"An irredeemably dumb disaster movie with good effects and virtually no plot."

Catching up a bit on some blogging. I actually took a vacation in July, which was weird (although I ended up working a bit anyway. It was by choice so it's different, right?) As always, thanks for looking. And check back for the big FAIR post soon.

"Well before it finished I was numb from its bludgeoning excess."

There was a couple of days in June where I was the only staffer around. They were long, busy days jumping from desk to shooting (a feature,) back to desk then again to shooting (a game,) but the variety was enjoyable. Here's a few too many from a couple of them.

Mor-Ad.

The weather warms up.

 People stay outside longer.

 They attend events.

 They play sports.

 They make dumpster art.

 They leap into the water (so do dogs).

 They look for ways to fill their time.

 They crash their cars (looking at another accident)

...Barely staying afloat above the dark water.

Lamal.

I spent a good amount of time in June either working on the Central project or on the desk.

However, I was able to sneak in a handful of good daily assignments too.

Here's some of my favorites, ranging from graduation, to spot news and an Anniversary Mass.

School's out and the weather is getting nice, so I'm looking forward to finding features with pretty blue skies and nice light.

But with the heat comes weird weather, causing fires and storms.

And the heat also brings lemonade stands and bake sales. This one in particular raised money for a family who lost their apartment in a fire (see the above photo.)

Oh, and shooting in the blazing high noon sun can really suck, or just make you think a bit differently.

This storm knocked over trees and dropped hail like snow.

And while this 75th Anniversary Mass was going on, the skies opened up bringing occasional thunder and lightning with it.

But that didn't stop unhappy parishioners from voicing their concerns.

(Oh, and remember that hail? It mostly melted by the time we got out there...)

Also these little guys made a ribbon cutting worthwhile (and so did the food.)

Anyway. Onto July.

Tris Amino.

Around this time of year it's always a lot of hoops games to cover. Districts then Regionals then States (if your local team is lucky enough to make it that far). It usually means you're driving at least an hour to your game, too. 



So you're probably wondering what the heck a spot news photo has to do with this. It doesn't. The hoops post will come as soon as hoops season is done. For now, here's some stuff I've shot in between sports assignments.





A birthday party for a 102-year-old (although she swears she is 82).

 

Some political PR stuff, including a visit from Midland's local U.S. rep, Dave Camp.





And then some kids.