John Boal Photography

I haven’t posted in a bit, and it’s generally the same reason as always. I decided I didn’t like anything from the past several weeks to post. But often times, several weeks pass, and an opportunity presents itself for reflecting on the work you’ve done, and you are pleasantly surprised. The school year is finished, but between the last weeks of May and the first couple of June, my days are full with sports. Player of the year for this, playoffs for that. And knowing I’m not much of a sports photographer, I brushed aside any of my work from this period, assuming it not blog-worthy. Lo and behold! As I corralled my work for the quarterly VA News Photog. Assoc. contest, I found what I thought to be several interesting photos. Many of which, unfortunately, went unpublished. But that doesn’t deter me, because I know what I’m doing, even if the publisher does not. And my personal progress is ultimately what matters in this context. Naturally, I hope these are interesting to you, t

Greetings! Here is my annual These-Kids-Are-Either-Really-Bored-or-Tired-or-Anxious-or-Both at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC. I generally had yet another good time at the Bee. It's a great time to run into other photographers I haven't seen in months, and drink tons of free coffee and eat free pastries. Last year I posted much of the same. I find these things to be highly amusing, since, for many of these kids, this is as close as it gets to "Prime Time" as they'll ever get, and here they are being kids. They are bored waiting for everyone to finish. Or they are incredibly anxious. Or both. So when people yawn, or stretch, or rub their eyes, it's funny to me. At the very least, it provides entertainment, or a challenge for the 99% of the time I'm actually waiting for the one person I'm there to photograph. Enjoy, until next year....