Small Town Texas There was a brief period of my life when I called Houston, Texas home. Houston is an amazing city. As one of the United States' most populous cities, it offers something for everyone. I'd moved there in 2009, when the recession was in full swing for much of the U.S., and was…
Tag: Photojournalism
Why You Don’t Have to Travel Far to Make Great Pictures
It Started with National Geographic When I was just starting out with photography, my main source of inspiration—and countless other photographers' inspiration—was National Geographic magazine. In its pages, you could be transported to a Hawaiian volcano, a Mongolian steppe or in an Italian village. Vanderbilt, Mich.Camera: Mamiya 7 Not only that, but National Geographic magazine…
Continue reading ➞ Why You Don’t Have to Travel Far to Make Great Pictures
Kalkaska County Fairgrounds Bump-n-Run
Metal Mayhem Bump-n-Run, demolition derby, automobiles attacking automobiles...whatever you want to call these events, they're fun. Sine this one was dubbed Bump-n-Run on the festival agenda, we'll go with that. Although 'run' seems like a stretch considering it indicates some sort of consistent speed. After witnessing many a vehicular clash royale, I know that if…
Feather Bowling: A Bygone Belgian Pastime Is Revered in Detroit
Let's Roll The Cadieux Cafe in Detroit's east side serves up an impressive selection of Belgian beers along with mussels and other specialties. It's a unique place, not just for the food and drink though. Walk through two doors at an end of the bar and you'll be encountering a game rarely played anywhere, let…
Continue reading ➞ Feather Bowling: A Bygone Belgian Pastime Is Revered in Detroit
Voyaging: Ochopee, FL
Smallest Post Office in the U.S. Situated between Naples, FL and Miami, FL is a 7 foot by 8 foot structure in Ochopee (pronounced O-Chop-ee), FL. It's small but visible as its white color stands out from the surrounding southern-Florida greenery. Driving past it for the first time, heading toward Miami, I applied light pressure…
On Assignment: Muskegon, Mich. for The Wall Street Journal
In the springtime, I'd photographed subjects, places and people relating to the coronavirus. Those photos were self assigned, as I wanted to visually document what I could during that time. The benefits of self assigning myself that work was that I had the convenience of photographing in the town I live, there were no deadlines…
Continue reading ➞ On Assignment: Muskegon, Mich. for The Wall Street Journal
On Assignment: Feature Hunting during COVID-19
The Traverse City Record-Eagle newspaper recently contacted me to make images to be used without a story attached. These types of photos can be called 'features', 'spec photos' and 'wild art'. There have been so many photos focused on coronavirus that the challenge was to find something that wasn't the typical photos of…
Continue reading ➞ On Assignment: Feature Hunting during COVID-19
Making a Way to Create: Photography During Coronavirus
Outside my window, as I'm typing this, is the same towering oak tree and beneath it are the same constantly-stopping-and-going squirrels continuing their daily routine of finding acorns and burying them. The normalcy of life is visually evident and that makes everything going on in the world, regarding the coronavirus, a stark contrast to our…
Continue reading ➞ Making a Way to Create: Photography During Coronavirus
Make the Most of Your Photo Time
It had been about three days of photographing in Michigan's spectacular Upper Peninsula during a recent expedition and the extended weekend of visuals was extremely fulfilling. As dream-filled as this sounds, and it is amazing, long days , little sleep and cold weather does take a minor toll. When it's time to return home, one…
Blizzardfest 2020
In previous posts, I've covered the importance of finding fun and beneficial events to photograph in your community, or at least, your greater surrounding community. Blizzardfest in Grayling, Michigan is exactly what I was referring to. My methods of finding local happenings is often the same: look at online event calendars, then scope out…