Highlighting Skyler Hinton

I was sent out to photograph Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton during football practice. It was a little harder to photograph than the practice I shot of Chase Rome, because they were practicing farther away from the sidelines. I did, during this shoot, push myself to walk onto the field so I could get closer to the action. I figured, better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission...


Rock Bridge Senior Skyler Hinton (#72) pauses for a portrait after practice on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. After breaking his fibia at the September 12, 2008, game against McCluer North, Hinton was sidelined from the 2008-2009 season. Hinton returned to sports after three months and is optimistic about his coming season saying, I think I could do enough that I could play at a good school and get a scholarship.


Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton sprints to intercept the nose tackle during practice on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Hinton looks to help his team better their 1-9 record from the last two seasons. Moving from his previous position as left tackle, Hinton will now be playing center, a move which makes sense to head coach A.J. Ofodile, who said, "He's a hands-eye coordination guy. He can snap the ball and make things time up for us."


Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton smiles as he prepares to hike the ball during practice on Tuesday, September 08, 2009. Hinton spent last year sidelined after he broke his fibia at the September 12, 2008, game against McCluer North (Florissant, MO). Hinton has defied doctor's projections and expects to help the Bruins better their 1-9 record in 2008-2009

This kid has a great smile. And he was nice and goofy at times during practice. There were a couple of times where I *just* missed a great shot! Arg!

50th Annual Heart of America Marathon

One of the hardest marathons in the US to run, because of the route. There's a really steep hill that happens at the end of the course. And, oh!, the drama. My camera has been being hinky lately. It all of a sudden didn't want to turn on. I fiddled with the battery a little bit and it seemed to fix itself and then...

I'm at the marathon and I've been taking pictures of the atmosphere, etc., and here comes the first-place finisher. He's heading down the home stretch and my camera has gone asleep. So I depress the button, nothing happens. Now, I thought maybe it was just my battery, and I'd brought 2 extra charged ones, and I stick in the first one and nothing! I'm muttering, 'come on! come on! don't do this to me!' And get the second one in and nothing! Stupid camera! Now I'm going to have to get you fixed!!! And I'm on assignment and I missed the winning shot.

So I started taking pictures with my i-Phone and then around 9:30 I tried the Missourian and someone was there (they weren't there at 7:30 when I tried to check out a camera just in case my 'working' camera decided to get finicky), so I walked the 3 blocks down to the Missourian and got a working camera.

Here's my captioned pics:


Carolyn Mitchell, 72 (#39), of Lenexa, Kan., waves in triumph, with Karen Nicholson, 43 (#167), close behind as she crosses the finish line of the 50th Annual Heart of America Marathon on Monday, September 7, 2009. Mitchell was one of the last participants to finish and had planned to run with her husband, Kent Mitchell, but he was sidelined with an injury.


Newell Kitchen, 50, of Columbia, Mo., rests after completing the 50th Annual Heart of America marathon on Monday, September 7, 2009. The Heart of America marathon is considered one of the most difficult in the United States because of the weather and some of the inclines during the race.