libby march • photojournalist

community christmas dinner

2012-02-06T16:12:00.016-05:00

My dad requested that I document the Community Christmas Dinner at the home church this past year. (He's a pastor there.) Finally got around to toning some pictures. The dinner is an annual outreach event full of people from all over the area, those who eat and those who serve. Pretty great way to close the year.

JRN 521 final project proposal

2012-01-30T18:47:00.002-05:00

working title: the american feminine

1) WORKING HYPOTHESIS and INTERPRETATION
I believe that knowing who one is as a person is one of the most important basics for living a fulfilled, happy life. If you know who you are and are solid in that, you are confident and able to pursue the things you want to do, see, and become. Much of our lives is spent trying to figure out who we are, to grow, to heal, and to change. Our perceptions of the world and life experiences affect how we see ourselves and how we behave. As a woman, I want to delve into the myriad facets of the lives of women, from the very young to the very old, and create a series of looks into their worlds and their view of their worlds. I want to explore what it means to be female here in mid-Michigan, and on a wider scale, in America. Ultimately I want the audience to feel what it is to walk in each woman’s shoes and see a brief panoramic of their world view. I want them to experience the pressures, joys, tragedies, triumphs, hardships, and complexities of all kinds of women.

2) TOPIC
My subjects will be a group of young girls, teenaged girls, young women, adults, and older women. The womens’ varied lifestyles will come together in a series of small vignettes to create a multi-faceted viewing experience which examines who women are, who they are told to be, who they feel they should be, who they want to be, what drives them, what they are passionate about, what moves them, etc.

3) ACTION
I will focus on a specific aspect of each individual’s life, be it a personal experience, a work environment, a habitual routine, an emotional journey, or a passion. I want to spend time with women from all different walks of life.

4) MAIN SUBJECT(S)
I have several ideas about where to find subjects. I would like to meet with a little girl who is in beauty pageants, an outlier teenaged girl, a woman who performs burlesque (there is a burlesque troupe here in Mount Pleasant), a woman struggling with economic hardship, a career-driven woman, a grandmother, a mother, or any of the combinations above or more. I am inspired by Lauren Greenfield’s “Girl Culture,” but I want to explore the lives of women through my own lens, focusing on my local mid-Michigan area.

5) CAMERA INTERVIEWS
a) little girl
b) preteen girl
c) high school aged girl
d) young woman in 20s
e) 30s-40s woman
f) 50s-aged woman
g) 60s + woman (grandmother, etc, whatever)
(These age areas are a flexible start-off point and subject to change.)

6) STRUCTURE
Each person will be represented with a brief multimedia vignette into some aspect of her life. I will focus on producing a short Soundslide about each person in the aesthetic tradition of the New York Times’ series “One in 8 Million.” I am also hoping that within the imagery there will be enough for a quality still image story or essay about each person.

7) LOGISTICS
I am hoping to focus on a different girl or woman about every week and a half or so.

8) RESOLUTION
My goal with this piece is to work on a long term project with a series of small multimedia pieces, because it’s a type of work I’ve never done before. I have done multiple stories in the past with stills, focusing on one person. A ‘project’ with a broad spectrum of personalities, and one that focuses on multimedia, is new for me, and I’m trying to push myself to do something very different. I am looking to the New York Times’ “One in 8 Million” series and to Lauren Greenfield’s “Girl Culture” for inspiration.
My hope is that viewers will experience an intricately woven sort of multimedia Venn Diagram that examines the intricacies of womens’ lives, comparing and contrasting their personalities, world views, and experiences. I feel that today there is a cacophony of influences in media and daily life which affect women in constantly changing ways.

jrn 521 portrait shootout

2012-01-23T20:50:00.005-05:00

Shootout during the PJ capstone class. We were assigned to make a portrait of our class partners. (Mine is Jake May, PJ extraordinaire and my unofficial big brother.)

National Park Application: Essay and Wildlife Imagery

2012-01-23T12:01:00.004-05:00

Northern New Hampshire

I've compiled this blog post to show a collection of work made in the natural world, for viewing as part of my application for a summer internship working with the National Park Service.

White Mountains, New Hampshire

Growing up in the Upper Peninsula gave me a great love for the natural world. As a kid I played in the hedge in my parents' backyard, made forts under trees near our home, and rode horseback through woods and remote fields. I spent time in the summers at a church camp called Presbytery Point, which lies on a small peninsula edged in white birch and nestled in Lake Michigamme. Campfires, swimming, and hiking nearby "Mount Baldy" are some of my favorite memories. Years later, some of my best times visiting my hometown include visiting the rapids of the Menominee River at Piers Gorge and running the quiet, protected trails around Fumee Lake.

As a hiker and a runner, I want to share my love for fresh air and outdoor adventure with city-locked people. It's my belief that more time outside would make us a happier, healthier society. National parks are a gift and a precious commodity that I both want to experience and document, to communicate the importance of wildlife and its preservation. Sometimes just seeing a striking image can be an adventure in itself, and inspire a hunger to be present at the real thing. Pictures and multimedia are vital to the well-being and representation of wildlife. I hope to be part of procuring the visuals that instill an irresistible pull to advocate for and explore national parks.

As a photographer, I'm captivated by the variety and vibrancy of plants and animals. Nature has so much beauty to offer that is often overlooked in modern-day society. This past summer, while interning at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, I spent my days off delighting in the woods and pond near my host family's home and road tripping to the White Mountains and to the 17 miles of sea coast in New Hampshire and the rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean in Maine. Making pictures of the wild world was a release and a joy for me. And sometimes I was content just to be outside, without documenting, but absorbing the quiet and ferocity of flora and fauna.

White Mountains, New Hampshire

Snow Pond, Concord, New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

Northern New Hampshire

God bless us, every one

2012-01-13T17:38:00.003-05:00

Quick grab from the balcony. Candlelight Christmas Eve at home.

ny: blue, red

2012-01-13T17:06:00.006-05:00

color candy in the big apple

new york in december

2012-01-13T16:29:00.010-05:00

Some seeing from my trip to see a dear friend in Brooklyn last month. We played downtown.

around Manhattan

St. Patrick's Cathedral

in MoMa

around Manhattan

Rockefeller Center

fishing in the winter

2012-01-12T14:10:00.005-05:00

Not ice fishing, but fishing in the winter. First MDN assignment of the year.

Bruce Biggs, of Midland, helps his son, Sidney Biggs, 5, get a better grip on his fishing pole on Sunday afternoon under the Tridge. Bruce, who used to fish in the same area as a kid, said they were hoping to catch anything that would bite. Though the water did not yield any fish, Sidney was enthusiastic. "We caught the ground of that lake!" he said to his father, beaming his approval after the line caught on a rock.

"give thanks" for upper peninsula music

2011-12-01T15:04:00.006-05:00

Always great to hear U.P. music live when I'm in the hometown. Thankful to Mostly Midwest and my friend Steven Michael for making it happen and letting me shoot. Check out the Mostly Midwest website for videos and words about this show and to keep an eye on the midwest music scene.

Again, for more media, hit up www.mostlymidwest.com !

toys for tots

2011-11-20T15:16:00.005-05:00

Spent yesterday afternoon cruising a Midland neighborhood with Horse Tales 4H club as they collected for Toys for Tots. The girls were belting Christmas carols, cheering on a tired mini-horse, and running alongside a fourwheeler train transporting the gathered toys. They were so grateful the paper was covering their collection...I was just grateful to be the one there to cover it. Being outside and photographing teenagers supporting a great cause to preview the holiday season? I'm the most blessed, and I can't wait for the pictures to be made in the next month.

at a 100-year-old's birthday party

2011-11-15T14:24:00.001-05:00

Meet Beverly Milner.

we all looked like high school kids.

2011-11-15T14:13:00.004-05:00

...the March kid gang adventured to one of the few attractions in my small U.P. hometown. Cat found an old American Eagle fur vest and rocked it to Taco Bell, Josh was in his typical athletic shorts and hoodie combination, Laurie IS in high school, and I was all in oldschool skater wear. Silliness.

But it's Cat's vest that takes the cake.

some time at home

2011-11-14T16:20:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I like to blog about my life outside photography.

Nothin' like going home, winter-prepping the garage to 70s radio, getting an early birthday present (a vintage '78 3-speed Huffy cruiser!), and fall apples from friends' trees...

...yes, that is the actual license plate registration, probably circa early 80s, on my birthday bike. We live in Dickinson County, so there you go.

one dark night in late october

2011-11-14T14:14:00.003-05:00

Up near my parents' house in the U.P.

clouds, window

2011-11-12T16:53:00.001-05:00

Grab from walking back to my car after a basketball assignment.

donkey basketball

2011-11-06T15:42:00.002-05:00

One of the most fun things I've ever shot. I wanted to play. Also, make a whole sports portfolio of a series of games, just to be able to watch that many...

all the fall things pt 2: a little color

2011-11-05T12:54:00.001-04:00

all the fall things pt 1: how we study

2011-11-02T09:34:00.007-04:00

...with cider and doughnuts at my favorite tree on campus. Title not intended as a Blink-182 pun, but oh well.

football, baby

2011-11-01T15:26:00.003-04:00

Another game for CM-Life. Couple features, couple sports frames.

Side note: I really like wide sports frames, so you can see more of the play. It's something I want to get better at.

tinkerbell's treehouse

2011-10-26T16:22:00.006-04:00

A little girl wanted to be Tinkerbell with a fairy house, so her dad made her one. Coolest, ever?
Cuteness advisory in effect. Shot for the MDN.

all for one and one for all

2011-10-26T16:00:00.003-04:00

bullock creek vs. freeland

2011-10-25T09:56:00.003-04:00

Shooting sports with an early deadline is always interesting. But I love cranking the iPod and blocking out everything but the plays. As follows, a couple weeks' back frames for the Midland Daily News.

chippewa soccer, baby

2011-10-18T18:46:00.006-04:00

A couple recent games. Soccer is my favorite sport to shoot, and these girls make for a great game.

a former terrorist? speaks in midland

2011-10-17T19:16:00.007-04:00

strangely, this felt like one of the most political shoots I've done thus far.

st. louis volleyball

2011-10-17T17:34:00.002-04:00

- from a Saturday morning for the Morning Sun.

tripping over kid feeches in midland

2011-10-17T17:22:00.002-04:00

Went to get coffee between assignments. Found these little girls on the tridge and at Espresso Milano.

Rylin Palmer, 2, of Midland, takes a long sip of a smoothie while hanging out with family at Espresso Milano on Saturday afternoon.

Maggie Hodges, 3, of Midland, looks back at her grandmother, Sally Bukoski, while trying out her training wheels on the tridge on Saturday afternoon.

self defense!

2011-10-12T14:17:00.001-04:00

look down

2011-10-09T23:36:00.001-04:00

to have and to hold

2011-10-09T22:38:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I was a second shooter for a wedding photographed by Thomas Simonetti. It was my first wedding shoot and the bride and groom were lovely.

labor day in farwell

2011-10-09T22:11:00.005-04:00

...shot a Labor Day parade for the Morning Sun.

Isaiah Bacone, 4, right, and his half-brother, Dylan Morrish, 10, look out the window of Deb & Jesse's Down Home Diner to see the Labor Day parade in Farwell on Monday, September 5, 2011.

Flag Football cheerleaders, ages 5-7, wait to walk in the Labor Day parade in Farwell on Monday, September 5, 2011.

Jerry Mester, of Farwell, pantomimes playing a saxophone to Big Band tunes as part of a mock swing band riding in a 1967 Ford convertible during the Labor Day parade in Farwell on Monday, September 5, 2011.

Two-year-old husky Kiba gets a pat from Emily Valik, of Farwell, before attending the Labor Day parade in Farwell on Monday, September 5, 2011.

harvest fest, happy fall

2011-10-08T13:11:00.006-04:00

Gorgeous afternoon to shoot the start of the auburn season in Midland for the Daily News.

little bit of field hockey

2011-10-08T12:02:00.003-04:00

from September for CM-Life.

late afternoon lighting

2011-10-07T22:43:00.002-04:00

...while shooting the CMU soccer team for CM-Life. Looks like I'll be doing that a lot this semester - pretty excited about that.

And a 16x9 type crop, for kicks.

dirty americans, gnarly light

2011-10-07T15:12:00.001-04:00

Just some cool light for CM-Life while shooting Dirty Americans at Rubbles Bar a few weeks ago.

seed bracelets!

2011-10-07T09:33:00.003-04:00

One of my first assignments back at the Midland Daily News! I've missed that paper, and its photogs. More to come soon!

valerie jarvis: goat farmer, cheesemaker, mother of ten

2011-09-19T19:45:00.006-04:00

I spent much of the summer in Concord hanging out at a local farm, getting to know Valerie Jarvis, who is one heck of a driven lady. The story ran in the Monitor yesterday, so now I'm free to blog.

Thanks to all who helped me agonize over the visual and written edits. Your input and support were invaluable, not just with this story, but throughout the summer.

Valerie Jarvis has always been, to use her own description, "a person of odd choices." Labor coach. Licensed pilot. Home-schooling mother of 10. And most recently, goat farmer and cheesemaker.

Fifteen years after her family acquired its first goat - a birthday gift from Jarvis to her then-husband - she continues to perfect the craft of making cheese. But now she has a hundred goats, and her Gilmanton Ironworks business, Heart Song Farm, is thriving. (To read the full story, see the Concord Monitor article)

"i feel like i'm starving to death"

2011-09-19T15:46:00.006-04:00

One of the last frames from Concord this summer. I've never come in contact with someone who has pancreatitis before. I stayed a long time at her home, just talking. She's a great lady having a terrible time, but I'm really glad I met her. I hope so much that her surgery gives her a life back.

Photojournalism can be such a strange combination of poignancy and joy...the poignancy of feeling for someone as they deal with struggle, and the joy of being able to admire their courage through that kind of struggle. Being a witness to courage like that is what keeps me addicted.

Cindy Flynn wipes a tear from her eye while resting at home after work on Friday, August 12, 2011. Flynn was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis in 2000. Eating food makes her very sick, so she uses a feeding tube. "My pancreas doesn't like food," she explained. "So (if I eat) it gnaws. (But without food) I feel like I'm starving to death." She is hoping her upcoming surgery on September 24 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center will allow her to adopt a more normal life. The surgery will take out her pancreas, spleen, and part of her intestines and possibly part of her stomach and will render her immediately diabetic, but could take away her pancreatic pain. "Hopefully I'll wake up and say, 'Oh my God, the pancreas pain is gone," Flynn said.

Cindy readies her feeding tube at home on Friday, August 12, 2011. She wears the feeding tube in a small Harley Davidson backpack for about 12 hours a day, the time it takes to empty three cans of Promote, a high-protein solution which is her only nourishment.

You can read some about Cindy in Ray Duckler's article for the Monitor.

little piece of eden

2011-08-31T22:20:00.007-04:00

I wrote a column for the Concord Monitor about an especially terrific feature hunting day. Here's some pictures, and the copy - I know it's long, but maybe if I open with a couple pictures you'll want to read some.

(Spindazzle daylily)

an eden of daylilies
Sometimes the newspaper needs art. Photojournalists get to go look for, and capture art from everyday life. We do a lot of searching for something we hope is as cool to other people as it is to us. Sometimes the urge to keep going for the "big picture" overrules the little voice that says "Stop!" for a bit of ambiance, but on one recent day I stopped.

I was cruising Suncook Valley Road in Chichester, looking for "something interesting," as photographers are wont to say, when a bit of yellow and a straw hat beckoned from an intersecting road. I drove by twice but turned around both times and eventually made it over.

I was greeted warmly by a man in his 70s, smiling as though it wasn't odd at all that I'd come nosing about uninvited.

His name is Gene Smith. He and his wife, Nancy, own Aradeena Gardens, a bower of perennials and more than 1,100 daylilies. Yeah, read that number aloud: more than 1,100 daylilies. Eleven. Hundred. Daylilies.

I didn't even realize there were that many kinds of flowers, let alone strains of what I thought was just one type of flower. (You know, "flower" strikes me as one of those words that doesn't do its namesake justice. Aren't they much lovelier to see than to hear the flat word, "flower?")

(a Summer Wine daylily)

When I asked if I could stay and photograph as he worked, Gene said he didn't mind at all. I framed and snapped the shutter button, framed again. Commented on how very many there were. Gene laughed.

"This is nothing. There's a different kind of lily every 18 inches," he said. "You haven't seen out back. It's much more beautiful there."

We crossed the yard in front of the house, through a pair of trees, and I looked down into a valley of color. Voluptuous, riotous color. Petals flashing canary yellow, titian orange, violent purple, scarlet bleeding into saffron, whites so soft they seemed to spill moonlight.

Was it Eden?

'we need more room!'
I've always felt flowers weren't for me, being an absent-minded sort without much patience to tend a plant, but the crop of such care and perseverance was glorious. Aradeena is extraordinary.

The Smiths have been cultivating and expanding their floral empire for about 10 years. Nancy, who has been a gardener all her life, said Gene took notice one day of a daylily among other perennials. A few days later she came home to find him in a pile of dirt. When she asked him what was happening, he replied, "We need more room for that one!" and pointed to the daylily plant.

(a Lil Peanut daylily)

Gene said his passion for daylilies began in earnest when he retired about four years ago. He wanted to buy daylilies that most people have never seen, the ones too expensive to splurge for.

"I have some that cost $100 a lily. I don't care if I sell them." he explained. "I just love the flowers and wish other people could enjoy them as much as I do."

And they can. Gene and Nancy's valley of daylilies is free for viewing. Anyone is invited to come and look at the gardens during the day. Purchasing the flora is welcome, but unnecessary. The Smiths want the flowers enjoyed. They only ask that for the safety of the flowers, pets and small children are left at home, and guests avoid stepping amongst the plants when getting a closer look.

That day, Gene was "deadheading," removing yesterday's blooms from the lily plants. Daylilies, I now understand, are called such because they bloom for only one day. They curl open their fists of petals in the morning, beam vibrantly for a few hours and wither with the sun. The next morning, all that is left is a shriveled remnant.

Gene gestured to plant after plant after plant: Hurricane Swirls, Summer Wine, Kings Business, Hold Your Horses, and more. Each one he described as tenderly and exuberantly as the one before. Some had petals that curled wide and spidery, some were large, some small, some "double bloomed," some had "shark's teeth" ridges at the edges of the petals.

"You can't compare them," he kept saying. "They're all so different."

Like women, I joked, all women are beautiful, and shouldn't be compared. Gene beamed.

"That's right!" he cried. "They're all my little girls. My children."

brevity of the bloom
As we walked through the daylily kingdom, Gene snapped off a brilliant crimson bloom with yellow flooding its center and handed it to me. My face must have given me away.

"It's all right," Gene said. "They're going to die anyway."

I was awed by his generosity, and struck by the brevity of a daylily bloom's life. Today I thought I saw a very light thread in my very dark hair. Know how old I am? Twenty-two. And I really did catch myself checking for gray hair. Some people are going to laugh and scrunch their noses when they read that, and I will too, in 10 or 20 or 30 years. But it really does feel like last week I was 16.

And wasn't I? I'm suddenly in sight of a college degree, living in New England for my second photo internship and trying to avoid the tide of serial dating. But yesterday I was a high school sophomore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, violently refusing to do my geometry homework and obsessing over the state of my eyeliner. I bet if I blink, I'll be 35 and looking fondly at my days at the Monitor as if they were, well, five minutes ago.

Some of the daylilies were looking a little less fresh, a little more weather-worn than the others. Some had petals that had been eaten down to veins by insects. Some were bent a little, exposed to a force outside Gene and Nancy's watch. Some were wilting faster than others. But they were no less beautiful than the unbroken blossoms. And I was fascinated by all of them. Wear and tear doesn't diminish the lilies' beauty. Sometimes it enhances it. They wear the strife of wind and sun and fauna with graceful resilience. Like many people I know.

(a Vintage Bordeaux daylily)

Let me give you the cliche: Our lives are short. We spend so much time panicking over little things and passing people, and we're suddenly darkening, ebbing, becoming dead heads. But since we're to bloom so briefly, isn't it best that we live brightly?

This is not an Eminem song. I'm not preaching the mantra of "get it now" and "get it all" and "get it big." I am not quoting Kurt Cobain's "It's better to burn out than to fade away."

I am saying I want to live a life that brings beauty to the world. If this lily has just a day, let it be a day full of brightness. Brightness of character and soul that brings joy to those around me.

And I want to live a life that notices beauty. You know what daylilies do all day? Drink in the sky and earth. It took me five minutes to turn around and stop to smell the roses. Or lilies, in this case. But you know, the Smiths have roses, too. In Aradeena, they have a little piece of Eden.

But I was shooting lilies, not looking at roses. Guess I'll have to go back to look.

the swenson family

2011-08-31T21:51:00.004-04:00

These pictures are from a story that ended up not running in the Monitor, but I still like 'em. Shown in the frames are a fusion of two families - one is staying at the home of the other - but the kids are all foster kids or adopted foster kids. I had a fantastic night being allowed to absorb the love in this home. They have a story I would've loved to tell, but it wasn't in the cards. For now, here's my experience there this past July.

away to neverland

2011-08-27T18:00:00.002-04:00

canoeing on the merrimack

2011-08-27T15:52:00.000-04:00

hot day at the river

2011-08-23T18:36:00.004-04:00

Was in the water almost to the waist. Lens got a bit wet. It was fun.

market days roller derby

2011-08-23T18:07:00.003-04:00

refugee garden

2011-08-23T17:45:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite assignments in Concord was photographing at a garden for refugees just outside of town.

corolla, nc

2011-08-23T16:33:00.010-04:00

In mid-June I traveled to North Carolina to spend four incredible days with my dad's family and celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. It was, in short, fantastic.

hillsborough balloon fest

2011-07-26T20:00:00.004-04:00

Abigail Parnell, 8, of Northbridge, Mass., goofs off with her dad, Jason Parnell, at the Hillsborough Balloon Festival and Fair on Saturday, July 9, 2011.

Talia Merrill, left, 6 of Dearing, and her sister Amana Merrill, 7, hang out at the Hillsborough Balloon Festival and Fair on Saturday, July 9, 2011.

i scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream

2011-07-25T14:03:00.003-04:00

Chris Estes, of Northfield, smiles as her daughter Ashleigh Estes, 5, tips her head back to get the last of her orange sherbet while at Jordan's Ice Creamery in Belmont, Saturday, July 2, 2011. Chris and her husband, Craig, took Ashleigh and Tucker, 3, to the circus in Laconia and went to Jordan's after to cool off.

Tucker Estes, 3, makes the most of a bite of cookies and cream at Jordan's Ice Creamery in Belmont, Saturday, July 2, 2011.

there's beauty everywhere

2011-07-24T14:01:00.002-04:00

..just get close and look.

dimond hill

2011-07-24T13:43:00.002-04:00

...was a fantastic place to stumble across on a feature hunt.

Gladys Jaworski gives llama Mike a pat between pulling handfuls of weeds from around blueberry bushes at Dimond Hill Farm; Thursday, June 30, 2011. "(I have) been a weeder all my life," said Jaworski, who was born and raised on a 100-acre farm. "I'm very fortunate to be still weeding at my age. I'm working on 84." It is her second summer working at Dimond Hill, and she said she likes that weeding keeps her outside.

D.J. Grandmaison walks down the line toward Tyler Guilmette, 18, left, Nate Hunt, center, 16, and Ned Metcalf, also 16, to hill potatoes at Dimond Hill Farm; Thursday, June 30, 2011. Nate and Ned are both entering their junior year at Hopkinton in the fall, while Tyler will be attending Maine College of Art in Portland. It is Grandmaison's eleventh season working at Dimond Hill, and he handles the planting of corn, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, gourds, carrots, peas, beans, and more.

Ned Metcalf and Nate Hunt, both 16, kick back for lunch at Dimond Hill Farm; Thursday, June 30, 2011. The boys, who will be juniors at Hopkinton this fall, enjoyed farm-provided ice cream before returning to hilling potatoes.

hello, pretty

2011-07-24T13:15:00.003-04:00

I love this gorgeous state.

reptiles on the move

2011-07-24T12:15:00.003-04:00

Fun fact: snakes, and scaly things in general, unnerve me. Lots. But I'm fascinated by the texture of their skins and was amped about the moment possibilities of this assignment. Tried to work the situation.

I was shadowing a woman holding a snake high above a crowd of children in the hopes of getting a cool overall shot, absorbed in the lens of my camera, and I suddenly realized the woman was backing toward me and the snake was about a foot from my face.

I booked it. It was ildly mortifying, but I thought it was pretty funny. So did the roomful of families who watched me flying away from a critter about two and a half feet long.

Oh, the everyday joys of photojournalism. It's comedy like this that keeps me coming back for more.

Luca, a 12-year-old albino Burmese python, lays quietly on the floor as childrens' hands explore his skin; Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Luca is 11 feet long now but could grow to 20 feet.

Rylie Winward, 7, grazes her finger against a blood ghost red corn snake; Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Rylie attended the reptile show with her mother, Kira Winward, and little sister Lilly Winward, 4.

Pam Stone holds her son, Kian Stone, 2, as he squeals, coming face to face with a sulcata tortoise at Weare Town Hall on Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Uromastyx lizards, a Mexican Black Kingsnake, several turtles, an American alligator, and an iguana were also present through Concord-based organization Reptiles On The Move as part of the Weare Public Library's summer reading program.

at the roots

2011-07-07T19:56:00.002-04:00

oh green world

2011-07-07T19:44:00.000-04:00

habitat for humanity

2011-07-07T19:31:00.001-04:00

park, puddle

2011-07-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

weeks estate

2011-07-07T18:41:00.003-04:00

wood, flora, water

2011-07-06T18:31:00.002-04:00

also, there was a fox.

2011-07-06T18:28:00.001-04:00

"over the misty mountains"

2011-07-06T18:22:00.003-04:00

I've been re-reading The Hobbit. And there above is a dwarf song quote.

crashin' concord's prom

2011-07-06T17:57:00.010-04:00

..was really fun.

bike week: hill climb drag races

2011-07-05T18:39:00.002-04:00

bow high school graduation

2011-07-05T18:32:00.007-04:00

Alex Foley and Ali Garcia, both 18, kiss amidst the chaos after graduation at Bow High School; Saturday, June 10, 2011. Alex and Ali have been together for three years, getting to know one another through track and beginning their relationship as sophomores. "There was a time period where I didn't even know what to say to her," recalled Alex, who began crushing on Ali as a freshman. "I was trying to get him to ask me out, but it took him forever!" Ali said with a laugh. 45 minutes of distance will separate them in the fall when Ali attends Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and Alex goes to the University of New Hampshire in Durham, but they are considering braving the distance and staying together in college.

Dylan Erickson eyes the room during commencement at Bow High School; Saturday, June 10, 2011.

Sarah Lennon whispers across the aisle to Jon Lefebvre after they received diplomas at Bow High School; Saturday, June 10, 2011.

softball overload?

2011-07-05T18:26:00.006-04:00

My first two weeks in Concord were full of sports.

black and white: boys' lacrosse

2011-07-05T18:08:00.006-04:00

I really love this sport.

the pond at dusk

2011-06-25T21:20:00.001-04:00

(is a magical place.)

light and lacrosse

2011-06-25T20:55:00.007-04:00

New to New England. New to shooting lacrosse.
(And as it turns out, I love both.)

a tuesday on the trolley

2011-06-25T20:42:00.004-04:00

Almost a month ago was my first day at the Monitor. Found a dad and a daughter on the trolley downtown. A different frame ran in the paper, but here's my favorite -

Sophia Kitchens, 4, rides the Concord Area Transit trolley after getting lunch with her father, Bill Kitchens, at Puppy Love Hot Dogs and spending time in Eagle Square by the fountain; Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The lunch and trolley routine is a Tuesday tradition for Sophia and her dad.

welcome to snow pond

2011-06-17T18:47:00.003-04:00

I left Jackson in mid-May, Explorer stuffed to the gills clothes and books and boxes, a little sad to leave the CitPat and more sad to leave my friends there, but looking forward to Concord and starting at the Monitor. 1400 miles later, I found New England, and my new address.

And it's delightful.

More to come!

a story of faith - and the return of a prodigal blogger!

2011-06-09T12:42:00.018-04:00

It's over a month since I last blogged, and I return with a bevy of excuses for my posting absence - the not-so-untimely demise of a 'well-loved' laptop, a trip home to the U.P., and a 1400 mile drive from there to New Hampshire, all of which have been great. (Even the death of my Mac, without which I spend a lot more time outdoors.)

It seems fitting to cap my experience in Jackson with my final photo story there, about Patricia Bland, a woman who credits her strength through her battle with cancer to God, her relationship with her husband, Jack, and the encouragement of people in her life.

Patricia Bland, 62, was diagnosed with anal-pelvic cancer December 14 of this past year. After an aggressive approach to battling the cancer, including a combination of radiation, two kinds of chemotherapy for six weeks, and 17 days in the hospital, she is back at home and hopeful for a full recovery. Bland says she had no inclination of her illness prior to her diagnosis, having gone in for a regular check-up when the cancer was discovered. She says she is unsure of her future, but at peace. “You have to just make up your mind, you know - do you want to get well?” Bland said. (The full text can be found here.)

Patricia and Jack fold laundry together around 8:00 P.M. April 20 at home. As Patricia's treatments progressed, Jack took on more and more of the household duties, cleaning and doing laundry. Now that she is home, they share the work together. “The caregiver is going through it with you," Patricia said of the illness and treatment process. "Now he has to pick up the physical work. He’s had to learn to be a housewife!” The Blands are firmly devoted to being a team.

Patricia waits in the April morning chill as Jack starts their truck to take her to Allegiance for a radiology appointment.

Patricia lies back in the CT scanning machine, told to breathe in and out as her body was examined May 9.

Jack and Patricia say a prayer before eating lunch April 28. After her liquid-only hospital diet, what she can eat is restricted to foods that are very easy to digest. Patricia's meal consists of rice, tender beef cubes and bullion broth. She is slowly re-introducing herself to a greater variety of foods, such as canned vegetables, more types of meat, and fruit baby food.

Patricia hugs her prayer partner, Janet McClentin-Austin, of Jackson, after a bible study April 29 at Cornerstone Christian Church. Patricia and Jan have been friends for four years and prayer partners for about three. "You're changed somewhat. You're more serious, maybe," said Jan to Patricia about her demeanor since the cancer diagnosis. "I don't want to be the old person. The old has passed," replied Patricia.

Jack and Patricia Bland laugh as they give an Easter basket to Jody Johnson, left, and Donna Wait, both baristas at Cafe Lilla on a morning during Holy Week. Before Patricia's illness the Blands were regular morning customers at the cafe's drive-through, and when Patricia was hospitalized she received several cards from the cafe employees. The basket was a surprise they made. "They're beautiful people," said Jack of their friends at Cafe Lilla.

Jack and Patricia quietly link fingers while singing hymns on a May Sunday at Cornerstone Christian Church. Jack is Catholic, and attends mass on Saturdays, but always goes to Patricia's church with her on Sunday mornings. Since her diagnosis Patricia and Jack have had a two-fold plan for battling the cancer. “We’ve done a lot of learning." Patricia says. "(When we found out) we just looked at each other and my husband says, ‘Well, we’re a team.’” Their second strategy is to take things "one day at a time in God’s hands."

I'm very grateful to have met Patricia and Jack and that they allowed me into their life together. They're two of the kindest and most gracious people I've ever met. And I'm overjoyed to report that as of last week, Patricia's remaining tumor is nearly gone.

JHS vs EJ baseball

2011-05-08T20:16:00.002-04:00

eagle scout project

2011-05-08T20:12:00.001-04:00

Lumen Christi freshman Aidan Shaughnessy, 14, has been a Boy Scout for almost four years and is currently working on his Eagle Scout project. He organized a team to work on the latches of the classrooms of his middle school alma mater, Jackson Catholic Middle School. "I used to go to this school and I always knew the windows didn't work," he explained. "And it would get pretty hot in here." Volunteers to man the project numbered about twelve that morning, estimated Aidan's father, Phil Shaughnessy, a former Scoutmaster.

prom

2011-05-08T20:05:00.005-04:00

Stacie Smith, of Vandercook, peeks in as her little brother, Northwest junior Neal Smith, 17, pulls on his tuxedo coat April 30 at their home in Jackson.

Neal's stepdad Bill Mills, left, stands and observes as Edward Lake, of Jackson, center, and Neal's sister's fiance, Dustin Whitford, of Vandercook, grab Neal's picture on a phone and camera before they depart for prom dinner.

Neal's date, Kaycie Hill, bursts out laughing as Neal teases her, goofing off while getting pictures taken by Neal's parents before dinner at Applebee's.

bikes and light

2011-05-08T20:03:00.001-04:00

it's almost summer. have some lens flare!

hunt club cleans up the roads

2011-04-27T18:15:00.005-04:00

Chuck French, of South Lyon, center, sits in the back of Louie Boone's truck before embarking to collect litter and winter debris from roads as part of the Waterloo Hunt Club's annual Earth Day cleanup.

Susan Mefford, of Grass Lake, pours out an abandoned bottle Saturday morning during Waterloo Hunt Club's annual Earth Day clean-up in the Waterloo Recreation Area.

Susan Mefford, of Grass Lake, drags scrap metal to a truck driven by Louie Boone, 87, oldest member of the Waterloo Hunt Club, Saturday morning during the club's annual Earth Day clean-up in the Waterloo Recreation Area. The event has been going on for over 20 years and the Hunt Club cooperates with the DNR to continue it in the recreation area. First-time organizer and Hunt Club member Sally Mcalinden said about 80 volunteers participated in the cleanup this year, aging from 3 to 87. Half the volunteers, Mcalinden said, were kids from the Grass Lake 4-H Commandos. Nearly 30 tires were collected and a 30-yard dumpster was filled from the cleanup collection.

Phillip Stone, of Clinton, rides in the back of Louie Boones' truck, on his way to collect litter and winter debris from roads as part of the Waterloo Hunt Club's annual Earth Day cleanup.

east jackson track meet

2011-04-27T15:08:00.003-04:00

we got the time wrong on when the meet started. noon? nope, 9:30! and so, race photos only.

dilapidated/pretty/creepy

2011-04-27T14:39:00.003-04:00

clay kids

2011-04-24T15:41:00.007-04:00

this made for a really great start to the day.

Northwest sophomore Darius Mackey giggles with Clay Guild member Romelle Frey as they work on throwing a clay mug Thursday morning at Mary Humphrey's Pottery Studio. Members of the Clay Guild were helping Northwest special education students make totems for the school courtyard, but each student got the chance to work on the pottery wheel as well.

Northwest sophomore Brandon Blakenship, 16, covers a burst of laughter Thursday morning at Mary Humphrey's Pottery Studio.

softball injustice

2011-04-24T15:28:00.003-04:00

Frame is from the same game, but I thought it should get its own post.
This girl made an unbelievable catch that would've scored, I think, two outs for her team, but she ate dirt pretty hard just after getting it and it popped out of her glove just after she hit the ground. The ump called the runners safe, said she hadn't had full control of it. I thought she got robbed. So did she.

Vandercook Lake Jayhawk Aliyah Bushinski gapes in shock and disappointment as her outfield catch, for which she made a flat-out dive, is declared no good Wednesday in Napoleon during Vandercook's double header against the Pirates.

battle, battle!

2011-04-23T21:56:00.012-04:00

First softball game for me of the season. Spent four hours out in the sun at a double header. I sure love that Vitamin D - and that pretty, pretty light.

The Napoleon Pirates battled Vandercook Lake's Jayhawks Wednesday evening in Napoleon. Napoleon beat Vandercook 5-4 in the first game, but Vandercook came back in the second game to defeat Napoleon 12-8.

Caught between first and second bases, Vandercook Lake's Maria Midena scurries back and forth as the ball is passed over her head. Maria was tagged out a few seconds later.

catchin' crawfish

2011-04-10T21:28:00.003-04:00

Brendon Tate, 9, grins at Cameron Wyman, 7, as Cameron dips into a cup to examine crawfish caught Sunday afternoon during the warm weather, high of 83, near Michigan Center Lake. Brendon is a third grader and Cameron is a second grader, both at Michigan Center.

a football player's testimony

2011-04-10T21:23:00.003-04:00

ice dreams

2011-04-09T19:50:00.008-04:00

This is a story I've been working on for a couple of months now. To view a full gallery, check the CitPat website, but here are my favorite frames.

Christie Moll, 9, has been skating for three years, working to become a professional figure skater someday. She has skating lessons twice a week in East Lansing, usually at 6:00 A.M. and often on Saturdays.

maple sugar festival

2011-03-31T15:34:00.001-04:00

sparton plant fire: day 2

2011-03-31T15:28:00.004-04:00

Much of the area near the fire scene was covered with ice today after Saturday night's massive blaze on East Ganson Street, due to fire trucks' water fighting of the fire freezing in the night.

sparton plant fire

2011-03-31T15:23:00.002-04:00

kids

2011-03-31T15:18:00.004-04:00

Western High senior Emily Snyder cuddles close to week-old kid Dimtri, the smallest of a litter of five from Emily's four-year-old goat, Starlight. Emily has goats as part of a 4-H club. Her family owns 14 goats, 21 when seven new kids from the past week are included.

Sunny, a week old billy goat from a litter of five, sniffs at the boot of Allison Snyder, 14, March 25 in the early evening at the Snyder family's farm.

Emily Snyder, 17, left, and her sister Allison Snyder, 14, hold week old baby goats March 25 at their family's farm. The kids are from a litter of five from Emily's goat, Starlight, which is an unusually high number for a goat birth.

where the wild things are

2011-03-25T15:20:00.003-04:00

another sunday feech

2011-03-21T15:27:00.003-04:00

Drake Smith, 8, of Howell, plays with his new basketball Sunday afternoon around 1:00 P.M. while at Cascades Park with his mother, Beth Smith. Drake plays hockey, but just got the basketball today. "I used to always pick the balls up (at the store)," Drake said. "But now I have my own."

scenesters

2011-03-21T15:21:00.003-04:00

Volleyball Dads drummer Alex Christoff, 16, a Western junior, left, guitarist Jace Roffler, 17, a Western junior, center, and guitarist Steven Hoag, 16, a Western junior, right, run through a few songs before their set during the Battle of the Bands at the Michigan Theatre.

Glowstick-bearing baton twirlers from the Michigan Royalty on Parade performed before bands began their competition Saturday afternoon at the Michigan Theatre.

Caesar guitarist Brennan Guernsey, 15, a Napoleon sophomore, left, and Caesar bassist Dustin Eley, 17, a junior at Napoleon, lounge in the back of a vehicle Saturday afternoon outside the Michigan Theatre after their band's set during the Battle of the Bands.

fire

2011-03-21T15:15:00.001-04:00

spellin'

2011-03-21T15:03:00.007-04:00

Stockbridge Middle School eighth grader Peter Nyfeler traces letters on his hand to help him spell Wednesday night at the Western Community Arts Center in the annual Jackson Citizen Patriot Spelling Bee.

Paragon Charter Academy sixth grader Louie Jeffries screws up his face in concentration during the Jackson Citizen Patriot Spelling Bee Wednesday at the Western Community Arts Center.

Spellers gather to re-enter the stage after a short break from spelling Wednesday night.

Frost Elementary fifth grader Aaron Leiss, left, and Grass Lake sixth grader Liam McDougall watch backstage as other spellers compete while waiting their turns Wednesday.

Spellers wait their turns Wednesday night at the Western Community Arts Center in the annual Jackson Citizen Patriot Spelling Bee.

Bean Elementary fifth grader Kazune Nakashima, 11, sits tearfully in a side room after being eliminated from the spelling bee. She placed 8th overall in the competition.

Homeschooled seventh grader Hannah Weaver relaxes during a break in spelling rounds Wednesday night. "I'm really into medieval stuff and my mom made (this cloak) for me," she said.

Spellers line up to compete in another round Wednesday night during the Jackson Citizen Patriot Spelling Bee at the Western Community Arts Center.

60-year-old triplets

2011-03-21T14:42:00.002-04:00

Triplets Louise "Loulou" Haughian, left, Vincenza "Vinny" Hamisfar, center, and Theresa "Tessie" Carlisle, right, turned 60 on March 10. The sisters, maiden name Mattone, were born to Italian parents in Jackson, each two minutes apart. "They kicked me out and that's why I got all these headaches!" joked Tessie, the eldest of the trio. In 1975, the three had a triple wedding at St. John's, with roughly 800 people in attendance at the melding of four families. All three are now mothers and grandmothers, Tessie with two daughters and eight grandchildren, Vinny with a son and three grandchildren, and Loulou with a daughter, a son, and seven grandchildren. They often spend time together playing cards, watching TV, and sometimes taking walks. Tessie's daughter, Antoinette Kilpatrick, says they can feel each others' pain, and will know if something is wrong before getting a phone call.

discover!

2011-03-21T14:40:00.001-04:00

basketball - a single

2011-03-21T14:26:00.001-04:00

basketball semifinals

2011-03-10T14:45:00.005-05:00

pool hall punks

2011-03-09T13:49:00.003-05:00

Vandercook Lake freshman Haley Brockwell, 14, of Jackson, lets her licorice hang out between her snakebite piercings while focusing on putting the ball into a pocket Sunday afternoon at Avenue Billiards. Haley has been playing Scotch Doubles pool with her parents for about two years now. Scotch Doubles involve the pairing of a parent and a child to face off against other family duos.

Jackson High freshman Anna Corrigall, 15, sits with her friend, Michigan Center sophomore Hunter Boyce, 16, Sunday afternoon at Avenue Billiards. Anna has been playing Scotch Doubles, which involves the pairing of a parent and a child to face off against other family duos, for three years now with her parents Two years ago, Anna held first place in the league for six weeks, she said. "Well, I'm bored," Anna said, waiting impatiently for her turn to shoot.

Michigan Center sophomore Hunter Boyce, 16, leans on a table at Avenue Billiards Sunday afternoon while hanging out with his friend, Jackson High freshman Anna Corrigall, as she played pool with her parents.

Vandercook Lake freshman Haley Brockwell, 14, of Jackson, sits on her mother Shawna Brockwell's lap Sunday afternoon at Avenue Billiards. Haley and Shawna have been playing Scotch Doubles league pool for about two years now.

championship basketball

2011-03-09T13:44:00.005-05:00

Concord junior Ali Shepherd claps slowly, watching Class C District champions accept their title with her teammates, having just lost the championship 30-42 Friday night at Michigan Center.

ink sketches by a korean war vet

2011-03-09T13:38:00.005-05:00

Mac Bater, of Jackson, concentrates on outlining the penciled sketch in front of him Saturday morning at his home. Bater, 78, is working on a sketch of a large home on Stonewall Road. He has been drawing his whole life, but began drawing local buildings around the county about seven years ago after losing his son, Rod Bater, and wife of 49 years, Joann Bater. Bater has never had formal art training, but took a drafting class in junior high school. His creative process involves shooting a roll of film on location with a 35mm film camera, piecing together the pictures for a complete visual, sketching the scene with a drafting pencil with the use of a ruler, and finally tracing the pencil with a ballpoint ink pen. "Everything I draw, I draw twice," Bater said. "My drawings are exact, precise." In addition to his ink work, Bater is a poet and has contributed to several books.

Mac Bater, of Jackson, leans back in his chair, taking a breather from ink point drawing Saturday morning his basement office at home. "(Today) they do (drafting) on a computer," Bater said ruefully. "This is a lost art."

2010 to 2011: the shift

2011-03-05T22:50:00.005-05:00

It’s been a week now and I'm still pinching myself.

Last week I was named 2010 Michigan College Photographer of the Year, and my two best friends, Jake May and Sean Proctor, took runner-up CPOY and honorable mention. Congratulations to Ashley Miller for third place CPOY, too! I was blessed to place second in Portrait/Personality and get a Feature Picture Story honorable mention.

Grateful to’ve been honored this way...there are so people to thank, from my constantly supportive parents to incredible friends and mentors to the individuals who’ve allowed me into their lives with a lens. These are the people who might actually read to the end of this blog post...

And I'm really humbled. All the extraordinary work at MPPA inspired and shamed me. It’s already the third month of 2011, and I've made some frames I like, but not many I love - I want my work in this first internship to really resonate. This is the time! I'm finally doing it - photojournalism, full time. Yet I struggle to balance daily and story work. My question to myself now is, well, what are you gonna do about it?

I think blogging about it might hold me more accountable to my answer. I want and am committed to the following things this year:

- being a better listener. How much of photojournalism is more about listening than it necessarily is about seeing? Listen more, talk less..

- being more tenacious in ferreting out stories. Story hunting is a marathon, not a sprint. Investigate for stories that are relevant to the community, and something I can get passionate about.

- shooting sports games like a story, and carving the time to always get a sports feature or two

- developing a stronger style, with journalistic integrity and consistent aesthetic quality

- make better, more conceptual, and prettier portraits.

2010 was a pretty amazing chapter. I’m thankful for people I’ve met, pictures I’ve been allowed to make, and people who’ve been there through the whole shebang. Here’s to pressin’ on towards that ever-climbing bar in 2011.

Thank you very much to Mr. Gillette, who graciously provides the CPOY recipients with a scholarship in memory of his son, Kristoffer, a U of M student and photojournalist, and to Nikon, who awards CPOY with a camera.

And thank you to way too many people to name in my personal and professional life.

kitchen color

2011-03-05T19:16:00.001-05:00

...from an assignment today.