Auf Wiedersehen Michigan

Sadly, my time in Michigan is at an end.  I flew back to central California today (actually, I flew to Chicago, Vegas and Sacramento -- you've gotta love Southwest Airlines!).  I think that this shot is in Utah... but... who knows, it could be anywhere.  I thought the canyons looked cool.  The world always amazes me when I fly.  

About ten minutes into the flight this little guy called out to his mother, "Look a butterfly!"  I expected to find a flying insect when I looked up, but instead I saw him pointing down to the earth.  With his young eyes he saw the shape of a butterfly in the four circles formed by freeway exits.  I though it was funny - We usually find hidden shapes up in the clouds but this little boy looked down from the clouds to see shapes.

I'll be working on my new website during the next week.  Hopefully, something amazing is heading my way.  Until then, I'm going to work my a** off to make that "something" happen. :-)  I think I'm going to start a piece on the modern day California Gold Rush - it could make a cool documentary/photo story.  Wish me luck!

Prairie Wind

Meet Mr. Tom Horney of Raisinville Township in Monroe, Mich. He's going to receive the "Friend of Conservation" award for the work he's done planting trees and preserving the prairie grasses on his land. I spent a little over an hour driving around with him in his big red pickup, ("The Beast" he called it) and enjoying a rare winter glimpse of pure sunlight.

When I spoke to him on the phone he joked about how I should take a picture with him far away, behind the grass... and... well... that's kinda what happened. While we were driving he'd spotted a rooster so he got out of The Beast to try and find him in the high grass. I loved the way the prairie grass looked as the FREEZING wind blew it so I snapped a few shots before my eyes started to water.
The combination of sunlit grass in the foreground and storm clouds in the distance really made this photo pop. It's one of my new favorites! I wonder what he thought when he saw the paper and realized I took his suggestion. ?? (fyi - we never found the rooster)

Bring it on Bedford!

Bedford, Mich., is home to a group of very jumpy girls... the Bedford high school competitive cheer squad. I spent a few hours with them at their practice, and after the shock of being around so much pink wore off, I realized that it's not easy being a cheerleader. In fact, I think its the most difficult "sport" I've photographed yet.

The girls were quick to tell me they weren't dancers - they were there to tumble and shout using what they called "their manly voice." Every member of the team had to learn to do jumps, forward flips, backward flips and some painful looking flip I've never even heard of before.

To say the least, I was impressed - and I didn't expect to be impressed.

9 degrees!

Cold winter weather brought ice and snow to Monroe County January 3, 2008. I got to experience the cold first hand as I drove and hiked through Monroe taking pictures of a world so cold even the trees turned white!

That's ice hanging down from the basketball net!!

Mayor C.D. "Al" Cappuccilli

To see the multimedia piece go to :

monroepublishing.com/multimedia/mayor