features a'plenty and a soldier's return

i can't believe it was just earlier this week that i was up in Novi for patch...it feels like it was weeks ago...this week just seemed especially long...didn't get as much done on my down-time as i'd hoped...think i've hit that wall in trying to put together a portfolio website where i now have all the pieces in place, and i now have to find a template in which to present them, hopefully for free, and then a host to post....that and making a business card design....it's so easy to get caught up in playing around with different ides/formats/venues, only to realize that you're probably wasting good time on something that isn't going to be the right fit in the end....aah well, all part of the learning process i suppose....

so, onto the newspaper work for the remainder of the week....

thursday was a shoot at a woman's home garden that is to be part of a community garden tour next weekend...her garden was amazing! really, like an enchanted garden, but it being shaded, very humid and including ponds, the mosquitoes were INSANE! literally, i think one tried to bite my eye...not just eyelid, but my actual eyeball! and another flew into my ear and started biting....made shooting pretty rough...i'll probably get lyme disease or something now that i have no insurance anymore! oy vey

but, after that, i went a bit north to take a portrait of the county girls athlete of the year...running is her major sport, so we were set to meet at the track, and i had a cool idea i really wanted to try, thought at least i'd have the track lines to work with if that didn't work...but that school has a pretty simple track...as in, dirt...no lines, no nothin' so i scoped out other places, and decided i'd try something with the lines from beneath the bleachers if all else failed...think this works, and the lights looked very natural, so i'm okay with it, but not the 'knock it outta the park' pic i was hoping for....guess i'll save that idea for later

friday, not much on the agenda but a soldier returning from Afghanistan in the evening...and there was a story about a woman who rescued some baby birds whose nests were destroyed in the power washing of a grocery store...after playing phone tag with her for a while, i was able to get that set up before the soldier return....then got a text that his return was pushed back to saturday, so we need a stand-alone now for page one

so, i looked around early in the day....saw lots of kiddie pools and other things out in front yards....unfortunately, they were the only things out there, no people...so, i shot the bird rescue lady

then went out on a big feature hunt....stopped at one of the beach communities on my way back to Monroe, but that was fairly lame, as far as page one goes, at least...

so, i started making the circuit of neighborhoods...still saw lots of pools, play toys, trampolines, but still, no people...hmm...drove past a house i know is always full of kids and people hanging out outside, and they were out there as usual, and as i glance over i notice this guy holding a python, so i pull over to check it out...hung out with them for a while to work it

this one ran as a secondary

but i think i like this best, especially in b/w....just like the feel of it

but, i wasn't sold on this as what anyone would want for 1a, so i kept at it....headed up toward an ice cream stand that's usually busy, and i saw an employee dressed as Lady Liberty out front...thought there might be something there worth working, so i stop....not totally impressed with what i was getting, hoping for one of the kids eating ice cream to interact in some way, but that didn't happen....though, this one did end up running dominant...guess the whole holiday theme thing

then i notice that the Sheriff's helicopter is circling, and it comes to land in the playground/field in the school across the street, so i walk over there...turns out to be a children's 'safety city' program graduation...that seemed promising, so i stuck around and shot some of that

got to play ball with the little boy singing here for a while, then went over as kids headed to check out the helicopter.....not the greatsest, but at least it was a little more generic community/family event that i thought the paper might like, and it was getting toward dusk, so i decided to call my hunt to an end and headed back to submit

saturday, as i had to get some hours in as i only had the soldier return assignment, i went to find a feature earlier...the event i'd read about wasn't happening, so i just started driving through neighborhoods....found some kids playing in a backyard pool

liked this image best, and thankfully i got splashed a lot, because our heat advisory was kicking in by then, and i was feeling pretty darned hot and sweaty!

after that, i went to check out the soldier's neighborhood...they were supposedly decorating with yellow ribbons and flags, but that was all done already, so i went up to dump my card, then came back about 20 minutes before he was supposed to get home, since i didn't want to be late, and also thought there might be something featurey going on at his house that i could work for the package...lots of cars in the driveway, but apparently they were all at the airport, cos no one answered, so i sat and waited, and now the day's heat is really kicking in, and i am feeling gross, and about 40 minutes later they arrive...

it was pretty cool...i'd actually been to their house before when his mom was presented with a blue star flag by members of the American Legion Riders, who also escorted them home from the airport....wish i'd been there for the initial reunion, because the emotion of seeing him (especially since the whole family went) was pretty amped down by the time they got to the house, but i still made some good pix, so it all worked in the end

later, i shot some pix of my flowers....one that i posted before had blossomed into something even more beautiful, and though they aren't the coolest photos, i just liked capturing the flower itself

and the echinacea are beginning to bloom, too!

then a big lightning storm...tried to get something cool of that, but i just wasn't in my storm mojo moment i guess...kinda liked how this burst of lightning almost looks like it is travelling along the power lines, but that's about it....

so, onto the holiday...gonna try to make a cool photo tomorrow...i have sparklers left over from last year.....who knows what i can do with all that?!!!!

happy fourth all!