the real reason

i went to photograph behind the scenes at the emu theatre production is that kate told me when she gets into zombie character she drools..

for 40 minutes she stumbles through the halls outside the set, banging into doors, spilling her blood stained spit down her lips, dotting the floor in this concoction...

I'm beginning to wonder

whether I'm going to have anything to photograph once Halloween is over...

Hung out backstage last night during the Emu Theater's production of Horrorshow. A series of one act plays... with zombies. Just chilling in the hallway and stairwell while people got into character and goofed off.

aaarrRRggggahhhhh

I didn't get to be a zombie. But at least I was there taking pictures.

Zombies who break character suck.

If you're going to be a zombie, don't break character!

And this is just straight up gross.

I love it.

The wetlands

I went for that walk, but not up any hills. I went down to the bottoms.

The Wakarusa Wetlands.

These wetlands boarder the southern edge of town. On one side of 31st street are the skirts of town, light industrial parks. On the other is this.

This ecosystem is home to many things. Amphibians, birds, rare grasses and plants. But it is also home to a debate. For the last 30 years there has been talk about building a trafficway through the bottoms to connect two major roads, providing an alternate route around Lawrence from Topeka to Kansas City. I've been sitting on this story for a couple months now and am finally starting to make contacts. More to come on the history of this later.

No pictures of frogs, sorry. They kept jumping away from me.

Fall Festivities

I spied this father pulling his six-year-old daughter around in this red wagon today in Baldwin City. It looked fun, unexpecting, being dragged around between all these people. Stuck down at a different height than everyone else.

Back and forth back and forth.

It was the Maple Leaf Festival. Its 50th anniversary, and it was fall. Fall in the Midwest, best time of the year. Perfect perfect perfect day to be working. Driving all over Douglas County. Another thing I spied. Some super nice hills out in the country. Think it's time I took a walk.

Snuff Jazz

The Taproom.

Wee style. That's right. Small instruments.

There's a picture to be made in this bar. This isn't it... I'm working on it.

Fashion Monsters Fashion Show

A few frames from Kate's fashion show to benefit the Social Service League.

Renaissance Festival Part Deux

Man and snake.

Renaissance Festival

Faewyn the Elf.

Rock Chalk...

So I think I'm becoming a KU fan.

This girl is:


KU: 30
KSU: 24

This was the first time KU had beaten K-state on the road in 18 years. I could smell K-State's disgust. It smelled sweet. That means I'm becoming a Jayhawk fan, right?

Junior high

Showed up to my Friday Night Lights game early to cruise for pictures. High fived the ticket guy for me coming and covering his team. Stopped in the stone hallway under the stands, looked back and forth. Went to the closest field entrance and passed through it.

Now I'm standing between purple walls and the dirty setting sun is fading fast.

A young man is leaning against the wall nearest to me. Watching the stadium fill. He's quiet. Modest.

Friends trickle in and gather around him. Livens up. And the girl teasing starts almost instantly. Guess it doesn't matter if you're in junior high in 1880, 1968 or 2007. Some things never change.

Signs

I'm not one to photograph signs, but these three sorta just happened. Tonight, walking the downtown.

Getting weird...

Oct. 19, 2007

This post could use some context.

I've been banging my head against the wall. I walk outside to photograph. Wander around, see something. Think to myself, that could make a picture. Then get this vomit reaction in my stomach for even thinking that. Hating that I'm recognizing things as pictures. The premeditation of it all was dragging me down.

So one night Max and I are chatting, and he ends up telling me to get off my ass and go shoot. Which is not uncommon for us to harp on one another like that.

So I do. Grab my camera and hit the sidewalk. There's a jazz show going on this night, and it's my destination in a round about way, but I went out on a mission to photograph as well.

And this is what I came back with. Three frames of signs. Not cognitively thinking about what the signs said at the time. I walked up to them and clicked. Warming up my fingers right.

Well I get back that night. And all this talk about inspiration... hard work... pushing... the next level... Anyway, the series of words spelled out struck me as odd.

I guess you had to be there.

hiding. i wonder if i'm hiding sometimes. behind the f stops and the shutter and not living. not out there doing it. being it. living it. rather, framing it, composing it and clicking it.

i can't be too caught up in that. because this box, its with me all the time. i can't put it down. constantly strapped across my chest. the strap says nikon or canon or sometimes its a little thin strap connected to a black toy camera. but it's there just like i'm there.

visceral is not the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind. (See: Choke, Also: Chuck Palahniuk) is there a point when life stops becoming visceral because it's constantly being filtered through this box?

these thoughts resurface after a front porch conversation last night as the first few hours of october were passing. i hadn't taken many pictures and was asked why. i dunno, i just don't feeeel like it.

well, all this is just silly anyway right? or is it