Recent Outtakes

To keep the blog from going stale, here are some outtakes from one of my recent assignments. I'm on my last day of covering the 4-day Pretty Prairie Rodeo so I'll have a big post from that coming up soon.

-Pat

A Day at the Downs

On Friday I shot my first Ad Astra Sunday photo page for the Hutch News. I went back down to Anthony, Kansas to Anthony Downs to shoot the horse and dog races. It was a really fun time shooting and the officials were very cool about giving me all the access I wanted. The jockeys and track staff also were incredibly accommodating and had no problem with me clicking away while they went about their business. After shooting for the entire evening, I have a new respect for jockeys- they get pretty beat up out there. I saw multiple riders get thrown from horses and even one guy get stepped on afterwords by the horse. But there's something about it they have to love, which keeps them coming back- some of the guys I talked to had been jockeys for 30 years or so. They ride because they want to and for little pay and usually little glory, which as a photojournalist is something that I have to respect.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

Six of a Kind

Last week I got the chance to head down to Norwich, about an hour or so south of Hutchinson, and hang out with the Headrick family for the evening. In 2002, Sondra and Eldon Headrick increased the size of their family from 3 to 9, giving then three year-old daughter Aubrianna six new siblings. The Hutch News has been keeping up with the family since the sextuplets birth, and today we published the latest installment of their story. Danielle, Ethan, Grant, Jaycie, Melissa and Sean Headrick are now 7-years-old and will be going into second grade when school starts again in the fall. It was an interesting experience making photos of the kids since they've grown up with periodic visits from people with cameras and for the most part ignored my ever-clicking camera shutter. Anyway, it was a fun night with a very nice family, who let me hang around for dinner and tag along to a pool party. I may try to catch up with them a few more times during my time in Kansas. We'll see.

Thanks for lending your eyes,
Pat

Desolation Drive-In

On my way to Anthony, Kansas the other day to shoot horse and dog racing at Anthony Downs (post soon to come), I stopped by an awesome deserted drive-in movie theater that I'd noticed on my way back from the fire coverage the day before. I love making pictures of decaying Americana, and I didn't let a 102 degree high stop me from exploring a little. Coincidentally, another Hutch News intern discovered the very same scene a scant 4 months earlier.

Anthony Burning

A few days ago I headed down south about an hour and a half to the town of Anthony, Kansas, almost to the Oklahoma border, to cover the aftermath of a devastating fire there. The previous day there had been a large fire that damaged at least six of it's downtown main street buildings. Somehow, under the weight of a truck, part of the alley collapsed behind the buildings, which triggered a gas line rupture. Investigation is still underway as officials access damage and look for the source of the gas line ignition. The source of the gas line ignition is still unknown. High winds also briefly reignited the smoldering ashes in one of the buildings. It's always hard to cover disasters, but luckily no one was killed, and hopefully the rebuilding process will begin soon.

Feature Hunting

One of the best ways to get to know a new town is by aimlessly cruising the streets and shooting photos. Luckily I get paid to do this. I was sent out to find a feature photo to fill space in the paper the other day and ended up at an old candy factory that a family is living in and restoring as well as tending a glorious garden in front of the imposing structure.

The Wilson's are a really interesting family and were extremely nice about allowing me to follow them around the yard and shoot photos. This summer is the first year that the garden has produced food and they all seemed excited at the prospect of their first "harvest." Eventually they hope to renovate the top floor of the building as a loft living space, create and rent out several apartments, set aside a woodworking shop and weaving space, and open a gallery space for their creative pursuits. Sounds like a great plan to me and in the mean time, their gardening project made for some nice feature photos for the paper.

And then, entirely unrelated, there was this truck I thought was cool.

More wanderings soon to come.
-Pat

Fireworks

A few nights ago I went out exploring to find some people lighting off fireworks. One of the other photographers pretty much had the fireworks Ad Astra photo page already covered so these didn't end up running, but here were my favorite 3 from the night.

-Pat

Dust, Sweat and Wheat

On Thursday I went out to cover the last of the wheat harvest in this part of Kansas. Basically my editor gave me the keys to a car and said to drive west until I found some combines cutting wheat. Since it had rained the night before we figured I'd have to drive fairly far to find something, however, within just a few miles of leaving the city limit, I came upon a group of guys cutting wheat and loading trucks. They were extremely nice about letting me shoot- they were all for me taking a ride in one of the combines and climbing up onto a semi as the grain cart deposited its load. Then I hung around until they were finished and shot the guys cleaning off the combines. It was an excellent day and I definitely increased my tan at the same time. Since I've been here it's been nothing but sunny with highs in the 90s and 100s.

More to come soon,
Pat

My First Day with the Hutchinson News

I moved into my apartment in Hutchinson on Monday, of which I'll post photos soon. Then on Tuesday I came in for my first day as the photo intern for The Hutchinson News, where current chief white house photographer Pete Souza once shot. Amidst filling out paperwork and attempting to learn photo processing routines, I ran out on a somewhat spot news assignment. A Great Horned Owl had gotten himself stuck in a barbed wire fence out in the country north of town. A man had noticed it while driving to work and called his wife, who called just about everywhere in town to try to get the bird some help. When I got there he was all alone and not looking very happy. Luckily after about ten minutes Ken Lockwood from the Eagle Valley Raptor Center in Cheney, Kan. showed up and cut the owl free. As far as I know, the owl is doing well- here is a link to the story and today's follow-up in case you'd like to know more about his condition. I was very relieved that the owl got some help and hopefully he'll fully recover and fly again. Anyway, it was a great first day and I'm definitely looking forward to shooting more assignments and exploring Hutchinson and "the better part of Kansas."

Farewell Weekend Part 3: Edwardsville & St. Louis

After leaving Champaign-Urbana, Emalie and I headed back to her place in Edwardsville. We went into St. Louis (about a 15 min drive) for the evening and she begrudgingly let me make some photos of her. The last photo is looking back at Illinois from the west side of the Mississippi. Although I cross this river a lot, sometimes multiple times daily, I generally return to the east side to sleep... along with 2/3 of the United States. But for the next 6 months I'll be residing many-a-mile west of her banks- in Kansas, which coincidentally is the state of my birth. Anyway, it was a great weekend hanging out with friends and family and a great sendoff for my internship.

Hasta luego Illinois, hola Kansas...
-Pat

Farewell Weekend Part 2: Champaign-Urbana

The second stop on my journey out to Kansas was my old college home of Champaign-Urbana. Brad and I drove down and we met up with my brother Garrett, who is living in Champaign for the summer, my girlfriend Emalie, who drove in from the QC to enjoy the weekend with us, and my good friend Maria, who managed to keep livin' the college dream by getting jobs in this great town. We all went over to Maria's on Thursday night for some sushi makin', berry pickin' and archery. Then we went out to Murphy's Pub to relive some typical Thursday night college revelry. On Friday we went to a few stories downtown Champaign and then had an excellent evening with bread, hummus, and wine. Brad left Saturday morning via train back to Chicago, but Emalie and I stuck around and chilled out with Garrett for another night. On Sunday my parents came down to visit Garrett and we all went out to lunch before Emalie and I left in our seprate cars to her place in Edwardsville...