One year +

I'm a month late in celebrating my one year anniversary of working for the Sky-Hi Daily News. But I guess that's okay, because my boss just did my annual review today, so I'm not the only one late in marking the occasion.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity that I've had to work for the newspaper. In these times when many newspapers are laying off staff or even folding, I'm thankful for this job and the support I receive from my editor and the rest of the editorial staff. Working for a small community paper does have its advantages and there are also a few disadvantages. We just finished putting together our entries for the state press association contest and I was hard-pressed to find any strong news images from the last year. I had plenty of feature and sports photos to choose from. I guess that will be a challenge for myself in the next year--to produce more news photos.

One other thing I want to do in the next is make this blog more interesting. I think I said that a while back, but I'm now to the point where I like the title and I feel I have a better vision of what I want it to be, so that anyone who actually reads it will have a reason to keep coming back.

So I'll be anxious to see what the next year holds in store for my community, the nation and the world, and what we will be talking about a year from now.

goo goo g'joob

A Weekend in Missouri

I visited my daughter at the University of Missouri over the weekend. It was great to be able to spend some time with her--coming from a high school of 400, then being a part of the largest freshman class in Mizzou history (approx. 5,900 students) has been quite an adjustment. We were able to watch the Missouri women's soccer team defeat my alma mater Iowa Friday night and then go out for a nice dinner.

I shot the Missouri-Buffalo football game on Saturday, then we headed out for dinner in downtown Columbia. You just gotta love the atmosphere of a college town after a football game.

Emily mentioned to me that she had seen a building in downtown Columbia that had our last name on it. We drove by it a couple of times during the weekend, but I didn't get a photo of it until I was on my way out of town Sunday morning:

Apparently in the late 1800s/early 1900s there were two brothers named Hetzler who had some sort of meat packing operation in downtown Columbia. Hetzler isn't a very common name, so it's always interesting to come across things like this.

It was an all too quick couple of days, but well worth it.

NOTE: Shameless plug to follow!

One of the things that made traveling easier for me this time was the purchase of a ThinkTank Airport Security rolling case. I had been reading about them for a long time and talked to other photographers who own this particular case and each of them had nothing but praise for it. I had been using a LowePro Computrekker for many years, it's a good bag, but it was taking a toll on my shoulders and back. The ThinkTank case is carry-on size and I was able to fit everything in it I needed to shoot a football game.

A new title

For the first post on my revised blog, let's start with the obvious question of "what's the deal with the new title of this blog?"

Over the years, I have had to photograph a variety of subject matter and events. I have photographed editorial jobs, commercial jobs, NFL football, college football, high school football, NBA basketball, college basketball, high school basketball, NHL hockey, World Cup skiing, the Winter X Games, Major League baseball, high school baseball, MLS soccer, high school soccer, PGA golf, high school volleyball, high school softball, high school track, rodeos, trail rides, traffic accidents, wildlife, weddings, black tie fundraisers, ground breakings, ribbon cuttings, concerts, craft fairs...you get the idea. Each of these situations often requires blending into the scene, thus the title "I am the Chameleon" and the obvious spoof on the Beatles "I am the Walrus."

Goo goo g'joob, or was it coo coo kachoo?