The space craft Orion lifted off with the use of a Delta IV Heavy rocket Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
So 2014 was one hell of a year when it comes to my work life and my personal life. I got married in June, moved across the country to Denver, Colorado in September and started working with the greatest photo staff in the world at The Denver Post. Like I just feel like I have been in overdrive for the last two years since graduating college in 2012. I mean I am not complaining at all, but I am happy to finally have a place to settle down and finally dig in.
Kylie Wicker uses her new prosthetic hand to hold a ball for the first time Friday, May 9, 2014, with assistance from her father, Jeromy. The redesigned prosthetic hand worked after the changes were made and allow Kylie to use her other hand for tasks that she has never been able to before.
Looking back, I didn’t hit any of my resolutions, but I did half of two, so that means I kind of did one whole one. It was the story at Kylie Wicker and generosity of others that allowed her to live life for the first time with the use of two hands, by way of a 3D printer. Outside of shooting tons of stills and video, I also jumped at the chance to take this thing online by putting together a website to host the story. It was perfect, but it allowed me to work on my coding which was half of the second one.
Rock Valley's LT Davis and Jared Mayes are a pair of former Jefferson High School players that are now part of the team making their way towards nationals Thursday, March 6, 2014, at Rock Valley College in Rockford.
A man holds a fire hose after attempting to put out the fire, but running out of water Saturday, April 12, 2014, at the 700 block of Donelda Lane in Rockford. The fire broke out in the garage of the home around 5:45pm and quickly spread to the house.
Tyrese Craft, 9, holds his sister, Taryne, 6, during a remembrance rally Saturday, April 19, 2014, along the Rock River in Rockford. The rally was held in the remembrance of Natasha Cleary and her children who were killed and all other families that were affected by domestic violence.
Boylan's Jenna Adolph looks back at the crowd of Lake Forest players celebrate the game winning goal Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at Hoffman Estates High School in Hoffman Estates.
A firefighter walks past the burning building Friday, July 11, 2014, on the 2500 block of Kishwaukee Avenue in Rockford. The fire broke out close to 4:30PM with no injuries reported at this time.
Bill Bixby looks out the window of the B-17 while flying Wednesday, July 16, 2014, at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford.
Brittney Stanfel poses for the judges Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Belvidere.
Auburn fullback and lineman Bryce Johnson, 17, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, at Harlem High School in Machesney Park.
Children play on the playground set Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, at Ellis Elementary School in Rockford.
Welcome To My Denver Days
Fossil Ridge's Berkley Calapp takes a moment after being tagged out while sliding into home plate Saturday, October 18, 2014 during the Colorado State 5A Softball Championship at the Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado.
Members of the Valor Christian softball team hug and shed tears moments after winning over Frederick for the Colorado State 4A softball championship Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado.
Residents watch as fire crews get the fire under control at a house that caught fire Thursday, October 23, 2014 on the 5000 block of Ashbrook Cir in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
Colorado State University-Pueblo's Paul Browning leaps at a pass from quarterback Chris Bonner in the second quarter Saturday, October 25, 2014 at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada, Colorado.
Colorado State Rams guard Daniel Bejarano grabs a rebound in the second half Friday, December 19, 2014 at Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado. The Colorado State University Rams won 85 to 84 over the University of Denver Pioneers.
Rodrigo Gutierrez,13, does a hand stand on sled while coming down a hill Friday, December 26, 2014 on the campus of Legacy High School in Denver, Colorado.
Members of the media look at the spacecraft Orion after the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from it Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at Space Launch Complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The spacecraft Orion sits on the launchpad while awaiting to attempt liftoff Thursday, December 4, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Outside of resolutions, I usually work on one or two things a year, 2013 was sports and portraits, 2014 was storytelling and 2015 is going to be storytelling round two because the move took about three months away from my goal. Plus on top of that how can storytelling not be the goal when you work at The Denver Post. So look forward to a lot more of that and even more great work coming from this way.
-B.Lewis
I would like to start first off by saying that Florida is weird. Great, but weird. Alright I had to get that off my chest before I could start.
I finally got my first big assignment for The Denver Post. I spent two weeks ago I spent a week in Cape Canaveral, Florida preparing for the launch of the space craft Orion, which could inevitably place humans on Mars, as well as asteroids within the next 20-30 years. Once again, one of those moments you realize that you are so lucky to be doing what you do for a living. Even though if you would have asked me how I felt about it on one of my two 25+ hour days you might have gotten a different answer or maybe just some form of sleep deprived gibberish. Overall though, it was an adventure that brought back my childhood dreams of space and my adult love of engineering feats that make you realize that anything is possible. All you have to do is dream it and then go after it.
Anyways enough of the sappy, soul touching, life changing experience that is watching a rocket launch, let's get to the week. So the writer had made amazing connections with ULA and Lockheed Martin before we headed off to the Kennedy Space Center, so we had some great behind the scene access over anyone else pretty much. For a little back story, ULA and Lockheed Martin, who developed the Delta IV Heavy rocket and the Orion spacecraft are both based in Colorado, which allowed us to have a reason to go all the way to Florida. Leaving on a red eye flight from Denver, we landed in Orlando and went straight to work with an entire tour of the ULA facilities and getting to see a few rockets being tested. Beyond that, got a few behind the scenes of the control center which was used in the filming of Transformer 3 if you are into nerding out like I was.
Now the one thing that I thought would be the easiest of the week would be making photos of the rocket, but then you start to realize that you have four days of basically a rocket sitting there without moving and you need to make unique photos everyday. I mean it was just there. Even when it prepared for launch, the tower moved and not the rocket. So when you get a little further down the blog you will see how that struggle came out.
All in all, it was one hell of an experience. My remote cameras didn't work, but much love to Red Huber, for taking time out of his days to help this wet behind the ear photographer try to make some really cool photos. On top of that, I am now going to push to make my way back for the next launch in 2018 and 2021. Until next time,
B. Lewis
The Atlas Operations Center, which was used in the firming of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", handles all of the Atlas launches Monday, December 1, 2014 at United Launch Alliance launch facilities at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A Delta IV booster sits in the Horizontal Integration Facility on Monday, December 1, 2014 at United Launch Alliance launch facilities at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Orion spacecraft sits at Space Launch Complex 37 going through final preparations for launch Monday, December 1, 2014 at United Launch Alliance launch facilities at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Crews work to check communications and run tests on the Orion spacecraft in the Launch Control Center on Monday, December 1, 2014 at United Launch Alliance launch facilities at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
An Orion spacecraft model sits inside of the Lockheed Martin tent Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
People begin to walk up to the base of the Orion spacecraft after it is fully out of the Mobile Service Tower on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at Space Launch Complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Members of the media look at the spacecraft Orion after the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from it Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at Space Launch Complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Members of the media look at the spacecraft Orion after the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from it Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at Space Launch Complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Members of the media look at the spacecraft Orion after the Mobile Service Tower rolled away from it Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at Space Launch Complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The spacecraft Orion sits on the launchpad while awaiting to attempt liftoff Thursday, December 4, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Orion space craft begins to make it's way off of the launch pad during liftoff Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Orion space craft begins to make it's way off of the launch pad during liftoff Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Orion space craft begins to make it's way off of the launch pad during liftoff Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Orion space craft begins to make it's way off of the launch pad during liftoff Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Members of the Valor Christian softball team hug and shed tears moments after winning over Frederick for the Colorado State 4A softball championship Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado. The Frederick Warriors play the Valor Christian Eagles in the finals of the 4A Colorado State Softball Championship. Valor Christian defeated Frederick 7-4. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
I haven't updated this in a long time, but I have an excuse. I am settling in at my new job at The Denver Post! It has been one hell of a whirlwind that makes up my 2014 so far. Married, cross country move and learning the ropes in Denver. Honestly, it still hasn't hit me that I am even working here. I'm either waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out or someone to say "You read the paperwork wrong, we said internship." But it will hit me somewhere around the three month mark I figure.
Assignment wise, I have been stretched across the gamut of assignments ranging from sports and features to general and breaking news. I even have even got a small project thrown my way. So I am in second heaven here in Denver. Other than that, it is business as usual in the Mile High City and I am hoping to be producing A LOT more work in the coming weeks to start to fill up the blog. So check out a few photos from the first month here in Denver and I will catch up with you all soon.
-B. Lewis
Also, blewisphoto.com is dead. I forgot to hit the auto-renew with GoDaddy and well some company far far away owns it now. So, it might be back in the future hopefully, but for at least the next year or so, look for everything Brent at brentlewisphoto.com.
Fossil Ridge's Berkley Calapp takes a moment after being tagged out while sliding into home plate Saturday, October 18, 2014 during the Colorado State 5A Softball Championship at the Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado. Grandview defeated Fossil Ridge 6-2 to take the Colorado State 5A Softball Championship. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
Fourth grade students from Aspen Elementary School go after the balloons that fell from the dome during the reopening ceremony Thursday, October 2, 2014 at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado. After eight years of being closed, the Colorado State Capitol dome was reopened during a ceremony with state officials, businesses involved in the restoration and the general public. The cast iron exterior as well as the glided copper plates underneath the dome were replaced. The entire project took three and a half years to complete and has reopened the observation deck to tours.
Colorado State University-Pueblo's Paul Browning leaps at a pass from quarterback Chris Bonner in the second quarter Saturday, October 25, 2014 at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada, Colorado. The 12th ranked CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves defeated the 11th ranked Colorado School of Mines 20-12. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
Tracy Rehnberg takes a selfie with her mother, Susan, after coming out of the 13th Floor Haunted House on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The 13th Floor Haunted House brings out hundreds of visitors each year to take a trip through the several frightening areas and scenarios that range from log cabins to sewers full of actors and animatronics trying to give visitors a fright.
(Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
Renu Rawat performs with the other members of "Bollywood Dhamaka" for the annual Diwali festival Saturday, October 25, 2014 at the steps of Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado. Hundreds came out to celebrate and bear witness to the festivities of the annual Diwali: Festival of Lights that included many dance performances, vendors and Indian artifacts. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
Residents watch as fire crews get the fire under control at a house that caught fire Thursday, October 23, 2014 on the 5000 block of Ashbrook Cir in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Littleton Fire Department reported a little after noon to the scene of a house fire in the Highlands Ranch. The fire destroyed the home as well as the car that was parked in front of the house. No one was home at the time of the fire with the exception of a dog and a cat, which were both rescued. No injuries were reported. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)
