And now for an installment of "Really, Canon 1DMkII?! REALLY?!"

Overgrown

...in the flood zone.

Haley's hearing

I went along with reporter Cindy Hadish to talk with Haley and Michele Walstrom about a hearing study Haley is involved in. Haley has had hearing impairment since birth, but gets along pretty well with her hot pink hearing aids. At school, her teachers wear a mic that transmits via FM frequency to her hearing aids. I shot a portrait of the two of them before the interview, but I liked this little moment when Haley was thinking about an answer. Read the full story over on easteriowanewsnow.com
(On the technical side, I'm playing around with a new flash bouncing technique taught to me by Brian Hall, and pretty pleased with the result here.)

Postville two years later

I went to Postville a couple weeks ago for a story with Orlan Love on the town, two years after the raid (my photos from raid are here). There are so many different possibilities for how to cover this story now, but the realities of newspaper deadlines (and two-hour drive) kind of got in the way of that. And then there were the cultural differences.. not many women (if any) go into the gathering place I took a few photos in, and several of the men scattered when I explained who I was and what I was doing there. Above, Aden Abdi (left) and Hare Warsame watch television at a private club where many Somalis gather on Friday afternoon, May 7, 2010, in Postville. Warsame and Abdi are among the more than 100 Somalis who moved to Postville to work at Agri Star. Abdi's family is still in St. Cloud, Minn., and will join him once he has a place to live and his employment is secure. Below, a delicious-smelling rice and goat dish.. or what was left of it. The group gathered around it eating left shortly after my arrival.

Photographing the photographer

A couple weeks ago I was assigned to photograph George Henry, who has been photographing events at Coe College since the 1940s. An exhibit of his nature work spanning several decades is on display at the college. It's a bit strange to photograph someone who is used to being behind the camera, not in front of it, but George was a wonderful subject and had such great stories to tell. I asked him to pick a favorite photo from the exhibit -- but he said it would be impossible.

Dancer's Edge

Between the advanced ballet class and the "Tiny Dancers" class at Dancer's Edge studio in Hiawatha, I had plenty to shoot... and too much to choose from when it came time to edit.

Red wash

An early maybe-favorite / at-least-intriguing frame from last night's Post Mortems show at Gabe's. Sometimes you just have to give in to the wacky lighting.

Rough game for the goalie

I shot my first and second soccer games of the year last night at the Washington/Jefferson doubleheader. Took me a little time to warm-up, and the boys almost moved too fast for me to keep up. I ended up with a couple similar photos from both games.. Jefferson getting trampled.

Nurse-in

Bonnie McCall holds her 5-week-old son, Nolan Sullivan, in their Cedar Rapids home on Tuesday, May 4, 2010. McCall is upset that a Lindale Mall security guard told her to breastfeed her son in the family restroom instead of the children's play area. In response, area moms will hold a nurse-in at the mall this Sunday. Iowa law allows women to breastfeed in any public area where she is allowed to be. I shot some portraits of Bonnie with Nolan on the porch, and some photos of her feeding him, but really liked this moment. Good thing, too: we had a photo of a military wife feeding her child on page 3 of the same section.

Check out the story on gazetteonline.com.

Barton Opus 510

Here's the first installment of photos from the restoration of the Barton pipe organ. There's some history of the organ over here. I had no idea just how much these instruments can do.. the Barton organ has marimbas, a glockenspiel, horns, chimes, bells, strings and a whole percussion section -- it's basically an all-in-one orchestra.

Lulu

My new pal Lulu is the shop guard dog at Jeff Weiler's pipe organ restoration workshop in Chicago. Her ferociousness (or maybe it was just a really enthusiastic greeting?) when I walked into the workshop quickly faded into her following me around most of the morning, toy in mouth. I'll visit the workshop again over the next few months as the Barton pipe organ from Theater Cedar Rapids undergoes restoration and repair.