Rudy

Ok, so his name is not really Rudy, but it might as well be. His name is mike and for anyone who has actually seen the movie Rudy (if you haven't, you should) this guys story couldn't be closer to the film. It was always Mikes Dream to be a part of Notre Dame athletics. His father graduatd from Notre Dame, and his son wanted nothing more than to follow in those same footsteps. There were however several problems blocking his path. The obvious, an most paramount of his obstacles was his severe muscular dystrophy which pretty much sealed his fate as far as becoming an athlete. The second was being actually accepted into Notre Dame. This didnt happen immediately, so he attended Holy Cross (which is right across the street from Notre Dame, and the same pre-fighting irish path the Rudy took.) Still striving to overcome these hurdles he found a spot on the Notre Dame rowing team as a coxswain, the person who rides in the boat and calls out commands. He was a perfect candidate for this because of his small, compact, lightweight body structure. And finally to complete his goal, he was accepted at Notre Dame and will now officially become a Notre Dame athlete, just like Rudy.

Solitude

"You cannot build up character in solitude, you need formed character to stand solitude."

~Austin O'Malley

National Geographic

On my way to the office i stopped to take advantage of some nice light. I know there arent any people in the pictures, but great light is great light. I think ill be calling national geographic.

A Day on the River

This was one of the coolest assignments that ive ever had. I spent the whole day kayaking down a river with a group of volunteers from the Huron River Watershed Council. A lady named Liz was swimming the length of the river ( about 120 miles) and yesterday she swam the part that passed through Monroe county. She is swimming the river to show that a once polluted river is now clean and should be utilized for recreation. I had an amazing time both kayaking the river and spending time with a fun, passionate group of people. So to sum things up i got paid to paddle down a river all day. I feel like i should act unhappy about this, because one day someone will figure out that its wrong to have so much fun on assignments, and theyll just stop paying me.

My Kayak (I want one!)

Several other voluteers go alongside liz and watch for underlying debris, depth, and check the current to make sure its safe.

The water she is swimming in is clean, but not that clean.

When the water is too shalow, Liz has to use her floatie. Shot from a bridge.

Liz gets out of the water after swimming almost 5 miles.

Just a fun shot.

Harry Potter

In celebration of the newest book, downtown Monroe threw a Harry Potter festival. I think its interesting that an entire downtown celebrated something like this, something based not on a holiday or day of rememberance, but rather on something commercialized like a book or a movie. There were spell casting competitions, costume competitions, and themed menu items at area restaurants. After a few hours of feature hunting i came across this rather sad looking Harry. I just like this particular kids disposition in general.

Brian

I had to stop by a newly built funeral home today and take portriat of its owner. Brian was a pretty cool guy. He built the funeral home to be as warm and cozy as possible, and it even included a "coffee house" and a smoking room. brian has been embalming people for almost a decade and he feels as though its his calling from god. His way of preaching. Here is one of the portriats i shot of him that i liked.

New name

Everything good needs a catch, right? I mean afterall, its not like George Bush became president because of his staggering ability to lead a nation (I think it was the religion thing). So, I decided to change the name of my blog to "beyond the caption." Simply because, its the best part of my job. The best part of working for a newspaper is the people we meet and the experiences we have. However, because our readers dont want to hear about our experiences we limit our captions to necessary information. But so much more happens on assignments that never get told (see post "Innocent") . I noticed that almost all of my posting so far have a story with them. At first i did this so that people who arent photographers ( hi mom) would know what we experience while on assignments, but i think ill keep it going. After all, its my blog and where else can i share my observations and opinions? Let me know what you think!