pies

We picked up a rolling pin at a flea market a while back, and Jamie was on a bit of a pie kick for a while.

This apple pie was by far the best. He took great pride in making the crust super-thin.


The tangerine pie experiment didn't turn out too well. "The first bite was shockingly bitter. The second bite was a little less bitter. By the sixth bite, it seemed pretty sweet." Jamie said. You might have better luck with this recipe, which is neither tangerine, nor pie.

election day

These two are from a story on low voter turnout for the Springfield City Council primary election yesterday. "Go photograph people not voting," seemed like a real challenge, but I think it worked out pretty well.

Teacher's aide Brian McHaney cleans tables at the polling station Tuesday afternoon at Delaware Elementary, where 73 people had voted by the end of the day.

Zachary McFarland (right) takes a break from making rounds to polling sites to entertain poll workers Mary Ann Berger (center) and Teresa Osborn at Trinity Lutheran Church. By 2 p.m., 25 people had voted there.

herons and hobos

While Jamie fished at Lake Springfield last weekend, I photographed birds. "You must be a naturist," said a hobo as we were leaving. He also told us how he walked all the way to Pennsylvania because he woke up bored one day. Then he got arrested because he didn't know hitchhiking was illegal there. The police put him up in hotel for a week to rest up and then bought him a bus ticket back to Missouri. Another time, he got arrested somewhere south of Springfield, "for some reason," and had to stay in a pink cell. Pink! "They could've at least put me somewhere that was neutral!"

bird 1, Jamie zero

snow, snow, snow

Last week I only worked Tuesday through Thursday, but the blizzard of 2011 made it the longest 3-day-week ever. Here are a few of my favorite shots from last week.

inmate GED graduation

Last week I went to the county jail to photograph an inmate GED ceremony. I love getting to go places that I never would without this job. Check out Jess Rollins's story.

Pharris funeral

Yesterday I went to Seymour, Mo. to photograph the funeral of Sgt. 1st Class Robert Pharris, who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan on January 5. It was rumored that those Westboro wackos were going to show up, so a human shield effort was organized. I never saw any protesters, but heard a few came and left when they saw the crowd that gathered in support of the Pharris family. Check out the story and the photo gallery.

John Deere Plant

Ryan Whiteley moves a remanufactured cylinder head at the John Deere Reman plant on Wednesday. The plant hired 45 new employees last year.