Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb, center, finds a hole in the South Carolina defensive line, during their game in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick)

On Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, Flashnick Visuals owner and photographer, Brett Flashnick was on assignment for the Associated Press to cover the Auburn Tigers as they came to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. to face the No. 10 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, some of his thoughts and a gallery of his images are available after the jump.

Below are a few of my thoughts from the game, a gallery of 20 images and a list of gear used. If you’d like an actual recap of the game check out the article by my AP colleague Pete Iacobelli over at usatoday.com.

While going through my mental gear checklist before heading out to the field to cover the Auburn at South Carolina I checked in with my editor at the AP Sports Photo Desk in New York to make sure everything was set. At the end of our conversations he said “… One more thing, be prepared for an upset.”  Being a “neutral third-party” here to cover both teams I knew that was a real possibility, even though I always want to see the home team (especially one I grew up watching) do well.  With that in mind my game plan was to focus on South Carolina during the first quarter. Over the past four games, I knew that their offense had been struggling, and realized that if they were showing the same signs of weakness during the first quarter against Auburn, the defending BCS champions and a team they lost to twice last year (once during the regular season, and once for the SEC title game), I knew an upset was a real possibility even though this was a much younger, and less experienced team.

After a very long first quarter with South Carolina only up by 3, I made the decision to start focusing more heavily on Auburn.  This proved to be a good decision by the end of the first half Auburn led South Carolina 9-6. The Auburn defense had found a way to contain South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore and quarterback Stephen Garcia’s passing was everything except accurate. Auburn’s offensive line had started to wear down the Gamecock’s defense, and quarterback Barrett Trotter and running backs Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb were finding holes on almost every play.  I began to doubt this decision when Lattimore scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown during the third quarter, but a last minute, game-winning touchdown by tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen, erased those doubts.

Its always stressful for a game to be this close, especially coming down the the last minute and thirty seconds. But thankfully my editor had prepared me for this possibility and I listened. Even though all of my friends here in Columbia, S.C. left the stadium feeling dejection, I was able to walk out knowing I delivered the images AP needed to tell the story of this game.

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Gear Used

Cameras: Canon EOS 5D MKII & EOS 7D (both cameras with their respective battery grips)
Lenses: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS
Camera Support: (w/ 300mm f/2.8): Manfrotto 679B
Memory: Sandisk Extreme 8gb CF & Lexar Professional 8gb CF***
Computer/Software: Apple MacBook Pro, PhotoMechanic (workflow), Adobe Photoshop CS4 (color correction, cropping, etc.)

Error Message re: Corrupted Lexar Compact Flash card

***Ever since I got these cards I have been having issues with my SanDisk CF readers (both the FW800 and USB 2.0) reading the cards accurately.  When inserted the read indication light will flash rapidly indicating an inability to read.  Typically this can be resolved by removing, and re-inserting the CF card into the reader.  However during my ingest of photos at half-time the card from my 5DMK II was corrupted during this process.  I have tried running Image Rescue 4 on the card to recover images to no avail. I am planning to give Lexar a call this morning to see if they can advise on this issue, and help me figure out a way to recover the first-half images.  I will update with a post in the “Gear” section as soon as I have a definite answer.

I guess the iApp is the new equivalent to going to the paper box in the morning to see your clips for the day. It’s amazing to think about how the industry has changed over the past 12 years.

If you don’t have the USA Today app already, I would recommend heading over to the iTunes App store, and downloading it today. It has become one of my daily GoTo news apps.

P.S. This post was published from my iPhone. Yes the world has changed!

A couple takes a photo on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, SC.

What is there to do in Columbia on the first Sunday of 2011 after church ends, and before the first kickoff?  If you found a digital camera under the Christmas tree this year, and aren’t sure how to get the most out of it for your family pictures, it might be a good idea to stop by the South Carolina State Museum at 1:30 or 3.  Didn’t get a camera this year, but want to learn some tips to improve your digital photography?  You’re invited too!

One of the great things about digital photography is that the cameras have become so advanced they can do a lot of the work for us, but thats also a tremendous drawback, because we tend to be lazy and forget the basic fundamentals of taking a good photograph.  During these 1 hour mini-workshops, I will be covering some basic tips and tricks that you may have forgotten, or never learned to help you get the most out of digital photographs, all geared towards helping you record your family history.

If you want to learn more come by the South Carolina State Museum this Sunday, January 2, 2011 at 1:30pm or 3pm.  The best part about this is that since its the first Sunday of the month admission is only $1, and the seminar is free with the price of admission.  Trust me when I say its a much better value than the $1 double cheeseburger at the McDonald’s up the street.

While you’re at the Museum don’t forget to stop by the Lipscomb Gallery on the first floor to check out the amazing work of 24 South Carolina photographers featured in the Palmetto Portraits Project exhibit (in full disclosure I am one of the photographers).  The exhibit runs through (closes) on January 9, 2011 so this may be your last chance to see this amazing collection of more than 240 portraits from around SC.  For more information on the PPP visit http://palmettoportraits.musc.edu/ and for more information about exhibits and programs at the South Carolina State Museum visit http://www.museum.state.sc.us/

Winter Fest Press Release PDF

Perry Dozier Jr. - Columbia, SC 2009

Looking back on my email box, I found the first correspondence letting me know that I had been selected to participate in fourth series of the Palmetto Portraits Project a year ago today.  Less than five days from now, on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, the exhibit will open to the public with a reception at MUSC’s new James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, located at 29 Bee St. in Charleston, SC.

The PPP was started a little over four years ago by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), in partnership with the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston, and the South Carolina State Museum.  The goal of the project was to commission approximately twenty noted and emerging photographers from across South Carolina to focus on portraying South Carolinians in the Lowcountry, the Piedmont, and the Upstate—reflecting the full range and diversity of the state’s citizens, occupations, and recreational activities. Creating a collection of art to display within MUSC’s educational and clinical buildings, the University hopes to remind students, faculty, staff, and visitors of those they serve at MUSC and throughout South Carolina. MUSC and the selected photographers have broadened the impact of the project by donating an identical set of photographs to the permanent collection of the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.

This was an amazing project to be invited to be a part of, and am still humbled to this day to have had the opportunity to work with so many great photographers.  While the past year of my life has led me in a in a direction that I never saw coming, both personally and professionally, I am deeply thankful for the people I have had the opportunity to meet while working on it, and the new way in which it has taught me to look at my native state.  I don’t feel I can ever thank those who have supported me, and helped me with this project over the past year enough.  I will be eternally grateful to all of you!

If you don’t have the opportunity to make it to the opening on Wednesday, but find yourself in Charleston, SC the project will be hanging in James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, located at 29 Bee St. for the foreseeable future.  Please stop by and take a look at all of the amazing work of the series IV photographers.  It will give you a new appreciation for the people and places of this state.

for more information on this project, please visit the official project site at http://palmettoportraits.musc.edu/

*Update* Check out the review of the show in the Charleston City Paper.

I recently found out that, the image I took of then Sen. John McCain’s visit to Adluh Flour in Columbia, SC during his campaign for the Republican Presidential Primary while on assignment for the Associated Press has been selected for a traveling photo exhibit by the AP titled The American President.  I feel extremely honored for my image to be selected for this exhibit since, “The photos in this exhibition are drawn from the AP Images photo archive, which contains more than 10 million film and digital images and is one of the most extensive collections of news and documentary images anywhere,” according to the exhibit’s official promotional flyer released by the AP. 

Additionally, I am the only freelance photographer whose work is contained in the exhibit, all of the other images were created by some of the best AP staff political photographers of all time, and I feel honored for my work to be chosen to be displayed side by side with the work of photographers of that caliber.

To request interviews or speakers, to request use of photos from the exhibit or to book an exhibit for display, contact AP Corporate Communications at 212.621.1720 or visit http://www.ap.org/americanpresident

Lately I’ve been taking my job a little to seriously, and it is becoming something I do to have an income, instead of something I love to do. But then again lately I’ve been taking life a little to seriously. I suppose that is the curse of making something that you love to do your career. In some ways its inevitable to just take something lightly as you get older, because you begin to realize that you need to be able to make a car payment, rent, insurance, food, etc… But when you worry about all of that stuff you tend to forget why you really started doing this in the first place. Perhaps its just time to stop taking everything so seriously, and start having fun again. Maybe then things will just fall into place. Who knows how everything will work out in the long run, and if we did know that… what would be the fun in living life. Its time to get up off of the couch and go explore the world, have some fun, and see what happens. Its time to take the point and shoot out, like I did at the beach the other day, because its more about the journey than the resullts. In that moment when I wasn’t thinking about shutter speeds, f-stops, and iso, so I get to remember the sunrise, instead of how I photographed the sunrise. I think the line from the movie is “Don’t take life to seriously, you’ll never get out alive.”

Peace