Memphis actually had snow, maybe more like ice, but still was cool (no pun intended)

One of my favorite work days working for the newspaper was this past Friday when the city was blanketed in snow and ice. I spent the day looking for features and watched the entire progression from freezing rain to fluffy snow flakes falling to the city crystallizing in ice. Memphis is completely schizophrenic when it comes to weather. Over early weeks of this year, I have gone from running in the park in shorts to dodging frozen branches falling in my back yard.

Coming from Northern stock, I possess an intrinsic connection to wintry weather. Some people complain about the cold, but I love it and love the fact I have a job that lets me spend my day trekking around my city, making images of this magical rarity.

Census

Census, originally uploaded by lightwriter27.

This was from an assignment I had for a ribbon cutting at a Census office here in Memphis. The top one was the one that ran in the paper.

Here's the caption:

Recruiting clerk, Betty Moses, works the phones to obtain temporary work positions for volunteers to get ready for the 2010 Census at the Shelby County Local Census Office off of Dexter Road in Cordova where an open house was held to formally kick the Census.

The bottom photo is of the new Memphis Mayor, A.C. Wharton. I posted a photo of A.C. over the summer on my blog with meeting some kids. I got to thinking of that photo during the press conference and thought I would try something again. I was told not to turn in any photos of politicians, but something a little more artistic or, dare I say, abstract. Well, I saw those flags on the back wall and had fun passing the time during the ribbon cutting getting a photo of A.C. with the flags, but not show his full face.

So this is Christmas

This is a compliation of assignments I had over the holiday season and I thought I'd throw in some John Lennon lyrics to be a little more festive. Happy 2010.

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

More India

Here's some more images from my trip to India in Oct.

A little R&B action

Generally, I'm unimpressed with concert photos, mostly because I grew up around musicians. I've shot people playing guitar and singing into a microphone while hiding behind growing piles of sound equipment more times than I could imagine while I was still a baby photographer. I feel concert images are pretty much handed to you and the situation becomes redundant very fast. Unless for work, I try not to bring a camera to concerts, but it is fun to watch groupie photographers attempt to come up with what they think is a cool attempt at the same image everyone makes. I've never been to a R&B concert before and I enjoyed it. I covered a pre-Thanksgiving concert featuring Charlie Wilson, Babyface and Frankie Beverly & Maze. They put on a good show. So, I had some fun in between getting things for the newspaper. These images are just as formulaic as the next guy's, but it was fun. Enjoy.

Date Night at the Shootin' Gallery

This was from an assignment for Date Night at Range USA. So, I went to a shooting range and shot people. It's an entertaining life I lead sometimes.

Delhi Streets

During my trip to Delhi, much of my time was spent riding shotgun through the renown Delhi traffic. These are some of the things I saw from the car, plus a couple of other shots I like.