Last summer I photographed a DeKalb city worker who told me his name was Robin Zander. Right away my B.S. alarm went off, but I didn't think much of it at the time. A couple days later it hit me, Robin Zander is the lead singer for Cheap Trick. Anyway, today I had to photograph the DeKalb snow plow trucks preparing for the imminent winter storm and "Robin Zander" was in the garage working. I asked him for his name and it was Scott something, then while I was leaving I saw this framed image of all the city workers including the photograph of Mr. Zander, or Scott something, that I took.
I always wanted to be a photographer so I could cover sports. When it was a possibility that the Monsters of the Midway may host the Green Bay Packers, I just had to cover the game. The stars aligned and I got the opportunity. It's just too bad the beloved fell to the Pack. Above is the last interception of the game that sealed the Packers' win and a trip to the Super Bowl.
I have been programmed. When I see something that doesn't look right, I try not to notice even though it's obvious. Today's assignment was of a man who was born with legs that weren't the same as most people. He was giving an inspirational presentation to school children. The auditorium was for the most part quiet during the presentation and every frame I snapped sounded as loud as thunder to me. It must be my programming.
Thanksgiving is a good time of the year. I spend time with family and eating an evolved dinosaur is icing on the cake. Some people like to spend 8+ hours outside in temperatures that don't break 20 to purchase items at a discounted price, but to each his own.
One of today's assignments was holiday travel. Ugh. Should I look for cars on the road or somebody filling up their tank? I headed to the DeKalb Oasis and met a very friendly family from Virginia heading to Mount Morris sitting down for a fast food meal. I talked with them only moments before they allowed me to photograph them. Most of the time I expect people to say no and that's one of my faults, but I know if I saw some goofball who looked like me with a camera asking to take my picture or my family's, then I'd probably say no, but that's just me.
Nothing special here. Just one of ten portraits from our basketball preview section that came out today.
Yesterday I photographed a woman making dinner at her home for her family. The woman has a LINK card which wasn't credited at the beginning of the month when it should have. Feeding her family is a constant struggle. So while watching her cook dinner I noticed a calendar on the wall near the stove with a painting of a man presenting a turkey to his wife for Thanksgiving done by Norman Rockwell and so I came up with this.
The last hip hop album I purchased was a Hieroglyphics album back in 2003. Does purchasing the Gorillaz album count because I liked Del tha Funkee Homosapien? Anyways, I can't say that I am into it anymore, but that doesn't matter. On Tuesday night I had to cover an assignment about a Northern Illinois basketball player who moonlights as a musical artist in the hip hop genre. The bar where the show was at was very dark and of course I didn't bring a flash. Shooting at 2500 isn't something I like to do so I had to think. I kept seeing flashes pop during the show so I decided to poach the light that was available and I came up with this. Word is bond.
Telemarketers are annoying, but we don't get many calls from them anymore at our home. However, in the past week we have received three phone calls from individuals asking us to vote for Candidate X. These calls have been made at the most inopportune times. Either we are trying to eat dinner or my wife is trying to put the baby to bed. It definitely pushes my buttons and I often find myself hanging up on them and asking aloud, "What kind of idiot calls at this time of night!?!" On Thursday evening I worked a later shift and I got to meet some of the folks that work at a campaign office in DeKalb. These volunteers were making calls and asking individuals to vote for Candidate X. My job is definitely weird.
I went to Champaign today to cover NIU vs. the Illini. I didn't get anything I really liked, but I thought this was kind of funny. While running the ball for NIU's second touchdown quarterback Chandler Harnish stuck his tongue out and looked up at the Huskies' cheer section.
