the lake

i can usually be found at the lonestar lake whenever my days off roll around. snug inbetween some hills and plenty of looming oaks, the lake is big enough to float out into the middle, while gently keeping afloat with a kick, but small enough to where it's not intimidating, no speeding boats to wreck your peace of mind. on monday i went out to the lake with a friend and her black lab.

back in colorado, on my days off you would find me hiking or running up cedar mountain. after i'd make it to the top i'd plop down on a rock and look out over the yampa valley, able to see steamboat springs in the distance, craig immediately below me, looking much larger than or much smaller, depending on my mood of the day. going up in elevation always seems like an accomplishment, thinner air, better view, fewer people. no people at all, just depleted oxygen and a view that would take your breath away if it wasn't already gone from the jog.

but i guess that's the problem, the thing is, there weren't too many days off back there. there was a lot of work to be done and few people to do it. we had a job to do. put out the paper, gather the information and publish. maybe the time off was there, but i was too obsessed with the quality of my work to see it. from my experience small publications tend to be like that. i now realize how much i miss those mountains, and wonder if i could have readjusted my work to stay there, feel comfortable with what i was doing, and still enjoy my surroundings. the people i was with. was i too anxious to climb the ladder of success? how important is that?

that brings me to the question, what's right? i guess we all struggle with that.

Avant Garden

not much on words right now, which is a result of photographing the avant garden last night coupled with an extremely early morning (for a second shift guy) driving to topeka to photograph a church service and a homecoming ceremony for soldiers returning from Iraq.

the party/show was based on installation and experimental art. i suppose the name says it all. it was bizarre to say the least, but with bizarre comes a good time.

i'll let my photos speak for themselves for now.

this street

this street is alive. lives, moves, crawls, breathes. people, exiting buildings, putting out cigarettes, holding their lovers' hand. mass street, i photograph it occasionally, every time i do it's difficult. maybe because i believe it's all been done, it's a dead horse, so i let down standards and settle. or maybe it's just that i'm not seeing it. it's there, there's light all over this street. people, drunk and in love. but i'm photographing for the paper, i can't shoot that.

last night i started filling the quota for what amounts to be file photos of lawrence, iconic images of different parts of town that the paper can pull up when necessary. so, i have my street photography assignment lined out for infinity. no real assignment other than to photograph an area, which i interpret as photograph how this place feels.

interesting because i dont feel like street photography is my strong suit. lets face it, it's not. but standing there, with only one camera body, one lens, trying to figure out this city block corner, it felt right. the assignment was photograph ninth and massachusetts, and although the 'street' or 'intersection' pictures didn't turn out, it was still ok. i hope to post these images as they materialize... this street... i think i feel an actual thread coming on.

i have a feeling i'll like this street... lets see what happens

Trout Fishing in America

Absolutely no idea where they came up with the name, but I suppose it works.

Made these pictures on assignment a couple days ago at a concert. I arrived with only about four songs left in their set, right as night was setting in. I had been photographing a pep rally in Kansas City right before this and couldn't pull myself away from it. Felt like I hadn't made a good enough picture so kept pressing and pressing.

Trout Fishing in America's music is folky and somewhat geared toward a younger audience I believe. So I show up at the outdoor venue super rushed and literally ran down to the front of the stage and made pictures of parents and kids sitting in the lawn for a song. I arrived during a slow song apparently.

Then the band kicked it up. The place exploded into dance. Kids of all ages, some in fairytale costumes, and their parents flailing around dancing, barefoot and beaming. It was a riot. A happy happy riot.

With energy that positive you can't help but smile, and carry it with you.

A guessing game

Taking pictures without looking through the viewfinder. Just pointing and shooting. That's what I was doing last week, spending some time at the city pool with the five gallon fish tank I bought to transport my Oscar from Colorado to Kansas. Can't believe I didn't take any pictures of my fish, strapped down in the passenger seat bobbing around in about three gallons of water, so as to not spill all over the place when I made a turn, which there are a lot of descending six thousand feet of mountains.

So with the plastic tank, my plastic camera and some film I walked down to the pool. Felt like a kid in a candy store. More like a kid exiting a candy store with his arms chalked full of goodies, a grin smeared across my face, knowing what fun I was about to have.

holga adventures, part I

Have been carrying the holga around with me more often, why I don't know. first i was thinking about shooting a project on 120 but now i'm not so sure. right now the shoulder strap is giving me attitude and coming undone so the camera is on my floor at home... but here are some frames from my first roll of ilford 400.

The first three frames were taken at William Burroughs' estate during a meeting. We swam in the pool. It was nice.

This is a cow.

KU football media day

In this picture, two sophomore quarterbacks, both vying for the lead role, are interviewed.

The center player currently has the position.