Моя острова

Snow Alien

2012-01-25T15:45:00.002-05:00

Walking through snow

2012-01-20T16:48:00.001-05:00

Great Blessing of the Waters

2012-01-18T19:56:00.002-05:00

This was an interesting assignment. There wasn't much room to work and the wind was fierce but those things fall into the category of 'unimportant' when a visually intriguing situation like this presents itself. At least I had gloves and a hat. I don't know how Father Ciprian Streza (in photo) did it.

Snowy Walk

2012-01-14T11:16:00.001-05:00

Cowboy and Leaves

2011-12-26T21:59:00.003-05:00

After some years, I finally had a roll of 120 film developed at the local shop. The cowboy photo was from a Martin Luther King Day parade in Texas and the leaves are from this year and it was taken at the D.H. Day Farm near Glen Haven.

Beulah Beach

2011-12-21T18:12:00.004-05:00

Late season mowing

2011-12-07T16:41:00.003-05:00

Andy Lundberg, of Traverse City, and a World War II veteran who retired after 28 years with the United States Navy, uses his riding lawnmower to gather leaves after he rakes them into piles Tuesday, November 29, 2011 in his yard. "It was cold out so I went in to get my mittens," Lundberg said. "The wind doesn't help," Lundberg said, after seeing leaves he'd raked blowing toward his neighbor's house.

Old School

2011-11-24T18:22:00.011-05:00

Today I shot an assignment that took place where I went to elementary school and it amazed me how unchanged things were.

Herman Cain

2011-11-16T22:14:00.002-05:00

TC Autumn

2011-11-09T15:50:00.003-05:00

Here are some features I took the other day from around town.

Bank Restoration

2011-10-27T10:50:00.006-04:00

Band Exhibition

2011-10-12T23:51:00.001-04:00

State Hospital

2011-09-26T13:28:00.005-04:00

Munising, MI

2011-09-14T23:05:00.006-04:00

Trail Work

2011-09-02T10:30:00.002-04:00

Mason, MI

2011-08-17T21:39:00.004-04:00

The Force

2011-07-28T15:51:00.003-04:00

Friday Night Live

2011-07-25T22:15:00.003-04:00

Painter

2011-07-18T22:27:00.002-04:00

In the Woods

2011-06-28T22:25:00.003-04:00

Clara

2011-06-23T22:09:00.004-04:00

This was taken during a portrait assignment recently. Although the photo here is not the type of photo that would run, what appeals to me is the candidness. The assignment was to include this woman and her husband on their farm. While I was outside of their house looking for a location, she said she was going to walk to the cherry trees and see if the "bees were working." As soon as she had established that the bees were indeed working, she turned around and stood in place, which is when I made the picture.

Tennis Court Resurface

2011-06-12T20:17:00.000-04:00

TC Bear

2011-06-06T21:57:00.002-04:00

Here's a bear that was walking through Traverse City last week. I arrived at the scene at 8:15 a.m. and the bear wasn't fully tranquilized and taken away until about 12:30 p.m. During that time between, it was running from yard to yard, jumping fences (tearing one section down) and stopping for some rests.

Miami

2011-05-31T11:05:00.001-04:00

Mud, Sweat and Beers

2011-05-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

NMC Graduation

2011-05-17T22:07:00.001-04:00

Earth Day Parade

2011-05-04T16:48:00.002-04:00

Sombrero

2011-05-01T21:50:00.002-04:00

Artist

2011-04-22T22:44:00.002-04:00

BodiesHuman

2011-04-17T15:54:00.002-04:00

Wild Horses

2011-04-06T19:49:00.002-04:00

Key West

2011-03-20T15:06:00.004-04:00

Here's a photo from a month and a half ago that portrays the temperature I wish I was experiencing right now.

River

2011-03-05T23:36:00.003-05:00

Valentine

2011-02-25T18:39:00.005-05:00

Coral Gables

2011-02-06T15:59:00.002-05:00

Snow & Sun

2011-02-06T15:44:00.004-05:00

My blog hasn't received much attention from me lately and that is due to no specific reason.
Last week I returned from visiting Moni in Miami. It's always strange to me how quickly a person can go from three-degree weather to 80-degree weather. The top picture is from Williamsburg, MI as I was driving toward the airport in Flint. The bottom photo is in Marathon, FL which is located in the Keys.

Casino

2011-01-03T22:33:00.003-05:00

This is from an assignment I had today inside a casino.

Model A

2010-12-24T18:32:00.002-05:00

Honor, MI

2010-12-12T00:13:00.002-05:00

Money's

2010-12-05T17:58:00.003-05:00

A closed restaurant. I dined here one time, quite a while ago. Their buffet was good.

Bellaire Lanes

2010-12-03T09:10:00.004-05:00

Bellaire, MI

Field

2010-11-26T22:00:00.002-05:00

This is a field I passed the other day.

Tex

2010-11-22T23:07:00.006-05:00

This is Tex Leatherman (his real name-believe it or don't). He's a musician that plays for free at nursing homes and different venues.

Opening Day

2010-11-18T14:39:00.005-05:00

This is from Monday, opening day of firearms deer season.

Slug

2010-11-17T21:53:00.009-05:00

I was pulling my car into the garage last night and I saw this huge slug, so I took a photo of it. I placed my hand next to it to give it some scale. If I would've known about this, I would've certainly taken the photo with a ruler instead of my hand.

Bakery

2010-11-13T16:08:00.002-05:00

Decisions, decisions.

Get Your Motor Running

2010-11-11T21:41:00.005-05:00

So I'm at a stop light with my window down in today's nice weather. The sound of idling cars is broken by this guy revving his black,blue and red moped like it's about to bust loose at the first sight of green. The engine said "I'm racing" but the rider's laughter indicated otherwise. "Check it out man !" he said. He knew it wasn't going to break any speed records. Nonetheless, it'd be tough finding someone enjoying the sun today more than him.

Iceman

2010-11-07T21:58:00.002-05:00

This is from yesterday's cold start to the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race.

Fishtown

2010-11-02T12:13:00.003-04:00

Flamingo

2010-10-31T10:00:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween

Farmer

2010-10-29T10:44:00.002-04:00

Planting rye for winter cover on a farm in Leelanau County.

Street Sign

2010-10-26T21:59:00.002-04:00

This is from the town of Cedar, MI.

Music

2010-10-23T21:15:00.002-04:00

This was from an assignment for an event featuring The Sound of Music. This kid was dressed up as one of the children from the movie.

Little Havana

2010-10-17T16:35:00.004-04:00

Dominoes in Miami's Little Havana.

Museum

2010-10-07T20:52:00.007-04:00

This is a small museum that I stopped into the other day after hearing about it from a co-worker. It's located inside of a taxidermy shop. It seemed like every type of animal and scene were represented at the museum.

Driving Back

2010-10-04T15:46:00.003-04:00

These are from this morning as I was returning to Traverse City from visiting my Dad and Stepmom. It's been a while since I've seen the sun rise.

Cow & Airport

2010-10-01T13:09:00.003-04:00

Dirt road pigeon

2010-09-27T22:57:00.004-04:00

This road I was on today was so secluded, that I drove up on a pigeon sleeping in the middle of it. I rolled my window down to take a photo and as I passed it, it flew away.

Sunday drive

2010-09-26T21:58:00.001-04:00

Red Wings Training Camp

2010-09-22T22:38:00.002-04:00

Sale

2010-09-20T18:23:00.002-04:00

This was from the annual Father Fred Foundation Garage Sale Fundraiser on Saturday. A great event for a great cause.

Home

2010-09-18T08:30:00.004-04:00

This is a man who spends a lot of time helping others while working for a local non-profit organization. So it's way more than befitting that his two kids and him are the recipient of a home from Habitat for Humanity. As we were standing on a small hill overlooking the house that would soon be his home, he said, "God is good Keith, God is good."

Tatonka

2010-09-16T23:35:00.002-04:00

These buffalo were grazing today next to a soccer field I was taking pictures at.

Hobby Shop

2010-09-14T21:31:00.003-04:00

A good chunk of my money and time were spent on these same balsa-wood gliders (the simple ones toward the window, not that complex monster bi-plane) when I was a kid. They're still making them so they must still be popular.

overgrown and grill

2010-09-11T12:05:00.002-04:00

Labor Day Lake Michigan

2010-09-08T12:42:00.003-04:00

Tiger

2010-09-05T10:42:00.000-04:00

State Hospital

2010-09-03T01:52:00.003-04:00

This woman was a nurse at the old Traverse City State Hospital. There was a reunion the other day for former employees and a tour of the hospital was one of the items on the itinerary. It was amazing to hear how vividly they could remember stories from their time working there. I took many photos so I'll post more later. The room in this photo was the old kitchen and the woman in the photo used to load food into carts to take back for the patients.

Bike Race

2010-08-29T08:57:00.003-04:00

This is from the bike races that took place downtown yesterday.

Tractor Show

2010-08-26T23:00:00.002-04:00

This fella made this John Deere two-wheeler from a motorized grain drill.

Pier

2010-08-23T10:16:00.003-04:00

This is from an assignment on the rip tides that have become increasingly dangerous at various points along Lake Michigan. This photo was taken at the Frankfort pier that goes toward the breakwater light.

Pop

2010-08-22T11:09:00.003-04:00

That's right...we call it pop.

Fitness

2010-08-21T22:08:00.002-04:00

Here's a scene from the local civic center.

Poison

2010-08-20T21:52:00.004-04:00

If this isn't a combination for the perfect storm, I don't know what is. That's an area with a lot of gas lines going into, and out of, the ground in back there. I'm sure the porta potty placers had a chuckle out of this one. I saw it today while taking photos at the Buckley Old Engine Show.

Relaxing

2010-08-19T12:53:00.002-04:00

Here's a scene from a park I was at recently. These two were really chill and fun to hang out with as they were doing their thing in the August sun.

Red Boat

2010-08-16T23:28:00.002-04:00

Here's a boat I saw today on Lake Leelanau.

Mower Race

2010-08-16T09:35:00.002-04:00

This was during the Northwestern Michigan Fair and it was the first time I'd ever witnessed lawn mower racing in person. It was a blast and it lived up to every expectation I ever had about it.

Pig

2010-08-11T22:46:00.003-04:00

This pink pig caught my eye as I was driving out to the fair today. It seemed to be out there for some type of promotional purpose.

Spray Man

2010-08-07T22:56:00.002-04:00

This was taken yesterday. The story wasn't about the guy spraying primer, but it was about the buses he was spraying. So it's not very telling, it was just a photo I liked. An enjoyable aspect of this assignment was that the area where the painting was done was a vacuum, so all the excess primer spray went in the opposite direction instead of landing on my camera.

House

2010-08-04T10:29:00.003-04:00

As I was driving back to the office the other day, with the rare luxury of no assignments immediately following, I came across a dirt road. There are lots of them around, but something was different about this one. In the simplest terms, it looked old and it disappeared into nowhere. I decided to check it out. Most times, these small exploratory adventures turn up nothing. After driving a half mile through some washed out areas, I was about to turn back, until I saw an old house. I parked and when I exited my car, a vulture that was perched on the chimney, flew away. It would have been a cool picture but I didn't have my camera in hand yet. I walked into the house and was taking pictures. There was an old staircase that begged to be climbed. When I was halfway up, the upstairs became more visible, and I was surprised to see the walls covered in what appeared to be old newspaper. What surprised me even more were two vultures that were resting at the top of a ladder. After a few pictures, I climbed down the ladder and left.

Chuck Norris Action Jeans

2010-08-02T22:54:00.005-04:00

Chuck Norris Action Jeans

3D

2010-08-01T22:24:00.003-04:00

This is from a story we did on 3D technology during the TC Film Fest.

Film Festival

2010-07-30T16:11:00.004-04:00

The Traverse City Film Festival has been taking place this week. This photo is from the opening night. It's been a busy week, reminiscent of Cherry Festival week. The busyness is good though.

Michael Moore

2010-07-28T09:31:00.003-04:00

This is from last night's opening for the Traverse City Film Festival. In this photo, Moore is being interviewed by Larry King.

Estate Auction

2010-07-24T17:22:00.006-04:00

A fair number of cars along busy U.S. 31 yesterday alerted me to something going on, so today I stopped to check it out. It was an estate auction. As I walked up to it, I was trying to process all the visual stimulation going on and the full-size stuffed dear was the first object that caught my attention. That set the stage. I have better photos of the auctioneer where people are not looking directly into my camera. There was something about the oddity of it though that seemed to tie the photo into the other pictures.

Van

2010-07-23T16:47:00.002-04:00

It has a log bumper.

Bailing Hay

2010-07-22T22:13:00.001-04:00

Here are some hay bales being loaded onto a trailer in Leelanau County.

Bikers

2010-07-19T19:21:00.001-04:00

This was from an assignment yesterday on a motorcycle ride for charity.

Car Wash

2010-07-18T13:44:00.002-04:00

Here's a local car wash that's been in business for many years.

Swing

2010-07-14T19:48:00.006-04:00

Here's the swing at my Grandma & Grandpa's.

Car in barn

2010-07-13T19:32:00.005-04:00

This is a scene I stopped to make a picture at today. It kind of looks like the plants are trying to push the car back into the barn. Whether this car was on its way in or out, it almost made it.

Toad

2010-07-10T19:16:00.003-04:00

This last week has been busy. The Cherry Festival just finished up and my brain is jelly. This toad was outside of the door last night.

1964

2010-07-08T16:56:00.003-04:00

The Cherry Festival is this week and it's been a busy time. This is from last night's concert featuring a Beatles tribute band.

Drag Strip

2010-07-05T18:33:00.005-04:00

Many fine stories have been told by my Dad regarding a stretch of pavement slightly longer than a quarter-mile, near the town he grew up. Automobiles and drivers would gather here to put their horsepower (more or less-depending on the automobile) to the test. The time, a good while back, that my Dad showed me the drag strip he and his friends used to use, is still etched into my memory. I remember how it looked, with trees on both sides and a starting line evidenced by tire-rubber burn marks of differing lengths and dimensions. Although, there were probably much fewer tire marks on the track when I saw it back then, than there were it its prime.
The other day I stopped by to see what was left of the area. The drag strip was gone and there were an abundance of small trees and dirt mounds-an obvious attempt to thwart any future races. The only sign of the drag strip gone by, was this lone patch of pavement. If a person had a good imagination, it would be slightly possible to picture cars and their drivers, roaring down the quarter of a mile.

Blue Angels

2010-07-02T09:11:00.003-04:00

The Blue Angels are back for the Cherry Festival. They always put on an amazing show. This photo is from their practice session which began a day early, Wednesday, this year.

Manton

2010-06-30T22:51:00.005-04:00

Here are a few photos from my visit to Manton. It was a quick trip but I look forward to more frequent trips there in the future.

Chicken

2010-06-29T00:44:00.002-04:00

The small town of Manton was my destination of choice today. My grandparents live there and I've visited that town my entire life. It was great taking photos there and I'm looking forward to returning. I'll be posting more photos of the town later.

As I was driving down the road my grandparents live on, I noticed some chickens foraging on all corners and sides of the intersection, as if it was their intersection. They don't have much need for concern since the time between passing cars allows them to cross the road at their leisure, most of the time. Except for when I was driving through. The chicken in the photo hesitated when it saw me, waited, then proceeded to the other side.

the office

2010-06-24T22:30:00.007-04:00

It's been a busy week so I've been in the office more than out in the field.

Green Sweater

2010-06-20T19:56:00.003-04:00

This is from the basement of the newspaper. These two sweaters have been in the same position every day when I walk from the downstairs (near my parking spot) toward the newsroom upstairs. I believe they were also in the same spot when I had my internship at the Record-Eagle back in 2005. I've begun to notice and appreciate scenes like this. It's as if some objects have remained unchanged for many, many years-like a time capsule.

Rock Band

2010-06-19T09:08:00.003-04:00

This was at a library/community center in the small, quaint town of Alden. Toward the end of the school year and a couple weeks past that, video game tournaments take place in the community center's gymnasium. These guys here were playing Rock Band.