots. It often pays off to stick around a bit longer than you normally would and look at a scene from a different perspective.

On Assignment: Volleyball

Well high school sports have started up again, which means a lot of my time at the newspaper will be spent shooting them. Here is an image from my first event of the season.

Chicago

I went to Chicago for a very short overnight trip to shoot some senior pictures, take in a White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field, and hang out with friends. Here are a few images from the trip.

Print Sale!

I am now offering prints for sale! Sizes range from 3.5x5 prints to 16x20 canvas. Check em out and make your walls the envy of your friends.

On Assignment: County Fair

This year I haven't been covering the local county fair as much as I have in years past. I was sent to cover Republican night for the paper this week but took an hour to walk around shooting the main event for the night.

Travel: Nashville, Tn

Took a trip to Nashville with my girlfriend Eileen for her birthday. On the way we stopped to check out the Woodford Reserve Bourbon distillery. Here are a few images from the short time we had for the trip. Thanks for looking.

Chris


Nashville, Tn - Images by Chris Bergin

On a personal note: Oscar playing

Here is a picture of my boxer Oscar playing with the hose. He is a good boy.

Chris

On Assignment: Ford Tri-Motor

One of the great things about this job is that from day to day you never know what you might be doing. Mostly the days are fairly mundane but every once in awhile you have an assignment that allows you to experience something fantastic. Last week I had the chance to fly in the front seat of a Ford Tri-Motor airplane, one of only 199 made and one of six still able to fly. I got a bit nervous when the pilot climbed on the wings and checked the fuel level with a stick. Here are some images from a short 15 minute flight around Muncie, Indiana.


Ford Tri-Motor - Images by Chris Bergin

Wedding: Adam and Ana

At first I didn't want the pressure of shooting a friend and fellow photographer's wedding. In the end i'm really glad I did it and was able to capture the moments of one of the most important day's they will have together.


bAdamAna - Images by Chris Bergin

On Assignment: Cornfed Derby Dames roller derby team

Here are some images from a recent shoot with the new roller derby team here in Muncie. The pictures were shot at a local farm using one off camera flash. Although hectic at times, and battling with occasional downpours I was really happy with the results.


Cornfed Derby Dames - Images by Chris Bergin

On Assignment: High School Baseball

I have been shooting quite a bit of high school baseball the past few weeks. He is one of my favorite recent sports images shot from the third base line. I have been waiting for this image all season and it finally came together for me.

On Assignment: Honor Guard

I was assigned to do a story on the local honor guard. A group of military veterans who perform at funerals of veterans. Here is my favorite image I shot while covering them at a funeral.

Food

I don't shoot much food but really enjoy it when I get the chance. Of course part of that enjoyment comes at the end when I get to eat it. Here are a couple of images shot last week.

Chris

Sunset

We had a great sunset a couple of nights ago after a storm system moved through. I shot this from the front of my house looking across the street.

Springfest 2010

I had a great time shooting Springfest 2010 held in Muncie, Indiana. It's a new small music festival but it brought in people from all over for a weekend of music, camping, and debauchery.


Springfest 2010 - Images by Chris Bergin

Muncie Gras portraits

Muncie had it's own version of Mardi Gras. Despite being a month late there was a great turn out. I set up a small crudely constructed studio where I grabbed people walking past. Here are some of the portraits.

Chris


Muncie Gras Portraits - Images by Chris Bergin

Chicago

I spent a couple of days in Chicago exploring the city and shooting a few pictures. Here are a few of the selects.


Chicago - Images by Chris Bergin

iPhone Photography

Some more images shot and processed with my iPhone. I am really digging shooting with this thing.

State Wrestling

I shot the state wrestling tournament last Saturday at Conseo Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. We had two wrestlers from our area compete, and only one win. Here are a selection of images from the evening. 

Dangling Truck

As a photographer at a small newspaper  you never know what you are going to get into. A couple of days ago I photographed an unusual accident here in Muncie. A car swerved in front of a truck and crashed head on with the truck sending the cab over the edge of a bridge. The driver of the truck managed to climb up the cab and was uninjured. The driver of the car died at an Indianapolis hospital a day later.

Connor Haughn

I finished a story on Connor Haughn, a five-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a tumor on his brain stem. They family had high hopes that he could beat the illness but after many complications he eventually lost his battle. Here are the images in the final part of the series shot for The Star Press.

Connor Haughn - Images by Chris Bergin

iPhone Photography

I have been working with my iPhone camera quite a bit lately. I am quickly learning you can make some good images with what could possibly be the worst camera you could own.

Robin

Well I finally figured out how to put big pictures in the blog! A small victory for me. Thought I would start out with an image of a robin I shot a couple of days ago while working in the snow.

Happy New Year

Well I had to work on New Years Eve, the least I could do was make some pictures I am happy with. Here they are, from the celebration in downtown Muncie, Indiana.

New Years Eve 2009 - Images by Chris Bergin

Anson and Mandi Engagement

A cold but fun engagement session with friends Anson and Mandi at Anson's dads place in Gaston, Indiana.

Anson-Mandi01 - Images by Chris Bergin