cops

whachu gonna do?
slideshow

pe

I shot a PE class today. I got there early as they were playing with one of those giant parachutes before they started sport stacking, which is basically stacking cups in certain formations and collapsing them really fast. I've never heard of it, but it was quite baffling.

trax

I was called out to the Trax station because one of the cables broke down, leaving passengers stranded. While I was there cops had to pull off a passed out homeless guy from one of the trains (in background of second photo).

sudan

I met Sarah at a sewing class that is geared toward teaching African refugees to sew and sell their products. She has seven children with the eighth on the way. I thought it might make a good story, so I went over to her house today to spend some time with them. I'm not sure what the focus could be or if I would really have the access I want, so I'm not sure if it will work out. We'll see.

kids with guns

I shot (pardon the pun) some kids playing guns at what seemed to be an abandoned church the other day. These kids were serious. One of them actually knew a little history for some of the battles they were trying to act out. I realized that I don't need to go to Iraq to shoot war when it's right in our backyards...

*Sounds is best with loud sub woofer*

P.S. Gun sounds, howling wind, heartbeat and demonic synths added for dramatization.

josh romney

Today, I went over to Josh Romney's house, Mitt's only son living in Utah, for a story the paper is doing about his role in his dad's campaign. The highlight was when I went into the kitchen and his kid had spaghetti all over his body, table and floor. And when his wife offered to set me up with her sister.

cheers and tears

I shot four quarterfinals basketball games last night. I figured with four games, I was bound to get a decent shot.

salute that flag frenchy

I stumbled upon these kids today. They were making this target to shoot with Airsoft guns. They told me he was a French businessman. At least their President's Day fun was somewhat political, whether they realized it or not. I just wish they had been eating French fries.

forward?

I went to this media stunt today where this owner of a dealership drove a monster truck through the window of his old building. The motto of the whole thing was "Moving Forward." I thought it was pretty hilarious when the sign he made to show off to the TV cameras caught on fire from his ridiculous stunt.

magical duck

...I can't find any other reason why the sparkles are pink.

Still LIfe

Every now and then I take photos that remind me of the Still Life photo column at the Monroe Evening News. By pairing a quote to a photo, I found that column a good way to look for something different that portrayed an idea. I could have a solid reason to take the photos that would normally not make publication and could be creative with it in the process. So, for Bryan and Kim, myself, and of course all of you, I'm going to try to continue the column in my own work by posting them here.

"I'm floating in the most peculiar way
and the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do"
-David Bowie

rrraslin'

buried alive

*click photo for slideshow*

Lindsey was buried for over three hours in her car in a blizzard. Listen to her story.

loooong and sweet

I always get photos in my mind that I want to shoot. This was one that I had thought about for a while. It's kind of a clique photo, but it's not something that's easy to find. It's like when I was interning at the Monroe Evening News, I kept seeing dandelions. I really wanted to shoot a photo of a little girl blowing one into the air, but I never found it. At least I can check one of those off my list.

snowball

to the dentist

I went to shoot some free dental care on Saturday. Being the son of a dentist, I never really feared going to the dentist too much. But this made me understand the imminent feeling of horror that these kids face as a scary man with pointy things leers over them.

lost and found

Tom and Tamitha Garner went missing in the harsh backcountry of Utah 10 days ago. A rescue team has been out looking for them since. After spending eight nights stuck in their pickup truck, they were finally discovered by a team that was trying to reach a different family stuck in a cabin. I went out to the home of Tom and Tamitha's family, who had been wrecked all week not knowing where they were. Their daughter, Krystal, left, and Tamitha's brother, right, hugged each other in joy shortly before leaving to go meet them. Unfortunately, one search and rescue volunteer died while searching for them.

Realizing that there was some great audio coming from both of them, I used the hand dandy horrible quality mic on the back of my fancy camera. It's good, though, in situations like this where you don't have a recorder. Watch and listen

Read the full story here.

200th post

My 100th post came with a spit, the 200th comes with a kiss. I've been from Michigan, to Florida, to Utah since then. I wonder where I'll be for the 300th. The sky's the limit folks. That brilliant blue sky.

I really like shooting assignments at school near the end of the school day. The chaos of leaving school brings back memories, from the bus to the kiss to walking 10 miles in 3 feet of snow to get home.

snow and wreckage

I encountered this on the way back from the office. It had just happened when I got there. This guy was walking around fine, with a little blood on his forehead. But when the ambulance got there, they decided to put him in a brace and take him to the hospital along with his wife. So, he flashed the peace sign before going down.


And then there was snow...

faces

I normally don't post sports action photos, but I kinda liked this one.

hating

These are those Baptists that travel from Kansas to various places and protest everything--including funerals. Today was the funeral of the Mormon president and they thought it'd be a good day to get their message across. I'm still not quite sure what the message is. Something about God hating me and America being doomed. So, I went graphic with it.

bball mommy

*click on photo for slideshow*

This is a story I worked on last Saturday. I spent about 12 hours with the family as they did their thing.