Stumbled Upon

Today I was driving to a baseball game in a small town called Alma, about a 45 minute drive away. On my way, I noticed two trucks coming from different directions turning down the same road, then noticed a sign for motocross racing and practice. So, I made a note and on my way back from baseball, decided to swing in for a little. I shot a few pictures, but spent most of my time talking with the dudes who organize the races. Sunday they'll be having a race and I'm hoping to go shoot some stills, video and turn it in for my page. Once every month, one of the photographers (me, Nathan Morgan, or the intern) gets the opportunity to shoot whatever we want for a full photo page.

Camping in northern Michigan

lighthouse

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theater

My girlfrien Laura and I went camping over the weekend in northern Michigan at Leelanau State Park. Driving around on back roads most of the time instead of the major interstates, we came across some pretty cool things, like the Cherry Bowl Drive-In Theater. Unfortunately it was a Monday and they were currently only showing movies on the weekend.

Canoeing by the Tridge

Memorial day

Food Pantry

Had an assignment at a food drive today and met the Yorch family. After talking and hanging with them for a little, I decided to follow them home.

Thomas Yorch, of Midland, talks on the phone with his son, who is in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan, while wife Rachel Yorch sorts through food acquired from the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Thursday afternoon. The mobile pantry was at Trinity Lutheran Church passing out food to supplement the needs of 300 households. After 16 years as a plumber in Greenwood, S.C., the Thomas and Rachel Yorch moved to Midland for medical care for Thomas, whose kidneys shutdown over 3-and-a-half years ago and has been waiting for a transplant. "There's a constant need," Thomas said, who is continually paying medical bills due to dialysis treatments three times a week. Despite searching for a job, Thomas suspects his medical condition prevents employers from hiring him, making Rachel's job the only source of income. The Yorch's said the household of three, including a son still in high school, receives $80 per month in food stamps, which is based on income.

One boat, two boat

Had an assignment today to photograph some canoers training for an upcoming race. So while I was down at the river, about a block from the newspaper, I hung around and shot some jet skiers out enjoying their day off.

Job kept

Part of the job of Stefanie LaPonsey, a special education teacher at Floyd Elementary School, is to comfort and help students get through tough times. Laponsey sits and talks with first grader Kelsey Toner, 6, Tuesday afternoon while the other students complete school work or take a recess break outside. Toner had a tough day when she arrived in class and LaPonsey sat to work through what was bothering Toner. "I can't imagine doing anything but teaching," LaPonsey said. "It's great to take the challenge with kids." Toner told LaPonsey she was upset because sometimes she is distracted in class, but eventually went out to join the other students at recess.

Yay! My older sister graduated!

I was back home in Virginia this weekend to hang with family, eat plentifully, party with my sister and soon-to-be member of the family, Doug, and watch my older sister graduate from William & Mary. One time Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is the Chancellor and Tom Brokaw was the guest speaker, both did an amazing job. So despite being heckled for taking so many photos this weekend..."do any of those even turn out."...yada yada, here are just a few I shot.





It was raining and my mom decided to kick-off her shoes



Random dude with an umbrella.

Field Trip

Today was pretty awesome. I met up with an eighth grade science class this morning a little before 8 a.m. as they were preparing to take a field trip to collect and test water samples. Throughout the day, the teacher, Aaron Blake, took four of his classes to various points in the area for samples. The waiters I used had a hole just below the butt and I didn't notice until a cool sensation rushed down my pants.








It's a wonder my parents were surprised I lived to be 24.

Running

So, today between an assignment and a knot tying class I signed up for in order to get back into sailing, I helped fellow staff photographer Nathan Morgan on a video shoot. He's working on a little piece about a local high school track star over the next two days and wanted some shots of the dude's daily practice run. So he hopped in the back of my truck as I crawled along what turned out to be a pretty busy road around 3:30 in the afternoon. To make things harder, the high school athlete ran against traffic, so on the opposite side of the road. So, with flashers on, I was driving down the wrong side of the road pointing at oncoming traffic to go to the right around me. Maybe not the smartest idea, but I was pretty confident I could talk us out of trouble if the police happened to be passing by. So, after getting some shots, we headed back to the school and Nathan hopped out to compose a few last scenes of the dude running in. I thought Nathan was done after the runner passed and Nathan started heading towards the car at a walk, then all of a sudden he starts running after the guy and I thought the timing of everything was hilarious so snapped this quick shot while waiting in my truck out of the frame. Ok, long story. The end.

Tennis

Shot some tennis today.

maggie's farm

I was bored today so decided to munch on some sunflower seeds, blast some tunes and drive on a dirt road along a river that cuts through Midland. I've been here eight months and the drive helped me think about what I've done, and more importantly, what I need to do and that I really need to push myself more. Talk is cheap.