freezing soccer moms

spring showed up about a week or so ago, but didn't hang out for too long. the days were still sunny, but the air was cold. and the wind blew like crazy. especially on thursday. i was assigned to photograph a high school girls soccer game that evening. it was already cold outside and the over 25 mph wind made it even worse.

Jacobs fans Brenda Bishop, center, and Jane Mammoser, right, bundled up and braved strong winds and temperatures below freezing, on Thursday, March 25, 2010, while watching the girls' soccer game between Cary Grove and Jacobs high schools, at Cary Grove, in Cary, Ill.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

potty-training

Benjamin Gerhardt, 3, center, plays with a piece of toilet paper on Tuesday, February 17, 2010 during the Potty Training class at the Algonquin Public Library, in Algonquin, Ill.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

pitchers and tricks

the high school baseball and softball seasons have started, and i've photographed a few games so far. i'm not a big fan of these sports - mainly because i don't really know or understand their rules - but i'm trying to have fun while i'm covering them. here are some of the images that i took this week and the one before it. the one in which the ball is in focus is a veritable baseball cliche image, but i've never done it before, and i thought i'd give it a try. i wanted to see if i can do it. it didn't seem hard at all. in the end, it's just a trick.






These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

medieval americans

i took these photographs back in september 2009, in vermont, at an archery and history aficionados gathering.






These images are © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

abandoned

it's been a year already

a little over a year ago i photographed a freelance assignment for the columbia tribune. it was the last evening of the true/false film festival. i saw pictures of this year's edition of the festival on some of my friends' blogs and i remembered about the ones that i took and i decided to post them.


Dusk falls on Missouri Theater one hour before the showing of The Yes Men Fix the World, the documentary film that closed out the 2009 True/False Film Festival.


A last minute spectator rushes to find a seat for the last showing of the Festival at the Missouri Theater.


Sour Mash Hug Band leader Fiddler Mickey performs inside the Missouri Theater lobby during Busker's Last Stand.


Movie goers converse as they enjoy free food inside the Missouri Theater lobby before the final showing.


True/False Film Festival co-founder David Wilson thanks the crowd gathered at the Missouri Theater before he final showing of the 2009 edition of the festival.

sled dawgs

from an assignment i shot a few weeks ago. the dogs in the first image look like they're fighting but in fact they were playing.




These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

last night, after work, in the parking lot

portraits 1

portraits aren't exactly my strength, or at least i don't feel like i have taken any good portraits yet. but i'm trying to get better at it. i took several of them in the last few months, and i've been hesitating to post them here. today i decided to start posting them. i'll start with two, very simple, ones that i've shot on assignment.

Huntley resident Frank Kajikawa remembers his experiences as a fiteen-year-old living in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, on Friday, February 5, 2010, at his home in Huntley, Illinois.


I photographed Jenny Hanrahan, a Crystal Lake South high school senior and basketball player, for a story that focused on her being a successful student and athlete. Jenny lost her mom to cancer two years ago.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

at da pool

some outtakes from a high school swimming event.




These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

a few hours in chicago

i took the metra train to chicago yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours wandering around.

the craftsman

David Moore leaves St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock after completing a maintenance job on the church's organ that he built and installed in the late 1980s. Moore started working on organs in the late 1960s, when he was still in high school, and has been restoring, building and servicing organs ever since.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

squash - dartmouth vs. harvard

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

first snow

i headed out of the newsroom today to go photograph a high school hockey game. i was thinking: "the nice warm days of soccer and american football are gone. winter's getting near," and as i opened the door i saw a big and thick curtain made of millions of white dots in front of me. it was freakin' snowing! and i really don't like snow. but hey, i'm in new england, i'm lucky i'm not swimming in several feet deep snow at this point in the year.
anyway, during one of the breaks i bought a hot coffee and stepped outside to warm up a bit (yes it was warmer outside than it was inside). a few feet away from me two little guys were trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths. i stood there looking at them for a few seconds and then i think i heard this voice in my head: "hey, genius, when are you gona start taking some pictures here?" i took a few quick frames before they started noticing me. and now i can't decide which one is the better one out of these three.
the kids names are Jorgen (wearing the grey hoodie) and Keenan Leuthauser, they're both 7, and they are twins.




These images are © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

on a november afternoon in windsor vt.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

lobstah country

postcard from winsdsor vt.

katie barnes encouraged me to stop whenever i see a pretty picture and actually take it. new england is a nice huge photograph made of millions of pretty pictures. i see them everyday as i drive to and from assignments, but i usually save them on my organic memory card, my brain. today i decided to stop and snap. i parked on a funeral home's driveway and after a few minutes i left with some images of the kennedy pond in windsor on my sd memory card. it's not as good as katie's images, but if i keep stopping i might get better at it.


This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

portrait of a musician

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

boston