Top caption: Larry Bauder, an investigator for the Tri-City Ghost Hunters Society, sits in front of the projector screen Wednesday afternoon while audio evidence is played back for a sold out audience to hear during the Ghost Hunters presentation at the Alice & Jack Wirt Library in Bay City. Besides playing back recorded audio evidence, the group explained their goals and how their equipment works. Started in 2009 by Nicole Beauchamp and Mandy Moore, the group does research on haunted locations and investigations for anyone in need.
Bottom caption: Adam Federspiel, 22, of Midland, a senior at Central Michigan University, stands while waiting for the 12-mile Ride of Silence to begin Wednesday evening. The ride memorializes cyclists who have been injured or killed on public roadways, and promotes motorist awareness of cyclists. "My cousin was riding his bike in Redford when someone took a left, didn't see him, and he was struck and killed. I do it memory of him," Federspiel said.
"I've spent so long grooming him, I forgot to groom myself," Adele MacAskill said as the Old English Sheepdog judging started Saturday afternoon during the Midland Michigan Kennel Club dog show at the Midland County Fairgrounds. Rudy, who is 17-months-old, is new to the dog show circuit, the MMKC show being its third, and holds a junior herding level. "He can herd ducks. Sheep are next," MacAskill said.
Shot Joe Albaugh, the Coleman High School softball coach, on Wednesday. After teaching for 26 years, and coaching 3 different sports--Football for 16, Baseball for 9, and Softball for 11--Albaugh is retiring. Here are a few details from the shoot. Yay details.
20-year-old Harley Steedley, of Midland, laughs as he feels around the table where he is volunteering, geared toward experiencing what it's like to have some form of impairment. as part of Arts for All Saturday morning at Creative 360, 1517 Bayliss St. Each person who comes to the table either puts on a blind fold or gloves, and performs a now challenging daily routine, such as finding coins or unlocking locks.
Midland residents 14-year-old Carolina Frey guides the hand of 20-year-old Harley Steedley, who has been blind for 9 years, as he sits down at the table where he will be volunteering during Arts for All Saturday morning at Creative 360, 1517 Bayliss St. "He's really nice, not different from other people, even though he needs help getting around," Frey, who attends Jefferson Middle School, said.
Northwood University senior Michelle Boscola warms her hands while waiting to step up to the plate Friday morning against Saginaw Valley State University during the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at Emerson Park. Boscola did not reach the plate, as the game was postponed in the bottom of the fourth inning with SVSU up 4-0 due to inclement weather.
Soccer diptych. Spencer Wallis, 15, of the Muskegon Lakers U19 Boys White Division team. Kicking the ball.
I was hanging out in the Midland Daily News office with Libby today, waiting on word about the softball game I had been shooting that was delayed due to weather (Game started at 10, they set the potential restart time for 3), and while waiting I decided I would get to captioning some photos I had shot for The Morning Sun the day before. As I was doing this, Nathan, the Photo Editor, came down into the photo department and we started talking. He noticed the image I was captioning and said, "That's a nice moment, why didn't you shoot that for us!", and we laughed about it. And then I though to myself...wait, I already have. I've shot almost the same shot for Midland just a couple weeks ago. Similar moment, similar framing. Weird.
Christina Westbury, center, and Jessica McFarland, both of Midland laugh together while discussing ideas to improve their costumes Monday evening, April 19 at Creative 360, during the Restoration Theater Group rehearsal of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest." The play, the first production by the Restoration Theater Group, will be performed at Creative 360 on April 23 and 24.
Vanessa Sprague, 20, laughs along with her father, Tim, and younger sister, Olivia, 9, as her other sister, Alex, asks the Mount Pleasant Robot if it is a guy or a girl. "He's a tin man with a big heart," the robots spokesman, Alex Mikus, said about the robot.
Weird, right? And then I stopped caring. And then I put them on my blog and almost attempted to write an insightful look at how both these moments were captured. But I stopped. Cool.
Here's my final project for 423. I wanted to try something different with my video, and unfortunately it fell through as a whole. I had several sources drop me on short notice, or just refuse outright. As it is, I used what I had, what was originally going to only be a small portion of the video, and made it my final. Here it is. I have a couple mistakes to fix, so I'll probably update this post in a week or so.
Copy: (written very quickly) On May 1, 2010, Michigan joined 25 other states, including much of New England, by enacting a statewide smoking ban in all enclosed places. The bill, signed into law by Governor Jennifer Granholm on Decemeber 18, 2009, bans smoking in all indoor, enclosed workplaces, as well as outdoor patios of bars and restaurants. The only places exempt from the ban are cigar bars, retail tobacco stores, private homes, company vehicles, and Detroit's three casinos' gambling floors. The law is aimed toward cutting down on the health hazards of secondhand smoking in areas where it would otherwise be difficult to avoid it. The risks of secondhand smoke are well documented, ranging from the possibility of cancer, to lung problems such as asthma, or infections. It is estimated that 53,000 nonsmokers per year are killed by secondhand smoke, making it the 3rd leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. "Personally, as a bartender and a nonsmoker, I think it's great not having the smoke around," said D.J. Blizzard, bartender at The Bird Bar & Grill in downtown Mount Pleasant for the past eight years. "I'm all for people having the right to do whatever they want, and as a private business you should be able to choose, but meanwhile, I don't think it will effect us that much." "I just found out about the smoking ban," Mount Pleasant resident Archie MacGillivray said, "but I don't know, I have mixed feelings. It's nice that there will be a cleaner environment for everyone to hang out in--I'm a father, so obviously I think about my kids--but then there's the other side of it. Basically, I don't have to be in the smoke, I can always change my behavior by leaving a smoking environment. I see the good, but I see how it limits personal freedoms on a lot of different levels." Livonia freshman Nick Armes has been smoking for one year, and he is against the ban. "All these places have the property rights, they can make their own rules. And here comes the government saying 'we're talking over your company and making the laws for you.'" "I think it's unfortunate overall, because ultimately, when you get to the point, I think it's a property rights issue. It's not so much for or against smoking, but for and against personal choice, especially entrepreneurial choice." Andrew Petrevics, a Redford senior, said. "We've tried prohibition before with alcohol and it doesn't work, I think it's rather unfortunate and quite dangerous."
I shot golf for the first time today, as well as used the 300mm for the first time. It was a little finnicky (or wonkey, as Nathan says) with the autofocus, but it's golf...I have time to manually focus.
Jordan Fairbank, an H.H. Dow High senior, hits a drive as rain steadily increases Wednesday morning at the Currie Municipal Golf Course. "(Fairbank) has probably been playing golf since he could walk," said Dow coach Mark Pickering.
After a while of telephoto-ing, I got bored. So I took out the wide 14mm lens I had and got super close for a few shots. Holy green.
15-year-old Chris Dinh carefully looks and lines for his putt on the last hole of the front nine Wednesday morning at the Currie Municipal Golf Course. Dinh, an H.H. Dow High School freshman, is Dow's top golfer. "I've been playing for 11 years, since I was four. Golf is really serious for me. I'm going to play through high school, try to play in college, and see what comes next."
