Guitar talk

This is a photo I took last spring while walking from one place to another after work and it stuck in my head. The guitar player on the far right is Kurt Smith, a philosophy professor, who was talking some time (between day and evening classes perhaps) to do some playing.

One guitar seems to attract another, and pretty soon there was another student and his friend in the McCormick Center lobby to trading lick. Besides playing, Smith gave the students a miniature lesson in the origins of the traditional Spanish classical guitar oeuvre and how it shows both Islamic and Catholic cultural influences. It was an interesting example of how seemingly separate disciplines relate to one another.

Bloomsburg seems to have a growing guitar culture on campus with a classical guitar specialization and a very nice Guitar Ensemble as one of the music department's featured ensembles. Several of my favorite photos from the past couple years feature classical players.

Technical Notes: The top shot was done with the Canon 7D at ISO 1600 and set to aperture priority and with a shutter speed of 1/400. The lens is a Tokina 16-50 f2.8 at 23 mm and f3.5 .  Click on any of the photos to make them larger.

A question of balance

The audiology program needed some new photos and they wanted to get some shots of their rotational chair, which is one of about a dozen in the U.S. outside of the military. The chair, used to test inner ear function and balance, is located in a completely darkened chamber. Here audiology faculty member Jorge Gonzalez demonstrates the setup of the chair with second-year Au.D. students Alicia Kittle (seated) and Brittany Arnold. While the instrument may seem esoteric (a full balance test takes about four hours) it's proven to be a godsend for community members with balance problems. Gonzalez estimates that he's seen about 200 patients for balance issues through the university's associated Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic.

Technical notes: This shot was taken with a Canon 7D, Tokina 11-16 at 11 mm. Exposure was manual, ISO 800, f4 at 1/30. The light is entirely from the open door to the chamber and dim red light overhead. Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

Speaking of business

In early October, Bloomsburg's College of Business hosted a two-day conference for undergraduates with more than 40 business graduates coming back to campus to offer career, and life, advice. The conference was part of the university's Zeigler Institute for Professional Development, funded by grads Terry and JoAnn Schultz Zeigler.

For the staff photographers, it was a lot of moving from room to room, trying to get all the speakers in action. It was tough to settle in a shooting rhythm. But this moment came toward the end of the conference: four partners or former partners of big-four accounting firms, sitting in classroom of accounting majors, taking all and any questions.

From left: Mike Kacsmar, partner, Ernst and Young; Mark Thomas, partner, KPMG; Chuck Chubb, managing director, WTAS LLC; and Tom Holly, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Something you don't necessarily see every day on any campus. Walked away from this shoot feeling like we definitely punch above our weight.