Happy Belated Easter

Two Easter assignments, two very different pictures. The family on their knees were late to a Good Friday service at a local Catholic church. The Easter bunny was running with (aka chasing) people who were running a 5k.

Fight

Bus loads of children from different elementary schools around the city were brought in today to see a morning hockey game between two regional teams. We're talking kids from six to ten years old. So what kind of an example did they set for the kids? Fighting, high sticking, tripping. . . etc. Classy.

Bunny Run

It just cracked me up.

my week so far. . .

. . . has been quite photographically varied. The first image is a sportrait about a swimmer, the second a historical reenactment where the teenagers decided to eat/give away the props (bananas) after it finished, a double fatality car accident and a guy who started the afternoon out by protesting the city's assessment of his home's value and ended by taking his shirt off and trying to give it to me.

I love this life.

extremes

I spent Saturday covering two state championship games from local schools. The New Lothrop women's basketball team won...Powers High School hockey didn't.

a prayer for Flint

I hauled my lazy butt out of bed at 5 a.m. this morning to shoot the beginning of a 56 hour prayer vigil for the city of Flint. Parishioners as well as the public are welcome to come at any time during the non-stop marathon of praying. It was really something amazing: the six people who came at 5 wore prayer shawls and circled the room, lied on the floor and spoke in tongues.

The top photo is what ran in the paper. It's really in your face, and after thinking about it for a while I decided I liked the middle photo better. The moment is quieter and I like the added layer. Any thoughts?

save the cat

This is a bit of spot news. A call came over the scanner that a roof had blown off a trailer, which was odd because it wasn't a windy day. After I got to the park, we found out there had been a gas explosion in the furnace area. The owner of the trailer was rushed to the hospital before we arrived, but a group of neighbors were huddled near one of the engines shouting for the firemen to look for the man's cat.

After a great deal of shouting on the part of the neighbors, the firemen found the cat beneath a bed, unharmed. The concerned neighbors rushed to comfort it. It was just a really quirky situation. I'm not sure I nailed it, but I love the photo just for the story behind it.

'We saved the cat,' joked Acting Flint Township Fire Chief Mark Powley.(not pictured) 'We must be heroes.' Mike Hudson, of Flint Township, (left) and another neighbor comfort a cat rescued from a trailer that the fire department believes caught fire after a gas explosion Thursday in Flint Township. The cat's owner was hospitalized for unknown injuries, and Hudson said he'd look after the cat for the time being.

a bright spot during chemotherapy

Yesterday my only assignment was to check out a local oncology center's $15 million update and illustrate that. Usually these things are PR extravaganzas, but yesterday the very nice PR lady left me in the chemotherapy room with a stack of consent forms. It turned out to be a really amazing and inspirational day.

'Yes, it's the last one!' Arndralla Abu Aita (cq) cheers as an empty bag of medicine is switched out after nearly four hours of chemotherapy Tuesday at the McLaren Great Lakes Cancer Institute in Flint Township. The center recently underwent a $15 million renovation that enlarged and updated their facilities to accommodate an increasing number of patients. Another chemotherapy patient, Peggy Brack, of Flint Township, (cq) (not pictured) said the institute's new addition and features were a much needed improvement from the first time she underwent treatment there. 'It's wonderful.' She said. 'We used to be sitting in hallways and spare rooms. This is much calmer and a lot more comfortable.'

TFJ Love

This past weekend was the annual Michigan Press Photographer's Association convention in Lansing.

And the award goes to:

General news--
Honorable Mention — Ryan Garza, Flint Journal, “In Loving memory”

Feature
1st place — Ryan Garza, Flint Journal, “Close call”
3rd place — Jane Hale, Flint Journal, “Vator Valentines”
Honorable Mention — Ryan Garza, Flint Journal, “Waiting to punch out”

Portrait / personality
Honorable Mention — Jeana-Dee Allen, The Flint Journal, “Mental Housing”

Pictorial
Honorable Mention — Steve Jessmore, Flint Journal, “Nowhere to Play”

Feature picture story
3rd place — Jeana-Dee Allen, The Flint Journal, “She’s a Lady”

Newspaper special project
1st place — Steve Jessmore, Flint Journal, "Sense of Community"

Best use of photos by a newspaper
1st place — Flint Journal

College photographer of the year
1st place — (Flint native too) Jeana-Dee Allen, Michigan State University (With much work from the Flint Journal)

Barry Edmonds Michigan Understanding Award
Steve Jessmore, Flint Journal, “Sense of Community”

Additionally, a few frames from our urban camping experience.