refreshed from a trip to SF for the POYi awards. i was inspired by the saturated moments of alex webb and the stunning reflection of a mother's pain by renee byer.

the presentation of cpoy matt eich was also fantastic because he lets us into his inner world. he speaks from a place of openness about the craft and what role it plays in his life. so many award winners talk about technique, an anecdote behind a photo, or when it was they decided to become a war photographer, but they don't communicate any self-revelation, no added value to what i can see on their website or from reading their bio. it takes a lot of effort to compress what you want to say about your work and even more care to make it something meaningful. eich made the effort with care. thanks, matt.

i ran into more people i knew at poyi than i reckoned but got a ton of hugs. i had to encapsulate my experience in IL to dozens of people in one sentence. the consensus statement (after several re-tellings) was: it's a good internship for those who are very self-directed. until i came to this newspaper i didn't know how much i was seeking an editor who will really push me. not the best, certainly not the worst and i love shooting at wrigley.

now onto some snappies....

i had to wait out a track meet for a soccer game. i laid out in the sun and shot through the extra hurdles for a relay.




ah, so many visual cliches. i hear this is running huge in the neighbor section. cliches are big with editors apparently.


spent a record 12-hour day sitting in various court houses waiting to throw frames at passing person's on interest. one of my editors thought it would be a good learning experience. well, it's not. haha. after 10 hours and 55 minutes of waiting at court house #2 i find out the guy i've been waiting on isn't even in the building. sigh.


horrendous chef fest where i had to shoot 12 mugs to go with a chef-on-the-street q&a. during a cooking demo the big mirror gave me a few minutes of creative outlet.


o'hare international, 4am


and because she gets cuter every time i see her, my niece. she's playing with a mosque alarm clock that sounds a call to prayer when it goes off. we heard it play a hundred times before it got old.