Vision Beyond The Lens by -J.J. McQueen-

This past weekend the CRU was amazingly productive. We traveled to Dallas, TX to film the Under Armour Youth Sports Combine. The first day that we were there it was 75 degrees. On the second day it was 85 degrees. On the third day is was a record breaking 40 degrees and rainy. On our final day it was 75 degrees and sunny. Why am I giving you the play by play of weather? It's simple, with such a promising weekend who knew that on the most important day of our shooting schedule that it would turn out to be the worst weather day of the trip. However, there was one individual or bright spot that stood out. Her name was, "Hello". The way that she greeted us was unique because "Hello" changed my entire perception of the city of Dallas. She was sweet! She was tall! She was warm and even though her day was cold. She told me about her travels. She even welcomed me back to her gorgeous streets. Although when the CRU and I first met her, her day seemed to have...

The other day I was downtown shooting some spring stills of the homeless and I overheard these two little kids talking about their first. Just like you, my reaction I was like, what? I listened for few more minutes and they were talking about being the first to do or be something great in their neighborhood's. One kid said he was going to be the first to not move back home with his parents. The other kid said he was going to be a mechanic because they own a beat down car that stays in the shop. Just like most kids, these two little guys were sharp. They caught me ease dropping like I do often. They said "Mr, have you ever been the first at anything"? I replied, "yes". They both said, "what"? I replied, "I was my parents first born child". Jacob the older of the two boys said, "that's lame, give us something worth listening to". I let out a big laugh, I saw that these two little guys were looking for something to hold...