Smokey Field

In Need of a Home

The other day I found myself at another animal shelter on assignment. These puppies were so sweet. (Grand Rapids Press Photos)

Another from St. Patrick's

This photo and the one below are from a situation I stumbled on the day before St. Patrick's Day on my way to shoot an elementary school assignment. I arrived about a half hour early to the school in the small farming area of Parnell, but next door was this beautiful white church. I decided to wander in and met this woman with her two granddaughters, exploring the big, empty sanctuary and darting through sunlit corridors. These are the small situations we always wish to run into but rarely do.
(Grand Rapids Press Photos)

Big Church, Little Visitors

"Do you see the rainbow?" asks Cynthia Ruoff while reading the story of Noah's Ark to her granddaughters Elle, 4, on left, and Emma, 3, in the empty quiet of St. Patrick's Church on Tuesday, March 17 in Ada. Ruoff, who lives in Kalamazoo, attends St. Patrick's whenever she visits her family in Ada and wanted to bring the girls to see St. Patrick's statue in lieu of St. Patrick's Day. The girls got to see what the sanctuary looked like from the balcony and even stepped up to the baptismal pool and peered inside. Ruoff said she likes coming when the church is empty because they don't have to worry about talking loudly and the girls can explore. "I remember going to church with my own mother and doing some of these things," Ruoff said, "except back then we walked to church," she laughed.
(Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Google Fiber Flash Mob

Beth

This is how I like her best...

A Little Street Music

Mason Woods, 2, of Grand Rapids bangs on a Jimbay drum with street musician Carlos Cardenas, also of Grand Rapids while stopping to admire the performance with his mom Tuesday on Monroe Center. "There's a freedom in it," said Walter Pinder of Grand Rapids, another street musician who was playing the saxophone with Cardenas. "If people don't like what your doing they just walk on by...but if they enjoy-they might stop." The two just recently teamed up, although they plan to play together more in the summer, reading poetry as well. (Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Camp JuiceBall Benefit

Chris and I attended a second Juice Ball benefit hosted by Chef Tommy Fitzgerald on Friday. The dinner was at an old Heritage Hill home complete with a twisting white staircase, roaring fireplace and Alaskan King Crab. The second half of the night was at The Rocket Lounge on Bridge Street.

Snow on Glass Roof

I was at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport the other day for a story on taxi cabs and while gazing upwards, noticed piles of melting snow on the parking garage glass roof that looked like clouds :)
(Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Glowing Glass, Red

The Real House Cats of Grand Rapids

Okay, this was an experiment with my 5D Mark II, finally learning how to use the video functions. It's a bit shaky so do forgive me, also make sure you have the volume up on your computer because there is music..tehe!

After the Fire...

Tanya Threatt, 24, of Walker hold her family dog, Princess, in front of the burnt wall of her garage at 626 Kingsbury St. NW Sunday after a fire earlier that morning. The fire originated in a motor home which was parked next to the garage and neighbors woke Tanya and her family up around 6:30 a.m. when their bedroom windows exploded from the heat.
(Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Skates.

Making a Birchbark Canoe

Goodwille Enviornmental School in Ada has a Birchbark Canoe project every year for their fifth and sixth grade students. The day I was there this guy was learning how to split cedar for the inner sheathing of the 24-foot canoe. Ultimatley, the kids will get to take their boat onto the Grand River. (Grand Rapids Press Photos)

Grand Rapids Home and Garden Show

I wasn't extremely excited to enterprise at the Grand Rapids Home and Garden show, initially because there is always some sort of "show," going on across the street at DeVos Place, and I feel like I'm constantly there. I did, however, end up having fun framing people with flowers. Not a terrible way to spend an afternoon.
(Grand Rapids Press Photos)

Morning light on La Grande Vitesse

This sculpture, more popularly known as "the Calder," is iconic for Grand Rapids, located just outside City Hall. I was walking to a town hall meeting and saw the sun creeping across the legs of La Grand Vitesse and had to take a shot. It's fun finding new ways to photograph something I've seen a thousand times. (Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Just Dropping In...

Air Force Major Eric Haas is greeted by his mom, Marcia Haas, and his dad, Grand Valley State University President Tom Haas after landing an F18 Royal Canadian Air Force Jet Tuesday at the Rapid Air terminal at Gerald R. Ford Airport. Haas was on his way to Kansas but arranged to stop in Grand Rapids for a brief visit with his parents, who he had not seen since June.
(Grand Rapids Press Photo)

"You Can't Replace Life"

"I'm thankful to be alive," said Priscilla Shannon of Grand Rapids after getting safetly out of her home when it caught on fire Monday, March 1 "you can replace your things but you can't replace life." Shannon had just learned all her things had been burned in the fire, but was greatful her two pitbulls were safe.
(Grand Rapids Press Photo)

Under the Overpass

So the other week I had to hike through woods and down railroad tracks to photograph a US 131 overpass for a story about MDOT projects. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the graffiti was everywhere. It was interesting to be underneath the expressway. The decrepit lawn chairs kind of gave me the creeps and I didn't stick around too long, but it did make me wonder what varieties of people had hung out below this bridge. Another example of the interesting places you may find yourself in on any given day as a journalist. (Grand Rapids Press Photos)