New-ish Work...

Since I left the paper in March, my life has definitely taken an interesting turn.  A busy turn.  I stay at home and take care of my daughter, who is now approaching 7 months...and in the mean time I do a lot of assisting.  What's been difficult is finding jobs where I actually shoot.  This is a collection, with comments, naturally, on what I've been shooting in the past month.

I revisited Ricky Chang (see my project and blog post here) to see what he was up to, as well as photograph the launch of his friends' bike across america fundraiser (see their blog and info here).  It was great to see young people taking such an active role in helping someone out.  These are some pictures from that morning.

 In addition, I've received some work from The Fairfax Times, as well as some freelance work with my old paper, The News & Messenger.  The funny thing is that when I shot these assignments, I couldn't help but reflect on the difference my attitude was as a freelancer versus when I was a staffer.  When I was a staffer, it was a luxury, if not impossible to get to an assignment early and "scout" it out.  Lingering in order to find something a little bit extra was also a luxury.  So with these assignments:  A cardboard boat race, a high schooler with Leukemia, and a couple swim meet assignments, I found I had as much time as I wanted.  I didn't have to run off to a Chamber of Commerce event.  There was no headshot of city council member I needed to get in an hour.  These assignments were the only ones I had that day, so I relaxed, and shot.  I don't know if I got better pictures than I would have as a staffer, but I know I was more relaxed and enjoyed it a bit more.