the end of summer caught me by surprise this year. technically, we have until september 22nd to enjoy summer by the astronomical definition. but around these parts, fall starts with the kiddos back in school. a quiet summer of light photo assignments and project work is t-boned by sports and education. can't say i didn't know it was coming.


MU cheerleaders (bottom left to right) Lauren Walker, Marnie Matthews, Bethany Nonnemaker, and Paige Pauley exchange phone numbers before the start of Missouri's first pep rally at Memorial Stadium.



Taylor Ruch, 7, rolls down the grass berm on the north end of Faurot Field.



Emma Mallett, 2, looks to her mother as Mike Wheeler, right, is tackled to the turf by (left to right) Mary-Rourke Boyd, 5, Gracie Boyd, 3, and Ellie Mallett, 4. Fans got the chance to roam Faurot Field during Wednesday's pep rally for the first game against Illinois.



Anthony Machetta, left, and Jason Proctor, right, both of Columbia, wait outside the Edward Jones Dome before the gates open on the 2008 Arch Rivalry in St. Louis.



Missouri running back Derrick Washington breaks through a tackle by Illinois Travon Bellamy on his way to a 40-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Washington finished with 130 yards.



Tommy Saunders, center is congratulated by teammates after his second touchdown in the third quarter.



Sean Weatherspoon runs back an interception for a touchdown during the fourth quarter that sealed Missouri's 52-42 win over Illinois.


Missouri is supposed to have a great team again this year. Barring the Sports Illustrated curse, it should be a great season to photograph.

belated august update.

balloon festival reprise. last year i was the tribune's balloon correspondent working all four days of this festival. i got just one evening shoot this year, which was just enough. those early days and long nights can get exhausting.







for a story on an educational farm getting ready to open to the public. this was one of those shoots i wish i had another chance to work on during a different time of day. 2pm isn't the most flattering for landscapes or people. there's a huge sunflower field that's just begging for a foggy morning or a golden sunset.

hanging dumbly from tight hinges

scattered.

i can tell how important and close to deadline something is by the ever shortening of my fingernails. just a hair above bloody right now. much work yet to do.

i've been trying to use my days off to actually relax for a change. it's been a hard thing to do. after the first four hours, i get bored and anxious that my story is suffering and wish i was at work. if i work though, i feel burned out and wish i could just stare at a wall for four hours. a frustrating place to be. i'll figure out the balance eventually.

a bright spot this weekend was a long, lazy park stint with nick drake (the happier songs, i promise) and a tom robbins book. this man's metaphors always move me:

"There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob that won't turn, a door that sticks and never budges, is a nuisance to the gods. The gods may kick in the jamb. Worse, they may walk away in disgust, leaving us to hang dumbly from our tight hinges, deprived of any other chance in life to swing open into unnecessary risk and thus into enchantment.''
- Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates

como to st. pete, part the first

it's been a busy month for travel. i flew from missouri to st. pete twice in two weeks. the first for the photo-love-a-thon that is geekfest. this year was focused more on speakers than the usual team street shooting. preston gannaway presented the work that won her the pulitzer prize last year, lane degregory gave us the "20 tips your editor's won't tell you" about finding good stories, michael williamson astounded us with his mad poetry skillz, and ross taylor gave me a lot to digest with an amazing talk i wish i had a link to. purpose. it's all in the purpose.

john l. white, the man behind the mask.




co-worker in paradise.




ariel is patient zero.


an ill-fated trip to picnic island (neither picnic-like, nor an island) turned 180-degrees when we made it back to pass-a-grille beach before catching flights back home. the underwater one-time-use camera i bought transported us to the 1970's, or maybe it was loaded with film from the 1970's. in any case it made me want a *real* underwater housing for beauty a la josh ritchie.

david and kendrick.


nick in the ocean.


i swear the water was crystal blue.


and there was no nuclear holocaust on stage right.


my feet.

boone county fair

spent the last week working long days at the county fair. like any good team, our photo staff left it all on the court. the fair itself struggled a bit with the weather. stormy the first few days and then unbearably hot. lessons learned: stop torturing myself and wear shorts, less planning and more wandering, fair car racing calls for earplugs, take at least one ride on the ferris wheel, more carnival, more scene-setters, less "event" and more "life."


Emma Piotter, 11, holds Brixie, a dark Brahma Bantam rooster, as sister Corey, 13, cleans his feet before the poultry competition on Wednesday.



Sydney Westfall, 12, pets her rabbit Daisy in the small animal tent.



Alex Kerr-Totten, left, watches as judge Tony Perryman evaluates his chicken during the poultry competition. Kerr-Totten won the reserve champion ribbon for the large hen category.



Zach Westfall, left, and Kyle Perry, right, react to an unfavorable first place decision by judge Sharon Stephens in the Mini Rex breed category. Perry's sister Laura took the championship ribbon.



(Left to right) Kelly Wilsdorf, 13, Kelsay Bruns, 11, Laura Perry, 11, and twins Ella and Clara Wright, 11, wait for judge Sharon Stephens during the Best of Breed Class 4 bucks compeition in the Small Animal tent.



Braden Clayton smiles at the judges during the 2-year-old division of the baby boy contest.



Danielle Mortimer performs a baton routine that earned her second place in the junior talent show.



Bryan Biswell, 14, right, smiles as Boone County Fair Queen Ally Walker exits the stage after kicking off the Fiddler's Frolic.



Johnny Izgrig, 17, and Leslie Rice, 16, of Centralia, watch the side-by-side mud racing through the Grandstand fence.



Dawn Sherrill, Boone County Fair Queen First Runner-Up, wipes mud from her boots before entering the multipurpose room for the talent show.



Derrek West, 12, waits outside the barn after cleaning his steer for competition.



Sarah Grant, 10, leans on her steer Gabriel after cleaning him for competition. Grant raised the steer from a bottle calf. "He's so sweet," says Grant, "He doesn't really care if I lay all over him."



Sarah Grant, 10, relishes the moment after getting a blue ribbon for her steer Gabriel as her father David, left, praises her performance in the ring.



Sampson, a Boston Terrier, carries a horseshoe clipping around the barn before the start of Society Horse Show Finals.



Boone County Fair Queen Ally Walker kills time before a ceremonial ride around the main arena for the Society Horse Show.



Cheryl Perkins relaxes as a friend styles her hair for saddlebred competition in the Adult English Pleasure Championships.



Cheryl Perkins rides Trefethen to a second place finish in the Country English Pleasure Championship at the Boone County Fair.



Kara German rides Worthy's Sunflower in the Pleasure Equitation Championship.

randomness. i've been working on a story since memorial day, hence the daily grind posts. more on that later.

backyard mood lighting.


big necklaces are all the rage. didn't you know?


local soccer team holds a last practice in the dark before an international tournament.


creek walk on a rainy day.


local drum corps and dance team practice for upcoming shows.

in the summer months our sports department is strapped for stories. with no collegiate games and the nearest pro-baseball team in st. louis, they start thinking outside the box and we get some great non-traditional stories. i wish we did more of this during the sports high-season. there's a lot of passion at all levels of play and great stories on and off the bench, or field, or sportscourt.

pee-wee football


a local fire cheif's son was the focus of the story that day. bo suffered a concussion the day before and was unhappy sitting out most of that day's tournament play. "Coach I feel fine, I really feel OK."



sarah carlisle started training dogs at age 8. she was the youngest person ever to win the U.S. National Junior Dog Agility Championship in 2006. the dog she competed with in that event died two weeks later of kidney failure. "I learned that you never know when your last day with that dog will be. You just have to love them every minute."

she's starting at the bottom of the dog agility circuit again with two new dogs, mira and charlie. "I compete for the joy of my heart and the love of my dog," she explains. Ribbons don't mean much.