water is better when you have to filter it...

A full weekend of LNT (leave-no-trace) camping and canoeing down Rifle River seemed like the perfect occasion to combat my photo-compulsive disorder. So I decided to try an experiment - left DSLRs at home and bought a disposable camera - one of those obnoxious drugstore 400-speed things. It was hard to deal with the first day of not having hundreds of exposures at my trigger finger, but it ended up being incredibly refreshing, much like the trip itself. Here are ones I liked from the 21 or so that actually "turned out" out of 27 exposures.

When I have the option to take a lot of photos, I tend to...and then not only is editing hellish and time-sucking, but I miss out on where I am. These frames, though "tween"-y and imperfect, mean a lot to me. I had to force myself to think about which pictures I really wanted. I always get lectured by some close to me to put down the lens and be part of things. I'm glad I did, for a weekend, anyway. Pretty great that something I considered limiting at first was liberating in the end.

Life's always that way, isn't it? Has to force you into learning the obvious. We roughed it some in the wilderness (rain and optional toilet paper and slugs, oh my!), and I roughed it with this little Walgreen's point and shoot, but my perspective changed.

I really don't have to document everything. And I don't need a lot of the things I obsess over and take for granted. Water tastes better when you have to filter it from the river, you know? And pictures mean more if you have to save them.

Film - and camping - are some things I need to work with a lot more often.

run! for water!

The Dow Chemical Co. in Midland supported a 6K Live Earth Run for Water on Sunday. Sean and I double-teamed the 5-hour event. Check out the Midland Daily News' website to see a slideshow of our collective work (with some photos by future new photo editor Nathan Morgan) or Sean's blog post to see his work. For mine...well, see below !


Katrina Wilson, 5, greets her father, Dennis Wilson, 40, after he finished his race Sunday afternoon during Dow Live Earth 6K Run for Water through Midland. "It was all right. I finished!" said Wilson, who has been training for about six months for the race.


Alex Ieuter, 10, of Midland, breaks from the starting line at the beginning of the Fun Run, a one-mile race Sunday following the longer Dow Earth 6K Run for Water earlier in the day.


Breyer Arnold, 7, flops to the grass during a bout of tusseling with his cousin, Gage LeFevre (not pictured), Sunday during the Dow Earth 6K Run for Water event outside Dow Diamond.


Heather Jones, 24, of Freeland, raises Anna Barbeau, 22 months, of Midland, into the air as Maggie Gomola, 8, watches Sunday during LaKisha Jones' performance after Dow Live Earth 6K Run for Water through Midland.

[photos by Libby March | for the Daily News]

a night to remember

...and it was. "A Night to Remember," put on by Evangelical Free Church in Midland, was one of the best dances I've ever been to. It's an annual spring event for people with disabilities, age 18 and older.

I was really, really nervous to be finally freelancing for The Midland Daily News - it's something I've been hoping to do for a long time. My friend Neil was a freelancer there for about a year, and left some pretty big shoes to fill. Another good friend, Sean, also shot an assignment for the MDN recently that turned out really well, and I didn't want to screw up.

Getting lost for 45 minutes wasn't quite what I had in mind for my big Midland debut. When I made it to Evangelical Free Church, I was disoriented and terrified. The building is huge! I walked in, carrying a big, beautiful Nikon D3 (courtesy of the MDN office - yahtzee!) and realized within ten minutes I'd forgotten where its aperture adjustment was.
...nothing like a good old technical issue to bring you back down to earth, eh?

After a few frantic text messages, I sheepishly found the aperture control and set to work - which didn't end up being much like work at all. The attendees of the dance were full of joy, and it was contagious.

Rick Blevins, 52, of Midland, and Ashley Eastman, 20, also of Midland, move across the dance floor Saturday during the 5th annual "A Night to Remember" dance at Midland Evangelical Free Church.

Rhonda Haley, 44, of Midland, dances with Thomas Garner, 42, to the song "Amazed" by Lonestar, Saturday during the 5th annual "A Night to Remember" dance at Midland Evangelical Free Church. Haley is Garner's caregiver. r"My guys love to dance," Haley said, "We come every year because we love to dance."

Weldon Marky, 46, of Midland sings along to tunes pumping from the speakers of Midland Evangelical Free Church's gym Saturday night during the 5th annual "A Night to Remember" dance. Marky especially enjoyed dancing to "Twist and Shout."

I love you," whispered Matt Cross, 24, of Midland, to his girlfriend, Maggie Wolberton, 19, of Midland, Saturday night during a slow track at the 5th annual "A Night to Remember" dance at Midland Evangelical Free Church. The couple has been together a year and 10 months, and this is their first year attending the event. "I love you too!" Wolberton replied.

I made this last frame a few minutes before leaving, and was really glad I'd stayed for most of the dance. Matt and Maggie were a lovely couple; their bond was pretty touching.

Thanks for looking!

(photos copyright The Midland Daily News)

picturing a wedding

Last week I took off from Michigan in a big green transit van, shared a seat with my baby sister and debated sociology, theology, and philosophy with my parents, bound for Port Allegany, Pennsylvania - my cousin was getting married. Paige has always been like an older sister to me, since she has no sisters, and I have two younger, so I was ecstatic to be asked to be a bridesmaid last spring. I also, of course, elected myself supplementary wedding photog for the weekend - though the actual wedding photographers, Stephanie and Rick Osborne, did an incredible job.

You can imagine my horror, if you follow my blogs or know me at all, when my little brother discovered an "Error, please press shutter release again" message on the LCD screen of my mildly trusty, ever-present Nikon d60 while driving across the country before even crossing the Pennsylvania state line.

My lovely aunt and grandmother both offered me their cameras, as did my dad. But I was leery of working with...well, less-advanced technology. I'd have little to no control over shutter speed, aperture, ISO, even on-board flash...the horror!

Friends and family often dog me to put down the lens and be more a part of things; I should take this as a sign not to depend so heavily on my SLR, and even in cameras in general.

And I was gearing myself to suck it up and work with a point-and-shoot, until Paige's best friend and maid of honor, Heather, stepped in and offered to let me borrow her Nikon d3000. THANK. GOD. I proceeded to adopt my usual shutterbugging.

Paige and Blake meet up briefly the day before The Day at The Old Library Bed & Breakfast inOlean, New York - the wedding reception after party was held.


Andromeda, or "Andi," is Paige and Blake's darling, as well as the flower girl in their wedding, and was very tired during the rehearsal at my aunt and uncle's camp in Pennsylvania.


Paige runs through her wedding vows after mimosas and hairdressing in Port Allegany.

Maid of honor Heather attaches Paige's veil Saturday at Aunt Lynn and Uncle Mike's camp in Pennsylvania.


Kathy, Paige's new mother-in-law, came in to see Paige before the ceremony. Blake wasn't allowed anywhere near Paige until she walked down the aisle.


Bridesmaids and bride had an impromptu sing-a-long pre-ceremony.


Uncle Mike hugs his daughter a few minutes before the wedding.




Paige was the most beautiful and happy bride I've ever seen.

It was a beautiful wedding and I was blessed to be a part of it; all the best to my "big sister" and her new husband, Blake!

Thanks for looking.

bridal irony

I spent a long weekend in Pennsylvania and a little of New York this weekend as a bridesmaid - my cousin Paige got married! Here's a preview to the 300 or so of my favorite frames, narrowed down from 4 full memory cards - and yes, that is a fly strip behind our gorgeous bride's getting-ready process !

JRN 320: good eats, good people

The Diner on Old Mission in Mount Pleasant is a really lovely little spot in Mount Pleasant; last week I did a piece for Vision Mid Michigan to double count for my JRN 320 class. For copy, check out the story at Vision's Web site.

(On a side note, it's the first time I've ever been published outside of CM-Life and as a freelancer, so I'm pretty excited about it.)

JRN 423: video 1

sharing the music from Libby March on Vimeo.

40 hours sans sleep and still in lab..

JRN 423: final project proposal[s]

I have to admit I'm really struggling on what I want to do for my final 423 project. Can you believe I can't figure out what I really want to address?

I'm looking over the topics list and there are a few which stand out to me as things I care deeply about or am interested in: international culture, poverty, religious discrimination, social inequalities, homelessness, racial profiling...etc. These are story ideas with subjects I feel I could support through my pictures, in a way.

But what about the topics with subjects I don't support? - child modeling, ethnocentrism, etc? How do you address an issue and make a point if you're going into the scene with a negative outlook?

I remember vaguely a chapter in my 220/422 textbook that dealt with a picture story in which there was a single dad who ended up treating his children badly, but was the focus of the story.

I don't know how to approach a story without my subject being someone I believe in. And yet...I think it is very important that I try.

I don't want to do something trite. I want to work on a piece with some emotional depth. I also want to dig into something new.

I'm stuck. Is the lesson here that I need to go into new story situations, especially those I don't agree with, with an open mind, and tell the 'other side' of them? How can I gain access if I don't...feel empathy? Am I being judgemental? I am, aren't I?

This is not a proposal; it's barely a blog entry - more like a minefield of question marks.

Dear journalism: you never fail to daunt and bait me. I love long term stories, but sometimes I'm terrified I won't be able to hold myself to a high enough standard; that any good work I've been able to produce has been a fluke.

Why does everything I do have to be difficult? Maybe I should do a piece that deals with more joy. Something pretty and inspiring.

Dilemma.

JRN 423: taking the video plunge

About a week and a half ago, my professor and PJ advisor, Kent Miller, gave us an hour to go shoot a video in my JRN 423 class. We had to be back by 8 p.m. and have our pieces edited by the end of class.

I was terrified; working with new equipment is so daunting to me. Considering there was a time when I choked at the idea of using lenses besides my kit (and I'm still mildly wary of strobes) you can imagine my horror at the requirement that I go out and make a video in one hour. I felt like the water-phobic little kid whose parents' method of teaching her to swim is tossing her off the dock into a deep, fishy lake. The kind with sharks in the bottom.

Upon expressing my uneasiness to friends or mentors, I've been met with kind words and the assurance that video isn't all that different from still photography - to which my reaction is always extreme frustration. Still photography means you can move around! Video cameras have to have tripods! Audio mics must be used! THINGS MOVE IN VIDEOS! ...etc. There is so much more to screw up with when shooting video! I really thought I might hyperventilate.

After a few frenetic minutes of cruising Mission and the downtown Mount Pleasant area for stories with my friends Tanya and Paige, I decided to comb the music building and make art about an artist. I was turned down by several students before finding my subject. Not encouraging, considering the fast-narrowing window of time we were given.

But everything turned out okay. I shot the same way I would with my still camera, with a little more emphasis on image stability. It's not like I made something for NatGeo TV, but it turns out everyone just might've been right.

Shooting video really isn't so bad.

(And no, that doesn't make my mind all that calm about my next video project. Because next time, I'm going to actually USE the external mic for sound, and oh! my! gosh! That's new equipment...)