hail mary, for the hell of it.

when your tippy toes aren't good enough you take that chance and pull the camera away from your face, raise it just a bit, and pray. hence the name hail mary. all three of these images followed that same sequence as i shot the mountain heritage parade for fun before going to work. so i find myself questioning; what does it mean when i shoot better pictures when the camera is away from my face. hell maybe if i were to close my eyes all together they would get better still.

the bees of bad branch.

i took a hike yesterday to bad branch falls on the other side of pine mountain. it's a beautiful hike just over a mile to the falls. after scaling a bunch of boulders i noticed some bees flying about the falls. after a closer look i realized they were drinking form the falls. i need an editor. i couldn't choose just one of the falls pictures and one bee picture.

behind the mask.

while mourning brett favre threw for over 300 yards in the first half of a football game the day after his father's death. abraham never enters summit city with anything less than three star wars actions figures in hand. lately he's been arriving as vader. he and i both attended our first monday night football game on the back deck at summit city where the players are larger than life on a 12 foot projection screen. i also had 2 1/2 of the most amazing brats with sour kraut, onions, green pepers, and mustard on a toasted bun. and i don't really like football, but who can resist when vader and fine pork products are present. i can't wait to see abraham's reaction when we have a marathon screening of star wars.

seafaring pirates.

spring fed bathtub beer cooler... check
pitchfork hot dog skewer... check
toad in hole... check
these were a few of the highlights of my brief visit to this years viking fest (founded by some of the fine folks here in whitesburg). a three day event devoted to overindulgence in all sorts of things scandinavian including a stone throw, fruit infused vodkas, and meats cooked in the ground. all of which i did not partake. despite only attending on sunday. i still had a great time.

scalped.

this is kayford mtn. from above. this is the opposite view from my earlier post that showed a tiny chad taking photos in the upper right hand part of the frame. that photo was from the knob at the far right of this frame.

pinball.

two days after shooting my cousins wedding i found myself watching enormous rock trucks at work atop kayford mtn. in wv. the next day i was in the capital building trying to find the governor to deliver a petition where i had a sheriff's officer hide behind a door from me to prevent being photographed. and the following day i shook hands with a guy named kenny in a small conference room as we awaited our bumpy flights over mtr sites in wv. i later realized that the interestingly dressed guy i chatted with was "big" of the group "big & rich". save a horse ride a cowboy big & rich. he seemed like any other guy. hell he wipes his ass the same as i do. i hope he washed his hands though. after landing it was a three hour drive straight to the bar to work a full shift. i feel like a human pinball sometimes, but man it's fun. and yes that's five sign pictures. what then.

anticipation.

when i met up with my cousin katie at 3 o'clock in the afternoon she seemed carefree. her sister did her hair in the kitchen and she and her bridesmaids killed time before getting ready. i left the girls to photograph the guys for a while and when i returned to the wedding location i could tell katie was starting to get nervous. she paced the room and looked out almost every window of the house to see what was going on. at one point she yelled last minute orders from a second story window. all in all i think katie and her husband josh are happy to be rid of wedding preparations and are just happy to be finally together after all the waiting.

the next pele.

before shooting my cousin's wedding, i headed to lexington with my dad and stepmom to watch my youngest nephew gannon play in his first soccer game of the season. he plays with a lot of heart and intensity (as you can see in the second frame), but i think he needs to put on a couple of pounds. he got dropped a couple of times by the girl with pigtails at far right.

handy as a pocket watch, twice as much fun to be around.

my dad used to say that about me. it kind of seemed relevant to these "handy" photos of krista. the same holds true for her. thanks for driving all the way from jasper to hang out and let me borrow your computer charger.

rory's hip pocket.

rory is one of the front runners for the wind campaign chad and i are documenting. he and i hung out the day after labor day as he rallied to put together information for a community meeting. here are a few from the day. that's him in the background of the first photo hard at work along with charles in the doorway and chad on the laptop.

labor day means work.

chad and i spent labor day atop mountains or what used to be mountains. turns out people still celebrate national holidays that don't involve fireworks, poultry, or presents. while everyone else was enjoying their cookouts and taking it easy we were working. as much as exploring can be called work. the morning began outside of an abandoned deep mine where we camped the night before and ended atop one of the most active strip mines in wv. hope you all spent the holiday with family and friends and not atop a strip mine sweating to death.