Actress Eve Plumb, best known for her role as Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch, poses for a photograph at the Bucks County Playhouse Monday June 10, 1991 in New Hope, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Friday and Saturday I was in two states and shot six assignments. Sunday seems like payday with all of the clips to share today. One assignment didn’t run yet, but will be published next Sunday.
Here they are. Clips from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bucks County Courier Times, The Intelligencer and The Burlington County Times.
On November 2, 1991 from about 4am until 1pm, Walter Naedele and I spent time with a group of geese hunters as they sought their prey. It was a time when I shot with film cameras.
I remember it being really chilly that morning and loading my Nikon F3 cameras with the Kodak T-MAX 3200 was a bitch. My hands were too chilly to feel anything. After a bit of a struggle the cameras were loaded. T-MAX 3200….what a film. It was almost pitch black when we arrived at 4am. The hunters planned to catch the gases at sunrise, when they were foraging for early morning food. I had and still have a disdain for hunting, but that was my assignment. So, I had to make the images. Besides, if I didn’t someone else would.
That T-MAX 3200 was push processed to 6400 ISO and enabled me to make some really early morning pictures in the duck blind where we were hidden. The images look a bit grainy to me, but worked well considering the lighting conditions.
Once the sun started to come up I was able to switch over to trusty old TRI-X 400 speed film. I do believe that I push processed that to 1600 ISO. Anyhow, here are some of the pictures and a picture of one of the Nikon F3’s and a contact sheet on a light table.
Bill Lewis and Cuddy the dog fetch a goose that fell into the water after hunters shot it Saturday November 2, 1991 in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
While sitting behind the blind, Bill lewis calls geese with a goose call Saturday November 2, 1991 in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Ron Kobli, left, loads his gun as Herb Booth shoots at a goose Saturday November 2, 1991 in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
A goose lies in the pond after being shot by hunters as decoy geese float and bait the trap Saturday November 2, 1991 in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Bill Lewis places a goose onto a pile of dead geese that they had shot as Ron Kobli fetches the decoys from the pond Saturday November 2, 1991 in Buckingham, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Last weekend I photographed the Odyssey of the Mind competition in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania at Pennsbury High School. The Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.
The competitors solved problems with great presentations.
Here are some clips and the actual images from the event.
On Saturday I photographed two District One AAA basketball championship games at Council Rock South in Northampton, Pennsylvania. Check out the slideshows below.
Gwynedd Mercy Academy defeated Villa Maria 54-37.
And Holy Ghost defeated Lower Moreland 74-54.
Wednesday night I photographed a wrestling tournament in Robbinsville, New Jersey for the Burlington County Times. It wasn’t too far from home, so, I decided to leave my laptop at home because there was plenty of time to get there, come back and transmit to the newspaper’s office for layout.
After I finished shooting, I gathered my gear and headed towards the exit and saw people huddled around the door waiting out a torrential downpour. Not good. I shoved my gear under my coat and ran to the car. Made it. not too wet.
Drive home, slowly through the heavy rain. About three miles from home I get away from the rain. My thinking at this point was, “Yeah!!! No more rain.”
Then my wife calls and I thought we may have been flooded. She said no, that wasn’t the case, but there was no power. Great!!
So, I arrive home. Not sure when the power was coming back on I was about to pack up my laptop, in the dark, and head to Starbucks to transmit. Then I remembered, we have a generator. It was still on the back patio because we had set it up in case the ice and snow from a few weeks ago caused a power outage.
I went outside, used my iPhone 6+ as a light source, found the switches and started up that baby. Ok. so, now it’s running. Need to get power cord from there into the house. I did that, but not before getting the cable hooked on a tree and yanking it, thus smacking myself in the face with the end of the cord. Ouch!! Blood. No time to worry. Keep moving.
Once the cord was in the house, I found alight, unplugged from the wall, and plugged into the generator. Now we have light!!!
Next. Get power to the laptop. Found a power strip. Added that to the chain. No laptop is good. Oh no, how can I transmit? No wifi. But yes. I do have wifi. My iPhone 6+ serves as a hotspot. Sweeeeeettt!! Plug that in for power. I am then all set.
Dropped the SD cards into the Macbook Pro. Downloaded. Edited in Photoshop, Photo Mechanic. Pix moved to the office. I had to make sure that I saved the images high enough resolution, but compressed enough to not lose clarity. Save at quality 8 at 300 dpi 8×10. Pix sailed through the phone.
Now for the video. I thought that might be trickier, but I made sure that my video report was 44 seconds so i could save it small. Worked like a charm.
Moved the video, checked in, all was good. Now, I was done.
After I finished. I unplugged everything and then hooked up the fridge, bose and our SiriusXM radio. Had to have food, drink and music while waiting for the power to return. 🙂
I feel asleep, and eventually, at 12:40 AM, I was awoken by all the lights in the house going on. When the power goes out, people generally open every switch in the house like that is going to turn the power back on. All that does is freak you out in the middle of the night an the power comes on. Boy how brightly awake I was.
Looking back today, I realized that generator is wonderfully fabulous!!!!
When I was teaching at a university, one of the biggest problems I found was that students never seemed to take a deadline seriously. It is one of the simplest rules. Get your assignments in on time! Not sure why that is so hard. Maybe they need to manage time better. Some of the excuses are plain stupid. One student said she had to work, another had a death in the family, another had her gear stolen. In that case, I asked for a copy of the police report. Never did receive it. I don’t think the student realized that faculty members speak with each other and that I was told the student had used the same excuse a semester before.
Last year I had a student challenge her grade. She believed she deserved a better grade then I had given her. I told her I didn’t give her a grade. She earned it.
She asked that I review the reasoning behind the grade she had earned.
So, I did. I made note that 8 out of 10 assignments were not turned in on time and they were almost a week late in most cases. One was never even completed. Another notation I made upon review was “student did not follow directions.” In that case the assignment called for one program, which was readily available on campus, but the student chose to use another program. Thus, not doing the assignment the way it was intended.
When I explained that her lower grade was due to the fact that she didn’t follow directions and couldn’t meet a deadline. She still didn’t understand.
This was my written response to her.
You obviously have some talent, but I’ve seen is flashes of brilliance with long periods of mediocrity.”
Unfortunately, I sometimes believe that students think we are insane and that we ask these tasks of them to make it harder on them. In actuality, we ask these students to do these tasks so they will have the knowledge and fortitude to succeed in the career they’ve chosen.
Hopefully, she gets it….soon.
A group of plungers run into the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain)
A group of plungers exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain)
Judy Misoyianis of Vincenttown, New Jersey and Dennis Hart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania dressed as Baby Boomers exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain)
From left, Amber Kenney, Karli Krug and Adam Bockius exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain)
600 souls braved 32 degree water temperatures to plunge into the Delaware River and raise money for Special Olympics on Saturday at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem.
They helped raise $120,000 during Pennsylvania Special Olympics’ Eighth Annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge.
For $50 per person, a person could take a dip in the freezing river for a good cause.
Participants waded and splashed their way out into the water and around a banana rescue boat while high-fiving officers as they exited the frigid water.
Members of trevose fire company wore white wedding gowns into the water.
Hot chocolate and coffee was served by duke donuts, a sponsor of the event.
A group of plungers run into the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
A group of plungers exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Judy Misoyianis of Vincenttown, New Jersey and Dennis Hart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania dressed as Baby Boomers exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
From left, Amber Kenney, Karli Krug and Adam Bockius exit the 32 degree Delaware River during the eighth annual Eastern Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) Saturday January 30, 2016 at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
600 souls braved 32 degree water temperatures to plunge into the delaware river and raise money for special olympics on saturday at neshaminy state park in bensalem.
they helped raise $120,000 during pennsylvania special olympics’ eighth annual eastern polar bear plunge.
for $50 per person, a person could take a dip in the freezing river fir a good cause.
participants waded and splashed their way out into the water and around a banana rescue boat while high-fiving officers as they exited the frigid water.
members of trevose fire company wore white wedding gowns into the water.
hot chocolate and coffee was served by duke donuts, a sponsor of the event.
On Sunday I spent part of the morning shoveling and trying to dig myself out from Winter Storm Jonas. Then in the afternoon, I went to make pictures and video of people in the Bucks County area also digging out. Here are some images and the video report.
Tara Grunde-McLaughlin (right) of Newtown, Pennsylvania shovels snow rom the sidewalk while cleaning up after Winter Storm Jonas Sunday January 24, 2016 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Jonathan Grunde-McLaughlin (left), 8 of Newtown, Pennsylvania throws snow at his brother Andrew Grunde-McLaughlin, 10, also of Newtown, Pennsylvania a day after Winter Storm Jonas Sunday January 24, 2016 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Stacey Bancroft of Newtown, Pennsylvania shovels snow from the her porch while cleaning up after Winter Storm Jonas Sunday January 24, 2016 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
Jill McDade (left) and Michelle Cunningham, both of Newtown, Pennsylvania walk along State Street as the region cleans up after Winter Storm Jonas Sunday January 24, 2016 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
A vehicle remains snow covered as the region cleans up after Winter Storm Jonas Sunday January 24, 2016 in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (William Thomas Cain/Cain Images)
On Sunday, Cooper had a field day in the snow. This little dude loves, loves, loves playing in the snow. His biggest bit of fun is when he gets to play “snowballs”. For that, I make a nice sized snowball and throw it. he chases and tries to catch it in the air. He then proceeds to eat the dean thing. If he can’t catch it, he will bury his head into the snow until he comes up with it. Not just any bit of snow, but he will find the snowball that I threw his way.
Very cool smart little doggie.
After 30 years, I finally have had one of my images on my old friend Pierre‘s Christmas Card. The image, which shows Rodney, Pancake and Pierre on Rittenhouse Square during a live broadcast celebrating WMMR‘s 47th birthday at the station’s old home on Rittenhouse Square April 29, 2015 in the Wellington Building. 
It was a nice Christmas present from something that I just went and shot for fun.
One of the assignments I photographed yesterday was a PennEast protest in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. The protesters crossed the Milford bridge into Milford, New Jersey in opposition to the 114 mile stretch of pipe that will run from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania to Mercer County in New Jersey.
A group of concerned citizens march across the Milford Bridge to show their opposition to the proposed PennEast pipeline Saturday August 22, 2015 in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain)
A group of concerned citizens lead the protesters as they march across the Milford Bridge to show their opposition to the proposed PennEast pipeline Saturday August 22, 2015 in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain)
A group of concerned citizens march across the Milford Bridge to show their opposition to the proposed PennEast pipeline Saturday August 22, 2015 in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. (Photo by William Thomas Cain) (William Thomas Cain)
Doylestown Historical Society collected old photographs today. 
At Three Arches a group of Comcast employees help around the park. Also, I ran into the brother of a dude I went to high school with many years ago. Good start to the day.
Here is one of my favorites from last night’s prom shoot for Solebury School at the Washington Crossing Inn at Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. I’ll post a full link once I finish editing the pix. It was very windy, so I had to light it with two strobe from the sides. Couldn’t use a softball of umbrella because of the wind.
Making portraits at the Solebury school prom, which was held at the Washington Crossing Inn in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. Here’s one of the images of students waiting for the portraits.
Shot the preview of a new museum show opening at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Some iPhone 6 plus pix follow below:
Two pix from last night’s class in Dover. Students were working on portraits and light and shadows. And I was playing around a with silhouettes.
Last week I photographed a few little league opening days in the area. The images were intended to run together as a whole package, but for some reason the newspaper split the images by county.
Here are the images presented together, the way they were intended in a slideshow format.
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