Last day

Friday was my last day freelancing for the Midland Daily News, where I've been learning the ropes of photojournalism since April '10. I've had the chance to shoot some pretty sweet assignments and work with some awesome photographers and people. Thanks a bunch to Ryan, Nathan, John, Thomas, Nick and Neil for all the advice along the way.

Goat Hill

Didn't turn this in, but it kind of reminds me of the bat mobile.

Accidents

Christmas. Hoops.

It's Christmas season. As Nick King told me, everything is either Christmas-related or a hoops game. I shot both in one day.









And a funny picture of bagpipes in kilts.

Trees

There's still no snow in Mount Pleasant.

Santa brought snow. Fireworks, too.

Light from fireworks save the day (or I guess night)

Tissue

City Council

The other day I spent three-and-a-half hours covering a City Council meeting in Midland.



Community members were petitioning against the conditional rezoning of a parcel of land. The petition passed, 4-1.



He was the one.

Canned

Against the (outside) Wall

The last one is from May.

And another of the dogs.

Rainy

A slow, rainy day. So I went for a walk.

Sim Man

Ribbon Cutting. But the mannequin reminded me a little bit of Conan O'Brien if he were to meet Data.

Pentecostal Temple Part Deux

After photographing the Sunday services at the Pentecostal Temple, I was invited to attend their 75th anniversary barbecue the following Saturday. Also, after talking to Neil for about five minutes (it didn't require much thought at all), I decided I would pursue the Pentecostal Temple as a project. Cool story, brah. Anyway, I went to the barbecue on Saturday, mostly to show my face, but maybe to also find a moment outside of the church building. I was warmly welcomed by everyone, and hustled into the food line where I chatted with some of the people, eventually sitting down to eat lunch with them. I heard some interesting stories and learned a bit, so I didn't bother looking for a feature there.

As I went to leave, one of the people I had lunch with informed me that there was a group of men outside praying over someone, and that I should check it out. And so I did. The light wasn't in my favor, but I took the time to shoot a similar situation from the previous assignment in a different setting and in different ways. They prayed over him for about 20 minutes, and then they asked if he wanted to be baptized, he excitedly said yes. Hearing this, and knowing the access, I immediately found the pastor and asked if I could come along. He also excitedly said yes. As I was walking to my car, the three men who were praying over Art asked if I was coming. I said "definitely."

It was pretty interesting to be right next to the baptismal pool surrounded by others who were praying over Art as he was submerged into the water. I grew up in church, I'm a PK (pastor's kid), so I was baptized too, but to be there with a camera, shooting without them being at all awkward about it? Incredible. Also, Art totally had a spring in his step after being baptized -- I had seen him earlier in the day as he hobbled out of the bathroom. It was an incredible experience.

The other Green and White

Eastern defeated Central 35-28. This is the second year in a row that Central has rallied and tied the game up late in the fourth, only to lose in the last minute on a big play. Bummer.

A typical homework day

The tree has a couple perfect cup holders for coffee. And some squirrels, too.

CMU Soccer

Pentecostal Temple

Check the flickr for a couple more and black and white versions.

Home games are nice...

Because I get to walk to the stadium.





He hit the ground hard. Enough to where he was knocked out for a couple seconds.

Joke Feech, Real Feech

Jeff Smith, the photo editor at CM-Life, asked if I could shoot a feature for the paper. But it was raining, so I had no inclination to do go out and find a one. So, I was chatting with Eric Dresden, the EIC, and we decided to shoot a joke feature, and then turn it in the system. Here's the photo.



And the best caption since the Squirrel caption:
Michigan City resident Derek "Pablo" Resd'n walks out into the unhappy sky, as it pours tears of sorrow and loss unto the campus of Central Michigan University, while some chick with a pink umbrella mean mugs Pablo because his hat is too cool for school. The unsightly weather is threatening to last much of the Thursday and continue into Friday, with a potential for frost and snow in the mornings. "I'm not happy. Not at all. In fact, I'm right furious about this whole situation," Resd'n said. "I can't believe the upper atmosphere would do that to the lower atmosphere. Sometimes I think the upper atmosphere, specifically the Thermosphere, completely forgets about the Troposphere's feelings." Experts on the subject haven't the faintest clue what Resd'n was referring to.

And now the real feature. My camera got waterlogged and pretty much was shooting off frames all by itself. Hellloooo rice.