The pain of loss

Been combing through old pics and came across these 2 frames from when I worked for the AD. Grief is a funny thing which at first seems like it will never stop being painful and the truth is that it never really does. It just somehow becomes more dull over time. I still can feel these folks pain and when I look at these and I hope at least it has dulled somewhat now for them. The first frame is of Norm Sanders, left, who lost his stepson Jack Martin when he was brutally murdered along with his wife Susan Martin in their home in Sutter in July 2010. The second frame is Debbie Campbell, left,is comforted by Kelly Schumacher while friends erect a 9-foot cross at the intersection of Highway 20 and Acacia Avenue in memory of her boyfriend Paul John Hendrickson on Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. Debbie Campbell was injured in the fatal motorcycle accident that killed Hendrickson in May 2010.

"a door closes and a window opens somewhere"

Is what my grandmother always says.
My life seems to be taking me in a new direction right now.
Where it's going I am not quite sure.
Scary, exciting, stressful.
Hell ya!
But I have never been on to back down in the face of adversity.
This to will pass.

2011's Angel

There are some things you get the opportunity to shoot over and over again as a newspaper photog. The first baby of the new year is one of those and it forces you to make something different from year to year and it never ceases to amaze me that people let you experience/photograph these private moments. You can read the article here by Ashley Gebb.

Crystal Pitts, 28, holds newborn Angeline Jean Henderson, the first baby of the year, with big sister Nyla Pitts, 8, and father Anthony Henderson, 22, all residents of Olivehurst, Saturday afternoon at Fremont-Rideout Hospital, on Plumas Street in Yuba City on Jan. 1, 2011.

3 from last Saturday

Shooting a parade always make you work hard looking for something different. The first frame is from before the start of the Live Oak parade. There is something I really like about how everyone kinda fell into place on the curb and matched the building. The other two images are from the Marysville Raceway Park which reopened last weekend after a fatal accident shut the track for several weeks. Read Ryan Klocke's story here.

down by the river

the light's been getting really awesome these days with the late afternoon storms here this April. Here are a couple of snaps from an afternoon spent on the banks of the Feather River near Shanghai Bend.

Hydroponic Tomatoes

Had the chance to check out a local tomato growers greenhouse this past Saturday here in Sutter County. It was pretty neat. The article from the AD by Ashley Gebb can be read here. Also check out Ashley's green life blog here.

Alan Claphan harvests vine-ripened hydroponically grown tomatoes in the greenhouse which he built with his business partner Peter Myburgh last year, just west of Yuba City, on the 5000 block of Franklin Road. The men hope to expand their business by adding another greenhouse and exploring the options of growing cherry tomatoes, peppers and lettuce.

All-Area Boys Basketball

Lately I have been working on trying to shoot better portraits in my daily photographic life. I feel like this is an area where I can always improve. So I took it upon myself to set-up a shoot of all the first team all-area boys basketball players for the Sports Department here at the Appeal-Democrat. So with the help of Nathan Weyland who assisted me and after spending 5 hours in the Yuba City High School locker room I came away with a couple of shots that I kinda really like. That's Nathan trying to kill some boredom between shoots and the lighting set up of 4 lights.One main in umbrella softbox, two rim lights and one background light. The final images is how it ran in the paper.

Live Oak Teens

When I lost my mom several years ago it just about devastated my brother, father and I. It was hard to pick up the pieces of our lives. So when I met the Short family it really struck a chord. The three teens lost both their mother and father over a period of five months. The older brother Drew dropped out of Chico State to come home and take legal guardianship of his twin sisters.Sometimes I find myself wondering how these teens are doing now since its been about two and a half months since this was taken. When I got the assignment it was put in as a portrait but while sitting in on the reporter's interview with the teens this lovely little moment happened between the siblings and the light from the large bay window in their living room was just to lovely to ignore. This photo also recently won first place for general news in the December clip contest. You can read the story from the Appeal-Democrat here.

From left, Kiley,17, Shaina,17, and Drew Short,19, sit with the family dog, Scout, in their Live Oak home. The Shorts were orphaned after losing their father to a heart attack in May and their mother to cancer in October.

when the storm parts

cleaned house.
ran errands.
Nico to the dog park.
detour on the way home.
cause the light was just epic.

on the floor

Nico dog is so black it hard to get any detail when you photograph him. This is probably the best picture that I have to of him so far. I used a gold reflector to bounce the window light back into him, seemed to work pretty well.

haunted houses

With Halloween on its way i've been shooting several haunted houses in the area The one of the kid moving the coffin in the last frame is probably my fav. which never made the paper. Oh and i did scream like a child when i had to traverse the haunted house with the freaky clowns, not cool. you can read the story here.

the zeppster

i like working in teams. last week i worked with fellow AD reporter Ryan Klocke on a great story about a young man,Tyler Zepp, quarterback for wheatland high. A humble 18 year-old suffering from a congenital heart defect that put him on the sidelines in his senior year, the year he was to lead his team to victory. Anyway, so the kid gets cleared for 2 plays by his doctor and scores 2 touchdowns. It's kinda amazing! Read Ryan's story , Oh and there is video too. also check out Ryan's blog. and many thanks to the Zepp family for letting me invade their son's live with my camera.

bugs are cool

While watering the garden this evening I discovered a fairly large praying mantis in the bell peppers. Seeing that I lived in the city for so long I had no idea that these things existed outside of the pet store. So it was a bit of a surprise, but a pretty cool find I think none the less.

the long days of baseball

so most of my may has been spent shooting local high school baseball playoffs. when not trying to shelter myself for the blazing sun. i tried to find something other than the action on the field. here are some shots for the yuba city high playoffs

the road home

So it's been a while since i posted. work has been draining any desire i have to be on the computer more than i have too, but i promise to post more snappies. if not for the anonymous readers out there but for myself.

this is now what i see on my commute home from work. the sunset this evening across a green pasture covered with smoke from an ag. burn in the background the Sutter Buttes.
much better than than being stuck in traffic, huh?

Weeds, today i pulled lots of 'um in the backyard

nico

I adopted a dog from the yuba county shelter or as I call it dog prison. he rocks. I named him Nicodemus. Nico for short . He seems to be some kinda mix between a black lab and a great pyanese. He's about a year give or take a few months. He also likes to eat grass.

around the house

here are pics of my new place here in Sutter.

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