Jacksonville Sea and Sky Spectacular

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Happy Veterans day!! It has been one epic week for the Department of Defense here in Jacksonville, Fla. The Sea and Sky Spectacular took flight last Thursday for the weekend. Midshipmen came to town Saturday from the Naval Academy to beat Notre Dame’s Fightin’ Irish, and beat them they did, 28-27, at the new and improved stadium downtown.

The following photographs are from Sunday’s show over Jacksonville Beach, beginning with the Patriots jump team of Navy SEALS, two holding the flag between them during the national anthem, and ending with the incredibly exact Blue Angels.

The second Tuesday of the month arrived November 8, and Donald Trump won the electoral votes for Florida, and the country, making him the President-elect. He gave a serious heart-felt speech following Hillary Clinton’s call to congratulate him(though she refused to give a concession speech that night despite her many supporters awaiting her all evening) Trump promised to do right for veterans, and his 100-day plan includes increasing support for our military, which, as there are three Naval bases in Jacksonville, Fla., folks around here are glad to hear.

Click on the photos to get a better view!

Featured Photos by Rachel Jones

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Resume: email sojournjones@gmail.com


Photos:

Nease running back Jared Bassett, right, struggles to break free from St. Augustine’s defense during the first quarter of Friday night football action at St. Augustine on Sept. 14, 2012. Augustine triumphed 36-14 on their home field. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Justin Blakely closes in on the finish line of the Color Me Rad 5K at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. Runners were plastered in color throughout the race, and a portion of the proceeds benefitted the Duval 4-H Foundation. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Marcelle Altshuler, 20, rappels down a 150-foot cliff at Foster Falls in Tennessee, silhouetted near a spider on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2012. Altshuler, a neurobiological sciences junior at the University of Florida, was on a weekend trip with the Outdoor Adventure Recreation Club. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Sailors having a good time before the start of the Navy-Marine Corps Classic basketball game between the University of Florida and Georgetown University on the USS Bataan on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. The game was canceled at half-time due to concerns for players’ safety because of the condensation on the court. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

First lady Michelle Obama speaks to supporters at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at the University of Florida on Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. Gainesville was the first of two Florida cities she traveled to Monday to promote her husband’s campaign. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Abby Hogan restocks herbs at the Citizen’s Co-op on Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. She recently moved to Gainesville from Curacao and started volunteering at the co-op once-a-week to get more involved in the community. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Bailey Piper, 21, climbs at the Gainesville Rock Gym on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. Piper is a wildlife ecology and conservation senior at the University of Florida. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Tornado Rider performs on the Front Porch Stage at Magnolia Festival on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak. The festival is four days long and full of music. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Cassandra Zawojek, 21, poses for a portrait near Norman Hall at the University of Florida on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. Zawojek is a senior majoring in english. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Jackie Jones, 15, poses for a portrait in downtown Jacksonville on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012. The name of the shoot was “You know its urban when it smells like…” (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Snappy & Floyd perform at the Laboratory in Gainesville on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Their set includes a slideshow of images to accompany the beats. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

Sailors and civilians watch the firework display off the USS Bataan during half-time of the Navy-Marine Corps Classic basketball game between the University of Florida and Georgetown University on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. The game was canceled at half-time due to concerns for players’ safety because of the condensation on the court. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

First lady Michelle Obama grasps the hands of supporters after speaking at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at the University of Florida on Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. Gainesville was the first of two Florida cities she traveled to Monday to promote her husband’s campaign. (Photo by Rachel Jones)

 

Gallery by Rachel Jones

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Duct Tape, Barrels and Blood

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Meet Dexter. Blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police. SPOILER ALERT! He also kills people on the side. (Kinda twisted that people watch this Showtime series religiously, eh?)

This is Deb, Dexter’s non-blood-related sister. She was sort of in love with his biological brother, the Ice Truck Killer, and he duct taped her to a table, hoping Dexter would kill her.

This is one of the creepy dudes that stuck girls in barrels in a swamp. Dexter’s “code” states he can only kill ‘bad people’ — this guy would be one of them.

Dexter first sticks a syringe in his victims so he can strap them to a table without a fight. This is that syringe, that another ‘lab geek’ at Miami Metro is holding.

This is another one of the serial-killer-type creepy dudes Dexter has killed.This is Lumen and Dexter. Lumen was one of the girls that would have ended up in a barrel if Dexter hadn’t stepped in. Dexter helped Lumen avenge herself and the other girls and then she went back to wherever it is she came from.

This is Sgt. Dokes, he was a cop with Miami Metro police during the first season before he was killed. He was the only cop ever onto Dexter’s secret.

Dexter has killed a lot of people, most of them tend to be creepy men doing sick, repulsive things to women, like cutting them up. This is another killer that would’ve fit Dexter’s “code” of people he can take out.

Its crazy how much this guy actually looks like Dexter. Especially with that grin…
Dexter puts plastic up to ensure he doesn’t leave any evidence whenever he kills someone. He also wears rubber gloves and an apron, and usually his classic brown shirt.
This is Rita. Dexter’s wife, who was murdered in a bathtub by a serial killer Dexter was trying to kill. She is blonde and there was blood.

And this is a little extra, because I did it anyway…It’s Hannah McKay…the only girl who loves and understands Dexter, because [SPOILER ALERT!!!] she is a killer, too. But she kills with poison from a purple flower.

A Journey through Light

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The “Specialized Journalistic Photography” course I signed up for this semester turned out to be a lighting course. Who knew, right? I didn’t even know this class existed until I was in it. After a ton of assignments based on what seemed totally unknown to me, this is what I’ve got:

This will go by order of  -my favorite- not necessarily sequentially.

The assignment was fashion-based. Lighting: 2 to 3 flashes. Harsh. Urban. I went to the sketchiest place I know, and that is downtown Jacksonville (DUUUVAL!). Murder-rate’s too high to post here ’cause its going up as I type!
Title of the Shoot: You know its Urban when it Smells Like…
My next-favorite assignment was the first one: natural lighting. Open-shade. Overcast. Or direct sunlight.

Next assignment: learning subtractive lighting. With a flash. Dun dun dun… Set the shutter speed to 1/30, 1/60, and 1/125. Same photo, different shutter speed. After getting the ISO in ballpark, of course.
Title: (The Apocalypse IS Now–) Newspaper Downpour
For the sports portrait assignment, I took a flashlight to the rock gym and set the shutter speed to 20 seconds. It took a while to get this first shot, so I took some non-motion ones as well, but the green of the walls in that place isn’t too pleasant for still portraits so I’ll continue onward with more flash-light-lit photos.

It was called painting with light, where every photo turns out blurry. Kind of a drag due to how uncomfortable it is for models to stand still between 20-30 seconds so I could paint them with a flashlight for 36 different shots. Some of the photos turned out pretty cool though. (Solution, masochistic models? Or -purposely- blurred photos!) Rule: include sky.
Title of shoot: Dreamland to Terrorscape

Fashion. We had models come in with a bunch of clothes, shoes and accessories. We dressed them up and shot them for 15 minutes with power of three lights.

Another assignment was another one light portrait. (Because we did so terribly the first time around) This was originally called Hippies, Grunge & Samurai, but I cut the second two. We also practiced subtractive lighting.

Some of us used foil, others actually went out and bought reflectors…for the reflecting natural light assignment. I didn’t have any cool title for this shoot but now that I’m posting the pics up here I’m thinking “A Jungly Fairytale.”

Woh, woh, woh. Scratch that. The title of this set of photos is obviously “Welcome to the Jungle.” (we’ve got fun and games!)

Lastly, we’ve got food. Not my favorite to photograph because I’d much rather be eating it. We used a flash in class and put tablecloths all over the desk to make the food portraits a bit more snazzy. And I call this one, “You Don’t Use a Butter Knife to Slice a Tomato.”

Wow, we really accomplished a lot this semester. I feel like I’ve done the most work ever this semester but it’s gone by the fastest.

Portraits

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