Manton

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

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

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

Green Sweater

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

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.

Party Store

Here it is. This is what a Michigan party store is all about. Like a beacon- a large Labatt Blue sign so there's no confusion as to what could be stored in the coolers below the sign. Hostess snacks on the left. Coozies, styrofoam coolers, deer mount and plastic singing bass are located to the right while the beer is simply straight ahead.

Grilled Cheese Competition

This is a grilled cheese sampler from yesterdays grilled-cheese competition. Best grilled cheese I've ever had. A person could choose four of six possible grilled cheese samples for $5 (a little pricey but they were amazing), and then two votes for the favorite ones. There were four on my plate in the photo but one quickly made it to my stomach. That one (not pictured) was grilled Havarti & Vermont cheddar with local asparagus- it was pretty good. Now I'll break down the three we have here. The one in front is some type of cheese and red pepper-not bad. The middle one is homemade walnut pesto & swiss on a local walnut bread. The unassuming one in the background was phenomenal, to say the least. If I would've known it was going to be as good as it was, I would've taken a better photo of it. Once I started eating it though there was no going back. It was made by Pearl's Restaurant in Elk Rapids. It had Andouille simmered collared greens with gouda, provolone, swiss & parmesan cheeses all between a Creole-seasoned sourdough bread. I didn't think it was possible to be excited over grilled cheese but that one proved it's possible.

Dairy Festival

A while back I posted an entry about a champion cow, Traverse Colantha Walker, that was buried on the grounds she once grazed at the old State Hospital here in TC. Today was the first ever Traverse Colantha Walker Dairy Festival. There was a great turnout. It was a perfect size but I'm confident that the event will become bigger as it continues. There was a parade that went from the state hospital to the gravestone that she was buried at. A fire truck, band (one tuba and three trumpets playing "When the Saints Go Marching In") and a lot of people with kazoos were involved. It was strange but cool. When people arrived at the headstone, everyone clapped and "moood". The woman in the photo is the Dairy Festival Queen. The photos are black & white in honor of the Holstein dairy cow. Go dairy!

Arbutus Lake

I'm always keeping my eyes out for something to take a photo of for the paper, separate from the daily assignments. Some days there are abundant photographic opportunities and it seems like other days, there are not so many. Usually I'll drive around town since it's a more "urban" setting and there's a better chance of people doing things. I also try to mix it up though by driving around in the rural areas in hopes of finding someone off the beaten path. It's a gamble because sometimes I drive and drive and don't see a soul. On this day though, I was driving around a small road near Arbutus Lake, a lake I've fished many times as a kid, and I came across this fisherman. I drove near the shore and saw him come out of a boathouse with a battery and a bucket. I thought, "bingo. here's my feature shot." Sometimes, I'll pull over and my subject won't want his/her photo taken. It happens rarely though. So this guy was more than happy to let me take his photo as he was getting ready to do some fishing. So I was able to grab a feature photo in an out-of-town area which reemphasized the fact that looking for photos in rural areas, when time allows for it, can be rewarding.

Graduation

This is from one of the local graduations yesterday.

Hotel

This is from a story we recently did on a local hotel that underwent a large renovation project. Sometimes a story comes along and I'll try to think how it could be portrayed visually. In this scenario however, I decided I'd just let fate play a hand in the expectations I'd have over my final pictures. Sometimes it's nice to go freestyle in that department. This photo won't be entered by me into any contests, but it is better than what I expected to end up with on this assignment.

The manager guided me through a few rooms and explained the variety of improvements that had been made. In the end it worked out good. While talking with the manager, I began to feel his excitement for having a renovated motel. "I've been here 10 years and it's nice to see some money being put back into the business," he said. I don't think the paper chose this photo, but I chose it because it reminds me of how much the manager cared for his hotel and it's presentation. I try to take a little something from each assignment these days, no matter what the level of potential visual stimulation it may or may not provide. From this assignment, I was happy for this hotel manager and excited for him that after his many years of no doubt hard work, he was able to feel a restored amount of pride in the newly renovated hotel.

Open Sky

I'm a sucker for a two-lane road that looks like it could go forever and a wide-open sky that could go even farther. When this combination is in front of me, I feel compelled to take a photo of it so that I'll always remember the scene exactly as it was.

Scarlette & Turtle

This is 'Scarlette' and 'Turtle'. She's from Michigan and he's from Colorado. I was wandering around looking for something/someone to take photos of when I noticed them outside a local health food store as they were playing music. They met in Washington and were traveling the country with money that they would make playing music on occasions such as the one I have pictured here. They were really good and I wouldn't mind having their music in my collection. Their next stop is Asheville, NC. On the back of their van its says..
'Education makes you stupid
Medicine makes you sick
Transporation gets you nowhere.'