Common Grounds

Working for a newspaper for any length of time would make it obvious that there are some assignments we want to do, and others that we must do. This assignment was the latter. It was a tour of a new expansion of our local hospital (Of which I'm told I should never go to under any circumstances, because i am certain to not walk out alive) for a bunch of very rich, very important people who donated a few bucks. So your beginning to see why i had to go. About half way through the tour i realized that these people didn't want to be here almost as much as i didn't. They were bored out of their minds. After all, its not like they donated the money because they genuinely care what the hell the hospital actually does with their money. They donated because their name goes a big ass banner permanently displayed in the lobby. But, however rich they are, and however poor i am, we all had something in common that day. We all had to suffer together. That will teach them to donate anonymously next time.

It was like night of the living dead

Marry Me

Damn. Someone stole my idea.

Football and ice cream

Last night Tim and myself ventured to the home of our boss to pick up a bike so Tim can use it on an assignment. (and to test out the sweet ramp we just built.) Of course this simple trip turned into a game of football, frisbee and a couple of cold ones. As we are all sitting around discussing very sophisticated things, Tim's ears caught the sweet sound of the ice cream truck. Its amazing how fast he'll put down his beer and go chasing after an ice cream truck.

"Which delicious frozen treat will go best with my adult beverage?"

Paintball: in the trenches

Well, i just finished my first published multimedia piece. I say published because i finished another one that hasn't been published yet. I finished it just now, at eight in the morning, after working on it until 4:00 am and having to come back to the office to fix a couple of glitches this morning. So i though i would post the link to it before i went back home and fell into a coma for the next few hours. I went out yesterday with a group of first time paintballers (yes, thats a word) and thought i would take along the audio equipment. After convincing the manager of the paintball field to let me go out with a group of players wearing relatively nothing in the way of protection except a t-shirt and a cheap pair of sunglasses i was able to collect some audio of what its like to be shot at by three guys with paintball guns. The multimedia is very down and dirty, and i was only able to shoot pictures for 2 rounds of play (one of which i got trapped in a bunker the whole time) but i think it accomplishes the goal of giving the viewer a first hand experience of what its like to play paintball. I guess this is the closest ill have come to being a war correspondent so far. And yes, i got shot.

Click HERE to see the slideshow

High School Boxer

Meet Jake Duffey. He is 16 years old and one hell of a boxer. When i was standing next to the ring, and this kid landed a punch, it sent chills down my spine. He is boxing this weekend in northern Michigan, so i shot his last practice before his big match.

I got all wet

I shot a boy scout day camp yesterday. And yes, I got soaking wet for that first image.

Water from 2 firetrucks soaked 200 area boy scouts.

One of the activities was firing wiffle balls from a toy cannon. This kid really got into it.

The Last Boy Scout

It didn't run in the paper, but i liked it.

Outtakes

Here are two very different images, from two very different assignments that will probably never see the light of day.




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State Softball Finals

We had one team make it to the State Softball Finals which were held in Battle Creek, MI. I drove, more like rode with the reporter and slept/ read, there two days in a row and shot St. Mary's Catholic Central high School girls varsity team. The benefit of sending the same photographer to both days of games, is that by the second day i got to know the coach, the girls, and i began to anticipate the action a little better than before. Both games ended with an emotional conclusion. The first game ended in hugs and cries of joy, because they had made it to the finals. The second game however ended with hugs and tears of sadness. I wont say that they played bad the second day, they were simply out played. the opposeing team had 4 over the fence home runs, and the pitcher rarely let the SMCC girls get a hit. Despite the fact that they lost, they went down with class. When It was close to being over, and quite obvious there was no chance of a late come back, the coach turned to the dugout and said, "We may lose this game, but we will lose it with class ladies!" I got chill bumps. These are some of the most mature high schoolers i have ever met, and they fought hard. So here are a few picture of the games.

The First Game:




The Second Game:

So close.

Asian Carp Bow Fishing

Ok, so eventually today ill try to post all of the softball stuff i have shot over the last few days, But until then, check out THIS VIDEO. This is awesome.

I thought i would throw this image that i shot yesterday up this morning. Im headed off to shoot the Softball state finals in Battle Creek , MI.

The Southern Yankee

Roger Manning is a country music singer who moved from Tennessee when he was 1. I spent about 3 hours with him today, most of which was spent talking about music, photography and passions in general. He also has a duet that plays in bar around town. They play a lot of Eagles, John Prine, Tom Petty and such. Ill definitely get around to seeing him play at some point. Give me some feedback about which portrait you like best, and why.

Schools out for summer

Last day of school at Smith Road Elementary School.

Sarah

Sarah was recently chosen to represent the state of Michigan in China for 11 days where she will train under Master Wubin in the martial art known as Wushu. Both her and her brother were chosen to go, however her family could only afford to send on child. After many fundraisers they have just about raised enough money. Although it is not part of the newspaper article, Sarah is a story by herself. She is finishing highschool as well as maintaining a 4.0 GPA in the college classes she is taking. She is learing 4 languages, works 2 jobs to take care of her mother who is ill with a disorder that effects her muscles. She lives in a small apartment with her grandmother across a courtyard form her mother and her 3 brothers, who she often takes care of. Sarah also loves to write, read, paint draw, and take photographs. She does alot of other things too, but the list is too long to remember. Her great grandmother also runs a weekly bluegrass music night at the Racoon hunting club in a small town north of here called Romulus. If i can find time, i plan on going tomorrow, so check back for that. This next picture was origionally set up to be a portrait, but it sounded too cool to just shoot a portrait. So i set it up to go over when she would be practicing. I think it paid off.

Chelsea

Chelsea won an essay contest with an essay about her guidance counselor who helped her overcome her eating disorder. Unfortunately I was only able to spend about 20 minutes with her because of another assignment. Anyways, this is what i got.

Strawberries

I Photographed a family that is starting a small strawberry farm on their land.

A day on the lake

By day, i mean the whole thing. We're talking an 18 hour work day. I know, if only i were under 18 that would be child labor, but as an intern its just called working hard. Despite the long hours, i loved every minute of it. Thats what i love about this job, you never know what a new day will bring or where you will end up, but you can be sure that it wont be stuck in an office somewhere or caged up in a board room. In this case i spent the day with a group of middle school students that chartered a boat to take them to a private research island on lake Erie called Gibraltar Island. It is owned by Ohio State University and is used to conduct experiments and teach classes and workshops. The kids spent the day on boats testing water levels and catching fish, bird watching, and pulling the heart out of a live fish as it kept beating. It was a long day, and so i shot a lot of images. And the best part... i got payed to spend the day on the lake.

Tyler Westfall stubbed his toe while kicking around rocks looking for fish.

And, of course, the popular crowd.

Removing a live fish heart.