window painting

Yesterday I photographed some people painting the windows at the Downtown Furniture Emporium building. The business moved to the mall a while back and now plans to return to the original location. At first I had no idea how to make an interesting picture of some guys way up in the air. I could barely even see what they were doing from the ground. Then the owner of the company doing the work offered to let me go up in the lift. Then he mentioned he had keys to the building, and let me go inside. And viola! What I thought was a doomed assignment turned out to be a lot of fun, and I like the pictures I made, too.

Bluffwoods Conservation Area

Jamie came to visit this weekend and we went to Bluffwoods Conservation Area yesterday. I've passed by it several times on the way to Atchison, KS and am glad I finally got to check it out, and on such a gorgeous day for hiking.
I think this shot needs a unicorn leaping through it.

There was a patch of giant turnips...

... and pretty fall colors.


Jamie kept saying, "This is like Arkansas!"

Albany, Mo.

I drove to Albany, Mo. on Tuesday for a story about the town winning the Community of the Year award in the Missouri Community Betterment competition. I had no information until I got there, and soon realized that nearly all of the projects that won them the title were unphotographable--clearing lots of abandoned houses, a recycling program for which the bins are still on order, and improving the wastewater system. So, I photographed the trophy, the Old City Cemetery (cleaning it up was another project) and a volunteer repairing old Community Betterment project reports at the library. When I left the library, I saw this mural and waited for a passerby. It's a simple photo, but I think it captures the small town atmosphere and has a nice sense of place.

a pretty portrait

Mary Collins has been battling breast cancer since July 2009 and will soon undergo a mastectomy. She spends time in the chapel at Heartland Hospital because it's a peaceful and reflective place to be. "I am who I am because of my faith," she said.

Hibiscus

For a story on allergies a few weeks ago I experimented with a "poor man's macro" by holding a 50mm lens backwards to the front of a 70mm lens, which caused the vignetting in the top image. We ran a macro shot of just the pollen, but these are a couple of outtakes that I like. It was tough to get what I wanted in focus, because every slight breeze moved what I was trying to focus on, but I had fun with it.

Halloween is approaching...

Ken Nice removes excess pieces of Cherry Mash centers on the conveyor belt between the machine that forms the centers and the one that coats them in chocolate and chopped peanuts at Chase Candy Company Wednesday. The batch of Mini Mash pieces was being made to fill last-minute orders for Halloween candy. Chase Candy Company has been operating in St. Joseph since 1876.

Skeletons sunbathe in the fountain and watch volunteers prepare for Pumpkinfest at Patee Park on Thursday. The annual festival kicks off Friday, October 8 from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Pumpkin Mountain, a massive display of about 1,000 carved pumpkins, will be lit Friday at 8 p.m.

outtakes from MPW

I spent last week at the Missouri Photo Workshop. I met so many wonderful people, worked my tail off, barely slept, and somehow got through it with a nice picture story. My story was about Macon's police captain, Jeff Brown. He's a single parent to an 11-year-old son, has been a foster parent to 30-40 kids over the last seven years, and tries to take care of everyone in town. Below are a few shots I like that didn't make it into the final edit. For the story, click here: Doing the Right Thing.

Jamie's big fish story

Jamie got to come to the final festivities of the Missouri Photo Workshop in Macon, Mo. I was so happy to see him! He mingled at the exhibit as long as he could stand it and then went fishing at Long Branch Lake. First he caught a three pound, 19.5 inch catfish, and then a four pound, 20 inch small mouth bass. He was ecstatic!