The Jump Project

In early March, I challenged myself to photograph a jump a day for thirty days. I made my challenge public to anyone who would listen and even did some brainstorming with others about possible jump locations. After a clearing up of the weather that conveniently coincided witha much needed haircut in mid-March, I was ready to begin my project. I've done two jump photographs prior to this series: one at Formosa Boulevard Station in Kaohsiung and one in front of some plum blossoms in Fengguidou. I also lookedat a few examples of other people's works - Jumping Project is the largest group on Flickr devoted to portraits of people jumping. Another source of inspiration was Natsumi Hayashi's incredible levitation blog - Yowayowa Camera Woman Diary - the influence of her photographic style may be obvious ina couple of photographs in this series.

Most of my photographs were taken on weekdays during my lunch break. Some were taken a couple blocks from where I work [and a couple at my workplace], while others were usually within a ten minute driving radius. Most of my shots were taken on shutter priority mode [1/500 s] using my camera's 20 second shutter release timer and set to take nine consecutive photographs. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the lousy shots were erased on my camera long before they ever made it to my hard drive. Looking back, those would have made a great collage. After beginning my project, it quickly became apparent that because of other priorities and the occasional thunderstorm I wouldn't be able to complete my project in thirty days.

I really like my first photograph Going Up. In my opinion, it's a well-composed photograph. Without the movement of my shirt, it would look like I was superimposed to my position. The torn advertisement gives the picture a sense of balance. The horizontal lines contrast well with my direction of movement and can be used to measure my vertical leap.

about nfl draft news

Not a Sooner, but we do have 1 Brit in the draft this year. Jack Crawford, much like our very own Tom Wort moved over to America during high school, but took a very different route. He went over to play Basketball in New Jersey for St Augustine not knowing anything about American Football. During his Sopohmore year that he had to sit out in Basketball he started to watch Football and take an interest in the sport and finally in his Junior year at High school, he got to play. Not thinking he was doing so well, he only carried on playing his Senior year due to all the interest he was recieiving from Colleges up and down the country, before he finally settled on Penn State.A 3 year starter at DE, Crawford is a prospect who should go in the later rounds of the draft. He has a good frame and hopefully in a system where he doesnt need to produce right away, a few years down the line he could become a solid player in the NFL miami heat jersey. Read his interview with NFLUK.com here. As a fellow Brit, will be following how he does, and hopefully be the first of a few Brits making it to the NFL Draft over the next few years, with our very own Tom Wort in wanting to be there soon.NFL.com Draft Preview

1. 33 1/2 "the Arm the Length
2. 274LBS. Weight
3. 10 1/4 "Hands,
4. 6'5 "Height

Overview - Crawford started for three years at Penn State and has just five years of experience at his position. He was a late bloomer who moved to the United States from England to play basketball in high school before picking up football and, eventually, a scholarship. He barely showed up against Houston in the nfl jersey 2012 nike Ticket City Bowl and logged only one pass defensed - a microcosm of his career at Penn State, where he generally just stood up and hoped to knock down balls with his frame.Strengths - Crawford has an amazing frame for defensive end. Taller than 6-foot-5, he is going to get his hands up and disrupt passes at the next level. Even if he has to develop early on, he can contribute right away in this aspect. He is athletic for his position and it shows when he is running down cross-field plays. He is adept at shedding blocks and getting to the ball. For a raw player, he has a surprising feel when working against the run game . He struggles against the pass and is still developing his technique to be more effective there, but his frame gives him plenty of potential.

 Weaknesses - Crawford is still developing as a football player. It is obvious at times that he hasn't been playing the game very long; he has difficulty reading offensive lines and reacting to plays against the run. Once there, he is disruptive and effective , but he could be a deer in headlights early on at the next level. He is not very quick off the ball and will need to continue to develop his speed and burst. He looks nice but can't really burst in short areas to get to the Quarterback and the finish of the the play.

Never Forget

Hayden Smith Swaps Rugby For The NFL

Hayden Smith has represented the USA Eagles on 18 occasions and has played 43 times for Saracens confirmed on Tuesday that he would be switching to the NFL where he had a workout with the Jets at the start of the year and will play at the position of Tight End.

Australian-born Smith moved to the USA to play college basketball in 2002 but Smith soon switched to rugby and made his USA debut in 2008.

He joined Saracens at the start of the 2008/2009 season and played in all four matches for the USA in the Rugby World Cup last year in New Zealand.

Smith’s agent Jack Bechta confirmed that he will earn an average $355,000 (￡223,453) in salary with about $100,000 (￡63,000) guaranteed in his first season.

Former NFL tight ends coach Tim Brewster, who helped Smith in his bid to join the NFL and is famously known to have converted Antonio Gates from college basketball start to one of the best Tight End’s in the NFL, said in a various set of tweets (found below) that Smith had what it takes to make it in the NFL.