February at The Saginaw News

February was a lot better for me. I think I came out with some pretty cool images, especially in the last few weeks. Some were from unfortunate circumstances, but it is part of the job. I had a good month shooting sports. Getting better at the sports action. I thank my stint in Ann Arbor for that, but it is a huge change of pace from College to High School sports again. I got a bit spoiled.

This month was also POY for the Michigan Press Photographers Association. Unfortunately I came out with nothing, but I did here some of my entries did hold up for a while. My alma mater, CMU, came out with a total of 15 awards. Sweeping CPOY for the 3rd year in a row. Proud of the Chips over there. CMU's photo program is quickly making a name for itself in the past few years.

Here are some images from a homicide scene, portrait, basketball, wrestling, professional tennis, Saginaw Spirit Hockey and flowers from Valentine's Day.

January at The Saginaw News

January is my first month at The Saginaw News/Bay City Times. I will be mostly working out of Saginaw. This whole month was a bit slow and the company is getting ready for a change in February.

The Saginaw area is interestingly laid out. The county is mostly townships. Usually when a city establishes, townships form around the city. How I understood things, in time, the townships usually get eaten up and become a part of the city. Not the case here.

It was an o.k. month for shooting. It was not my strongest, but that usually happens when you come into a new area.

The following photos are from a museum getting a new piece, a basketball feature, Globetrotter visiting a hospital, Magic Johnson, Snow Carving, and Winter Special Olympics.

My December

I had on week working at AnnArbor.com in December. Than I went into surgery and had my gallbladder removed. Surgery went well.

Here is a card my bosses Melanie and Angie made for me for a going away/get better soon card. It was a photo from Senior Day at a U of M football game and they photoshoped it with their faces. And a picture of my Grape Platter since I couldn't have cake at the time. In case you cant read the grape platter, it says "Thanks Joe". They are they best. I hope I get to work with them again one day.

November 2011, Ann Arbor Month 3, The Unfortunate Ending to a Great Internship

November was my last full month at AnnArbor.com due to medical reason. I had gallstones and needed to have my gallbladder removed. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at AnnArbor.com. The staff was great! Writers were nice and fun to hang out with. My photo bosses Melanie and Angie were the best. It is what I imagine the future of photojournalism to be like. A hybrid of stills and multimedia. Completing a multimedia project a month, which is awesome. I had two memorable moments in the month of November. One was working way to long on the ROTC multimedia piece. I always feel accomplished when I put in hard long hours especially when I start the day off with a gallstone attack. Second is when I got to shoot the U of M vs OSU football game. It was an awesome vibe to shoot in, especially when everyone rushed the field.

The following photos are from U of M vs WMU hockey game, the one and only spot news I got in Ann Arbor which was a house fire, ROTC running a 236 relay, U of M basketball, Camp Take Notice which is a camp for homeless people run by homeless people, Boy Scouts volunteering after Thanksgiving, EMU vs MSU basketball, and the infamous U of M vs OSU football game. Attached is also a soundslides following the U of M ROTC on Veterans Day.

October 2011, Ann Arbor Month Two

My second month in Ann Arbor went well. It is great shooting along side great photographers. Working at Big Ten sporting events, I get to see a lot of awesome photographers from all over and it is great to get to know them. Still this month shot a lot of sports especially college football at U fo M and at EMU. I even got to travel a CMU and Toledo to shoot some football. It was nice to see some familiar faces when I shot EMU vs CMU football.

It was an o.k. month for photos. The following pictures are from U of M Homecoming game against Purdue, a Zombie Walk along with multimedia piece at the bottom, when Eric Cantor came to speak at U of M, a football deject moment, swimming meet, and EMU at CMU football.

New city, new adventure. Ann Arbor month one.

After I ended at The Flint Journal, I took about two months off to go do one of the things I love to do most, go volunteer time to be a camp counselor. Had some ups and downs during those two months. One of the biggest ups was landing the first ever multimedia photojournalist intern spot at AnnArbor.com, formerly The Ann Arbor News. It feels great to get back into the swing of things. Since it is the first time for them to have photo interns, it seems like a great way to hopefully help being apart of setting up a great program for future interns.

So far at my first month at AnnArbor.com, I have been shooting a lot of sports given the schedule I have. University of Michigan football rules in the city especially with them doing so well. I had the privilege to shoot the first ever night game at The Big House. Besides that, I had the chance to do two multimedia pieces. My parkour piece is included in the post.

June, My Final Month at The Flint Journal

June was my last month in Flint and in many ways my assignments of them month had a theme of endings. Schools closing it's doors, graduations, and end of the high school sports season. It was bitter sweet. I was happy to move on to new adventures, but I was going to miss the city, the friends I have made that I will never forget, and the challenging assignments that made me who I am as photojournalist today. I am honored to have been chosen to be an intern at The Flint Journal and working with the wonderful staff. I hope that one day I get to work with one of them again.

Photos from Juneteenth, arson, graduation, food give away, closing of a school, MS research, Powers Catholic girls soccer winning the state championship in soccer, and disappearing metal from an abandoned school.