Father and Son

Erin in Death Valley in 2010

The Wedding of Julianne Ewry and Damien McAnany, guest Dave Muffly

The wedding of Julianne Ewry & Damien McAnany, I'm pretty sure these kids were having fun, regardless of what this photo says, but I still find it funny.

From the wedding of Julianne Ewry & Damien McAnany.

Joaquin - at the wedding - he was also the leader of the sweat a few nights before.

American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter - Everyday Heroes - Community Impact: Klip it For Kidz

In March 2010, with the combined efforts of Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and Clark County Fire Department, hundreds of supporters gathered at Town Square to chop their locks supporting the Klip it for Kidz event.  Raising more than $80,000.00, Klip it for Kidz will use the monies raised to directly fund more than 25 programs offered by the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation (NCCF). These programs will provide social, emotional, educational, financial and psychological support services to families whose children have been diagnose with life threatening illnesses.

Everyday Heroes Breakfast:

Join us for our fourth annual Everyday Heroes Awards. Every day in our community ordinary people make extraordinary contributions, by putting their needs aside to help others in times of crisis. The American Red Cross is honored to salute these unsung heroes.

The awards will be presented at the Everyday Heroes breakfast, October 21, 2010, at 7:30am at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They are presented by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross and Harrah’s Entertainment, with generous support from both Greenspun Media Group and 8 News Now and their Community Pride Partners: NV Energy and McDonald’s.

For tickets click here.

American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter - Everyday Heroes - Community Service: Jonathon Jones

As a Clark County Firefighter, businessman, husband, and father, Jonathon is a community member dedicated to serving Las Vegas individuals. Dividing his little-but-spare-time between two programs, Camp Anytown, and Project Homeless Connect, Jonathon’s volunteer services make large-scale, impact programs possible. At Camp Anytown, Jonathon dedicates his time to ensuring the health and wellbeing of the sixty teenagers and thirty plus volunteers at each camp.  Jonathon personally recruits his volunteer staff f or the kitchen, oversees every meal, every snack, and every drink. As a trained medic, Jonathon also tends to those dehydrated and suffered from altitude related illnesses. For the Project Homeless in 2009, Jonathon recruited and managed all of the stylists, who provided over 600 haircuts for the homeless in less than eight hours.

Everyday Heroes Breakfast:

Join us for our fourth annual Everyday Heroes Awards. Every day in our community ordinary people make extraordinary contributions, by putting their needs aside to help others in times of crisis. The American Red Cross is honored to salute these unsung heroes.

The awards will be presented at the Everyday Heroes breakfast, October 21, 2010, at 7:30am at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They are presented by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross and Harrah’s Entertainment, with generous support from both Greenspun Media Group and 8 News Now and their Community Pride Partners: NV Energy and McDonald’s.

For tickets click here.

This is not the expression Erin will be giving today. She may threaten to kill me though, repeatedly. Here's to hoping for a healthly day for all three of us.

American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter - Everyday Heroes - Youth Good Samaritan: Melissa Garcia

It was another hot afternoon in July of 2010 when Melissa Garcia was babysitting her two younger brothers; Noah, three, and Sam, eighteen months. The boys were in the living room as Melissa prepared an afternoon snack for them.  Melissa heard a strange noise and turned to the boys, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.  Then she heard the noise again, she walked over to the boys and noticed eighteen month old Sam looked panicked and pale.  She then realized he wasn’t breathing. Knowing what to do because of her formal Babysitting training and CPR certification, Melissa began giving the boy back blows until the object came out; it was a small piece of thin plastic. The boy instantly resumed to breathing and playing just as he normally would.

Everyday Heroes Breakfast:

Join us for our fourth annual Everyday Heroes Awards. Every day in our community ordinary people make extraordinary contributions, by putting their needs aside to help others in times of crisis. The American Red Cross is honored to salute these unsung heroes.

The awards will be presented at the Everyday Heroes breakfast, October 21, 2010, at 7:30am at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They are presented by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross and Harrah’s Entertainment, with generous support from both Greenspun Media Group and 8 News Now and their Community Pride Partners: NV Energy and McDonald’s.

For tickets click here.

American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter - Everyday Heros - Aquatics: Dee Dee Cunningham

Dee Dee, 9-years old, and five other children were swimming in the backyard of Dee Dee’s grandmother’s house, when Dee Dee was faced with a life and death situation of her 6-year old uncle.  Just learning how to jump into the deep end with his floaties on, Dee Dee’s uncle was sitting in the Jacuzzi. Unannounced he took his floaties off and made a dive into the deep end.  Coming up for water and air only once, Dee Dee noticed her uncle drowning and jumped in to save him.  Pulling him from the bottom of the deep end, Dee Dee was able to save her uncle from drowning.

Everyday Heroes Breakfast:

Join us for our fourth annual Everyday Heroes Awards. Every day in our community ordinary people make extraordinary contributions, by putting their needs aside to help others in times of crisis. The American Red Cross is honored to salute these unsung heroes.

The awards will be presented at the Everyday Heroes breakfast, October 21, 2010, at 7:30am at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They are presented by the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross and Harrah’s Entertainment, with generous support from both Greenspun Media Group and 8 News Now and their Community Pride Partners: NV Energy and McDonald’s.

For tickets click here.

Erin chilling on the couch

I spent years arguing that instead of using 5 photos on a half of a tabloid page we should use the best to fill that whole space.  I never won.  Never.  I once had to ask why I was being sent to take pictures that would be, literally, the size of postage stamp.  Was that really a good expenditure of money?

Sometimes though images would get good play in the newspaper, at least decent size.  I once even asked for a full two pages for pictures of a girls state basketball championship that I covered.  I figured we spent the money for me to drive 400 miles and spend a full day, day and a half, covering one shoot, why run just 3 photos?  So when I requested the two pages of space I figured I get one of B&W and I would’ve been happy, instead they gave me four of color.  I was shocked.  The designer had time to put the images together really nice, and make them really big, and it was pretty cool.  I’m sure it also impressed some of advertisers.

Occasionally those good things would happen, mostly though, they wouldn’t.  The story would run long and the photo would just keep getting smaller instead of anyone editing a story.  No bitterness.

So I was happily surprised when I saw my friend Caroline’s new website.  She’s a jazz musician and someone who I’ve hung out with on occasion.  Good people.  A few months back she asked me if she could use some of my photos for her website.  I was happy to let her.  I’m all for helping out the starving artists of the world, being one myself.  If nothing else we’ve got to have each others backs.

Lo’ and behold, she’s got a nicely designed site and has a big, bold photo anchoring her site.  A photo by yours truly, thank you very much.  I love it when I get to see one of my photos used well, used right.

And in this case, she hit the nail on the head better than I could’ve hoped for.

Thanks Caroline, and go check out her website everyone.

Caroline Davis jazz saxophonist

Damien checks on some last minute details before walking to the wedding site.

Damien McAnany, shortly after getting married. Your interpretation is your business.

The previous post of Char McAnany, this is her son Damien.  Char is really very sweet, and believe it or not, so is Damien, it just manifests itself differently.

Char McAnany at her son's wedding

And her charming, caring, very similar yet very different son, Damien.

This is Badwater, the lowest point in North America.  As it’s in Death Valley, average temperature of extremely hot, it’s dry most of the time.

As with other dry lake beds, this one’s surface is mostly salt.  The strange thing about walking across it though, at least for us Midwestern boys, is that in most ways, it’s just like walking across ice.

No, it’s not slippery, and as you can tell from the t-shirt Erin has on, it’s not cold, but it’s like ice.  It’s got that coloring, the color of ice with a touch of snow on top of it.  It’s got bubbles, not real bubbles, I think, I don’t quite know how to define them in two words, but those areas, largish areas where there’s a bubble and if you step on it, it breaks.  It makes that sound that old ice makes, that slightly cracking sound with every step.

I found the whole time I walked across it, I was afraid I was going to fall into some freezing cold water and die, despite the 90 degree temps.

A very odd experience, but also very beautiful.

I could use some opinions here.  I’m re-working my various portfolios.  Some images need to get in, some need to leave.

For my Portraits Portfolio, this image, stay or go?

If you want you can also hit up my Portraits Portfolio page and let me know what other images you think need to be cut.  Just leave a comment on this page.

Thanks.

PS. Next will be the Editorial and Performance Portfolios.  Any guess what I’m doing with my free time?