Spring Has Mostly Sprung...

So, after Mother Nature decided that the first part of 2013 will have crazy weather, she eventually let the sun come out. Riley and the boys hung out in the yard with some friends. Riley loves doing this, rolling around on his back - even in the winter time when there's snow on the ground. It doesn't help during flea season...

At the Dog Park

One of the things that I enjoy doing is photographing animals. Owning three dogs, I get lots of practice capturing their personalities in action. When the weather permits, I take them to the dog park and watch them play.

Photos for a Church Directory

Easter Sunday, I worked with a couple of other photographers to take pictures of the congregation of the Kansas City Church of Christ. I ended up standing close to the door, rather than right outside the sanctuary doors, which left me with a clean background rather than posing people next to one of the 2 small trees. Lighting was a little tricky, because it was a mixture of daylight and halogen.

Pictured:
Top left: Rob and LaShonda Milner, Associate Minister and Associate Women's Ministry Leader
Top right: Mark Hayward, Elder, his wife, Jodi, and their daughter, Ariana
Middle: Mark and Dona Stephenson, Teen Ministry Leaders, and their children, Deric and Alyx
Bottom: Ed Mejia, member

     
For this project, was a forced to use my backup Tamron lens. I don't like it as much as my Canon lens, but my regular lens is currently busted and waiting on news from Canon as to whether it would be cheaper to repair it or just purchase a new one. Murphy decided to pay me a visit at a friend's wedding; I had put my camera down in the pew to get something out of my bag and the person sitting next to me knocked it off the pew. It hit the floor in just the right way so that the seating's bent and it will not focus. I usually don't use my Tamron lens, because it doesn't do as good or as fast a job of sharply focusing. So, despite my best efforts a few of my pictures were slightly out of focus:



Since it's going to be relatively small since it's going to be used in a directory, the soft-focus isn't going to be as noticeable, but it still bugs me! For the most part, the project worked out well and we were able to get most of the 300+ member church photographed.

An Empty Apartment...

Just a few pictures that I took as I helped my friend, Taylor, clean her apartment as part of her move. She'd gotten a new job in Miami, Florida, so she packed everything into one of those moving pods and having it shipped to Florida.

Mother Nature Says Even Though the Calendar Says It's Spring--

Winter isn't over yet.

  

Not enough to close roads, but enough to cover the ground with beautiful, beautiful snow.

Wedding of Jessica Miller and Kevin Fetsch

Since my regular lens is currently out-of-commission (in need of fixing), when I attended the wedding of my friends, Jessica Miller and Kevin Fetsch, I used only my iPhone for all my images. Since it's not the latest, the sharpness is limited by its 5 mega-pixel camera, but I think I was able to capture the essence of the event. I instagram'd the highlights of my edit, with the #Mr&MrsFetsch.

    

   

Finally! Let It Snow!!!

Riley (left) and Dudley check out the yard after the big snow.

Punxsutawney Phil predicted that Winter would be ending early. And I groaned, because I like cold weather and we'd had so little snow this winter. While Phil said early Spring, Mother Nature had other ideas.

Within two weeks, she dumped two major snow storms on the Kansas City-area, the first brought over 12 inches of snow, the second another 12 inches. Kansas City being Kansas City, that meant road closings and I ended up with 4 snow days from work.

    

Because my dogs are so short, I had to dig out a trench along the side of the house that they could do their business in.

        

Traveling to Chicago for Labor Day

For Labor Day, I traveled to Chicago with my friend, Taylor. These are some Instagram images from the trip.

    
    
Chicago architecture. Top left is one of the city's libraries. The bottom right is one of the glass buildings. As we were walking by this building, I realized that it was really the reflection of the building next to it that I was seeing. I thought that optical illusion was pretty cool, so I took a picture of it.

Portrait for Advances in Nursing Science Blog

 

In the Volume 35, Issue 3 issue of Advances in Nursing Science, one of the faculty in the School of Nursing, Martha Baird, had an article published, Well-Being in Refugee Women Experiencing Cultural Transition. The article focused on her research which led to her development of the Theory of Well-being in Refugee Women in Cultural Transition, a situation-specific theory of wellness among South Sudanese refugees living in the Midwest. Along with the article in the journal, the research was highlighted on the ANS: Advances in Nursing Science Blog. The journal requested a picture for the blog and I was given the task of taking a picture of Martha and her friend and colleague, Rebecca Mabior. It can be challenging to photograph darker skin tones, because the camera can meter wrong and then things are over exposed. I have much experience with it, so I was confident, when I took on the task, that it would not present too much of a challenge. I searched out a location in the School of Nursing whose background wouldn't be too distracting but would provide enough light to make a good picture. Martha and Rebecca liked the idea of the plant in the background.

These images were taken in the atrium of the School. I white balanced in-camera before taking the picture, so that I wouldn't have to do it in post-production. Dealing with their height was a little challenging, and I would have like to have a step-stool for Martha, but one wasn't available. I think they turned out quite well.

Ethnic Enrichment Festival in Swope Park

Pictures from my trip to the Ethnic Festival in Swope Park. Put on by the Ethnic Enrichment Commission, this "Taste the World" festival features more than 66 different cultures selling their native foods and crafts and performing ethnic music and dances. The festival is held during the third full weekend of August near the front entrance of historic Swope Park. All but the bottom picture are Instagram pictures.


The crowd walking toward the Ethnic Festival.

The Wedding of Melissa Goodell and Janus Abello - 24 June 2012

The part of the ceremony officiated by Vince Hawkins, lead minister of the Columbia Church of Christ.

This past weekend, I traveled to Columbia, Missouri, to attend the wedding of my friends, Melissa Goodell and Janus Abello. Both the ceremony and the reception were held at Columbia College. They chose to have their ceremony on a Sunday, which is a little unusual, but I liked that I could drive down to Columbia after church.

I first met Melissa when she moved to Columbia to be closer to her then-boyfriend, Brandon. Being from Boston, we instantly bonded over our shared love of the Red Sox. One of my earliest memories with her is watching 'Fever Pitch' with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore and relishing thoughts of Fenway Park. That and helping her learn how to drive a manual-transmission car. And Janus, I can't remember when I met him, but I've known him for a while. He's originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and came to Columbia to study at the University of Missouri. I think it's pretty cool how God brought them both thousands of miles from home to meet each other, took them halfway across the world to Novosibirsk, Russia, for them to fall in love, and then solidify that love into marriage back in Columbia, Missouri.

Here's some of my favorites:

   

Maks, the lead minister of the Novosibirsk Church of Christ, traveled to Columbia to be part of their wedding. He prayed in Russian (left). The vows portion (right) was officiated by the other minister in the Columbia church, Jason Touchatt. Melissa cries as Janus read his vows. I cried, too. They were great. He talked about how parts of Melissa's character initially scared him because they were so amazing.

A Baptism in Omaha

While up visiting friends in Omaha, I was able to volunteer to photograph a baptism of Amanda Meyer. Beyond her salvation, the baptism represented the joining of the couple in a common faith.

Not a Cough in a Carload

Funny the things that you find on the internet...
Not a Cough in a Carload, A image gallery of 50s adverts which promoted smoking using doctors, dentists, scientists, sports figures, and even babies.

Here's some images.

Endorsements from Santa:
  
  

It's That Time of Year Again

What time of year, you say? CPOY time.

For the uninitiated, that's College Photographer of the Year, an international competition for photography students that is in its 66th year. I've been lucky to attend three years of judging; I learn something every year I go.

This year, like all the years before, it was something that I procrastinated in choosing so that it came down to the absolute deadline before I turned them in. So my blood is pumping and the adrenaline is going and then I press submit.

But, unlike last year, I submitted things in several categories. I'm sure, like last year, I won't win anything, but that's okay. Really.

In Honor of a Star Wars Marathon

As part of a marathon Star Wars watching session, we dressed up in our Halloween costumes - although only one of us embraced the Star Wars theme. The rest of us were characters from Harry Potter.

It's Andrew as Anakin Skywalker and Taylor as Luna Lovegood.

    

Kyle as Dean Thomas and me as Professor Trelawney.

The Wedding of Jamie and Mark Roberts - 11 June 11

This past weekend, I assisted my friend, Stacy, in covering the wedding of Jamie and Mark Roberts. Held at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Mo. (in the Kansas City Metropolitan area). Powell Gardens is a 915-acre botanical garden featuring 6,000 varieties of plants, with 225,000 plants in seasonal displays. The wedding itself was held with the garden's small lake as its backdrop, and thankfully, there was a nice breeze and it wasn't too hot. (Most outdoor weddings I've been to have been on the warm side.)

Here are some of my favorites from the day:

  
One of the things I love to do when I cover a wedding is capture those unposed moments. These two images really highlight the playfulness of their relationship.

  
While we were walking around the garden, Jamie caught sight of a statue and decided she wanted to imitate it. And then Mark followed suit.


As part of the ceremony, two of their friends, Lisa and Jeff, read some scriptures that had special meaning for the couple. This was taken while the reading was happening.

The Allen-Fugate Wedding - 30 April 2011

On April 30th, I traveled to Columbia, Missouri, to attend the wedding of my friends, Monique Allen and Shawn Fugate. The marriage is a joining of two families: Monique and her sons, Vonnie and Shawn, and Shawn and his children, Corey and Kayley.

Here are some of my favorites:

Monique's son, Shawn, right, and Shawn's son, Corey, serve as candle lighters. I love Shawn's concentration and concern over keeping the flame lit.


Monique reacts to seeing someone in the crowd as she is escorted down the aisle by her father.


Vince's expression says, 'hey!' during Monique's vows.

For All of You Who Think Dogs Are Stupid

You should watch this video. It features Dr. Pilley and his dog, Chaser, whom he taught over 1,000 nouns, as well as the names of different verbs.


Impossible, you say? Well, Dr. Pilley bought Chaser when she was a puppy and "started to train her for four to five hours a day. He would show her an object, say its name up to 40 times, then hide it and ask her to find it, while repeating the name all the time. She was taught one or two new names a day, with monthly revisions and reinforcement for any names she had forgotten." In order to remember all the names Chaser had to learn, Pilley wrote the name on each toy with indelible marker. In three years, Chaser’s vocabulary included 800 cloth animals, 116 balls, 26 Frisbees and a medley of plastic items.

One of the questions that Pilley also wanted to tackle was whether a dog understands a verb, like fetch, separately from its objects. In other words: Did she think of her toys as items labeled fetch-ball, fetch-Frisbee, fetch-doll, or did she understand the word “fetch” separately? Pilley found the answer by teaching Chaser 3 different actions: pawing, nosing and taking an object. She was then presented with three of her toys and correctly pawed, nosed or fetched each one depending on the command given to her. “That experiment demonstrates conclusively that Chaser understood that the verb had a meaning,” Pilley said.

Some might argue that Chaser is merely looking at Pilley for the cue to the right answer (like the famous horse 'Clever Hans'). If you watch the video, however, Pilley is hidden behind a screen so as to not give any non-verbal cues to Chaser.

So take that, all you haters! Our dogs would understand more of what we were talking about, if we just took the time to try and communicate with them.



Quotes from the New York Times article, Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl!, on page D1 of the New York edition on January 18, 2011.
Both images by Cass Sapir/Nova Science Now.