White House

This combination of the white house and car is something that appealed to me in an "off the beaten path" and " Michigan slice of life" sort of way. To me, scenes like this tell stories. Not a dramatic, interesting or prize-winning story; but a story in the simplest sense of the word. People pass this place every day and probably don't give it a second thought, or first thought for that matter. However, various details explain small bits of information. The stacked-wood pile, which partially blocks a front window, is nicely stocked so it would appear this individual has decided on a very cost-effective heating method- either by choice or necessity. Every window is curtain-covered except the one in the top right corner; why? Meanwhile, the car and the house appear to have some type of agreement that despite their state of datedness and slight disrepair, they will maintain their stark white color.

Brown Bridge

Brown Bridge Quiet Area on the outskirts of Traverse City is an amazing place to clear one's head. As a kid, I used to come out here quite a bit. When photography became an interest of mine I would take photos of the snakes that would be sunning themselves. There were no snakes around today but there was plenty of calmness which is something that is offered with each trip to this spot.

Spring Break

This is a group of families that were enjoying the Open Space in Traverse City. They were from all over- England, Texas and New York.

Chocolate Milk

Traverse City Bank

I'm not sure about the history of this downtown Traverse City bank (the building in the background with the flag). It's been there for a long time though and it's a fixture of the area. While walking through downtown though I decided to include part of it in a photo.

St. Patrick's Parade

Downtown Traverse City has a St. Patrick's Day Parade and this shot is from when I covered it. I was impressed. There was a great turnout and tons of people having fun.

It's like running really fast

This is my friend Seth's dog, Leland. He's a large lab and he's a huge fan of sticking his head out the window. What's funny is that he realized he can achieve optimum aerodynamics by angling his nose downward. He holds the position too! By doing this, only his ears flap in the wind instead of his jowls.

The Chameleon House

The Chameleon House is what the architects who have designed this place call it. I've heard it called other things and opinions of this place are plentiful as well as diverse. It sits off M-22 in Leelanau County and it's the last thing you'd expect while driving on that road and in that area. From what I've read, this residence for a family of five is 32 feet high and 1,650 square feet.

Frankfort

A couple of days ago I had a desire to get out of TC and spend some time in Frankfort. It's a nice, small town.

Sparty

Sparty came to some local elementary schools to promote March is Reading Month. Here he is sitting in the library at a local school prior to helping deliver the morning's video announcements.

Check

The photo I took right before this was interesting because the player that was checked (on the right) was looking directly at the pursuing player. There was only so much he could do at that point though.

Jennie

I met Jennie yesterday sitting by her propped-open front door as she enjoyed the weather. Actually I drove by her the first time and when I noticed a door just staying open and a person sitting in the chair, I turned around. "I was crocheting but it was too bright," she said. She's 90 years old but her quick wit suggests a younger age. "I'm almost 90 and a half," Jennie smiled.

Green

Looks like I've started a small photo series. It's called, "Dragons I Unexpectedly Encounter While On Assignment." Yesterday it was the blue one, today the green one. I was standing and taking photos at a robotics competition. I turned around and this team brought a green dragon as their mascot. Two days, two different colored dragons. Kind of odd.

Blue

This scene appeared before me at a basketball game I was covering tonight. It's not really the first compositional choice I wanted to make, however, it was my second and final choice. It's a funny little blue dragon. The team is called the Blazers so I guess a dragon could work for that. The moment was a little bizarre because this dragon seemed to be looking right in my direction for a small period of time which I find comical. That's what photojournalism is often about though, unexpectedness. One minute I'm fiddling with my flash, lens and camera and the next minute, I'm in a stare down with a small blue dragon.

Hockey

This week I began freelancing for the Traverse City Record-Eagle, my hometown paper. It's fun shooting stuff for the Eagle because it's the first paper I ever remember reading or seeing. My mom still has the Record-Eagle issue from the day I was born. It's a picture of the Traverse City High School football team winning the state championship. So tonight I was able to shoot the TC hockey team. They lost but it's still nice to somewhat get back to the roots.