Meet the Tiger Walk...and John.

Mizzou has a newish tradition (started about 1996) where incoming freshmen walk through the school's historic columns, toward the campus to have some Tiger Stripe ice cream. When students graduate, they walk the other direction through the columns, toward the community, and enjoy a free beer. My last assignment for my staff photo class was to shoot this tradition, which was celebrated by Mizzou's largest freshman class ever. There were so many students that ice cream had to be tossed to the masses (see below). Here are some highlights, plus two photos of my buddy and editor John.

Meet the Faerie Houses

One of the coolest things I shot all summer was for Vox magazine about an artist who makes "faerie houses" - mini, hand-built houses, fully furnished and detailed, for people to buy to house any faeries that may be in the neighborhood. There were even houses for baby faeries. I spent at least an hour shooting these things, fascinated by the detail and ingenuity. These houses are probably cooler than any place I will ever live. Here are a bunch of shots - look closely!

Meet competitive dodgeball

Another one of the cool events I got to photograph for Missouri's Show-Me State Games was dodgeball, which, like kickball, was played by teams with inappropriate names made up of very serious teenagers and young-at-heart adults. I enjoyed the fact that the same rules I played by at recess in elementary school were the rules observed for these games. Here are a few shots that I like:

Meet the Boone County Fair

Here are some shots from the Boone County Fair earlier in the summer. I love midwestern fairs. This one was good, but nothing will beat my beloved Iowa State Fair...

Meet fly fishing

Here are some detail shots from a story on some fly fishers who spend time teaching the technique to veterans through a program at the veteran's hospital. It was a tough situation to work, because everyone was out on a dock and I couldn't photograph some of the patients. But here are some shots I like for no reasons in particular.

Meet the "Walk a hound, lose a pound" program

The "Walk a hound, lose a pound" program is a study on human/animal interaction to see if getting exercise with a dog improves a person's workout both physiologically (blood pressure, weight) and mentally (desire and commitment to working out). The researchers have several demographics they are researching and I hung out with the senior citizen contingent for a morning. Thought I'm not traditionally a "dog person," it was nice to be around the doggies.

Meet Drew

Drew Lemberger makes various kinds of boats, mostly kayaks and canoes, by hand, made to order. I just shot this quick portrait for a preview of the Missouri 340 river race, but the boats he had in his shop that he was working on were such beautiful works of art that I'd like to watch one be built from the start.

Meet a competitive tree climber

Ann Koenig climbs trees in international competitions. For real. I had a great time on this shoot, which was extra nice because I was in a somewhat rotten mood that day. Fortunately, Ann's attitude and excitement about her climbing was infectious and I left the assignment with a smile on my face.

Meet Independence Day

I'm finally back to a blogging mindset, with a ton of photos from the summer to share. Here are a few shots from some assignments, which included a patriotic band, a patriotic orchestra and a very patriotic dentist with a 10-foot replica Statue of Liberty.