Sports | Alex Farris Photo Blog

This is the post I originally promised two years ago.

In the lead-up to medical school, and in between shifts as an emergency room scribe, I did a few more photo assignments for The Indianapolis Star. One of those assignments, the Carmel mayoral election, made the front page of the paper the next day, and although I was changing careers, I was still excited about it.

During medical school, I managed to cover three weddings. Two of those were booked before I started school and occurred during the first semester, so I had to find a way to fit them in between anatomy exams. (Definitely worth it; both weddings were special and intimate ceremonies joining two good people together.) The third wedding just could not be passed up, even though by then (third semester) I was well aware of how much of a time commitment medical school is. My friend Steph, featured twice on this blog, had a beautiful wedding in Florida in the fall of 2016 before moving to England with her husband the following winter. If her wedding (which begins here with photo 17) is the last one I cover as a photographer, I'll be quite happy to end that career with such a great couple.

Scecina pitcher Julia Blastic (center) and other teammates celebrate as Lea Thompson (right) runs home after Justice Carmichael's grand-slam home run during Scecina's 7-4 victory over Cathedral in the high school city softball title game at Brookside Park, Saturday, May 9, 2015.

Despite what the timestamp above says, this post was really written and uploaded on May 5. I've gotten a bit behind, but no worries. At least these photos got uploaded eventually.

Not shown in these photos: my ecstatic reaction when I got a letter in the mail on March 16 accepting me into the IU School of Medicine. Believe me, I was pleased!

Brownsburg High School players huddle before the Richmond boys' basketball team's 71-65 victory over Brownsburg for the Southport Regional title at Southport High School, Saturday, March 14, 2015.

Before going to Guatemala for the second time in the last week of February (photos by former IU journalism dean Jim Brown on the trip website), the Star sent me on four photo assignments. The first two, on the first Saturday of the month, could not be more different: a regional high school wrestling tournament in the early afternoon, and, stretching into the wee hours of Sunday morning, Nelly's concert at The Vogue. The latter photos, for some reason, never made it to the website, but they most certainly happened.

The following weekend, I covered a child's birthday party put on by a kids' spa treatment company. I never before had taken a photo of seven-year-olds with cucumbers and masks on their faces, so cross that off the bucket list. And the day after Guatemala, I was thrown back into the mix of American culture with the most Hoosier thing imaginable: a high school basketball game played in an overflowing gym. Southport played Evansville Reitz, previously undefeated, and pulled away in the final minute for an 88-80 victory. These are probably my best basketball photos since my time at the IDS, not least because of the enthusiasm of the players and fans (but also because I wasn't afraid to use 3200 ISO).

Also, photos I took in December were finally published. Local DJ Oreo Jones has a cooking show with all the trappings of a public access show a la "Wayne's World." It's called Let's Do Lunch, and it features local chefs and music acts. I covered the filming of an episode the night before my biochemistry final (don't worry, I got an A in the class), and the photos and story finally ran online on Feb. 4, and seven color photos made it into the next day's local section (four on the front!).

There. Now I'm all caught up.

Rosie Lockwood relaxes under a face mask and cucumbers during her friend Kate Hollingsworth's birthday party and spa treatment provided by Pretty and Posh Parties in Fishers, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015.