James Brosher

Hey! That guy (Rivers Cuomo) took my camera

September 26, 2010

Something pretty cool happened to me Saturday night. And by cool I mean awesome. My assignment on Saturday was to cover Weezer’s performance over at Bradley University for the Peoria Journal Star. I kind of figured I’d be way in the back with a telephoto lens if it’s like most concerts I photograph. That wasn’t the case. I had to run back to my car and get different lenses after the guy at will call said I’d be up in front of the stage (in the buffer as we call it). I ended up shooting everything with a 24 mm lens since I was so close. At one point Rivers Cuomo, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, leans over me and calls for my camera as he’s singing. I handed it over to him and he shot a few shots of the crowd and a couple of me down in the buffer. I grew up listening to Weezer, which made it really cool. Below is the sequence including a couple of his crowd shots (the photo of me should be at the end of the sequence):

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo performs on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, at Bradley University.

Weezer performs at Bradley University

September 25, 2010

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, left, performs with bassist Scott Shriner during a performance on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, at Bradley University.

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo performs on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, at Bradley University.

West Peoria’s favorite trash collector

September 23, 2010

As a photojournalist, you get to experience and photograph a wide variety of things on a daily basis. Today was no different as I shadowed West Peoria’s trash collector, Jeff Reagan. Reagan is well known and liked by the community. In fact, he’s liked so much so that the mayor is trying to resign with Waste Management (the company Reagan works for) just to keep him as the local trash collector.

West Peoria garbage collector Jeff Reagan, left, shares a laugh with local customer Ron Eckstein as Reagan works his shift on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. "He's probably the best garbage man we've ever had," Eckstein said of Reagan. "Don't tell him that"

West Peoria garbage collector Jeff Reagan hops off his truck at a stop to collect the garbage on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. Reagan has worked the job for 13 years, and he is well liked amongst the neighborhoods in West Peoria where he collects trash.

At the speedway with Todd Bennett

September 23, 2010

I spent part of my Saturday evening out at Peoria Speedway photographing Todd Bennett, a local racer who is doing well in the points and has a growing local fan base. The photos are for a profile story that’s running about him sometime soon. I love shooting out at local race tracks because it’s a very unique slice of American culture. The drivers and fans are a blue collar, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-stuff-done type of folks who are incredibly friendly and nice. For anyone looking for a good story, I would recommending heading out to the local speedway on a Saturday night. I guarantee you’ll find some interesting people with interesting stories.

Todd Bennett reaches inside his race car before hopping in to take a few laps around the track on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010, at Peoria Speedway.

Todd Bennett leans against the front fender of his Super Late Model class race car before taking the car out onto the track for a few laps on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010, at Peoria Speedway.

First month in the books

September 23, 2010

It’s hard to believe I’ve already been here in Peoria one month. Time has flied because it only feels like my first or second week since I’m still figuring out the newspaper’s work flow. When it comes to my work, I’m my own worst critic. I’m brutal and harsh because I badly want to improve in a highly competitive industry. I’m ticked if I hit a single since I’m forever swinging for the fences. Sometimes I have to step back and take a look at a group of work as a whole as a sort of self reality check. Here are a few of my favorite frames from my first month interning in Peoria: