As players from the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks football teams cleared the field at halftime and fans eagerly awaited Bad Bunny’s performance, a 30-second ad for EMU aired on Charlottesville-based WVIR-TV (NBC-29). The commercial featured aerial shots of the EMU campus along with students engaged in academics, athletics, and community events.

“What will you find when you get an EMU education?” the voiceover asks at the start of the commercial. 

â€Ô¨´ÇłÜ’ląô Find Your ROAR and so much more,” the voiceover concludes. “Tour EMU for a grant of up to $4,000 upon enrollment.”

According to a November 2018 , the TV station’s all-day ratings made it the ninth-highest-rated NBC affiliate in the country. The station’s designated market area has a total population of 99,260 TV households, as of the 2024-25 season ().

EMU Visual Media Manager Macson McGuigan ’17, who produced the commercial, said the ad represented countless hours of filming EMU events—from move-in day to Commencement—and that watching it air was a “very gratifying experience.”

“My overarching objective has always been to inspire people through photography and videos, and to inform them of the beauty of our campus, the richness of our community, and the impact an EMU education provides in the lives of our students,” McGuigan said. “Knowing that this commercial was on screen in so many households regionally brought me great joy, because it means that many more people have now had a glimpse into what an awesome place EMU is.”

One viewer who watched the Super Bowl ad and wrote in with praise was Judy Mullet, professor emerita of psychology at EMU, who said her “mouth dropped open” when she saw the commercial start. “Our family party watched it several times and was so impressed with the professionalism, and you packed a lot of EMU’s best into a short time,” she wrote in an email to the Marketing and Communications team. “Thank you for representing a place that still has my heart—I taught there for over 30 years, and our three children graduated from EMU as well.”

Watch the ad below!

From crystal-clear shots of the Milky Way above the Andes in Peru and the surreal pink-and-green glow of the Aurora Borealis at Shenandoah National Park, to a humpback whale breaching the surface of Monterey Bay and a hummingbird frozen mid-flight, the collection of photos in Fleeting offers a glimpse into the EMU grad’s adventures around the world.

“I hope that when you look at these photos, you get to feel the same excitement that I felt to be in those places and experience those moments,” said McGuigan, who graduated from the Visual And Communication Arts program with a BA in digital media and environmental sustainability. “I think it’s natural for all of us to want to capture those fleeting, beautiful moments in our lives, and I hope that’s what I’ve done here.”

The exhibition, which opened on Sept. 12, will remain on display until Oct. 3. The gallery is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

Media specialist Rachel Holderman likes to take her time with a photo –Ěýfinding vibrant colors and dynamic light and carefully composing the frame. Coupled with this care, though, is versatility –ĚýHolderman’s talents span from aerial photography to portraiture to event candids.Ěý

One of her favorite shots from this year is from an Ash Wednesday service in February, when members of the EMU community gathered, pre-pandemic, to anoint one another on the forehead or hand with ashes. 

“I love how the colors in the stained glass window gives a visual sense of peace and calm to the scene,” Holderman said.

Another gem is this aerial photo of campus.

“I love all the dynamic colors and light movement within this image,” Holderman said. “The sun shining through the clouds, the foggy mountain in the distance, and the movement of water in the fountain, the glowing color of the trees – it’s beautiful.”

“Color is really important to me as well,” said Jon Styer, director of creative services. “I like warm and vibrant colors that show the energy and welcoming atmosphere of our campus. We have a beautiful location so it is a joy to get to see it change with the seasons.”

Please enjoy our selection of the top photos from 2020. Holderman was joined in capturing this tumultuous but, as you’ll see, beautiful year by former photo and video manager Macson McGuigan and photography intern Jared Oyer.Ěý

“Just like our Tagline – Lead Together – we like to focus on the ways our students learn to work together no matter where they come from or what they believe,” said Styer. “So I think you will see a theme in our photography of people working and learning together, and not just individuals.”

A regular day for EMU video and photography manager Macson McGuigan could take him from the Hill at sunrise into classrooms across campus to the turf field for an evening match.

But this EMU grad’s favorite setting is trekking off campus with students as they explore the natural wonders of the Shenandoah Valley. 

“Students canoeing at Switzer Lake, hiking to the fire tower at the top of Va. 33, and learning about invasive species at Big Meadows … those opportunities happen in beautiful environments and sometimes I even get to join in the hike or go for a spin in a canoe myself,” he said.

McGuigan summarizes photography as the challenge of assessing and ultilizing light sources to your advantage. But there’s also physical challenges, like “making sure you’re in the right place at the right time.”

If you’d like to view the top photos of 2019, follow this link. Otherwise, read on to learn more about McGuigan’s work at EMU.

On daily work

The breadth of what I photograph at EMU is very diverse.  While there are inevitably some run-of-the-mill assignments like headshots or speakers at podiums, I also cover various exciting aspects of the student experience from move-in day to commencement.  In my time at EMU I have also crawled through caves and waded through streams with science classes; I have photographed from low angles that require me to lay on the ground and I have photographed from overhead with the quadcopter; I have visited students at internship sites from Pennsylvania to Washington D.C.; I have photographed by the light of campfires on “the hill” and at trivia nights in Common Grounds.  Beyond student life, I also photograph events and alumni for news articles and stage shoots for marketing materials.

Curating this collection

Each photo had to be technically strong with sharp focus and optimal exposure. I also wanted to show, to some degree, the breadth of our campus community in the photos I curated.

“The most important criteria though was that each photo must be special is some way beyond the basic technical components…  Some photos I chose because they tell a story like in the “all hair types welcome” photo. Other photos I chose because they depict a moment of pure joy like in the lantern lighting photo.  Others I chose because they freeze a moment that happens too quickly for our eyes to stop and appreciate like the one of the student mid-leap between boulders. I liked the photo of students dancing in the Hall of Nations, because of how the image smears time with the blur of the dancers and the subtle streaking of lights. And finally, I chose photos with eye-catching pops of color like the rainbow that I photographed with the drone or the red spring leaves that were a nice complementary color to the blue sky overhead.

View the Top Photos of 2019

Favorites

It is pretty hard to pick an absolute favorite from this set of photos, but two of my favorites have to be the groups of students walking across the front lawn to class. The autumn leaves make for a colorful composition and they are rocking their EMU apparel so that is definitely a bonus!

Two more favorites

I love photographing landscapes and wildlife.  I really enjoy going on an early morning adventure to photograph an epic sunrise, wading into a stream with my tripod to take long-exposure, or watching the behavior of wildlife waiting to capture a special moment. 

Here’s one of my favorites of the 2019 Perseids meteor shower taken at Pea Island, North Carolina.

Here’s a portrait of a Green Heron at the water’s edge in Baja California, Mexico.

Having access to the equipment in the (VACA) equipment room at ˛ÝÝŽÉçÇř didn’t just help Macson McGuigan with class assignments. It also helped him find his own style and jumpstart his career.

It’s one of the beauties of this small university: Whereas a large university might allow students to check out equipment for a few hours at a time, VACA students at EMU can check it out for days on end – sometimes for longer projects, or even over breaks.

“I encourage students to shoot as much as they can,” said professor , who has spent nearly two decades filling the “closet” shelves with DSLR,Ěý mirrorless and cinematic video cameras, underwater gear, tripods, lighting equipment, lenses – and more. “That’s how you get good.”

For McGuigan, who graduated in 2017 and now is a photographer and videographer for EMU and other clients, the equipment was what he needed for meaningful skill-building experiences.

For a documentary photography class, he took portraits of food truck owners and chefs using “lots of fast prime lenses.” To capture the small, cramped interior spaces of the trucks, he used “super-wide-angle lenses.” (And – can’t leave out this best part – he said that the food trucks set him up with some free food.)

But as a VACA student McGuigan was also welcome to use the equipment for his own projects, including professional ones. He used a Sony Fs5 to film up to 16X slow-motion shots of bees, streams and owls (and Sony mirrorless cameras, LED lighting and mics to conduct interviews) for a client advocating for the protection of Shenandoah Mountain as a National Scenic Area with an embedded Wilderness Area.

“Having access to the VACA closet allowed me to realize what my style is and what equipment I need to get the job done,” McGuigan said. “It really helps students find their niche as photographers or videographers.”

Student works

Other student projects have included starting small businesses, creating documentaries, and making videos for small companies, all while at EMU, Holsopple said. “It’s what we want. It’s the way they build their portfolio of work. You don’t improve your skills just by doing the assignments only.”

With VACA graduates entering a variety of career fields, Holsopple has a goal: “Whatever equipment they’re handed, they should be able to handle,” he said. “I want students to have the full experience of just about everything they should know how to use. It’s always a balance of the cool, new, but also the basics of everything you need to produce at a high level.”

The work of VACA program students and graduates has been recognized nationally:

• Ěýearned praise for her senior show, an exhibit of documentary photos related to the homeless and homelessness in Hawaii.
• Senior Adila Wahdat was selected forĚýthe 2016 International Antarctic Expedition with theĚý
• interned for National Geographic Adventure in New York City, the D.C. United soccer team and Oregon’s Statesman Journal. He was the winner of an Associated Press Photo of the Month, and now is an events photographer.
• Michelle L. Mitchell is an award-winning photographer for the .
• is a promotion manager atĚýSNNĚýLocalĚýNewsĚý6, the only locally owned and operated television station in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota market.
• interned at an advertising agency specializing in film trailers in Los Angeles. After graduation, he moved into a full-time role as video editor. He now creates film trailers for major motion pictures and is based on the West Coast.
• Ěýis a freelance photographer and videographer in Washington D.C. He wasĚýSierra Club’s outdoor youth ambassador for 2012, blogging from around the world.
• Advertising executive Rachel Wyse started her career with Facebook in New York City.
• has filmed Drew Holcomb, for Nike and Under Armour, and more. While at EMU, he submitted his class photography portfolio to the Festival of the Photograph and was awarded a scholarship to study with National Geographic photographer Bill Allard. Steven’s work was shown at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville to an international audience that included some of the best known photographers in the world.
• Katie Schmid runs the wedding photography business,Ěý.

A scavenger’s portfolio

“You don’t want to know what the value of this room is,” Holsopple said recently, standing in the equipment room. “I’m not sure I could tell you, off hand. It’s over a quarter million dollars.”

In a way, the Sony FS5s, A7R IIs and A9s, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IVs, the new LED lights – all are part of his own portfolio.

“I am a scavenger,” he said. Instead of ordering pre-assembled kits of equipment, he orders just necessary components, often used instead of new but still perfectly functional and in great shape.

“‘Used’ doesn’t mean much for a tripod that will last 25 years,” he said, pointing out a hefty one that new would have cost $3,000 but that he bought used – 16 years ago.

“That’s how we have all this. I think, ‘Well, we need this, and we can’t afford it, so I’ll wait until somebody advertises it as an open box, and then I’ll order it.’”

He picked up a 40-plus-years-old Leica lense, a personal favorite for “the way it renders color, the way it falls off from in-focus to out-of-focus areas. It’s lovely. It’s superb.” The lens is one of several he calls “my babies.”

That may not be an understatement:

“Part of what students get here is just my personal obsessions,” he said. “I’m not kidding.”

(Also check out “,” the best of our 2017 news coverage.)

Strack chose images from among the thousands taken and processed by his team, including hundreds alone that documented two major events of 2017: the spring inauguration of EMU’s ninth president, Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, and EMU’s Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend.

To view other photo albums from 2017 events, click here.

“I tried to focus on high-quality images that may not have been displayed in our news coverage or in other venues,” he said.

The image of Huxman and her father at inauguration, he says, wouldn’t be a selected feature image for coverage, “but the way the two are isolated in that photo, sharing a moment that is pretty unusual in families, is extraordinary.”

Other images, such as the woman participating in the color run, “capture the feelings of the moment and of the weekend.”

Two photos of the new water tower on “The Hill” behind EMU’s campus made the cut. Aware of the hill’s prominent role in EMU history, Strack set up a video camera to create a of the construction.

“The Hill is an iconic feature of student and campus life for the entirety of campus history,” he said. “It was really important to capture this new feature as part of that continuity.”

From aerial landscapes to insect close-ups, the images showcase the range of photos taken by Strack and his team, which includes part-time photographer and videographer Macson McGuigan, creative director Jon Styer, and a rotating cast of interns. Former photographer/videographer Joaquin Sosa’s work is also included.

“People often admire the equipment and comment on how much it costs, but I always say that the best camera is the one you have with you,” Strack said. “We may be going from taking a group shot to event coverage, but we are always keeping our eyes open for other creative possibilities. You always carry your camera so that if the clouds or the sunset is just right, you don’t miss taking an image of campus that would be really special to share with our global community.”

Many days this fall, Strack could be seen on the campus center balcony, flying a quadcopter to collect images for the Advent video. He also flies during special events, such as homecoming and commencement.

“We have a pretty good archive of historic photos of campus taken from the air, but now that we can do it more easily, it’s fun to provide these new perspectives of our campus. People really love these photos,” he said. “It really gives you a sense of our place in the Shenandoah Valley with the nearby farms and the mountains.”

View more photos at .

Also check out “,” the best of our 2017 news coverage.

“My students and I were very involved in the public awareness campaign about the Cow Knob Salamander,” said photography professor , who chairs the Department of Visual and Communication Arts at EMU. “This campaign was spearheaded by a constellation of dedicated conservation nonprofits and advocacy groups in the region.”

Partners who worked most closely with Johnson’s classes included , , and the .

The salamander photos emerged from a class in conservation photography launched by Johnson several years ago. He sought to encourage students to “think about broader ecosystems, the environment, human culture and how they relate to the natural world, as well as about helping to protect nature.”

Johnson’s own has also received attention. [To see more photos and learn more about Johnson, visit his .]

Proposed pipeline to cross wild regions

In the fall of 2014 and 2015, Johnson’s class took photos of the George Washington National Forest and nearby areas. The images were utilized to support a half-dozen citizens’ groups opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a proposal backed by four large utility companies. In a new pipeline more than 500 miles long, the natural gas would traverse the George Washington National Forest and Monongahela National Forest, in addition to other public and private properties in mostly rural areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

“The proposed pipeline will cross the central Allegheny Highlands, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the adjacent valleys. It will cut through 30 miles of national forest and cross numerous rivers, streams, and wetlands,” says the of Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, for which senior Jonathan Bush did aerial photographic surveying. “This area represents the heart of the remaining wild landscape in the eastern United States, and it is a major biodiversity refugium that can only increase in rarity and importance.”

By the coalition’s description, “the proposed pipeline will be 42 inches in diameter, requiring excavation of an 8- to 12-foot-deep trench and the bulldozing of a 125-foot-wide construction corridor straight up and down multiple steep-sided forested mountains.

“It will require construction of heavy-duty transport roads and staging areas for large earth-moving equipment and pipeline assembly. It will require blasting through bedrock, and excavation through streams and wetlands. It will require construction across unstable and hydrologically sensitive karst terrain.

“Pipeline construction on this scale, across this type of steep, well-watered, forested mountain landscape, is unprecedented,” concludes the coalition on its website.

Photographing wildlife and landscapes

Johnson and his students did not limit themselves to documenting the rare Cow Knob Salamanders, which live in the path of the proposed pipeline on and near Shenandoah Mountain. They also photographed pristine streams, verdant farmland, and breathtaking views that would be lost with pipeline construction and maintenance.

Their salamander photos, however, were the ones that seemed to have the most impact, given that they were published widely by the news media and on civic action websites across Virginia. The potential negative impact on these salamanders and the Cheat Mountain Salamanders, plus on West Virginia northern flying squirrels and ecosystem restoration areas, was cited in the Jan. 19 letter from U.S. Forest Service administrators to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC.

The commission is deliberating whether to approve proposals to construct several pipelines for moving Marcellus shale gas from western West Virginia to Virginia and the southeast. These pipelines would be the largest ever built in this region, and all routes proposed thus far would impinge on national forest land.

The Forest Service letter referred to natural resources of “irreplaceable character” on Shenandoah Mountain, Cheat Mountain and Back Allegheny Mountain that would need to be circumvented by any pipelines.

Students contributed to publicity efforts

“I’m very proud of the student involvement in this work – surveying, hiking, mapmaking, land and aerial photographing, and writing,” said Johnson. “It’s impossible to know exactly how much the public campaign played in the final Forest Service decision, but I have to believe the amount of publicity surrounding this little amphibian helped provide political support for this move.”

Lynn Cameron, vice president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee and past president of the Virginia Wilderness Committee, has been with the latter group since it began 10 years ago. Cameron calls the partnership between her group and Johnson’s class “mutually beneficial.” Johnson serves with Cameron on the board of the Virginia Wilderness Committee.

“Being able to show the beauty and biodiversity of the area, along with its water and recreational resources, through the images provided by EMU’s students really helps our efforts,” she says.

The George Washington-Jefferson National Forest receives more than 2 million visits annually, most often for hiking, fishing and picnicking, by Forest Service estimates. Access to this forest is as close as 10 miles (20 minutes by car) west of EMU’s campus.

All nine students in the fall 2014 Conservation Photography took class field trips that involved photographing landscapes and biodiversity along the proposed pipeline route: Jonathan Bush, Malika Davis, Londen Wheeler, Emma King, Ryan Keiner, Chris Lehman, Meghan Good, Amber Davis and Jonathan Drescher-Lehman. These students also divided into three small groups, two of which worked specifically on the pipeline (their images can be seen here: ).

Cameron recalls that Wheeler was the first to see and photograph the Cow Knob Salamander. Then Bush, Davis and King returned to the area and found some of these salamanders on their own. “I was with them and remember being amazed that they could actually find rare salamanders on a field trip in mid-October, which is at the end of their active season,” said Cameron. “Normally, these salamanders can be found on warm, damp nights. The students found them at mid-day during a dry spell. It was just unbelievable.”

Collectively, the students emerged with some remarkable images which have been used in by and the , among others.

In the fall 2015 Conservation Photo class, four students focused on the pipeline project, but their photos centered on farmland and private property: Curtis Handy, Rachel Schrock, Azariah Cox, and Macson McGuigan. McGuigan also worked on a with his GIS class to make maps related to threatened species in the pipeline route area.

All of EMU’s ODAC-sponsored sports were represented on the All-Academic Team.Ěý Men’s volleyball competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference and is not eligible for the ODAC team.

The ODAC All-Academic Team eclipsed 1,000 student-athletes for the eighth consecutive year and set a new high-water mark for conference honorees for the fifth year in a row.Ěý With representatives from each of the 17 ODAC institutions (including Catholic University for football only and Greensboro College and Notre Dame of Maryland University for swimming only), 1,558 student-athletes earned recognition on the 2013-14 ODAC All-Academic Team.

Eligibility for the ODAC All-Academic Team is open to any student-athlete that competes in a conference-sponsored sport, regardless of academic class.Ěý He or she must achieve at least a 3.25 grade point average for the year to be considered for an ODAC All-Academic Award.

For more information, visit the ODAC’s home on the Internet atĚý. ĚýDon’t forget to become a fan of the ODAC onĚýĚýand followĚýĚýon Twitter.

The entire list of Royals named to the ODAC All-Academic Team is listed below.ĚýĚý

EMU’s ODAC All-Academic Team
Elizabeth Alderfer – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Kayley Argenbright – Women’s Volleyball
Jordan Aylor – Softball
Becky Barrett – Women’s Basketball
Trey Barrett – Men’s Basketball
Tyler Brenneman – Men’s Soccer
Carol Brinkley – Field Hockey
Jonathan Bush – Men’s Soccer, Track & Field
Lauren Campbell – Softball
McKenna Carter – Women’s Volleyball
Hannah Chappell-Dick – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Robert Cook – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Melissa Cox – Field Hockey
Nicolette Cuevas – Softball
Hannah Daley – Field Hockey
Mary Beth Danaher – Field Hockey
Patty Danaher – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Paige DeBell – Field Hockey
Tyler Denlinger – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Jenessa Derstine – Field Hockey
Erica Detweiler – Women’s Soccer
Katie Eckman – Women’s Cross Country
Mariah Foltz – Softball
Daniel Friesen – Men’s Soccer
Erica Garber – Women’s Track & Field
Carlos Garcia – Men’s Track & Field
Abi Gardner – Field Hockey
Jessica Goertzen – Women’s Volleyball
Naomi Good – Women’s Soccer
Joe Hall – Baseball
Rebecca Hardy – Women’s Volleyball
Derek Harnish – Men’s Soccer
Bethany Hench – Field Hockey
Ryan Henschel – Baseball
Brooke Hensley – Softball
Morgan Hill – Women’s Soccer
Jordan Hollinger – Men’s Soccer
David Hooley – Men’s Soccer
Brendan Jeschke – Men’s Soccer, Track & Field
Viktor Kaltenstein – Men’s Soccer
Brianna Kauffman – Field Hockey
Rachel Kennel – Women’s Volleyball
Louise Krall – Field Hockey
Lanae Kreider – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Jacob Landis – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Jordan Leaman – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Parker Leap – Men’s Soccer
Mollie Lehman – Field Hockey
Jake Lind – Men’s Soccer
Lexi Link – Women’s Volleyball
Mariah Martin – Field Hockey
Tim Martin – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Dilmer Martinez – Men’s Soccer
Mark Mast – Men’s Soccer
Saralyn Mast – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Brad Matthias – Baseball
Brittany McDonaldson – Women’s Golf
Macson McGuigan – Men’s Soccer
Chris Miller – Men’s Track & Field
Katie Miller – Women’s Volleyball
Austin Mumaw – Men’s Soccer
Jonathan Nisly – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Ian Norris – Baseball
Nora Osei – Women’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball
Jolee Paden – Women’s Cross Country
Jesse Parker – Men’s Cross Country
Hannah Patterson – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Dylan Polley – Men’s Soccer
Alicia Poplett – Women’s Soccer
D Probst – Women’s Volleyball
Casey Racer – Softball
Jess Rheinheimer – Women’s Basketball
Steph Rheinheimer – Women’s Basketball
Krista Rittenhouse – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Kyle Salladay – Baseball
Juni Schirch – Women’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Caleb Schlabach – Men’s Golf
Chanel Shands – Women’s Basketball
Jacob Shank – Men’s Soccer
Kayla Smeltzer – Women’s Volleyball
Molly Smith – Softball
Nicole Smith – Softball
Ashten Spencer – Women’s Soccer
Mandy Stowers – Field Hockey
Ryan Thomas – Men’s Soccer
Shannan Thompson – Women’s Basketball
John Toney – Men’s Golf
Londen Wheeler – Men’s Track & Field
Camille Williams – Field Hockey
Alex Wynn – Men’s Track & Field
Bianca Ygarza – Women’s Basketball
Alena Yoder – Women’s Volleyball
Andrew Yoder – Men’s Soccer
Chris Yoder – Men’s Basketball
Michelle Zook – Field Hockey
Marla zumFelde – Women’s Basketball