Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Or So I'm Told

I'm not sure how it has happened but one way or another three weeks has past by in the proverbial blink of an eye.

In the past few weeks a lot has happened both on the job and in my personal life. As many of you have now noticed, the holiday season is upon us which means many things to many people. To me, it means cold nights covering night time parades, Christmas light displays and the occasional sporting event.



One interesting side note (or at least interesting to me)... Earlier this month I went to the local library in search of newspaper front pages from the day of and day after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor back in 1941. As you can imagine, there aren't many newspapers from the '40's just hanging around, however, the local media centers here in Nampa and Caldwell have a pretty extensive collection of old newspaper Microfilms.


Until a week ago I had never used a microfilm machine and when the time finally came, I have to say, I was pretty darn impressed. Something about flipping through newspaper headlines from famous dates in American history left me with an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. Kind of hard to believe that these machines were once believed to be a high-tech.

As previously mentioned, my personal life has had a recent development that I think is worth noting. For the past, oh say 18 years I have wanted a dog and for as long as I can remember my parents have always responded to these wishes with the phrase... "When you move out you can get your own". So after careful calculation and consideration (and nearly 6 years of living on my own) I adopted a dog.

His name is "Buddy". The name is pretty cliche and common but it has a little bit of meaning to me. Aside from the fact that this dog is in fact my buddy, he shares the name of my grandfather, Charles Litchfield's recently deceased Collie "Buddy". While riding the fence on whether or not to take this dog home with me I realized the similarity and thought it was just to serendipitous to pass on.


He absolutely lives to play fetch and is happy in his kennel as long as he has a selection of tennis balls to gnaw on. He minds very well and shows affection to anyone and everyone. To be honest, I couldn't have asked for a better dog.

So that's that. The holiday break is coming up and I am very excited to get some much needed time away from work. My hope is to spend some time with my family at my sister's home in Logan, Utah, which will hopefully mean a few days of skiing in "The Greatest Snow on Earth".

Hitting The Hardwood

Basketball season is back and as an Alumni and fan of the Iowa State Cyclones, I couldn't be happier. Happy not because the 'Clones offer promise in the coming Men's hoops season but rather because as basketball season starts, football season is thankfully now over. What a disappointing showing this year. 2-10 overall, 0-8 in the Big XII.

As a Cyclone sports fan you come well accustomed to the phrase "there's always next year" and unfortunately this year the football team left me with my head in my hands muttering just that.

Over the past few days I've had my fair share of collegiate basketball while covering the Boise State Broncos as well as The College of Idaho 'Yotes.




Although I enjoy every opportunity I get to cover these schools, they seem to fail by comparison to my 'Clones. Hard to beat a tall Clone Cone within the friendly confines of Hilton Coliseum.

Only In Idaho

There are many things I don't fully understand about this state, country or some of it's people.

On Thursday, Nov. 20 these feelings were validated when I was sent to Sand Hollow, Idaho, to photograph a gentleman who recently purchase three AR-15 assault rifles and one AK-47 simply because he maintained an imminent fear that the government will soon be taking away his right to bare automatic firearms.


Whether or not this fear is actually ever realized seems irrelevant to me. My point of contention is that the "need" to own, posses, or carry a weapon designed for the sole purpose of killing quickly and maliciously seems completely unnecessary. That's all.

I will now step down from my soap box.

Another Busy Weekend

This weekend I went up to Moscow, Idaho to cover the Boise State vs. Idaho game with sports reporter Dave Southorn and sports editor Phil Dailey.


Since the drive from Boise to Moscow takes around six hours I decided to make a video about the game on the way up and another on the way back.




We returned to Boise around 2:30 PM on Sunday and immediately there after I set off for Emmett, Idaho to cover a Muzzleloader shooting event for our community section.


It turned out to be quite an adventure because it took me almost an hour to find this hidden little shooting range and when I got there the people were pretty interesting. Check out the slideshow I made here.

Veterans Day

On Monday I had the opportunity to meet Bert Chandler and his wife Esther. Bert and Esther have been married for 66 years, and after visiting with them for about 45 minutes I was able to hear many amazing stories from the couple's past.


First of all, 66 years is a LONG time to be married. Second, anyone who has lived on this Earth for 86 has no doubt seen and experienced a great deal (especially someone who was around this country in the 20th century).


Unfortunately, I was not there to hear about the highlights from all 86 years, but rather just three of them. Bert served in the U.S. Army from 1941-1944, contributing to the Allied war effort in World War II. He was one of only 3 men from a battalion of nearly 200 who survived the The Battle at Omaha Beach and after being wounded in 1944 Bert was awarded The Purple Heart along with numerous other United States military decorations in recognition of his exemplary service to his country.


To have the opportunity to sit with a man and listen to him tell stories of his first hand experiences in monumental moments in history truly makes me thankful to be both a Photojournalist and an American. It's people like Bert who have given the ultimate sacrifice, allowing me to take for granted the freedoms and opportunities available to each of us in this country, and for that I am thankful. Celebrate Veterans Day and thank a Veteran.

What a Week

The past week has been wildly busy for me so to give you the true detailed rundown I'm going to pick up right where I left off last week.

As almost everyone knows, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 was a truly historic day for America and as I recall my previous post left off the day before the election. Covering an election of any kind is something that I enjoy very much for many reasons. There is always a certain degree of uncertainty hanging in the air throughout the day and this day was no different.

I started my morning at about 7 AM in Idaho City documenting the election day activity for the Associate Press. The idea was to capture the essence of rural Idaho in only a couple pictures, which proved to be pretty darn difficult.

After returning to Boise, casting my own vote and taking a nap, I geared up for what would turn out to be a long night of newspapering.

I did a lot of running around on election night and got the opportunity to see both Republicans and Democrats celebrating victories and mourning defeat.


After taking Wednesday and Thursday off to recover from what was a frantic few days I returned to work to cover an interment service for abandoned veterans...


... and some high school football playoff action Friday night.


On Saturday the Boise State Broncos faced off against the Utah State Aggies in a highly unusual Saturday afternoon WAC match up. The light was great, however, the game was less than exciting. The Broncos crushed the Aggies, 49-14 to improve to 9-0 on the season.



I'll leave you with a little inspiration here...


This little flower was growing through a fence, which I'm sure would fit well in a one-liner inspirational poster... Perseverance (or something).

Thanks for stopping by!

Get The Vote Out

The next 36 hours are going to be insane for me, so no major update. Go vote!

Happy Halloween (a little late)

Of all the silly or slightly stupid holidays Americans celebrate, I have to say that Halloween is one of my favorites. It is the only day of the year that parents allow their children to break the rules they force their kids to follow every other day...

"Don't dress like a weirdo!
Don't take candy from strangers!
... and don't go running through the streets at night!"

As for adults, it is really the only night of the year that you can go out on the town and not feel the need to be discrete about people watching. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is encouraged.

This weekend I photographed some folks out trick-or-treating in downtown Nampa as well as a two-mile costumed fun run. I also dressed like an idiot and went out to join the costumed crazies Friday night, but those stories I will keep to myself.



Check out the slideshow from the trick or treating.

Tonight I will be continuing the theme of Halloween by photographing an Alanis Morrissette acoustic concert in Boise. Talk about scary!

Bridge Construction Collapse

Shortly after I arrived at work and settled in for what I thought was sure to be an incredibly slow Monday afternoon, I was startled by a frantic desk editor who instructed me to drop everything and follow up on a hot piece of breaking news.

Around 2PM on Monday afternoon a call came across the scanner that a bridge had collapsed in Nampa, and roughly 25 cars or people were involved in some way or another (or at least that is the information I was given).

As additional information became available I learned that the bridge that had collapsed was actually a prefabricated section of overpass which had not yet been installed over the interstate. You see, the idea (as I understand it) is that they build the bridge in sections on site and once completed they put them into place over the interstate.



Unfortunately 14 workers were involved in the accident, however, none of them were fatally injured.

I produced a quick little slideshow that you can check out here.

Soccer Saturday

This weekend the Idaho High School soccer championships rolled into town so for much of the past two days I have been out at the fields covering the action. Today I covered three different games, which made for a long day, however, I can't complain to much because the weather was wonderful and the action and reaction was pretty exceptional.

As with any championship game in any sport, emotions always run high and this weekend's games were no exception.


Soccer has always been one of my favorite sports to cover for many reasons, all of which I was reminded of today.

Welcome Home

On Thursday, October 23rd I returned to work after a week long vacation to my home state of Iowa. The primary reason for heading back to the heartland was to help in celebrating the marriage of two of my long time friends, Danny and Chelsea.


Being that Ames, Iowa is the land of my birth and that I haven't been to the state in almost two years, I had a long list of places I wanted to go and people I wanted to see. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to accomplish all of them, however, I did have the opportunity to cross a few important items off the list.

I caught up with a few old friends.


I ate at a few of my favorite restaurants.

I went running in through the streets I ran in high school.


I bellied up to the bars I frequented in college. Oh, and I shot some really big guns (when in Rome, right?).


So much more to say but I'll leave it at that. Thanks to everyone who made my trip so special!

Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird...

Show Time

Last night I covered the Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson show in Boise. Pretty uneventful although I was highly entertained by all of the poor guys who had been dragged there by their wives and girlfriends. Hilarious.

Brain Pains

On Monday, October 6th I spent my afternoon at the Caldwell Senior Citizen Center with Executive Director Paige McMichael.

Paige has been struggling with pain associated to the two herniated discs in her back, which she cannot afford to have surgically repaired since she has no health coverage. As the director of the center and a board member for two other community organizations, Paige works very hard and stretches herself out pretty thin.

After hanging out with her in her office Monday afternoon it became very obvious that she was dealing with an immense amount of pain, which made for compelling pictures, however, made it harder for me to bring myself to take them.

Here are a couple shots from my afternoon with her.



If you'd like to read the story you can check it out here.

Be The Hammer

Leaving On A Jet Plane

I suppose they call it the flying short course for the simple reason that both faculty and students fly into a hub to get together, but I would defend that it takes on a new meaning in that the weekend you spend will ultimately fly by.

What a weekend. I spent two days in the beautiful city of Portland, Ore., listening to some of the most innovative visual journalists in the industry divulge some of their deepest secrets. In addition to the amount of new information I acquired, I also had the chance to sit around and "talk shop" with really creative people who have some of the same fundamental interest as I do.

The vast majority of the material covered at this short course was focused primarily on the development of web based content in general and online video in particular. I have to say, after hearing all these wonderful people share their stories, it allowed me to walk away with a refreshing sense of enthusiasm that I will hopefully be able to take to my job back home.



One of the many, many highlights of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon when I had the opportunity to try out the new Canon 5D Mark II. For those who are unfamiliar, the 5D Mark II is a Digital SLR which is simply unlike any other on the market for many reasons, primarily the fact that it shoots HD video. It is a really impressive piece of equipment with a really reasonable price tag. It'll hit shelves sometime in November and I am super excited about it.


I have so many more stories to tell, but unfortunately I have to hustle through security to catch my plane for Boise.

Thanks for checking in!

The Roof Is On Fire

I should have known better.

I thought for sure Friday was going to be nice and easy; a couple of assignments and then with bags in hand head off to the airport.

NOON: Change of plans.

En route to my first afternoon assignment I noticed an enormous plume of thick black smoke in the distance and only moments after I was buzzed by a Nampa fire engine, which was racing to the scene. So like any good photographer, I put my cardboard press sign on my dash (as if it were a siren or something) and followed close behind.

I arrived on the scene of a structure fire in the heart of a crazy convoluted subdivision. I wasn't on scene quick enough and consequently the flames had been almost completely extinguished, but I hung around for a bit and got some semi run of the mill fire photos.




Now I'll be bumming around before heading to bed before a full day of workshops tomorrow. Should be fun!

Bump, Set, SPIKE!

On Thursday evening I made the trek out to Middleton to cover a three team volleyball meet. Since the light in this particular gym is less than spectacular, I brought along a strobe to bounce off the ceiling. The resulting pictures had a much more acceptable exposure.


On an unrelated note, this weekend I have been exempt from my duties on the photo desk and will be traveling to Portland, Oregon to attend the Flying Short Course, which is a workshop for visual journalists. I will be flying out Friday evening and returning late Sunday. I am excited to have the opportunity to meet many of the PNW area photographers, whose work I have admired for some time now and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my excitement to spend some time in Portland - one of my favorite cities to visit.

Check back later for details!

A Few Photos

Here are a couple of photos and a slideshow from Sunday.


SLIDESHOW

A Long, Wet, Day

I guess I'm not sure where to start so I'll just start from the top.

Saturday was crazy. Crazier than usual. For starters, I was the only photographer on the desk, which meant I did more running around than usual.

Heading home Friday night I had two morning assignments and two evening assignments on the bill for Saturday.

To my surprise, I woke up early Saturday morning to thunder, lightning and an uncharacteristic downpour of rain. Usually a Saturday morning thunderstorm is something I enjoy, however, on this particular Saturday every one of my assignments was scheduled to take place outdoors so I was less than enthusiastic.

The first, was a 5K fun run in downtown Boise. The run started at 8:30am and went off without a hitch. After realizing that my grand-master-plan of hopping out of my car for a quick frame and then hopping back in was not realistic, I began to walk towards downtown. It only took about 30 minutes before I was completely soaked.


Around about 9:30am I made my way out to Eagle, Idaho for one of the largest cross country meets in the Northwest, the Bob Firman Invitational. Cross Country is usually fun because the action is very predictable, which allows you to get creative with your backgrounds and Saturday's races were no exception. The rain only gained strength as the morning went on and consequently the condition of the course continued to get worse with each passing race.




Around noon the rain relented and the sun made an appearance. At 1pm I was scheduled to cover a ceremony, which marked the completion of a four-day Sand Mandala project at The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. It actually turned out to be a pretty interesting assignment.


After a very quick lunch I hustled back to the office to edit some video as well as the photos I had taken throughout the morning. I was able to sit for about a half an hour before my editor called to request some last minute art of fans watching the Boise State vs. Oregon game at a local sports bar. We actually sent a photographer to the game (which is why I was the only one working the desk) but the idea was to get some local reaction from locals.


I was scheduled to round out the evening with a hometown idol competition, modeled after the hugely popular American Idol. As previously mentioned, the event was scheduled to be outdoors and after heavy storms rolled into the area in the evening, the event was consequently canceled.

So that's it. One long, wet, day. Let's hope for sunny skies tomorrow!