Editorial

Occupy Kalamazoo

2011-11-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was able to cover the Occupy protest in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I truly believe the people can make change. I was worried when I firs arrived to find eight protestors and ten journalists....but it ballooned to a couple hundred people protesting outside each branch of a major bank in the downtown area. Brilliant!

Two decades of music: A ton of jumping, posing, and mouths wide open

2011-09-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

I had to throw together some samples of work for a company that shoots concerts. Looking back through 20 years of concerts is shocking. The legends, stars, and flash in the pan concerts I have covered is crazy! I covered the Van's Warped Tour from the first year to year eleven. Every boy band group ever formed in the 90s. I covered country star John Michael Montgomery so much he waved and said hi every time he saw me. I was The Verve Pipes personal photographer for a year. I took pictures of Korn seven times, and I don’t like them! I drank martinis with the band from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and I saw Rage Against the Machine destroy the Reptile House (Cool as Fuck as there T-shirts used to say). It seems like a dream so long ago, and some of the photographs are showing their age. Most of the pictures were taken in Grand Rapids and shot on film and transferred into the computer via negative scan. Granted I was a horrible technical photographer but those files look like I sent them through a makethislooklikebarf filter. The worst thing is, when I switched to digital in 2001 it was on a Nikon D1 and shooting in anything except bright sunlight with that camera was a crapshoot. It is a huge post but if you are a child of the 90s...here is a whopping tasty morsel of nostalgia right in the mindgrapes.

Slipknot

Stone Temple Pilots

Faith Hill

The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Eve 6

Tim McGraw

Matchbox Twenty guitarist Adam Gaynor

MxPx guitarist Tom Wisniewski

Lead singer of Matchbox Twenty Rob Thomas

Yngwie Malmsteen, right, and lead vocals Mark Boals

The boys from No Authority

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

Lead Singer and Guitarist for The Swellers Nick Danger

Silence the Wake's guitarist Curtiss Gulash

The boys from Backstreet Boys

Lead Singer Steven Page Barenaked Ladies

Violent J of Insane Clown Posse - right after I took this he poured the rest of the bottle on my head and cameras...asshole

James Cotton Blues Harp

Johnny Lang when he was like 15

Kevin Sharp

Paul Stanley of Kiss

Ted F***ng Nugent

Vanilla Ice

The Verve Pipe

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Crystal Method

Nine Inch Nails

Pearl Jam

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

98 Degrees

Aerosmith

Nine Inch Nails

Barenaked Ladies

Cash Money Millionaires - that is Lil Wayne

Deftones

If you shoot kiss, you have to get this....you sign something before the concert

Crystal Method

Lords of Acid

Dave Mathews Band

Deftones

Korn

Kiss

Dave Mathews Band

Filter

Korn

Dave Davies - former lead singer and guitarist of The Kinks. LOVED him

Limp Bizkit - I had to because of the Nookie

Limp Bizkit

Korn...again

Rammestein's lead singer Till Lindemann - mind blown..set himself on fire, shot flaming arrows into the crowd and then fucked his keyboardist with a dildo on stage!!

N’Sync

The whole reason I went...Justin Timberlake, sploosh....

Incubus

System of a Down

Suicidal Tendencies

Atomic Fireballs

Bouncing Souls

Blink 182 - horrible photos but great concert

H20

Pennywise

Atomic Fireballs

Deftones

Steven and I got along famously!

Matt someone or another from American Idol

Alabama

Joey McIntyre, formerly of New Kids on the Block

Avail

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ronnie James Dio

Foo Fighters

Capulet's guitarist Joshua LaFave, left, and bassist Marcus VanKirk

I have no ide who this band was but they were amazing at Warped Tour...

Nick Danger lead vocals for The Swellers

Lead singer Tony Lovato of the group Mest

Atreyu's bassist Mark McKnight

Guitarist Mark Orrell, left, and bassist Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys

Faith Hill

Faith Hill, again

Incubus

One more time! Korn!!! Sad Face I lost some of my hearing at this concert. they were billed as one of the loudest bands ever...I forgot my ear plugs.

Orgy

Insane Clown Posse

Julian Marley

Martina McBride

This was the first concert I ever shot - Lead singer of Psychotica Pat Briggs

Willie Nelson

Christina Aguilera

Lead Singer of Psychotica Pat Briggs

Smashing Pumpkins

Stone Temple Pilots

Crowd Surfing....at a Korn Concert

Smashing Pumpkins

Living Colour

Newsboys

Garbage

Glen Campbell

Travis Tritt

Charlie Daniels

Tricky

James

The Verve Pipe

The Oakridge Boys - bow bow

Phish

Suicide Machines

Christina Aguilera

Green Day - I snuck this one, was not supposed to be shooting them

John Prine

Rob Thomas

Brian Setzer

Phish

Till Lindemann of Rammestein

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sheryl Crow

The Tubes lead singer Fee Waybill

The Verve Pipe - Pop Smear CD Release party as Brian Sings The Freshman

Unwritten Law

NOFX

Suicide Machines

Flogging Molly!!!!!

Reel Big Fish

Yngwie Malmsteen

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Not the Best but What I Liked in Pictures 2010

2011-01-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

My first full year on my own as a photographer. I still very much miss being on the staff of a newspaper. My new direction has taken me on several different paths. I have learned so much and am very excited to see what I learn in the new year. Video has become my new passion and I hope it blossoms this year.

I spent most of the year producing business portraits. I hope to carve out a much more distinctive vision as I continue to create more and more portraits, especially personal projects. Below are a sample of what I snapped this year..

I had plenty of time this year to attempt some photo techniques I have not done since film days or things that I have never tried before.

As things change , they stay the same. I have stepped back into my role as a sports photographer. I love shooting sports, but my experience at Jackson working on stories for the first time tends to make sports feel surreal. I hope to get the opportunity and time to start some personal story projects this year.

Here are a few feature pictures I was able to snap this year.

First Day of Skiing

2010-12-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

I was hired to shoot the first day of skiing at Bittersweet Ski Resort in Otsego, Michigan. I had a short amount of time to grab some pictures. I was instantly drawn to bright colors and simple shapes...

The Year 2009

2009-12-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy year. I left a job and started my own business. Which was scary and exhilarating all at once. I started teaching at MSU. This has opened a new chapter to my life that I never thought I would enjoy as much as I do. I love teaching and have decided to pursue it as a future goal and hopefully a steady job. I met someone that I am deeply in love with and even though it sounds corny, learned a lot about myself.
All of this self reflection and mooshy gooshy stuff comes from me preparing for year end photo contests. I thought I would post a few of my favorite pictures from the past year.
Contest time is always frustrating and nerve wracking. You see every flaw and missed opportunity in your pictures. I am and always will be my worst critic. It is also the time I get to step back and realize how much I love taking photographs and can't wait to see what the next year brings. Happy New Year everyone and remember...shoot it up!

Color Guard

2009-12-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

Members of the Western Michigan University Color Guard practice marching and presenting the flag before the Western Michigan Hockey game against Ferris State University at Lawson Arena. From left is Nicole Ayers, Alaine Maten, Henry Murray, and Alex Chambo.

Ewwwww! Cockroach

2009-10-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Students from St. John's Elementary School react as they are shown a giant cockroach during Larry Grudt's Animal Encounters program

Horse Power

2009-10-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Hillsdale County Fair had the National Heavyweight Horse Pull. I really wanted to get a great photo and after getting yelled at for being too close and almost getting trampled twice. I came up with this shot.

The Bats of Austin, Tx

2009-09-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

I recently spent a week in Texas and had the chance to see the bats fly out from under the bridge on Congress Street. At first I was skeptical.How interesting could this be? That is when a few hundred bats flew out from the bridge right at dusk. That few hundred turned into thousands and then into what seemed an endless stream.