freelance.

two pictures that will likely never see the light of day. i recently shot some freelance for a local golf course. the owner wanted shots of each hole to use for a "virtual tour" of the course, but i gave him some fun stuff to go with the boring stuff. he didn't really dig it. whatever, feed the belly feed the soul. my dad would have crapped his pants and wished he'd had a gun being that close to a tom. such a clear shot on the 8th fairway too.

graceland.

tonight i hung out with the king again. in case you were wondering, elvis not only dyes the hair on his head, but also his sideburns, chest, and arms. the mysterious black patch you see behind the non alcoholic busch is dye. tomorrow we go to the mall for a 70th birthday party. should be interesting.

tradition.

i believe this is the third year i've photographed meridian high's graduation and each year the graduates uphold a tradition of standing atop the school's sign in front of the building for a group picture. there's always some sort of rockstar light kicking over the building. i started out shooting from behind these guys and could hear a few asking each other, "why is he taking pictures of our butts?" at which point a couple lifted their gowns, sticking their good side further out so i could get a better shot. thanks guys. the other photo is what happens when you take a young child to a crowded gymnasium and expect them to sit still for two hours. you end up walking the halls.

pissed lil' patriot.

i watched peyton for a half an hour or so before the WWII veterans arrived at the airport. she seemed excited by all the chaos and flag waving. she bounced from her mother's lap to peeking from behind bystander's legs waving her flag. then the moment she had been waiting for came. the band began to play, people cheered, and a processional of old men in wheelchairs wheeled down the center isle. peyton seemed disappointed to say the least. she began to scowl as the tired old men rolled by. i could only imagine what was going on in her four-year-old head. what? is that it? no clowns or animals, no candy thrown by guys in funny cone shaped hats driving little go carts, just a bunch of old guys in wheelchairs who look really tired. what a jip. i thought it was funny how oblivious and honest little kids can be. what wasn't so funny was the bastard who's flight arrived right before the veterans, who walked down the isle shaking his head and muddled under his breath as he passed, "what a joke".

the graduate.

she's all growns up now. upon graduation from college, my dear friend krista has ventured to the level frontier of michigan for her final internship in muskegon before starting her first full-time job in the quaint little photo mecca of jasper indiana. i'm proud of all that you've accomplished. great seeing you, though it was short lived.

ghost town.

it's funny how things come full circle. as an intern i found myself trying hard to find life in the little town of Laporte while working on a project about the four corners of the county. It's home to the county's oldest general store, but not much else. today i went to show its death. Laporte is one of 40 ghost towns in the county. most are nothing but freshly plowed corn fields today, but a few, like Laporte, struggle to not be forgotten.

tea party.

when you think of tea parties, little girls in grown ups clothes talking to stuffed animals may come to mind. or for others a little town called boston might. the boston tea party is when our colonial forefathers told ol' great britian to go "f" themselves and threw a bunch of tea in the harbor thus ensuing the american revolution. well yesterday the little town of edenville had their own revolution and the lady in the sunglasses threw a single lipton teabag in the river in honor of her ancestors (i have pictures of that, but i like this one better). the community partook in a bit of what i like to call street justice, but really they just exercised their right to vote. and vote they did. nearly 50% of the registered voters showed at the polls and voted EVERY member of the city board out of office, trustees and all. that's what happens when politicians don't listen to the populous. so in the words of kurt loder, "rock the vote", and maybe i'll start too.