Day 174/365

     Today I took advantage of having the day off and had a much-needed lazy day. Kip didn't seem to mind too much either; he lazed about quite a bit today too. I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of him with my actual camera  at all since adopting him; I've only taken phone pictures, so today I remedied that. For as young and energetic as he is, he was an excellent subject. He sat still and just looked right at me, (I think the shutter clicking might've had him interested, who knows). Can you say perfect photographer's dog?

Day 173/365

     Last night I got to cover a motor derby race out in the middle of nowhere. I was definitely out of my element, as I know absolutely nothing about car racing as it is, and therefore nothing about demolition derby racing. It was by far the loudest event I've ever witnessed. I should've known when I walked in and saw almost everyone, from young kids to elderly men, wearing either ear plugs or protective headphones. While I tried to get photos of the cars through the thick metal fencing and not let my camera ingest too much dust, I felt more at home with taking pictures of the crowd and their different reactions to the racing going on. I particularly had a good time watching this little girl's reaction; she stared at the track all night with this awestruck look on her face. I guess I'd do the same if I was a kid seeing something like that for the first time. 

Day 172/365

     Friday night I got to cover another vintage/custom auto show. This one was much crazier than the one in Old-Town a few months ago. The Frankenmuth Auto Fest takes place on a solid stretch of Main Street in the middle of the town, and there are tons of cars, and even more people. It took the reporter covering the event and I quite a while to find parking, and then it took us even more time to wade through the masses of people to figure out what direction we wanted to go in for the story and photos. Eventually we got the hang of it though, and one of the people we talked to was the man in this photo, who brings his Miniliner to the show every year. Apparently he's become such a main stay of the event that they reserve the same parking area for his little camper every year. He was a really interesting guy, and we had a great time talking to him. A minicamper is definitely not something you expect to see at a vintage and custom car show!

Day 171/365

     Thursday's post was courtesy of another golf outing I was assigned. This time it was high school girls golf, a "jamboree" actually, so at least there was somewhat of a change of pace. It was at least a beautiful day, so walking around the Bay County Golf Course for a few hours wasn't all that bad, even if it was to take pictures of people golfing!

Day 170/365

     I got to shoot my first court case today; it was the sentencing for a man who was found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault causing great bodily harm less than murder.

     

    In June of 2011 Brandon Carbeno and Chene Swarthout got into an argument over parking arrangements while leaving a concert in Bay City. After a heated exchange, Swarthout returned to his car to leave. 

     Carbeno also went back to his car, but instead of getting in and driving away, he pulled a baseball bat out of his trunk and went back for Swarthout. Carbeno beat Swarthout so badly that he was in a coma for almost two weeks after the incident, and to this day suffers significant brain damage. 

     All because of an argument started over a parking spot, two men's lives, as well as two families' lives, are forever changed for the worse.

       If you'd like to read the article from today's sentencing, or if you'd like to see the other photos I took from the proceedings today, you can find them on MLive here.

Day 169/365

     Yesterday/Tuesday/Day 169 I shot a rededication ceremony of the federal courthouse in Bay City. The ceremony was attended by numerous state and federal judges, many of which served here in Bay City at some point in their careers. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found it to be much more interesting than I had originally anticipated. A retired judge was telling stories from the heyday of his time on the bench in Bay City that had the whole courtroom laughing. Seeing as laughing and clapping isn't something you normally judges do while in their robes on on the bench, I decided to post this photo for entry 169.

Day 168/365

     On Monday/Labor Day/Day 168 I finally got to shoot one of the Great Lakes Loons games, (the minor league team up here in the Bay City/Saginaw area). It was their last game of the season, it was incredibly hot and sunny, they lost badly, but I had so much fun. I love baseball, and I love taking photos, (never would've guessed, right?), and getting to sit in the dugouts and shoot the entire game was just a wonderful combination. The only way it could've been better is if I had been shooting the Tribe, which, coincidentally, was playing Detroit on Monday. 

Day 167/365

     Day 167/Sunday's post is a quick photo I took of one of the gardens in my apartment complex when my dog and I went for a walk during the day. I've always liked how echinacea flowers look, so I couldn't help but take a picture of these since they were in full bloom. 

Day 166/365

     My apologies for how delayed my posts have been lately; it's been a crazy couple of weeks but my dedication to this project is definitely something I'm looking to improve.

     Saturday/Day 166's post is a portrait of a local store owner. The Bay City Times recently did an exposé on young Bay City entrepreneurs for Labor Day. This man owns Electric Kitsch, a quirky little vintage music and pop culture shop in downtown Bay City. It seemed really interesting from what I got to see of it, and I definitely hope to visit it on my own time soon.

Day 165/365

     Tonight I covered a town hall meeting in Saginaw that Reverend Jesse Jackson attended. Due to the escalating violence and unrest since the Milton Hall shooting, national attention has been directed towards Saginaw, bring with it visits from the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, and soon to be Al Sharpton, along with other civil rights and watchdog groups. Another photo intern and I shot quite a few photos of Jackson and the events he attended throughout the day, so if you'd like to see more you can find different galleries here. While I know this shot is wider and doesn't zero in on Jackson as much as the others I took, there's just something about it that I liked.