The “Honey For the Heart” parade made up of homemade costumes and banners officially kicked off the infamous Halloween block party on Court Street on Saturday, October 26, 2013.

Last weekend I covered the earlier portion of Ohio University's infamous Halloween block party. I got to Court St. when people were still very tame and covered Halloween from around 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. As always, tons of people came out to celebrate bringing with them a wide variety of costumes–both homemade and store bought. It's always interesting to see the different costumes and to people watch the sheer crowds that pack Court St. for this revered college throw down. 

Maggi Gibbons sits atop her father Zach Gibbons' shoulders as they march down Court Street with members of "Honey for the Heart", a collaborative community project that makes puppets out of recycled materials.

“Red Fett” points to a photograph of C-3PO and R2D2 on Court St. during saturday’s Halloween celebration.

A man dressed as Noah from the biblical story leads a group of people dressed as animals down Court St. on Saturday evening while wrapped in a piece of cardboad that reads, "Noah's Ark."

(From left to right) Jake Mobilian, Cole Pinney, Laura Jameson, and Laura Risaliti enjoy a late night snack on Court St. during the Halloween festivites saturday night.

Will Crosby (left) and Jake Delpine (right) pose on Court St. during Halloween festivities saturday night.

In addition to my classes and working for The Post, I am also historian of the Singing Men of Ohio. As historian I am tasked with recording momentous SMO events through photographs and also multimedia. We had our first concert of the year last Thursday, October 24, at the First United Methodist Church here in Athens, Ohio. Before the concert, I was assigned to quickly take portraits of all 84 members of the group inside the church. Between big smiles, some of the guys would goof off for the camera and made for some pretty funny photographs–so I decided to include some of my favorite bloopers from the shoot. I love singing with each and every one of the SMO guys, I consider a lot of them to be my best friends in college. The entire serious take can be seen on the Singing Men of Ohio's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151957301592110.1073741833.202928857109&type=1

President of the Singing Men of Ohio Joe Brenckle (left) and Vice-President Jimmy Herpy (right).

Kevin Arsenijevic, bass in the Singing Men of Ohio. 

Jake Delpine, bass in the Singing Men of Ohio

Bruce Aquino, bass section leader in the Singing Men of Ohio.

These past two weeks have really thrown me for a loop as a photographer. I haven't been having any particular difficulties with creating images, but in how I archive and store them after they've been created. After shooting my second assignment for The Post on last Monday, my hard drive started acting strangely when I was uploading my files to be post-processed. To make a long story short, that was the beginning of my hard drive crashing. After two days of trying everything I could think of and asking anyone that could help, it was confirmed-my hard drive had crashed and I had lost all of my files on it. I thankfully had some of my files backed up on another hard drive, but only up until July. All the images I had taken from mid July until last Monday had been lost. I have since sent my external drive to Western Digital in hopes of recovering those lost files, I haven't heard anything from them on the matter as of yet.

Although this has been a major set back, I have learned a lot from it. I had a photo assignment on that hard drive that was due that Thursday, and I hadn't confirmed that the hard drive had completely crashed until Wednesday morning. I had to push myself to find another subject to shoot in an extremely limited time span in order to meet deadline for my class. I wasn't very happy with what I shot, but I had to get something. This experience taught me first hand that even if everything goes wrong, a photographer still has to make deadline. It also taught me a lot about religiously backing not just one, but numerous hard drives with files in different places to ensure that photographs are secure. Since the incident I have invested in new hard drives and workflow methods to ensure that if something like this happens again, I can isolate the damage done to the absolute best of my ability. Below is the only image I was somewhat happy with after spending an impromptu afternoon with the Athens fire department.

Athens firefighter Sean Dean puts on his fire jacket during a slow day at the Athens fire department on Wednesday, October 16, 2013.

After recovering from my hard drive troubles, I shot both Ohio University soccer and volleyball this weekend. This was my first time shooting volleyball. As I shoot sports more and more, I find myself getting much more acquainted with sports and how to best photograph them. Going to school here at Ohio University gives me many opportunities to shoot a wide variety of sports, giving me lots of time to polish my sports photography. 

Ohio University midfielder sophomore Leah Sandercock dribbles upfield while guarded by Eastern Michigan University midfielder junior Molly Krick on Friday, October 18, 2013 at Chessa Field. Ohio University fell to Eastern Michigan University 3-0.

Ohio University forward/midfielder senior Maggie Murnane heads the ball towards the Eastern Michigan University goal on Friday, October 18, 2013, at Chessa Field. 

Ohio University midfielder sophomore Lauren Haley works to hold posession of the ball against Eastern Michigan University defender freshman Madison Hirsch at Chessa Field on Friday, October 18, 2013.

Ohio University middle blocker graduate student Alexis Pinson sets the ball over the net while contested by a Ball State University player as other Ohio University players watch intently. The Cardinals narrowly defeated the Bobcats in five sets during the game held at the convocation center on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

Ohio University middle blocker graduate student Alexis Pinson spikes the ball as a Ball State University player attempts to block the shot.

Ohio University outside hitter junior Kelly Lamberti blocks a shot by Ball State University setter sophomore Jenna Spadafora.

Ohio University middle blocker sophomore Karin Bull spikes the ball past a Ball State player's block.

Cecil Walters, director for the Office of Multicultural Student Access and Retention, has been described by his coworkers as both “welcoming” and “professional.”

This week at Ohio University I've been photographing primarily portraits as well as sporting events. Shooting portraits has taught me about new lighting techniques and also helped me to get comfortable posing subjects. Here's some of my favorite shots I've taken recently.

Jack Skillman drives up field while Anthony Kisiday runs to two-hand tap him out during club rugby practice Tuesday, September 24, 2013 held at a field on South Green.

Scott Robinson drives around Jack Skillman during club rugby practice Tuesday, September 24, 2013.

Ohio University wide reciever freshman Skylar Schwarzel poses for a portrait in Peden Stadium on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. Schwarzel is an Athens native and played football at Athens high school, his father is also a referee in the Big Ten conference.

Ohio University offensive lineman red shirt sophomore Mike McQueen sits for a portrait on the bleachers of Peden Stadium on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. McQueen is a starter at Ohio University, but didn't start playing football until late in his high school career.

Central Michigan University forward junior Laura Gosse heads the ball while guarded by Ohio University midfielder sophomore Leah Sandercock during the game held at Chessa Field on Sunday, September 29, 2013. Central Michigan University defeated Ohio University 2 - 1. 

Ohio University forward sophomore Holly Harris battles for control of the ball against Central Michigan University defender senior Estee Outcalt. 

Ohio University defender junior Gabby Hausfeld guards Central Michigan University forward senior Nicole Samuel.

Ohio University midfielder junior Annie Beard heads the ball while she competes against Central Michigan University forward senior Nicole Samuel.