The Country Remembers

I shot this intending for the strong light to washout part of the image, but the juxtaposition of the older man (my father in law) appearing clearly as the younger man (my brother in law) fades was partially luck.

Happy Memorial Day; Shot Saturday in Fillmore, MN.

Later, Alligator

If It's Not Scottish ...

Last Saturday I headed to the Minnesota Scottish Festival and Highland Games at the Dakota County Fairgrounds, backpack journalist style*. To see more pictures head here; to read the article head here. See the video below:





* A backpack journalist is a jack-of-all-trades journalist who produces video, photographs and text to tell a multimedia story. The term refers to the idea that carry a notepad, video camera and still camera in a backpack with us. Backpack journalist is also used to refer to television journalists who shoot their own footage.

Bird Watching

We headed to First Ave. May 11 to see Andrew Bird, the violin-wielding, whistler extraordinaire. If you ever get the chance to see him live, do it.

The last time I saw him he was opening for Ani Difranco at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego — a bit of a different setting, a bit of a different Bird. I was entranced at Copley as he played precreated loops, adding live violin, then whistling in a combination of sounds that was almost too satisfying to describe. All of this was heightened by the gorgeous acoustics in the symphony hall.

At the First Ave. show, Bird was the headliner with his own accompanying musicians — Martin Dosh, a percussionists that works with loops himself, on the drums and Jeremy Ylvisaker on bass. The drums intensified his music, making it less ethereal, but just as pleasing. The fact that Dosh and Ylvisaker are local musicians and Bird's latest album, Armchair Apocrypha, was recorded mostly in Minnesota made my first First Avenue experience appropriately local.



Dosh:











A little meta-photography:



I spied this toy on stage early in the show, but I was still elated when he picked it up. Unfortunately, I couldn't actually hear the familiar little moo or oink it must of produced when he used it:



I didn't get a clear picture of it, but he also had a sock monkey someone gave him at a show. It was dressed in a full suit and carried a little violin case of its own. It was a sock monkey version of Andrew Bird:

Introducing Anthony

I met Anthony and his mom and dad last week while writing a story about a benefit their family was holding for him. The experience was very powerful for me. I had the common reaction of reflecting back on all the blessings I have been given -- down to the ability to talk, eat and, even, see -- but meeting Anthony also made me realize that it is important to be happy. He is truly one of the happiest children I have ever met. He blew me away with his smile.

To read more about him, go here.

Senior Portrait: Anne

To commemorate her much-loved car:





To commemorate her years in softball:





Anne graduates in a matter of days; Congratulations Anne!

With this session, Spellbound Jungle Photography is officially up and running. In the near future, I'll be launching a website. In the meantime if you are in need of a photographer (or know someone who is) leave a comment here with your (or their) contact information. As I say in the sidebar, I'll use it to contact you, but won't post the message.

Dandelions and Tigers and Bears Oh My

These were all taken in Burnsville the day before the yellow ones.

Some Call Them Weeds; I Call Them Art

All of these were taken on the Walsh Farm May 12, shortly before the dandelions were destroyed by lawn mowers. Tomorrow, look for my photo session with the yellow blossom's fuzzier counterpart.

Happy Mother's Day, All You Moms

I covered a story about a local playgroup last week. For more photos head to the slideshow.

The Daily Grind

May 8 the city I cover held a very heated special election. In case you haven't heard about it, take a look:

After all the conjecture and arguments back and forth, the complex was voted down by over 2,000 votes.

In Honor of Spring

(taken on our honeymoon in Keystone, Co.)

Blog Hiatus Explained

If I said I had been captured by a gang of angry red blood cells who were keeping me from blogging, would you believe me?

Does this help?



Regardless of the reasons, I'm back, and will be returning to the everyday blogging many of you grew to know and love.

(Photo courtesy of Nikki, my sister-in-law; it was taken at the science museum in St. Paul)