Look for the Unexpected

I was shooting portraits of my sister-in-law, Nikki, and her dad today when I noticed this small flower dangling off of the edge of his shoe. We weren't near flowers at the time and he had just been walking around through rocks at the base of a large oak tree. For these reasons, it didn't make much sense for the little bloom to be there.

It reminded me to look for — and maybe expect — the unexpected.

And I'll Race, to Feel the Wind in My Face

Taken during the Big Wheel and Scooter Races June 22, and best viewed large. To view more pictures, head here. Because there are so many pictures, I think I'll do a post with some of my favorites in the near future.

Today, I leave you with one more picture from the Big Wheel Races as I head to shoot the Dew Run, Paintball and other aspects of the celebration.

And the Winner is ...

Last night I photographed the Miss Farmington Pageant. Although I took many photos of individual contestants, something about this one struck me. Something about the simultaneous anonymity and specificity of the photograph thrills me. Though you cannot see their faces, the iconic image of pageant contestants holding hands lets the mind decide what they look like. I tried to accomplish something similar with the Rosemount graduation photos I took a few weeks ago — create images that are iconic of a moment in the subject's life, not simply snapshots from an event.

To be able to make images like this, that communicate more than just the sum of the event at which they were captured, without interfering with the subject is the most exciting thing I accomplish as a photojournalist.

To see more pictures of the pageant, head here.

Tonight, I'll photograph Big Wheel Races, Bed Races and other things that happen at city festivals. It's going to be an exciting, but tiring couple of days.

p.s. Let me know what you think of the MyCapture website.

Ready to Roll

This ran as the dominant art on the front page this week. Farmington is gearing up for their annual celebration, Rambling River Days, this week. I came across the kiddie carnvial and snapped this shot while saftey checks were being run on various rides. The festival runs June 21-24, and it is where I will spend most of my weekend.

Expect pictures, lost of pictures.

Fire in Burnsville

Our Burnsville editor was out of town this week, so I covered an apartment fire for him. The fire destroyed 6 apartments Thursday and cleared out an entire 70-unit complex, leaving about 200 people without homes for the night.

Luckily, most people had family or friends they could stay with. The Red Cross helped others find a temporary place to stay.

By the time I arrived, police tape was everywhere and I could see no way of getting where the fire had burned the building. I was lucky to meet up with a guy who said he knew a way to the other side. After crawling through brush along a steep hill running side-by-side with 35W, we got to other side of the apartment building where I met several residents who had been heavily affected by the fire.

I really got the sense, while covering the fire, that I got a better story than other reporters because I was willing to wait, observe and listen to the residents.

You'll find the article here and more photos here.

The Future is Bright

UPDATE: More photos can be viewed here.



I shot Rosemount High School's graduation yesterday. I was entranced by this photo.

More images to come later; right now, we're off to hike in Lake Maria State Park.

(pictures of that to come later, as well =)

High Ho, High Ho, It's on a Hike We Go

(for full impact, view large)

We headed to Lake Maria State Park last Saturday for a hike. Now armed with a Minnesota parks pass, we will slowly discover the many preserves throughout the state (starting mostly in and around the Twin Cities). We're open to recommendations if you're ready or willing to give them.

Lake Maria State Park is the only Minnesota home of a rare breed of turtles (check out the turtle crossing sign below). It is also full of swamps and the mosquitoes that go with them. Yes, my legs are speckled with the battle-scar-bites that remind me it is officially summer: a.k.a construction/mosquito season.

We took the Big Woods Loop around the park.

Corn

My husband grew up on a farm in Southeastern Minnesota surrounded by corn and soybeans; when I was 18 I spent an entire summer there with him. One of the first things my dad asked me about living near a corn field was whether I could hear the corn grow. Though I have heard varying questions and accounts on the subject, I am still unsure of its status as truth or myth.

Perhaps I'll have to investigate this weekend, when we are down there for father's day.

This was shot on Memorial day; it was the first time I had seen corn this young.

Sometimes it Rains ... And Then the Fun Starts

Many people don't like rain. I do. The following is just one of the reasons why.













When I got home I found this cool cloud sitting outside our apartment:

Portrait Story: Planting the Garden

A lot of people think of portraits very traditionally — as head shots and photos with every member of the family facing the camera. These types of pictures have an important place in a family's photographic history because they tell the story of a person, or group of people, capturing their likeness so that in the future you can recognize family traits and see that your youngest child looks exactly like his great-great-grandfather. In fact, these are probably the type of photos you have of your ancestors.

But there is also another kind of portrait session that can tell a more complete story of your family. Many people call these lifestyle portraits or photojournalism style portraits; what is important about them is that they strive to capture more than just the likeness of person or group, but the dynamic interaction that occurs between a person and the world or a person and their family. These types of portraits can be shot in a traditional way — everyone placed or guided into position, as they might be in a traditional portrait, and allowed to talk an interact while the photographer captures those moments — or they can be done in a photojournalistic way — with limited or no posing, while a photographer observes and captures the story without interfering with the action of it.

I shoot portraits in a photojournalistic style because I feel these types of portraits tell more of the story of what it's like to be in a family; and, as a photojournalist, it is what I am best at.

Beyond just "portraits" these sessions can be a photographic story of an event — a birthday, a barbecue or planting the garden. These sessions lend themselves well to slide shows, storyboards, books and photo wall montages. These are the kind of photographs of my family that I cherish most because they remind me of not just who people are, but of what it is like to be with them.

Memorial Day

I attended my first Memorial Day service last week in Farmington. It was unusual to photograph an event held in a cemetery, where everyone seemed calm and reverent. The feeling washed over me as I took these pictures. I ran them on a photo-page without an adjoining article because I felt they were better able to capture the feeling of the day than words.