meet Mary

This is Mary....a lady i met yesterday while photographing her church group's weekly food pantry distribution to needy families...i couldn't believe she is going on 87 years old! i got to the parish hall early to shoot them filling the grocery bags (since typically the people getting the bags don't want to be photographed), but they were all done, set out and ready to go...the volunteers, all senior citizens, were sitting around 2 large tables drinking coffee and playing penny (well, also nickel and dime) poker...they offered to deal me in, but i didn't bring in my wallet, so i said i'd just watch - i haven't played poker in so long, i would have LOVED to play with them, but i think they probably would have ended up with all my loose change! minutes before they would open the doors to the large line of people that was spilling around the side of the building, Mary says, "it's about time for the BIG game"....no more penny ante - this time you ponied up with a quarter!
so, toward the end of the distribution time, i'd kind of shot as much of the handing out of bags and found my mind/eye wondering toward making a still life picture (a feature of our paper that is a photo & quote instead of regular caption, and usually more off-beat images)...Mary was standing near the doorway, and there was just something about her against that sparse wall, framed between the old outlet and non-working light switch panel, that grabbed my attention...it was funny, because she kept trying to move out of my way (i guess she thought maybe i wanted to get a picture of, um, the outlet?), but then she kind of ignored me and just happened to glance up, and that was it...maybe not some earth-shatteringly cool picture, but i like it.....so, the quote i put with it is...

"Uncertainty and mystery are the energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity."

-- R.I. Fitzhenry

your neighbor

meet Mr. Bressler...the wasp nest collector
he also collects old tools, which hang on the walls and from the ceiling of his very large workshop
what i learned is how the wasps & hornets make the papery hives - they chew on rotten bark, mixing it with their saliva, then spit it out, & that's what makes the nest material...
so here i've thought some ancient society developed paper-making, and the bees, et al, have been doing it all along!
nature proves it's one step ahead of us yet again

day in the life of photojournalism

the crazy life of newspapers...just got done putting in my a.m. assignment, shot on deadline, and our spot news reporter comes over - after 2 hours, fire crews are still battling a housefire, and no one can find the owner, they believe he is inside....so we should go check it out just in case it turns into a fatal. As soon as I walk up to the house, a guy asks me who I am, then tells me I have no reason to be there and can't take pictures. "My dad's in there, and you have no business taking pictures here...I better not see any pictures in the paper." Even though I've been to numerous fires and dealt with people really NOT wanting me there doing what I do, I felt at a total loss...all I could do was tell him that I was sorry about his father, but I almost felt as though I shouldn't shoot, although I knew I'd have to. I just tried to be discreet and stay out of his way....later he came over after he saw me taking pictures, and then he was REALLY upset...."I told you not to take any pictures, and you are. That's my f***** dad in there and you're f**** taking pictures?!!!" I'm not sure what would have happened if his family hadn't literally stepped in and pushed him back away from me. Needless to say, I felt like an ass. Even though (amazingly) his family were telling him that I'm just doing my job, and I know that I'm just doing my job, it was still a really tough situation, and trying to make any images of the family consoling one another was clearly out of the question at that point. You know, sometimes it just isn't worth it - why add to their stress by trying for THAT picture....not to mention the fact that his son most likely would have tried to kick my ass for real over that one. Anyway, this is what's left of the entrance to the home....I think fires are among the most tragic and disturbing events that a family can endure, but there is something, purely visually, about the aftermath of a structure fire, especially with the water, ice and snow, that I find really amazing...now I am off to make a portrait of a man who collects wasp's nests
what a crazy job this is!!

weekend wedding

it's been way too long, i know, but i went to a wedding over the thanksgiving weekend, and finally it seems i shot something a kinda dig - i don't know if i even noticed that they were all doing the same hand-to-mouth thing when i shot it , but i think it's kind of funny...anyway, hopefully more to come sooner rather than later!

so, it's been a while since the last posting....the football project is finished, with a slideshow up on monroe news website...haven't shot anything i'm happy about recently, which always puts me in a funk...but, i tried to bust out with the Halloween spirit last night...had lots of candy and only 4 kids....which on the brighter side, is 4 more kids than showed up last year...here's me and the sign i put up so kids would know to come to my door 'round back....and here are a couple pumpkins i carved (and whose seeds i am enjoying, as well!)

this one's for my kitty!

back to the Friday night lights Monroe-style...!!!
trying to fill in the gaps, or just enhance what i have so far...this is kind of a lot to post up, but, hopefully it's not too hard on the eyes....i think the first 2 pix are my favorites, but again, i welcome any input!!

little kids always seem to love playing under the bleachers - it's like their own private fortress where only they can fit - just liked the lines and symmetry of this one, and the sense of teenage style you get from the legs and feet

it's school spirit from every angle!

i really have been wanting to get something tight to add visual variety to this...perhaps one of these works? there's another one later - not so tight, but i like it too and probably couldn't use both

this little water boy was so interesting to watch - he took his job SO seriously...he'd just stand there and watch as these guys sucked down their water on the sidelines, like the most attentive waiter in the world! and you can just tell he wants to be right where they are now when he grows up

yep, another homecoming night....when the homecoming court makes its entrance onto the field, EVERYONE is a photographer!

showin' some love for the junior class float entry!!

that's all for now! thanx for lookin......

Had a Friday night not at football and actually took up an invite to a gallery reception instead...which felt really weird and kind of guilty, but it was probably a good idea to take a break anyway (especially after the day i had!)...i'm really looking forward to going back out this Friday...felt strange not coming in Saturday and posting pix up here right away, too...but, here's something goofy i shot today -- i know it's just a cute silly kid pic, but he's just such a goof, i couldn't resist.

he just cracks me up, even moreso because he's SO over-the-top happy, and the frog just looks like the biggest grump on the planet!

a few more from last friday that i was considering....just throwing these out here, in case i missed something in them at first edit

after peeking around the pole at me, swinging from side to side, i think she felt maybe she could sneak a secret look from right behind it

more from the Friday night lights...my and Monroe County's version of it, at least...i may be posting a few more sporadically throughout the week - 3 cards is a lot to look at, and when i get some feedback here, there may have been some i missed...or those, hmmm, i think i dig it, but i'm not 100% sure. anyway, trying to stay away from the teen sideline scene last night, and it was homecoming, so i wanted to work that, as well...had a little trouble getting out of "daily" mode and into the kind of feel/mood i'm aiming for, but i think it came together more as i went on...just trying to keep an open mind/eye, not overthink things and be in that place where you're seeing the pictures that are there instead of looking for them...lemme know what y'all think....& thanx for looking

at small schools, everyone chips in to help, including the athletic director-come-ticket seller

homecoming night means EVERYONE gets extra decked out with the team spirit

something about this i kind of liked, not sure why, or if in the grand scheme of things i'll end up using this

love the expressions on these guys' faces, especially the guy at the bottom right

after their half-time performance, the band parades to the fence-line, stopping their playing to lead the crowd in a rally-cry...trying to get that, i stepped back into their line-up, only to find, the cheer over, the instruments went back up as they paraded side-ways off the track...of course, there i am in the middle of them, and they're walking towards me, but facing away, so i'm dodging the staggered onslaught of band members and their very large instruments til i could get out of the pack....i felt a little like i was living in a game of "frogger!"

homecoming floats and would-be queens await their turn to parade around the field at half-time

think this might be one of my favorites from the night

these little girls were cheering for all the potential queens - no particular favorite...they all want to be on the homecoming court when they grow up

just when you think it's time to go... thankfully there's room for more on the card - loved the single light just over her head...lucky...this is also one of my favorites

"This is actually really relaxing," said Anthony, as his sister and friend turned him into a mummy, burying him in a sand pit in the park Monday. What a lucky find! With no assignments and the weather being back to summer, I was looking for a feature - makes me feel bad when i've not shot a thing as i head home - and i was striking out til i happened upon this. One of those moments when you pull over super-fast, scramble to grab your gear and get out of the car before they all get up and run off to something else or head home (which inevitably seems to happen WAY too often!) Also one of those moments when you head back to your car, only to notice that in your haste, you parked about 2 feet away from the curb like a complete moron! Guess i'm not doing much to dispel those stupid old cliches about women drivers, huh?

more and more and more football Friday nights....almost didn't go since i was tired getting up for the early shift after little sleep after staying up too late visiting with a very dear friend whom i miss terribly!! anyway, after i scanned through the list of games and realized one was on the field literally 2 blocks from my house, i knew i'd feel WAY too guilty, so, off i went, and here's what i got....

mmmm, free hot dogs!!!!

this little girl isn't a terribly big fan of football, and she doesn't want to be a cheerleader, either. her favorite sport is soccer, which if you live in Monroe/have been following the public forums regarding a sports writer's recent article, you would know is really funny!

i love the bleachers in this field

these boys don't actually go to this school - but we recognized each other from last week's game. their team was playing away, so they came to this one instead. "so, this is what you do on a Friday night if you don't have a home game to go to?" "what else is there to do in Monroe," one of the kids said. good point...look where I was on my Friday night, too....

girls hangin...more and more clusters of kids on the sidelines....safety in numbers??

cheers! can't decide between these two -- feel free to weigh in, and to say neither....there's plenty of football season left to go

this is haleigh. when she grows up, she wants to be an astronaut and fly to Mars!

so, here was this cool old guy, just sitting there in his truck cab, while he waited for construction crews to unload half of a pre-built home from his tractor bed. he seemed pretty contemplative. one of the construction guys shouted out to him - "hope you weren't in a hurry," as they were having trouble with a misaligned roof on the half-a-house. "i had a hot date, but she's gettin' cold now," he said.

So...just a few more from my recent Friday night fun! Luckily, the very threatening-looking storm stayed away just long enough for me to be able to do some work for this project after shooting the action for sports....which is what led to the circuitry death of my camera a couple weeks ago, incidentally -- just got that gear back, too -- makes me happy!

what would Friday night football be without young love, eh? This is probably my favorite from what I got that night.

trying to show the concession stand, without being too literal...I really want this essay to have a certain feel - one that puts you more in the mood of sidelines life...and of course, MOMENTS, MOMENTS, MOMENTS!

not sure if this works or not, but just another one trying to capture the mood

I think I can probably keep working this and get something better, but an image like this would really help to establish the concept. By the way, I'm not sure why these kids look so dejected - they were SPANKIN the other team -- final score was like 40-7!

Cheerleaders pose for a group photo...hopefully this doesn't seem creepy...there was just something that caught my eye about the body language of all their legs.

watching the half-time show

Any thoughts so far? anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

just to add on to the thread i started yesterday - found this one sitting here on the desktop - works? yes? no? hmmm.....