Welcome to 2012

Well, it's been an eventful year. I've had the good fortune to be able to create some fantastic memories with dear friends and see a few incredible places. Here's to hoping 2012 is a good one for us all. . .

Last Day with the Cit Pat

So it's my last day as a staff photojournalist with the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

I'll be updating my website soon, which is like posting a "best of" edit. So in lieu of that, I decided to feature one of my last assignments with the paper.

I spent a few hours with a father/son duo while they did their chores on the family farm. New updates to child labor laws would make it difficult for children like Jeremy, who is 14, to work on his family's farm. The legislation would place restrictions on the ability of anyone under 16 to work with livestock, pesticides and machinery. Additionally, children would be unable to work on a farm unless their parents were its sole owner, so farms co-owned by extended family are out.

I guess in my own, somewhat melodramatic, way I felt like this assignment was pretty on par with my time in journalism. It's a profession I've loved dearly since high school and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I'm not sure what or where I'm headed to next but I'm trying to be excited for a new chapter in my life.

And, of course, I'm always available for freelance.

Thanks for looking.

Reflections

The Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery was awarded to Jackson Police Officer James Bonneau posthumously this morning in Jackson. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg were in town to publicly give the medal to Officer Bonneau's parents, Marc and Amy Bonneau. Bonneau was shot and killed in the line of duty 21 months ago when he responded to a call for assistance with a domestic at a residence in Jackson.

Taking it Back

This was a frame from the buck pole on opening day. It was the first time I'd shot the buck pole when it's been above freezing. . . I was not happy when I had to stand downwind from the carcasses but this frame made it worth the smell.

Thanks for looking.

Farewell Herman Cain

Mr. Cain was in Hillsdale last week to stump at the college there. Of course, his campaign is no more as of this week, but it was still fun to shoot something political. It's been a while since I had the opportunity to shoot President Bush or President Obama. I'd missed it.

Thanks for looking.

Late Awarness

This was a feature I generated for some of our Breast Cancer Awareness coverage.

Caption:

Tom Murphy, 17, leads the Springport high school and elementary school on a march as part of several events held for Breast Cancer Awareness Week Friday afternoon near their schools in Springport. Murphy's mother, Katrina, is currently undergoing treatment for stage 4 breast cancer. Though Springport hosts fundraising events for Breast Cancer Awareness Week every year, this year they decided to funnel the proceeds from a number of events over the week to the Murphy family. Tom, who helped organize the walk, said he was pleased with how everything came together. "To see it actually fall into place," he said, 'It's unreal."

Features from Kentucky

One of these is a scene setter from a tobacco farm. The other was from a zombie walk we shot. The frame count limit killed me that week, but since then I've been more conscientious about my composition, light and moments.

Thanks for looking.

Mountain Workshop

It's been a while since I last posted. Some rather heavy things have happened since October, but today I'm going focus on some of the recent work I've done I'm happy with, rather than on any less enjoyable topics.

So, this is a link to my work at this year's Mountain Workshop. For one week about 60 still and film student descended on Somerset, KY, to document life in the small-ish town. I was privileged enough to spend my week with Dr. Bruce Burkett, one of the last large-animal veterinarians in Pulaski County.

It was really great to take a week and focus on growing, on getting back to excellent storytelling for its own sake, rather than having to worry about the daily grind.

Though I'll most likely be posting a few outtakes from the week, what ended up running on the workshop's site, including the article I wrote about Dr. Burkett, can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/bnuwf98

Thank you for looking.