I’ve seen big horn sheep before, but never this close. And without collars on them. Usually they are far off in the mountains of Montana near my parent’s cabin, but this was my first time encountering six sheep just hanging out in the middle of the road in Custer State Park. All the other cars were just going by and all I was thinking was, “STOP! This is so cool! Look at the sheep!” So, I channeled my inner wild animal nerd and photographed the sheep for a few minutes before getting to my assignment at the State Game Lodge. There were some females near the lodge, but by then the mystique had warn off a bit.
Watch for Heidi’s story later this week about the barbers at Parkway Barber Shop that are retiring after over 50 years in the business.
Warren Stone sits in the waiting area after giving his last haircut of the day on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 19, 2009. Stone will be retiring along with two other barbers on Saturday Feb. 28 when the shop closes its doors. “I’m going to miss it,” Stone said. “I really am.”
Kristina photographed a couple that got married at the Sturgis Regional Hospital’s Massa Unit. Would you have tied the knot there? It looked like a great time and a lovely ceremony.
Traditional military burials are always moving. There’s something incredibly moving about the thought of one’s life being dedicated to their countrymen.
Maj. Brendan Murphy, with South Dakota National Guard, gives a final salute to Leonard Sloan whose remains were laid to rest at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis on Monday afternoon Feb. 9, thirty-two years after his death.Â
I’ve fallen behind on the blog posts the past few weeks. So here’s to getting back into the habit of blogging.
Brandon Sterling plays Elton John’s red piano for a portrait at the Black Hills Piano Gallery on Friday morning Feb. 5. Sterling will be playing with several other musicians at the Elks Theatre on Saturday, Februrary 28th for a benefit for Red Cross. Sterling has been playing the piano for 11 years. “I grew up listening to Elton John,” Sterling says. “How many times do you get to do a benefit concert. It’s huge for me. It’s all about having fun. It’s all about what we can give back to the audience.” Tickets for the benefit can be purchased at the Black Hills Piano Gallery and at the Elks Theatre.
Sometimes there is only so much you can do to plan how you want a shoot to go. The great thing about portraits is that as the photographer, you have complete creative control over the shot. You can set up everything. Every last little bit. Which for me, is a huge shock to my system. And it’s something I need to really work at. I have a hard time setting everything up. It’s almost a creative overload. It’s something that I need a lot more practice with. Pushing myself with my portraiture will be a big goal of mine for 2009. But Carter Mitchell was an awesome sport for this shoot. He was comfortable, charismatic, patient. And that definitely helped me slow down and think about how I wanted to set up what I had conceptualized before the shoot. This didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted to, but it came close. And I was kind of proud of that. Ryan took a great portrait last week of Rushmore Thunder player Alex Ferdinand, and I felt like I needed up push myself a lot more to prove to myself that I’m capable of that kind of portraiture. I can’t say I totally succeeded, but I do have a little more confidence for next time. Also, I think I just much prefer shooting outside. Can’t win ‘em all though.
So, lesson learned. Planning ahead can really help you out in the end.
Made this portrait today of George, but it didn’t quite fit into the edit. Thought I’d share it here. George has had two strokes. He’s really mobile, still plays the organ, and has a great sense of humor about him.
I’ve made four trips to Deadwood in the last three weeks and I still feel like I couldn’t make a picture to tell the story of the town and how it came to be. But maybe it’s a story that can’t be told in one photo. There’s so many different faces to Deadwood. Yeah, there’s the casinos and the souvenir shops and the bars. But the city and the steep hills that surround it are bursting with stories of the West and the way things were. In an effort to educate myself for this story, I found a Deadwood that I didn’t even know I was there. Of all the times I’ve been stopped around town and had someone say to me, “You HAVE to go see this,” not once was one of those places in Deadwood. Maybe it’s just something you have to explore on your own. And maybe people don’t want tourists traipsing around in their backyards. Or maybe it’s better that the traffic is confined to the downtown streets. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I hadn’t heard of Mt. Moriah cemetery, but I had never had someone say, “Go up there, it’s beautiful. You wouldn’t want to miss it.” With some coaxing from our photo editor Ryan, I bundled up and wandered up to the cemetery at dusk, hoping to get a moodier photo that would help tell the story of Deadwood that we wanted to tell. This photo didn’t make it into the final edit. And I’m not sure my snowy footprints really need to be gracing the pages of A1 in the first place, but at this moment I couldn’t help but wonder about all of the stories buried six feet beneath me.
Go up there. It’s beautiful. You wouldn’t want to miss it.
State tournaments make for some long days. I’ve only been here since 1 o’clock this afternoon, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. My fellow shooters put in the long hours today as well. But it’s 11 o’clock and I’m ready to go home, feed the dog, and hit the hay. I’m posting this photo because it didn’t fit into any sort of edit. And I seem to like this blog as a place for outtakes. The body language of this Philip player doesn’t say “win,” but I was having too much fun playing with space and this awesome red floor. Thank you to whomever opted for red. Best color ever. Good luck to all the girls tomorrow.
