Helmick's jury

While touring the new US District Courthouse in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago, a sculpture installation by Ralph Helmick in the atrium caught my eye. The silhouettes of 12 Iowans, the number on a jury, are represented in the piece. I've covered the building's progress from the ground up, including photographing local painter Fred Easker before he'd even begun working on his paintings for the new space. More photos and the story here.

The birds

While loading up the car to head back to Texas for Thanksgiving, I was briefly distracted by a huge flock of crows that were circling overhead. It's a common sight around here once it gets cold, but it never fails to creep me out. 

Obamney

While covering presidential candidates is nothing new to most photographers working in a swing state, we don’t usually cover both candidates in one day. So, this Saturday’s rallies in Dubuque were a unique challenge to photograph each candidate in a balanced way for both the print edition and online galleries. ”Obamney” seemed a fitting name for the day’s adventures, and I took to calling the local media work area “Obamneyville.” Some similarities are inevitable at campaign events like these, even when the degree of access is pretty different, so I’ve put together a series of diptychs from the day’s coverage, over on reFocus.