October events on campus included the opening of UAB’s latest research building, the Homecoming parade and Gurney Derby, and another tradition: an artisanal pumpkin carving by one of our graphic designers. In this slideshow, the photographers in UAB Marketing and Communications share their favorite images from a busy month.
“I like this photo from the homecoming SportsCenter broadcast because it's busy. It holds so much information. We have the animated host talking with a reserved Coach Mortensen, surrounded by a swirl of UAB logos, students, Blaze, Protective Stadium, lights and a video camera. Typically, I don't love a busy photo, but I am a fan of pictures that hold a host of different elements, kind of like a Renaissance painting. Lots to see here, if you look closely!” — Andrea Mabry, senior university photographer
“Each Halloween, our graphic designer Jay provides an intricately carved pumpkin with UAB flair. This year he brought in this amazing carving of everyone’s favorite dragon. I was able to mess around with some fun colored tube lights to get some interesting color combinations with it. But really I didn't have to do much to make Jay's pumpkin look good!” — Ian Logue, university photographer
“Most of my favorite photographs are of people. It's not often that I feel one communicates a strong message without seeing the subject's face, at least not one of my own pictures. But I think this image does just that. It tells the story of the bond these students share as UAB Marching Blazers with less of an emphasis on the fact that one is a majorette and one is a color guard. It shows their peaceful, warm greeting in the middle of an active crowd, counting down the minutes to the start of the Homecoming Parade. I also like their position in the frame, centrally located, with the focus on them, but with the surrounding activity still sharp enough to know exactly how much is going on. The image feels both serene and energetic at the same time, and that complexity is pretty cool.”— Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner, university photographer
“The month of October is so exciting at UAB mostly because of Homecoming week. I captured this image in the buildup to the Homecoming Parade. I loved the colors of the fall leaves in the background and the way the drumstick marks on the head of the drum are so bright. This contrasts nicely with the darker elements of the image on the outside of the frame to draw your eye into the center.”— Ian Logue, university photographer
“The Gurney Derby is one of my favorite Homecoming activities to photograph. This long-running tradition dates back to the ’90's. It's an exciting event that everyone really seems to enjoy, and the more enthused everyone gets, the better our photos are! Sometimes we use a technique called ‘shutter drag,’ like in this photo. We accentuate movement during the race by focusing on one point of the subject while blurring the rest of the frame with a slow shutter. It's really neat to see the legs and feet in action!”— Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner, university photographer
“The interior spaces of the new Shelby Biosciences building are just incredible, including the views. I love how the purple sweater shows my eye which person to focus on first, before traveling to the other students and then out the windows.” — Andrea Mabry, senior university photographer
“One of the busiest areas between classes on campus is in Heritage Hall, which makes it a wonderful place to capture the hustle and bustle of student life. I live in this strange head space of feeling younger because of being surrounded by students and feeling old and out-of-touch. I usually vacillate between the two. One thing I know for sure, though, is that they are my absolute favorite subjects to photograph at UAB.”— Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner, university photographer
“It's not every day you get to see Blaze without a crowd. I snapped this photo of him on the way back from the Gurney Derby. Blaze in this quiet, normal moment makes him seem (a little bit) like any other UAB employee or student.” — Andrea Mabry, senior university photographer
“At the end of the month we photographed some of the leaders of UAB's sororities and fraternities. I'm always interested in photographing outdoors — and whenever students are included, it's usually a lot of fun. I really like this image that we staged, because it ended up having a really playful feel to it.”— Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner, university photographer
Do you need images, graphics and video for your presentations? Check out the downloadable resources available to all Blazers in UAB's Digital Asset Library.