Mr. Feed and Seed

Mr. Larry Griswold has owned and operated his feed and seed shop in downtown Aurora for over 65 years. He is 91 years young now and still works there with his two sons, Steve and Tim.

The story was about the time he served in the Air force 60 years ago. He was awarded a soldiers medal to his bravery in helping to put out a fire on board of an aircraft, but 65 years later still had not received his medal. After lots of red tape and phone calls it finally came and he would will keep a willing listener there for days recounting all the tribulations of how he finally got it.
This is how the first page ran in the paper. The background is a page out of his journal chronicling every mission that he went on. "Thank god I wrote it all down," he said." I'd never remember all that stuff 65 years later."
We had been falling into running the same design template for the past weeks on the storyteller column so I made the collage in an effort to try and get out of that mold.

When good mascots go bad.

..... they eat your children.

Red Oak Wildlife Center

I have driven by this wildlife center a few times on my way to other assignments, so when I got off early one day I decided to stop in.

The center itself was closed, but they leave the trails open. Still being early April and all, everything looks kinda dead as life has yet to bloom in the new year. It was fun anyway though, nice day, nice light, and nowhere to be. Can't complain.

Wedding Shootout

Modern Image Studios hosted a night photo workshop with two fantastic couples who put up with some cold, wind and rain to get blasted with way to many flashes.
It was very cool to see how some other shooters approached their shoot and how their images came out.
Check out MIS photographer Wes Craft's facebook page HERE to see his images from the night and some other really nice wedding work.
Never one to love flash, I couldn't help but try and find some cool ambient light.

I was actually on the hunt for my next shot when I looked over and saw Wes was setting up some portraits of this couple. With a few 2 second exposures I stole his flash for a few. Thanks Wes!

We were 4 stories up and had a nice view over the river. Here is the great Mr. Jeff Owen taking advantage of the terrific viewpoint.

I had an idea to play with the shadows running up the ramp of the parking garage. The couple I was working with were great as I tried to maneuver them around from a story above. Not sure if it ever really worked, but I think they came out ok. You?

Big thanks to Michael Litchfield for maning the light on those last two. Saved me a whole lot of running. Click on his name to check out his website.

More Walking

Some leftovers from our little excursion in Loyola Park the other day.
Please.... no diving into the sand.

Walk in the Park

It was a rare occasion the other day.... Jordan and I both had the same day off. The real shocker was that it was a fairly nice day!
We had been wanting to check out this park by her apartment and finally had the chance to do it. It just so happened to be right around golden hour when we went. Funny out these things work out ;)

Up against a wall

On Friday a group of families met at a local school to take photos of their kids holding signs with messages protesting the proposed budget cuts on education. The photos will be put into a video that will be sent to Governor Quinn.
The story, with more photos, ran HERE. Thought I would share an outtake though...

3 alarm fire

Around 1:30 am this morning I got an email saying there was a fire at a two story multi family home in the next town over. With it being so late and not really in our coverage area, I decided to wait it out and see what happened. Maybe 10 minutes later another email came across calling for more help (2nd alarm). "Hmmm," I thought. "This may get interesting." No injuries were being reported so I told myself if it got to a 3 Alarm fire I would have to go check it out. Sure enough, around 2:00 am came the third alarm. Knowing I would never be able to call myself a journalist if I didn't at least check it out, I grabbed my gear and scrambled out of the house.

When I got on the scene any thoughts of sleep were immediately wiped out by the towering inferno in front of me. By the time I got around the perimeter that the authorities had set up the blaze was pretty much under control. Bummer, I thought.
My attention turned to the crowd of residents and spectators to get some emotion. I saw these to guys as I was about to leave and hung around to make a few frames. Turns out the guy on the right had moved in 3 months ago and was the first one to smell the smoke. Instead of getting all his brand new belongings outside he ran up and down the halls making sure everyone was out safe.
I got home and transmitted some images in case another paper wanted to pick them up. I love covering spot news events. There is so much to think about and compress into one frame. Plus, you usually have to do it with limited time and access.
Thank god I was working a night shift today and didn't have to get up early.

Stations of the Cross

A few more from the Stations of the Cross show last Friday in Aurora.



So there I am, smack in the middle of the crowd shooting away from the demonstration to get some reaction shots when out of the right of my frame comes this guys hands. Mind you, I am at about 50 mm (give or take) and this isn't cropped. The guy knew I was there yet proceeded to jump right into my frame. ..... And I applaud him for that.

Chances are a photog is lining up their shot counting on someone that is either clueless or rude to walk right through their frame. Check out THIS POST on Chicago Tribune photographer, Scott Strazzante's blog for further explanation.

Easter Ed

I met Ed Johnson a few weeks back at Waldo Junior High. We were doing a small story on him and his career change from Juvenile corrections officer to Junior High teacher. After the reporter and I talked to him more we realized his story should be bigger than just a small feature. It was pitched, and ran today as the main package for the Easter Sunday Paper.

Long story short, Ed is awesome. He asked to be placed in this Behavior Disorder classroom to teach and has been with the same 7 kids for 3 years now. He goes beyond the walls of his classroom though and takes them on monthly field trips for good behavior. He is also the Pastor at Christ Deliverance Church in Chicago. Check out the story that ran today HERE.






These are just some other photos I took at church that I liked. The service was amazing to watch and photograph. The people were super passionate about their faith and welcomed us there with open arms. So open in fact, Ed called us up to the altar to be blessed. Trying to maintain my journalistic "fly on the wall" approach, I did what I could to decline but he was having none of it. When I got to the altar, Ed's wife took my camera's from my shoulder, instantly stripping me of any protective shield I thought I had. I may as well have been standing there naked as he held my arms up and put oil on my hands and forehead. It was an experience to say the least.

Happy Good Friday

I know it's late but thought I would say it anyway.
I shot a Stations of the Cross reenactment on Aurora's east side this afternoon and had a great time.
The east side has a shady reputation, but I have never felt more welcome and appreciated at an event that I did here. Within 10 minutes of being there I had been thanked at least 3 times for coming. They were the best people.

With so much going on, I decided I would break one of my big rules when shooting; Try not to shoot kids. If I have to I will, but then move on to try and make something better. Just a personal thing I guess. That was until I came across these to girls....



How could I resist?

Big City, Little People

A few more from my day spent wandering about the loop area of Chicago.