A Tuesday Visit

About a month ago, I photographed this lovely couple for the ag section. Nothing fancy, just that they'd been on the farm for four generations. And married for 50 years. Today was a tough day for feature hunting, so I called them up, and sat at their table in the farmhouse where he was born, and ate some apple cobbler. They have three sons. One of their sons has three sons too. And they gather eggs everyday for their grandparents, and feed the chickens. I didn't make any great pictures, but I had a much needed visit with some wonderful people. This is quite the community to be leaving. My weekend in New York reminded me that I can be happy in a city, too. So onward, to Dallas! And to finding people to visit with on a rainy Tuesday.

Who do you love?

I love my parents, my lobster, and my boys, Tyler and Christian. Hot stuff, right? Weekend in New York.

Website Update

Trying out an edit of the Betz story on the website. Captions on the way.

Elmore

Yesterday was one of those days where I found myself enjoying the adventure of feature hunting in Dubois County. Driving to Celestine, I saw a man unloading goats from the back of his pickup, and pulled over to investigate. How glorious that curiosity can be a job.

Working Until I Figure It Out

Big sister enters the mix. 16, doesn't live at home, allowed just a few hours a week to visit with her siblings, who love her dearly. Just shooting, trying to find out what's going on. Nothing certain.

Musical Edits

Spent the day, with the exception of a quick trip to photograph Miss Indiana, editing and toning and captioning the musical story. I loved working on that story, and will miss it now that it's over. Here's a favorite-- the week before performances begin, the cast gathers on stage after a particularly tough rehearsal. We've all been there.

New Story

Amazing light in this house. Amazing people. Even after a year at The Herald, I think maybe I can still shoot in color. Just as the musical ends, this begins. Happy Sunday.

The Real, The Imaginary

No. Seriously. This happened backstage at JC Superstar. Not in a studio. Looking out at the crowd during intermission. Can you imagine all the things that are happening all around us that we could be photographing? Wow.

ps. this is the scene from the back:

Theater

More JC Superstar. Tonight, the performance. Tomorrow, the Jeeps go on to Regional basketball. Sunday, the gun club. Monday, we rest.

Superstar & News

More on that later. Onto the news portion: Aaron Snyder, over at Ohio, is working on an website of stories from other photojournalists called OhSnapClick and he put Secret Life of Children up there. Check out the other cool stories from Dan Sohner, Matt Eich and Dan Krauss.

Math Bowl

These are my people. The Math Bowl teams.
top: Holy Family 6th graders Daniel Eby, left, Rachel Sternberg, center, and Adam Weinzapfel, right, conferred over a problem regarding the number of humps in a herd of camels with 80 legs, where half had one hump and half had two humps, at the Thirteenth Annual Math Academic Teams for Hoosiers Competition on Tuesday night at Cedar Crest Intermediate School.

Sectionals

I could hardly keep shooting when the Jeeps won their Sectional against the Orleans Bulldogs on a last-second shot. Man, oh man. What a game. Gotta keep the excitement in check.

Mason Circus

An afternoon spent with the Masons of Dubois County. I never imagined I'd get to be in a Lodge for a dedication, but there I was, being shepherded by some wonderful old men into what they thought would be prime positions for photographing the action. As with most rituals, I found the preparation more interesting than the ceremony itself. "You know those mules in the circus, that pull the wagons and have decorations coming out of every orifice?" said one Mason to me. "That's what we feel like, a bunch of circus mules." I will say that there was a lot of laughter, in true fraternal style. I think that's why people band together in organizations-- for common purpose, direction, and to laugh.

News Time

It's been another great few weeks here in Jasper, with Basketball Sectionals, a break in the cold weather and some exciting POYi wins. Let's list them:
The Election Series, my Master's Project, won Best Series in Editing
The Rumbachs won Third in the Editing Portfolio category
The 4-H Fair won Second in Feature Story
Lane's story "Bridging Cultures" won Third in Issue Reporting Story
I won First in Portrait.

Not bad for a paper that has a coverage area of a little over 100 square miles.

I was also excited to see Matt Eich's "Carry Me Ohio" win Community Awareness. There is a tremendous feeling to some of those frames, which I am in awe of.

Spring time! Almost Dallas time! I can't believe how time keeps rushing forward.

Kitten + Big Glasses = Impossibly Wonderful

Well. Does it get any better than this? Well, if that terrible ceiling lighting wasn't there, but the moment was so sweet to me.

Check out my image of Lurlena at Verve Photo: A New Breed of Documentary Photographers. That lovely girl has been all over the place this year!

Patriotism, Take One

How can you resist this kind of scene? I mean, really. I probably listen to the National Anthem more than anyone I know.

Reinventing the Wheel

How many different things can you shoot at a basketball game? I felt really off the mark tonight-- nothing spectacular, nothing too exciting. Nothing really out of the ordinary. I covered the games, sure, but . . just a little off. Perhaps I needed more coffee. Or, it's time for a new round of sports to cover. And this is why it's Sectionals time . . time for a change of pace.