Journal Star

I'm almost done with my first month here in Peoria. Things got off to a slow start (a little blame goes to the scratch I got on my eyeball from a low hanging tree branch the day before I started at the paper). Here's a sample platter of what I've shot over the last month. First is "Family Fest" at the Peoria Civic Center. The first photo ran as the A1 centerpiece in full color, which was kinda nice. The second photo is of a really cute little girl with a giant balloon hat. Unfortunately, she saw me before I saw her and refused to look at me (or even ignore me, which would have been just as good). Next up, there's the aftermath of a house fire, remodeling at a bike shop, and an Orchids workshop. Last week the temp went from really cold with snow on the ground to almost warm with a little ran, which created really heavy fog that caused a bunch of people to wreck their cars. I also shot the opening night of the musical Ring of Fire. While waiting to get in I took a few slow shutter speed shots and thought this one looked kind of like a painting so I sharpened in PS a little extra to make it more paintingy. Lastly, high school basketball is important to people (including the paper) in these parts. I've never shot basketball before, but, by way of the shear volume of assignments, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it (as a bonus, I've learned how to light the games, too). Also, I changed the html, so now there's room for bigger pictures (!)