With the exception of the camera that I used while I was photo editor of The Eastern Progress when I was in college, which was an old Nikon F2 that had been surplused from the state police, I have every camera from each phase of my career.
This Agfa Viewfinder and Kodak 110 were the cameras that my Dad gave me when I first got started in photography in 1978.
My former graphic arts teacher, Pat Green, knocked on my door a few years ago and gave me the Canon AE-1 that I used in high school for the school newspaper and yearbook.
When I first became the University Photographer at Eastern Kentucky University in 1994 I was still primarily using a click and wind Pentax K-1000. Going from a K-1000 to a Nikon F4 was like going from a Chevette to a Porche!!! As my Dad used to say, "I was happier than a puppy with two peters!"
This Nikon D1X was my first digital camera. I took it out it's box on the morning of August 3, 2001 and shot Eastern's summer commencement that evening. This is the latest addition to my collection. It made it's way back to me just a few months ago.
This Nikon F5 was my last film camera, and this role of Velvia Fujichrome was my last role of film. I decided to keep it instead of having it developed. Did I mention that I'm an archivist at heart? It has 14 images of red buds and dogwoods from the Red River Gorge on it.
My first smart phone from 2008.
I laugh at this now, as I use 256 GB SD cards. These were my 1 GB and 8 GB compact flash memory cards from those first digital cameras. We've come a long way since 2001!
I used to keep this little notebook with me at weddings for posing inspiration.
I definitely came out of college a better writer than I was when I went in, partly because of this book and some very patient professors, like Dr. Elizabeth Hansen and Dr. Libby Fraas. I literally woke up one morning and realized how to write a complete sentence, and it was all downhill after that.
Natalie was always great about finding little novelties for my office at Eastern.
I shot all but two days of the 2010 World Equestrian Games. I went into it knowing that I was looking for a special souvenir to keep. I did buy a couple of shirts and a coat, but as far as something meaningful...I was shooting inside the arena one day, sitting in front of a group from Argentina. There were three Argentinian women who were flirting with me as I worked, in a fun way. So I sat there and talked to them for almost an hour. As they got up to leave one of them handed me this leather key chain. I thought to myself...there's my souvenir!
Eastern is now in the process of turning my old darkroom in the Jones Building into something else. It was designed to be a darkroom by Kodak when they built the building in 1969. I was able to scavenge some artifacts from it and add it to the collection.
My Dad always told me that our lives are divided into chapters, and that you can never rip those chapters out of the book of your life. My photo career has definitely been divided into chapters. Chapter One started with this photo of a flooded barn in my hometown of Clay City in 1978. Dad was a hobbyist and was into black and white photography at the time and sat up a darkroom in our living room. I sat down my Star Wars X-Wing Fighter long enough to watch this print emerge from the Dektol developer...and the rest is history!
Chapter Two was when I signed up to take high school journalism at Powell County High School at the beginning of my senior year in 1987, and ultimately became editor of our newspaper The Pirate Press. That was the first time in my life that I had a camera with me everyday and was also in the school's darkroom everyday, as I also photographed our yearbook titled The Best of Times. That's a much skinnier version of myself in the top left corner. It was good to be 17!!!!
Chapter Three was when I came back home to Powell County to cover the death of former Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs in December 1991 for The Eastern Progress. Our Adviser, Dr. Libby Frass, held deadline and a spot on the front page for me. I wrote my story in my head on the one hour drive back to Richmond, and typed it out in about 15 minutes, as three editors stood over my shoulder, helping me work it. Probably for the first and only time ever, I handed off my film for my assistant photo editor to develop and print. I was set to do an internship with the Kentucky Press Association in the Spring of 1992, so that was my last issue of The Progress. Man! I literally went out in a blaze of glory that night. I was later named Best Editor for the Fall of 1991.
Chapter Four would be my time as Eastern's University Photographer. I was very active with the University Photographers Association of America and edited their quarterly journal, The Contact Sheet. I was set to become president of the organization but I left Eastern in 2004 to venture out on my own with Tim Webb Photography.
My greatest trophy is the fact that I helped three brilliant photographers get their start.
I found this receipt book at my parent's house in 2020. I had it printed when I first started doing freelance work in high school. If you notice, back then we didn't list the area code. And the second number was for the video store that my mother managed. Although it wasn't a paid gig, my very first freelance job was for the Rockwell Newsletter in Winchester.
I entered pictures every year in the Powell County Fair when I was in high school and college. I was never able to win best of show at the fair, but in 2017, I won a national best of show award for East Kentucky Power, and again in 2021 for Kentucky Living Magazine. I was like...YES! FINALLY!!!
A few credentials!!!
Again...more stuff that I found at my parent's house. These are a few check stubs from my days at The Clay City Times. Working for my hometown newspaper was definitely one of those chapters. I got so much experience while I was there. To say that my editor, Jerlene Rose, was patient with me, would be an understatement. She allowed me to grow as I churned out dozens of photos each week and wrote 3-4 stories. I was making a whopping $10,600 as News Editor when I got married in 1993. I was too ignorantly bliss to realize that I was living under the poverty level because I was loving every minute of it!
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Bluegrass Station is a natural gas plant in Butler, Kentucky. This year, I set up a light system on some of the employees and then did a 10 second time exposure to burn in the background at sunset.
The Burnside Line Crew changing out a pole in rural Pulaski County.
A new solar farm was installed at Maker's Mark Distillery.
Cooper Station is a coal-fired plant in Burnside, Kentucky.
The Burnside substation crew working in Laurel County.
J.K. Smith Station is an natural gas plant in Trapp, Kentucky.
Spurlock Station is a coal-fired plant in Maysville, Kentucky.
EKPC takes their safety program very seriously by rewarding employees with what's known as Safety All Stars, like Tyler Robinette above.
As part of East Kentucky Power's philanthropy efforts, them and the co-ops help decorate the Ronald McDonald Houses in Lexington and Louisville each year for Christmas.
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My children are all grown up now, and I am anxiously waiting on the arrival of my first grandchild, just a few days before Christmas this year. As your kids get older and your family expands, schedules change and new traditions are born. We don't get to watch the Polar Express anymore like we used to, which is why I was trilled to do a story for Kentucky Living Magazine last year on a real-live Polar Express in Stearns, Kentucky.
It was so much fun to see all these little kids experience the movie in real life. Hopefully, some day, Natalie and I can take Little Miss Baby Webb on a trip to the North Pole. Until then...here are a few photos from Stearns.
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In the movie, Clint Eastwood plays the character of National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid (who is a fictional character and never actually worked for National Geographic). Eastwood, who also directed the movie, paid close attention to the details of a photographer. The movie was set in the summer of 1965, and Kincaid was a freelance photographer out of Bellingham, Washington. He was in Iowa to document covered bridges for the Geographic. He kept his Kodachrome slide film in a cooler or a refrigerator to keep it cool. He scouted out his photos during the day but then went back when the light was good at sunset and sunrise to actually get the real stuff. And he shot with a Nikon F series camera.
There are so many movies, even today, that portray photography wrong. The one that makes me cringe is when I see a press conference in the movies and the photographers are using a flash. I'm sure they do it for the audio/visual effect, but trust me, no seasoned photographer would ever use a flash at a press conference!
There are so many things about Robert Kincaid that are relatable to me. For one thing, we're both freelance photographers making a living from one assignment to the next. Although I usually go nonstop, there are still different times of the year when work dries up for a few weeks. Being a freelancer is not for the impatient, faint-of-heart, or people who can't manage money. Secondly, I related to him because he was constantly traveling. As a National Geographic photographer, he got to travel all over the world, while I mainly crisscross the state of Kentucky. Even for this assignment, which came from Kentucky Living Magazine, I traveled to eight different Kentucky counties to document these bridges. Traveling so much can get old at times, but for the most part, I enjoy seeing our beautiful state. At the time of this writing, I've been to 117 of Kentucky's 120 counties. And I'm planning a road trip in the near future to the far reaches of Western Kentucky to get the remaining three.
In the book, Kincaid says he's "The Last Cowboy." I don't think I'm the last cowboy, but I sure do enjoy doing what I do!
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The covered bridge at Goddard in Fleming County is by-far the most picturesque, with the Goddard Methodist Church and cemetery in the background.
Walcott Covered Bridge in Bracken County.
Ringos Mill Covered Bridge in Fleming County.
Several years ago I found out that I had a half brother that I never knew about. He died in July 2019 and was brought from Ohio to be buried in South Shore, Kentucky in Greenup County. On the way home that afternoon I drove past Bennett's Mill Covered Bridge and took this picture. I titled it, The Day We Laid Shane to Rest.
Oldtown Covered Bridge in Greenup County.
The Dover Covered Bridge in Mason County is in the poorest condition of Kentucky's eleven bridges.
Johnson Creek Covered Bridge in Robertson County. Graffiti and carvings are a popular thing to do at all of the bridges, even dating back to the 1800s, when many of the bridges were built.
Colville Covered Bridge in Bourbon County.
Cabin Creek Covered Bridge in Lewis County.
A company from Vermont that specializes in restoring covered bridges is currently working to restore the Grange City Covered Bridge in Fleming County.
The last cowboy Robert Kincaid and Francesca in front of the Roseman Bridge.
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Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Best Places to Work
Central Bank Center, Lexington, June 13, 2024
Touchstone Energy, Kentucky Special Olympics
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, June 1, 2024
Community Action's 60th Anniversary
Embassy Suites, Lexington, June 12, 2024
International Society of Neurogastronomy Conference
University of Kentucky, Lexington, May 17, 2024
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell meets with the Kentucky Students during the Washington Youth Tour.
Kentucky Living Magazine
Washington D.C., June 20, 2024
"Step Brothers" or Employee Portraits?
Fleming-Mason Energy
Flemingsburg, June 27, 2024
The Washington Youth Tour
Kentucky Living Magazine
Washington DC, June 20, 2024
Camp Burnamwood
Stanton First Presbyterian Church
Irvine, July 25, 2024
The Kentucky Bar Association Annual Convention
Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Covington, May 9, 2024
Transylvania University, Spring Commencement
Lexington, May 25, 2024
Flashes of Hope
Norton Children's Hospital, Louisville, August 15, 2024
CASA of Madison & Clark Counties Annual Gala
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, August 3, 2024
UK Healthcare Pharmacy Services, Research Expo
UK Chandler Hospital, Lexington, May 21, 2024
Touchstone Energy, Honor Flight Kentucky
Bluegrass Airport, Lexington, August 24, 2024
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In May of 2022, I met Nate Brooks for lunch one day at a Korean-style seafood restaurant on Richmond Road in Lexington to discuss a large-scale photo book project that he had in mind. The seafood restaurant was a bit much, but the book project turned out to be one of the greatest photographic projects that I've ever done in my life. Nate and I are both from Powell County, but a generation apart. I went to school with his mother and have been great friends with both of his parents, Troy and Deana Brooks, for many years. It was kind of bizarre to be involved with a multi-year project with so many moving parts, with a kid that's the same age as my kids, and someone I've known, literally since he was a newborn. I'm not sure if it was bizarre because he's that young or because I'm that old, HA!
At the time, Nate was about to finish a podcast series that he did for the Powell County Health Department titled The Local Lens. The podcast was funded through the CDC in Atlanta and Nate used it as a tool to explore and to educate on all aspects of the drug epidemic. Ultimately, he did 74 episodes and interviewed over 100 people. Here are my opening comments in the book...
When I began this book project with Nate Brooks in 2022, I truly didn’t understand the depth of Powell County’s drug problem. I grew up in Powell County, specifically on Black Creek in Clay City, during the 1970s and 1980s, and was a photojournalist there in the early 1990s. There has always been a drug problem in Powell County, but it wasn’t until I came back home for a couple of months during the summer of 2020, when my father was dying of cancer, that I got a small glimpse of just how much the problem had grown since I had moved away in 1995. I realized then that something had changed and my little hometown had changed with it.
One day during that summer, I almost ran over a man who had passed out in a sharp curve beside the road with his head lying about a foot away from the white line. With a population of only 1,200 people, Clay City had over 100 homeless people living within its borders that summer, mainly because of the drug epidemic. At the same time that I was witnessing all of this, Nate was beginning to produce a podcast called "The Local Lens" highlighting the different aspects of the drug epidemic that not only had infested Powell County but Appalachia as a whole.
I soon made a correlation between addiction and a ripple. At the epicenter of the ripple effect caused by drug abuse is the user. Immediate family members are located somewhere in the first two rings of the ripple, with first responders and police officers occupying the third and fourth layer of rings. Spiritual warriors providing faith-based rehab programs and resources serve as a bridge between the user and the road to recovery in rings five and six.
As the rings of the ripple gravitate further away from the epicenter it becomes less personal, but no less important, with healthcare professionals fighting the epidemic in rings six and seven. Professionals in Frankfort, and Washington D.C. may not know the user, and the user may never know them, but they still feel the effects and they occupy the outer rings of the ripple. They too are an integral part of the road to recovery.
Then multiply all of the rings times every user in Powell County. Then multiply the rings of every user in Kentucky. Then Appalachia. Then the United States. Many of the rings overlap and share similar threads of the story. It’s overwhelming to think about all of the people who are affected by this monster and the countless toll that it has taken on so many lives.
For me, creating this photo book was extremely personal. I haven’t lived in Powell County for nearly 30 years, as Richmond is where I live, but Clay City will always be my home. My genuine hope is that this book will somehow make a difference as we tell the story.
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This photo of Misty Dehart standing in a field of mustard flowers, in an area of Powell County known as Turkey Knob, became the signature photo and cover for the book. Misty, who has been in recovery for several years and is now a nurse, represented freedom from addiction. I called it the Titanic pose. Photographically, I wanted to create an angle that people weren't used to seeing. People are used to driving down KY HWY 15/11 looking out at the flowers, but not in the flowers looking back.
Powell County minister Brad Epperson helps inmates transition back into life outside of jail with the Substance Abuse Program (SAP) at the Powell County Detention Center.
Rebecca Stone analyzes suspected drugs that have been confiscated by local police departments in Central Kentucky at the Kentucky State Police crime lab in Frankfort.
The needle exchange program at the Powell County Health Department.
Nate interviewing nurse practitioner Heather Deel during the series' last episode at WSKV radio station in Stanton, December 2022.
With Powell County having one of the highest overdose rates per capita in the country, Jazmen Thorpe is one of many of a generation of children who have grown up witnessing the terrible effect and the grip that drugs have had on their parents.
Responding to the drug epidemic can be extremely expensive for a small rural community with law enforcement and first responders. Former Powell County Judge Executive James Anderson advocated a proactive approach to the problem, such as the Syringe Service Program at the health department. Sadly, Judge Anderson died in an accident before the book was completed.
Stanton Police Officer Ian Morton, above, and Clay City Police Officer Rob Williams, below, are on the front lines of Powell County's drug epidemic.
Oshia Haddix runs the Powell County Homeless Coalition in the Bottoms of Clay City.
The book expanded beyond Powell County by looking at programs in neighboring Montgomery County, with Tabitha and Tony Barrett leading Recovery Montgomery County, top, and Angie Gregory, above, with the Montgomery County Health Department, running a program that works with women in the Montgomery County jail who have been arrested on drug charges, which is about 85 percent of the women there.
I didn't want all of my healthcare professional photos to look the same, so I asked my childhood friend Dr. Julie Kennon to roll her pant legs up and wade out into Hardwicks Creek in Clay City with her white coat and stethoscope, because her medical career was literally born out of Hardwicks Creek, where she fell out of a tree in middle school and broke her back. Dr. Kennon still practices in her hometown of Clay City.
Dr. Taufik Kassis at his clinic in Stanton.
Nurse Practitioner Scott Seitz in Winchester.
Nurse Practitioner Heather Deel at her clinic in Stanton.
Husband and wife team John and Donna Isfort at their clinic in Irvine.
Jenell Brewer is at the epicenter in the battle against addiction in Powell and several surrounding counties with Casey's Law and SPARK Ministries.
Estill County coroner Jimmie Wise and his wife Sheila have seen more than their fair share of overdoes in neighboring Estill County.
Lisa Coffey and Jeanette and Wayne Ross, affectionately known as Pastor and Momma, lead a very effective faith-based recovery program at Shepherd's Shelter Ross Rehab in Mount Sterling.
Paula Adams of Irvine, holds a picture of her son Dalton, who died of a drug overdose in 2019.
Van Ingram is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Policy in Frankfort.
Jerrica Brandenburg, an alcohol and drug counselor at Marcum & Wallace Hospital in Irvine, holds a box of Narcan that is somewhat of a miracle-drug that has saved so many people from dying of an overdose.
Marti Hackworth, Laura Helvey, and Rebecca Wolfinbarger lead a Narcotics Anonymous (Nar-Anon) meeting for mothers of kids suffering from Substance Abuse Disorder.
Neil Hamilton and David Howard of the Powell County Detention Center see the revolving-door effect of repeat offenders.
Powell County native Will Arvin, who went from a hardcore drug user to an evangelist and church pastor, had an incredible story to tell. Will, who now lives in Fort Gay, West Virginia, just randomly raised his Bible into the air as I was finishing his shoot in the rain, near a crossroad with two iron bridges. It was a great impromptu moment!
Powell County Health Department Public Health Director Stacy Crase approaches the epidemic with a concept known as harm reduction, which accepts the fact that, for better or worse, drug use is part of our world, and works to minimize the harmful effects of drug use rather than just ignore it or condemn it.
What started in May of 2022 finally came full-circle August 21, 2024, with a celebration and launch of the book in Stanton.
A few behind-the-scenes, top, working down...Nate's Mom Deana helped me with some of the early photo shoots while Nate was off hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Nate and I had an all-day design session in the basement of his parent's house when he came home from graduate school in May.
The funniest thing happened in June...we decided to order a few books to proof one last time before making the large run later in the month. Nate was working an internship in Washington DC and I was in DC for the Washington Youth Tour when the books arrived. While my copy was home in Richmond on my desk, Nate brought his copy to my hotel and we looked at it together in the lobby of the Crystal City Marriott. Looking at the book together like that, after so much hard work and time was very gratifying.
Like I said in my opening...working on this book was extremely personal. Richmond is where I live, but Clay City will always be my home.
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I recently found a lady in Waco that will do small-run t-shirt orders. So I had her make a t-shirt with a K1000 on the front of it. I love it because it's old school!
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The camera and the shirt.
One of my early mentors was a guy named Bimbo Reed. He taught me a lot when I was in high school. He even had a color darkroom set up in his trailer. He was the one who told me that it was okay to take a vertical picture every now and then, ha! Bimbo took a picture of me with my K1000 on his couch, New Year's Eve 1990.
A much skinnier version of myself snapping a few shots at Daytona Beach with my K1000, June 1988.
I kind of laugh at this cheesy picture now, but, let's just say, I took my job as a journalist seriously. My trusted K1000 is beside me, October 1992. I ran several hundred rolls of black and white film through it while I was working in newspapers. It and a police scanner never left my side.
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The trip always starts with a visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Locals pronounce it Monti-chello, but I have yet to find the H in Monticello. I'm sure the folks in Wayne County could correct them on the proper pronunciation of Monticello.
Next on the agenda was George Washington's home at Mount Vernon.
The Sunset Parade at the Marine Memorial (Iwo Jima statue).
The Kentucky students come together with several hundred other students from all across the country during the NRECA Youth Night. Our Kentucky kids never disappoint!
For years, I sat up a complete light system to do the cover shots, but the last couple of years I've gone with a small speed light (a flash) on a remote and used one of the other chaperones as a human light stand, which you can see Joey Frakes' shadow on the ground in front of me. If I start early enough in the day while the light is calm it works.
I have photographed the WYT for several years with my good friend April Burgess, who works for Inter-County Energy in Danville. She brought her husband Rudy along on the trip this year. They were so funny, and really good people to hang out with! April is easily in the top five of my favorite chaperones (inside joke, ha!).
I don't care if you're a Democrat or Republican...what a great moment when Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader takes a few minutes to come outside and talk to you on the steps of our nation's capitol. I told the students that they will appreciate this photo more and more as they get older in life.
The Great Shoe Exchange of 2024: Blisters are a real thing when walking 5-6 miles in dress shoes.
If the World War II Memorial is my favorite site in DC, then the Holocaust Museum and the Pentagon 911 Memorial are right there with it. Maybe someday I'll do a blog post about these two sites because it would be hard to do either one of them justice here in this post. If you ever go to DC these two are definite must-sees! They both are made up of so many moving parts, but yet, so well-done, so intimate, and so sad!
Back home six days later at Base Camp at East Kentucky Power in Winchester.
I use vertaical grips that have a shutter button on the side, which means the shutter button on my left side is always resting against my hip, and likes to take it's own pictures. Everytime that I'm shooting, I usually come away with about a dozen or so shots of the ground because of my hip. A few weeks ago, I came home after working in Taylor County and downloaded cards and found these. I thought they were pretty cool to be an accident.
The bottom picture looks a little phallic, but I promise I'm not happy to see you, HA!
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I shot my first Derby for the Herald-Leader in 2004, which was the year of Smarty Jones. I didn’t work at Churchill Downs that year, but I covered the Derby at Keeneland in Lexington. Turns out, that place is packed each year for the Derby, and is a great atmosphere if you don’t want to go to Louisville.
The following year, I made it to Churchill and covered the infield during the day, and then the First Turn during the race for the Courier-Journal. The CJ does a piece each year in their print edition called “Around the Track,” which is a series of panoramic photos that show where each horse is during the race, and my part was at the First Turn. Jockey Mike Smith and Giacomo crossed the line at 50–1 odds in 2005 and came within a few feet of me as they made their victory lap back to the winners circle.
I remember it was so hot that year as I sat at my spot on the track, waiting for the race to start, that I paid some kid $5 to go get me a screw top 20 ounce Pepsi. After I drank it, I thought to myself that I may never have an opportunity to sit on the track and photograph the world’s greatest horse race ever again, so I scooped up dirt from the track into the empty Pepsi bottle to take home as a souvenir. Turns out, I made it back to the First Turn nine more times.
One of the most interesting moments of my entire career came in 2008. Just seconds after Big Brown won the Derby, he was making his way back to the winner’s circle, and instead of staying in the middle of the track as NBC’s reporter Britney Eurton interviewed jockey Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown pushed the outrider to the outside rail. He was literally on top of me, as I pushed as hard as I could against the chain link fence behind me to get enough separation for a shot. Technically, it wasn’t the greatest shot ever, but the fact that the Kentucky Derby winner was within inches of my lens, it was a pretty damn good shot!
But the joy ended there, because once Big Brown got past me, I saw that another horse was down on the track, back toward the back stretch. It was Eight Belles. She had to be euthanized on the track for a broken leg. I had a very graphic photo with the track’s vet pulling off the syringe cover with his mouth as he stood over top of the filly. At first, the CJ refused to run it all, which kind of confused me, but eventually they buried five of my photos in the online edition. I had mixed emotions about that because it was news and it happened in front of 158,000 people and on national television. But, in retrospect, it was probably too much reality for the general public, especially after Barbaro had died just two years earlier. Channel 36 in Lexington did an interview with me that explains it more.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time covering the Kentucky Derby. It was never about the money because I only made $250 for the day, which was a great day-rate for newspapers, but was only a fraction of what I make for the day as a corporate freelance photographer. I always loved the atmosphere of
the Derby because it was such a cultural paradox. In the grandstands you could see dresses, suits, cigars, and hats, that literally cost thousands of dollars, or you could go to the infield and some girl in a tank top and a pair of cut off jeans would flash her tits…just for the heck of it! You never knew what to expect in the infield.
I worked a couple of years for Xerox in addition to the CJ and made it up to the fringes of Millionaire Row. While there, I once stood in a buffet line and talked with NFL legend Terry Bradshaw, and once got a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. But for the most part, I enjoyed the opportunity to photograph and document The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, with ordinary people on all sides of the economic spectrum. As long as I live, I’ll never forget what it felt like to stand on the dirt, on the track of this famed venue, listening as they sang My Old Kentucky Home each year. It was one of the greatest treasures of my career! There’s nothing else like it. Weep no more my lady!!!
Eventually, my kids grew up and started going to prom, which was always on the first Saturday in May at their school. As much as I love photography, it’s like a mistress that is constantly pulling me away from my family. I decided that I had been there and done that with the Derby long enough, and that it was more important to be a Dad in Richmond than it was to be one of hundreds of photographers working the Derby in Louisville. With that, I shot my last Derby in 2014, and I now enjoy watching it on my couch, in the comforts of my own home, with a cold beer that didn’t cost $12!
And they're off....
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2014 First Turn
My first First Turn, 2005
Jockey Mike Smith celebrating after winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo.
I still have that Pepsi bottle with dirt from the track in my office.
The Eastern Progress Photo Editors Club working the Derby in 2009. Left to right, Kevin Martin (2000), myself (1991), Mark Cornelison (1989), & Rob Carr (1986).
Working for Xerox in 2010.
Working the infield.
Big Brown stuck his nose in my lens just a few seconds after winning the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
Eight Belles went down during the 2008 Derby.
The parade of owners and trainers before the race is always a specitale at the First Turn!
Calvin Borel celebrates with Super Saver after winning the 2010 Kentucky Derby, in a mudfest, seen below.
This guy from Chicago got creative with sneaking liquor into the infield. Is it a loaf of bread, or is it a pint of bourbon? Hard to tell!
The media center was the largest that I have ever worked in, with about 300 credentialled photographers. But you notice I'm up top looking down on the commoners, ha!, with the Courier-Journal, the Herald-Leader and the Associated Press. And the food there was freaking awesome!!!
Two Louisville Courier-Journal legends here. Michael Clevenger, left, and the venerable Bill Luster, right.
Self Portrait
My last view from the office, 2014.
My 2008 Interview with Channel 36 about the Eight Belles tragedy.
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I thought about this photo of Senator Joe Lieberman when I heard that he passed away yesterday. I took it at EKU during the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Lieberman was a senator from Connecticut and was Gore’s running mate.The vice presidential debate between he and Dick Chaney was at Centre College in Danville that October. While Chaney chose to fly into Kentucky on the day of the debate, Lieberman chose to stay in Richmond (in a Super 8 on Exit 87, of all places) and prep at the University. He made a public appearance on campus that brought in the secret service and the national media that included CNN, Fox, and other national affiliates.
The one thing I did well at that point in my career was study other photographers on the national level. I was so excited to learn that the White House was sending one of Gore’s photographers, a woman named Callie Shell, whose work I had followed. Our president Bob Kustra and football coach Roy Kidd wanted to meet Lieberman, and I got to shoot that with Callie Shell, while the rest of the media had to stay back in what was known as the press pool. I was plum ga-ga about it, because I got to stand shoulder to shoulder with Callie Shell.
But the secret service failed to tell me that after that shoot with Kustra and Kidd that I had to go back into the press pool with everyone else. Lieberman then went to the grille in the student center to meet some students, when he saw this little boy who was there with his grandparents because they were both on staff at EKU. Lieberman couldn’t pass up the obvious photo-op and gave the kid a high-five.
Here’s where things went south! I thought to myself, “It’s my campus, and I’m the University Photographer, and I can go anywhere I want!” Not!!! I got down on my knees for a low angle and was moving in on the scene, when the folks in the pool started yelling at me to back off. And then it happened. I felt a big hand on my back as two secret service agents dragged me back. But…I got my shot before they got me.
Looking back on this, if that had happened earlier in my career I would’ve been mortified. I probably would’ve just walked out and never came back and spent the next few weeks in the fetal position. But, I shrugged it off, thinking, I would probably never see most of those people again. And, I was right. A few hours later, they all left and I got my campus back.
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In 1941, then-secretary Harold Ickes commissioned Adams to produce a series of murals of the American Southwest to hang in the department's new building. Although, oddly enough, becaue of World War II they cancelled the project and didn't install them, even though Adams had made over 200 photographs for it, including my favorite "Moonrise Over Hernadez, New Mexico." The murals were finally installed in 2009, and it was stunning to finally see these life sized images in person.
As I said in my 2022 post, I have been influenced by so many photographers during my career. And I feel like I've taken or borrowed a little bit here and a little bit there from each of them, but no other photographer has ever had an impact on me as much as Ansel Adams has.
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It’s funny how some people come and go in your life while other friendships can transcend space and time. One of those friends for me is Brenda Ahearn.Brenda strolled into my office at EKU one day in October 1996, and wouldn’t take no for an answer until she became one of my student photographers. I had a lot of students work for me over the years but she was the first one to go on and make a career out of it.
Brenda has traveled all over the world and has literally worked and lived all over the United States. Her resume looks like an atlas, ha! She is currently one of the University Photographers at the University of Michigan.
She doesn’t make it back home to Kentucky very often but when she does she always takes time to come see me, which makes this old man feel good. We’ll talk on the phone 3-4 times a year and solve all the world’s problems, and we always call each other on our birthdays, but it was nice seeing her in person today. I’m really proud of her, and really happy that she didn’t settle for “no” 28 years ago. It’s funny how God works that way sometimes.
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]]>Here is my post from March 2022...
I finally learned that the best photographers were the ones who sought me out. The ones that I recruited never seemed to work out. I took it as a God-thing and would just let the Good Lord send people to me. Somewhere around 2001 or 2002, a kid from Mount Sterling emailed me saying he was leaving Western Kentucky University's photojournalism program to come to Eastern, which was unheard of. He said he felt like he was just a number at Western. I told him how myself, along with Mark Cornelison and Rob Carr had come out of Eastern and succeeded when Eastern truly didn't have a photo program to speak of. But, I told him Eastern would give him one thing and that was opportunity.
Opportunity to be a Big Fish in a very small pond. Myself, Corn, and Carr were all examples of what hard work and perseverance could do for you at a place like Eastern. Kevin took my advice, transferred, and worked for me, The Eastern Progress and the Lexington Herald-Leader. Kevin took some criticism for leaving Western, but he proved his critics wrong by going on to get a masters in photojournalism from Ohio University, served on the board of the National Press Photographers Association, and eventually worked at newspapers in Boston, Augusta, Baton Rouge, San Antonio, Knoxville, The Associated Press, and is currently freezing to death as the Visuals Editor at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, where he was recently named the national visuals editor of the year.
The EKU Group: Chris Radcliffe and Kevin, who both worked for me as university photographers in 2001-2003, myself, and Mark Cornelison.
We had lunch at Joe Bologna's in Lexington. Back row standing, left to right, Mark Cornelison, Amy Wallot, Charles Bertram, myself, Chris Radcliffe. Front row left to right, David Coyle, David Stephenson, David Perry, Kevin and his father Steve. (I was the odd man out by sitting at the David Table with the three Davids).
I've said this before, there's something special about making the cover of a magazine. I've always told the editors of Kentucky Living Magazine that if a photographer ever tells you that they don't care about making the cover, then you should fire them, because that means they're either lying to you or they're not passionate enough about their work! I didn't know how Bucknell would treat the photos in their alumni magazine, but turns out I made the cover. That was a nice surprise!
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They had taken a trip to Ireland and Kim took a painting class while she was there and was a natural at it. For someone who took a class on a vacation whim, Kim has grown and matured into a thriving artist. I’ve enjoyed talking with her about the artistic side of being a creative as well as the business side, which is the hardest part. When you’re creative that part comes from instinct, paying the bills is where the real struggle comes from. There’s definitely a learning curve, usually at the school of hard knocks, when an artist of any kind has to actually make a living. I’ve enjoyed mentoring Kim on a few things, mostly business related because I tell her all the time that I had so many great mentors as I was coming up as a photographer. A true mentor will pay it forward by giving you their time, patience, advice, and opportunity for free.
My process in copying these paintings is really high tech! JK! All I do is put them on a card table in my garage and prop it up with a case of water from Costco. Then I open the garage door and let some light filter in. Since I'm cropping to the painting, the background doesn't matter. When you find good light kids, you'll find good photos!
Kim specializes in painting Kentucky’s two favorite children, horses and bourbon. Several of her equine paintings are from my Keeneland and Kentucky Derby photos, which is pretty cool to see my photos transformed into a painting. It’s like…same country, different universe type of thing. You can see more of her beautiful work at kimperrystudio.com.
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I'm proud to have been a part of this project. I'm proud to call Kevin my friend. And I'm happy to see Kevin grow and prosper as a local artist.
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*I've updated this post with some new photos as Kevin finished the mural. 11-20-23
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On a sidenote, as I was photographing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the new sentinel was walking toward me and I realized that it was a female sentinel. I had never seen a female sentinel before. So I looked her up and she is Sgt. Ruth Hanks, and she is only the fourth female sentinel to ever serve at the Tomb of the Unknown, so that was a pleasant surprise.
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I do a stock shoot for Blue Grass Energy each summer, where we go out and spend the day making a line crew look like rock stars.
The new DaVinci Robot at Baptist Health Richmond.
Best Places to Work Kentucky, for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. A good time is always had by all at this event.
Kentucky Bar Association's Summer Convention.
Airbag whistle blower and Bucknell University Alum Kevin Fitzgerald at Jacobson Park, for Bucknell University.
UK Graduate School
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Women's Summit.
Coach Cal speaks to the Kentucky Electric Cooperatives in Louisville.
The CASA Gala of Madison and Clark counties, raising money for advocates to represent abused and neglected children in the court system.
East Kentucky Power Employee Appreciation Day at the Cincinnati Zoo.
UK Healthcare Pharmacy Services.
Transylvania University Spring Commencement.
The Kentucky Optometric Association Spring Conference.
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Here are some shots that I did in Washington DC last week while I was with the Kentucky kids on the Washington Youth Tour.
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The Marine War Memorial (Iwo Jima)
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
The United States Capitol Building
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial
The Metro
The FDR Memorial
Rosa Parks painting at the African American Museum.
The Vietnam War Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial
The Korean War Memorial
The World War II Memorial (my favorite)
The Washington Monument
The Holocaust Museum (my second favorite)
The International Spy Museum
The White House
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During this process, I became paranoid about all of the photos that are just sitting somewhere on a disc or external hard drive in my archive, that should be part of my official portfolio, but would otherwise never see the light of day again. I've literally woken up in the middle of the night, thinking about a decent photo that I took in 2005, wondering where it's at. As a photographer my photos are a lot like my kids. When you create a photo it's like giving birth. You conceive it in your brain and your eyes, and it comes to life through the camera, which is just an extension of your brain. The thoughts of losing a photo is like losing a kid. Even the bad photos, I just can't bring myself to delete them.
"My boys could care less about my archive, but Laura appreciates history like I do. For better or worse, it’s history and it matters to me. She’s my little curator (and my little undertaker). I’ve told her, 'When I die, don’t stress out over what to do with all of my shit! Feel free to get a bottle of wine and have a big bonfire and burn all of it! But in the meantime, I don’t have the heart to let it go, so you’ll have to do that for me.'”
So, about a year ago, I got serious about my updating and organizing my portfolio (Click on the Portfolio button on the home page to access it). If a new client wants to hire me, the slideshow on my home page has plenty to help them decide if I'm worthy or not, but my actual portfolio galleries represent my life's work. They're a body of work that I've been building since I was a kid in 1978. They're like owning a virtual photo gallery. Some photos are in there because they represent my best work. But to be honest, most things are in there because of the story behind photo, not necessarily the photo itself. For example, one of the largest galleries is called Snappers which are behind-the-scene photos of myself and the people I've had the pleasure to work with the last 36 years. I've even added cutlines to several in that gallery, just to add a little context.
It's taken me almost a year to get my portfolio lined out because I still have to go back and edit most of these. Let's just say... I wasn't the greatest in the darkroom. Water spots and dust spots were my nemesis. And with the digital photos, trying to find the full-rez versions has been harder than I thought. My general rule is no photos less than 1000 Kilobytes. Some of the early digital cameras just didn't produce large files.
I don't know that I'll ever fully retire from photography because it's something I can do as an old man, but I am slowing down some, focusing more on meaningful projects. My OCD can rest easier now that my life's work is organized and preserved.
If anyone wonders why I end all of my blog posts with -30-, it's because back in my day that's the way they taught you to end your stories, so that the copy editors would know that it was the end. Tradition holds that back in the day with the wire services, New York would end a story with -thirsty- so that Chicago would know that was the end of the story. Thirsty meant it was time to go drink a beer. And that eventually turned into the shortened version of -30-.
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Here are a few Snappers. I'm not sure why it's called Snappers. The former crew at the Lexington Herald-Leader coined that phrase, and it stuck!
I had never seen this image before. Then one day in 2017, while I was scanning in some of my parent's photo albums and negatives, I ran across the negative to this photo that somehow never got printed in 1979. Wow! What a hidden treasure! My Dad took a picture of me taking a picture of my Mom on our family farm in Carter County when I was in 4th grade. I had been doing photography about a year at this time. My Dad couldn't have started me out any harder than he unknowingly did. I was using an Agfa viewfinder camera that my Mom's brother brought to her from Germany in the early 1960s. It was 100 percent manual, with no light meter or focus mechanism. So I had to guess at the f-stop and shutter speed settings, as well as the footage between me and my subject. And to boot, he started me on slide film, which has no forgiveness. To this day, my greatest strength as a photographer is being able to recognize and evaluate light. I owe all of this to my Dad who taught me how to read light, years before my time. Thanks Dad!
After shooting all but two days of the FEI World Equestrian Games for the Louisville Courier-Journal in the fall of 2010, I was ready for a nap on the last day in the media center.
Shooting my first of several Kentucky Derbies for the Louisville Courier-Journal in 2006.
I'd love to have a dime for every time I've set up and torn down a light system in my career!
The greatest assignment ever! Covering Spring Break 1991 at Daytona Beach for The Eastern Progress.
Jerry Schierman, seen here with me at the All-A Classic in 2014, was one of the most important mentors that I ever had. I mowed the grass at East Kentucky Power in Winchester during the summers of 1989 and 1990, and on rainy days I was inside the buildings changing light bulbs. Jerry was the communications manager at EKPC, and gave very valuable advice when he told me to switch my major at Eastern Kentucky University from public relations to journalism, because he said it would make me a better writer. Jerry's department always had the brightest lights because I would constantly change them out on rainy days just so that I could hang out up there and ask questions.
Jerry gave me a very sobering critique of my photography in the summer of 1990. Things like the importance of being in focus, and better darkroom skills. He was brutally honest, and as bad as it hurt, I really needed to hear that because I was at the point that my parents and friends were telling me how good I was when I really wasn't. Sometimes you need to hear the truth and I worked hard to get better at photography because of Jerry.
Instead of developing my last roll of film I decided to keep it.
Photography is a lot like a mistress. You love it and it constantly pulls you away from your family. So I worked hard to involve my kids with my work as much as I could.
The Eastern Progress staff Fall of 1991. Our class was easily the most successful class to ever come out of The Progress, even to this day, thanks to the teaching, nurturing, ball-busting, paycheck-withholding, genuine love, and mentoring of our adviser Dr. Libby Fraas, middle row, far right. Some of the people photographed here went on to work at The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Southwest Times Record, The Milwaukee Journal, The Detroit Free-Press, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, a state representative, and press secretary for governors Paul Patton and Steve Beshear. And then there was me. I worked at The Clay City Times and came back to Eastern as the University Photographer. What can I say... I stayed local, HA!
The general consensus was if you can work for Libby Fraas you can work for anybody in the country. And that was so true. Don't even think about missing deadline. It's not an option. Which was why it was so epic for our last issue on December 4, 1991, that Doc made the decision to hold deadline for me to come back from my native Powell County where I had covered the death of former Kentucky governor Bert T. Combs on that Wednesday. I wrote my story in my head on the drive back to Richmond, and then had a whole host of editors, including Doc standing over my shoulder editing in The Progress office as I wrote it. Turns out, I was the only reporter there that day that mentioned that he died within a few feet of the parkway that bore his name, The Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway. I passed off my film for my assistant photo editor to develop and print. The OCD in me hated to pass off my film, but deadline was deadline! To say that I went out in a blaze of glory is an understatement.
The group from Argentina kidnapped me and absconded with my camera during the 2015 Alltech One Conference. But a good time was had by all!
I interned with the Kentucky Press Association in Frankfort during the Spring of 1992, covering the General Assembly. I wrote a weekly wrap-up story and sent it out to all of the weekly newspapers in the state. It was a great time to be in Frankfort. Brereton Jones was inaugurated governor. Arkansas governor Bill Clinton made a presidential campaign stop. It was the first session after the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. And the FBI conducted a sting operation that later lead to several arrests in Operation Bop Trot. But best of all was living in the old KPA house on Capitol Avenue, just two blocks from the capitol, with three other friends from Eastern, and two girls we met at the Legislative Research Commission. One of which was Laura Hasselwander, above, who was an intern photographer for the LRC. Laura later hired on fulltime with the LRC.
Pictured below, after being super skinny my entire life, beer, Ale-8s, and college food caught up with me and gave me a gut in the spring of 1992. And unfortunately, it has never gone away since then. But, as I like to say, I have way too much money invested in this Dad-Bod of mine to get rid of it now!
Kentucky House of Representatives, April 1992.
Hanging out with Dana Estep at The Clay City Times during the Summer of 1991. I turned down an internship at the Lexington Herald-Leader to come back to my hometown community newspaper. People told me I was stupid for doing that, but I got so much experience that summer as both a writer and a photographer that I would have never gotten at the Herald-Leader. I literally lived with a police scanner 24/7. Sometimes it's best to trust your gut feeling, even if it doesn't make sense on paper.
Don't ever stop working a good angle, even if it means pushing your nose out of the way.
Wading the Licking River in Cynthiana with my camera condom, while photographing muscles, May 2018.
Enduring sub-zero temperatures in the Red River Gorge, January 2005, just to get some snow shots.
My Dad gave me some valuable advice in 1989, "The one thing in life you can count on is change. You may not like it. But you can count on it." As much as I loved being the University Photographer for my alma mater, it was time to move on in January 2004. I turned over the reigns to my student photographer Chris Radcliffe, who quickly blazed his own trail and took the position to new levels. He's seen here testing firing a remote camera behind the glass in McBrayer Arena with me and my son Nolan in 2006.
Covering the Boys Sweet 16 as the official KHSAA photographer in 2013 with my buddy Mark Cornelison, who was with the Lexington Herald-Leader at the time and is now UK's University Photographer. I didn't realize it until later, but coach Cal and his son Brad were sitting behind us.
My tribe and I at The Eastern Progress awards dinner, April 1991. I was named Outstanding Ad Rep that night after a year of selling ads in downtown Richmond. The following semester I became the first person in Progress history to win that award in two different categories, when I was named Outstanding Editor as photo editor.
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The Kentucky Youth TourFrankfort, Kentucky
For the Kentucky Electric Cooperatives
Madison County EMS
Richmond, Kentucky
For Madison County Opioid Response and Empowerment Project (MORE)
Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative
Paducah, Kentucky
For Kentucky Living Magazine
Hyster-Yale
Berea, Kentucky
For Hyster-Yale
University of Kentucky Health Sciences student awards and Department of Physical Therapy pinning ceremony.
Lexington, Kentucky
For The University of Kentucky
The venerable Ted Hampton on the eve of his 60th anniversary as the CEO of Cumberland Valley RECC. To
put that in perspective, JFK was president when Ted began leading the co-op. That's my photo that he's holding,
that was converted into a painting by my good buddy Kevin Osbourn of Winchester.
Cumberland Valley RECC
Barbourville, Kentucky
For Kentucky Living Magazine
Laura's Stockyard Cafe
Bowling Green, Kentucky
For Kentucky Living Magazine
Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition
University of Kentucky Opera Theater
Lexington, Kentucky
For Alltech
The Super Bowl of Preaching
Crossroads Church
Lexington, Kentucky
For Crossroads Church
University of Kentucky Police Department Portraits
Lexington, Kentucky
For The University of Kentucky
Safety Allstars
East Kentucky Power Cooperative
Burnside & Maysville, Kentucky
For East Kentucky Power Cooperative
John May of Licking Valley RECC holds portraits of his father and grandfather who once served on the Licking Valley Board of Directors. John used to serve on the board as well, but is now the manager of administrative services.
West Liberty, Kentucky
For Licking Valley RECC
UK Healthcare Pharmacy Department
Lexington, Kentucky
For UK Healthcare
Chamber Day is the biggest reception of each year's Kentucky General Assembly, and is Lexington's largest sit down dinner with about 2,000 attendees.
Lexington, Kentucky
For The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Former University of Kentucky basketball player and current investment guru, J.P. Blevins at his Main Street office.
Lexington, Kentucky
For The University of Kentucky Alumni Association
The Great Teacher Awards Dinner
Lexington, Kentucky
For The University of Kentucky Alumni Association
Transylvania University fans celebrate their women's basketball team winning the national championship in Dallas, during a watch party at the Kentucky Theater.
Lexington, Kentucky
For Transylvania University
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Chasing 300
By Tim Webb
At the beginning of the 2000 football season, as Coach Roy Kidd was inching closer to his 300th victory, I knew that moment would be the one photo that would define my career as Eastern’s university photographer. I could sense that it would be the one image that would still matter a hundred years from now. I just had to make sure I was there when it happened.
Leading up to 300, I did several photos with coach because I knew the university and media outlets would be needing images. One of my all-time favorite photos of him came from a portrait shoot that I was doing with coach and the four consecutive trophies that came from Eastern’s appearance in the national championship game, from 1979-1982. We were casually talking about him being a quarterback during his playing days at Corbin High School and Eastern, when out of the blue, he picked up a football and donned a left-handed quarterback pose with a big smile on his face. For a coach so meticulous in his planning, it was such an impromptu moment.
Counting my days as photo editor of The Eastern Progress, I had been covering Coach Kidd and the Colonels since 1991. During my time as a student at Eastern, players like Lorenzo Fields, Elroy Harris, and Tim Lester were lighting up the record books. I photographed the Colonels last great playoff run in the fall of 1991, that included a 14-3 win over Appalachian State in the rain and mud during Thanksgiving weekend in Richmond, and then a heartbreaking 14-7 loss in the semifinals to Marshall in Huntington.
I was too young to remember the national championship years. But in a lot of ways, as time marched on and I went from a student photographer to the university photographer, I recognized that I was photographing the end of the golden age of the Kidd era. But I also saw it as an opportunity to document the end of Coach Kidd’s illustrious career, and it was an opportunity that I took seriously.
With the 2000 season drawing to a close and coach sitting on number 299, I gave up the opening morning of deer season with my family, to make the long trip to Charleston, Illinois, as the Colonels took on Eastern Illinois and future NFL quarterback and broadcaster Tony Romo. Eastern’s season came to an end that Saturday afternoon, and with it, the quest for 300 would have to wait another year. As I drove back to Richmond, I couldn’t help but be envious of all the deer hunters who were clad in orange, scattered across those Illinois corn fields. But another thought was also weighing on my mind, “Surely they will schedule a home game to open up the 2001 season so that Coach can get his milestone win at home.”
Nope. Chasing 300 wouldn’t be that easy. For me, the 2001 season kicked off with an even longer drive to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, to photograph the Colonels against the D1 Chippewas of Central Michigan University. While the Colonels took a lead into halftime, we left Mount Pleasant while still sitting on number 299. On a positive note, before leaving town, I ran into Walmart and bought a copy of ESPN the Magazine that had ran one of my sideline photos of Coach Kidd, previewing his march toward 300.
I knew that Coach Roy Kidd’s 300th win was a big deal to Eastern Kentucky University, but I was beginning to see the scope of just how big it was on a national level, as Coach Kidd was in the same conversation with coaches like Bobby Bowden of Florida State and Joe Paterno of Penn State, the only other active coaches at the time with more than 300 wins.
I knew that coach’s chances were going to be good the following Saturday when we were set to take on Liberty University back home in Richmond in the stadium that bore his name. What I didn’t realize on that long drive home in early September 2001, was that the long-awaited number 300 would happen less than 72 hours before the events of September 11th changed our world forever.
As expected, on a beautiful Saturday evening, September 8, 2001, the Colonels beat Liberty 30-7 to give Coach Roy Kidd his 300th career victory, solidifying him as one of the greatest college football coaches in the history of the game. As the sun fell and with the clock winding down, his players doused him with Gatorade, and then they hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him out onto the field.
For a few seconds I froze and didn’t know what to do because the clock was still running with about 30 seconds, and the game was still going on. I thought, “You can’t do that…you can’t do that…the game is still going on!” All I could think about was how I had driven so many miles and spent so many hours chasing 300. And now, here it was unfolding in my back yard, and I was about to miss it because I didn’t want to be a rule breaker.
Finally, I ran out onto the field and cut into the middle of the huddle as it was still moving. I popped up in front of Coach Kidd and was able to fire off two frames before stumbling backwards out of the huddle. I still didn’t know if I got the shot or not because although I had just converted from film to digital a few months earlier, I played it safe that night and took the money shot on color film. When I got the film back from a local lab on Monday morning, my heart sank when I looked at the first frame because one of the players who was holding coach’s leg was looking directly at me with his tongue stuck out. But thankfully, he had looked away and put his tongue back in mouth for the second frame. And that was the frame of film that will go down in Eastern Kentucky University history.
The celebration on the field that night was unlike anything I had ever experienced. You could tell there was a sense relief with Coach Kidd because the weight of number 299 had been resting on his shoulders for several months. You could see the sense of accomplishment on his face, along with a big smile, as he and Sue embraced on the field. It was as if everything they had worked for all those years culminated that night. And while Coach was celebrating with his family, the students were busy tearing down the goal posts. It warmed my heart to watch as they carried one of posts off of the field like an army of ants, down Kit Carsen Avenue to its final resting place in downtown Richmond at Madison Garden.
I realized that night as I was packing up my gear to go home, that Coach Kidd was never meant to win number 300 on the road. The opposing fans wouldn’t have appreciated it the way we did, and they certainly wouldn’t have torn the goal posts down. It was only fitting that number 300 was won at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, making “Cabin on the Hill” that was sung that night extra special.
Chasing 300 and covering the last half of Roy Kidd’s storied career was an experience that I’ll cherish forever.
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On the night that we were supposed to do the shoot, it started raining. It went between a misting rain and a light rain. To be honest, I was hoping they would call it off because I was being lazy and didn't want to get out in the rain. And I really didn't want to get my equipment out in it, because the weather had reached that fine line between using a towel and plastic bag to keep things dry, and having to go into full-blown camera rain gear mode. I've always joked that I have more money tied up in rain gear than most soccer mom's have invested in their cameras (not that I have anything against soccer moms). But using rain gear for your cameras is like taking a shower with a rain coat on. But on this night, I was able to get by with a hand towel. I was really proud of how the cover shot turned out because the rain and moisture in the atmosphere added another dimension to the color spectrum of a photo. Plus, we even used smoke bombs to add to the effect. The smoke is what caught the yellow light behind the crane.
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Merry Christmas all!
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Mary Beth Dennis is a phenomenal person and friend who has lead the Washington Youth Tour for the last four years, and is
now the Communications Director at Shelby Energy in Shelbyville. But one of her greatest attributes is that she married
into family from my hometown of Powell County. You can't beat that as a pedigree!
Back in 2007, I started doing pro-bono work with an organization called Flashes of Hope. They coordinate professional photographers with major hospitals to create portraits of kids with cancer. We all volunteer for this. At the time, Jon Dubins ran the Louisville chapter at Kosair Children's Hospital. He was a UPS pilot who flew internationally, but he still found time to organize these photo shoots. Eventually, Kids Caner Alliance took over the program and created a chapter at UK Children's as well. I ran into Jon this summer at Kid Cancer Alliance's big fundraiser in Louisville. Fifteen years later, we were both still there for the cause!
Another pro-bono job that I do is the CASA Gala in Richmond. CASA serves Madison and Clark counties by advocating for neglected kids in court. I also had the pleasure of working with Stephanie Collinsworth Diaj, an old friend from Powell County, whom I charged a cold Ale-8 One in a tall bottle for working the event.
My good bubby Kevin Osbourn and I at the Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C.
during Honor Flight Kentucky in September.
I've been working the Alltech ONE Conference with Donna Maloney for several years. A fun fact about Donna is that she used to serve as an administrative assistant in the White House for LBJ. When he chose not to seek the Democratic nomination for president in March of 1968, it was Donna who dictated his typed speech, as another person typed it into the teleprompter for the national television address later that evening. I get to work with so many interesting people.
I ran into Taylor Kennon while doing work for Transylvania University back in the spring. Taylor's parents Jared
and Julie Kennon are lifelong friends of mine.
I graduated the year-long Leadership Madison County program this summer.
I randomly sat next to a woman named Ashley Hawkins on the airplane during Kentucky's first all-female Honor Flight in June. I was used to hearing men talk about war, but it was odd hearing two women talk about being 50-cal gunners in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it made sense because that was the first time women were active in combat. Hawkins was the first woman in U.S. history to receive the bronze star for valor, that came from a 2005 battle in Iraq, known as the Palm Sunday Ambush.
You know the Alltech ONE Conference is a top-shelf event when I hire "The Mark Cornelison" as a second shooter.
Agriculture journalist Chuck Zimmerman at the Alltech ONE Conference.
My son Nolan got to visit Spurlock Station, East Kentucky Power's Maysville power plant, and help me carry equipment in November.
Photographer Ed Roller at the Alltech ONE Conference. Ed's day-job is at Murphy's Camera in Lexington. He and I go way back.
One of my sons, who will remain anonymous, was arguing with me one day in September about the first name of Kentucky's senate president. I ran into Senator Robert Stivers later that evening at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's Annual Meeting in Louisville and thought this would be a great way to prove I was right, HA!
In Louisville with my two favorite magazine editors, Anita Travis Richter and Shannon Brock of Kentucky Living Magazine, above. Anita, below, is ready to retire in a few days. She and I have been working together for more than 18 years. She's a dandy! I'm going to miss working with her.
*As an editor's note, if you notice the carpet in some of these photos you'll figure out that I'm at the Louisville Downtown Marriott several times a year. It's a great place to host an event.
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Then, come July 1st, the corporate world goes on vacation, and so do I. August is usually busy with back-to-school stuff with the universities, and I see the same trend as in January. It takes the Tuesday after Labor Day for them to wake up and realize that summer is over and the kids are back in school, and it's time to get started on projects again. It slows down in November, just in time for me to go deer hunting, but then comes back with a vengeance in December. It then becomes a race to get as much work done as possible before Christmas. In December, I'm back to several jobs a day until December 20th, and then it dies off again for the holidays.
I'm going to do a few blog posts on some of the work from this year's Salad Days, which I was glad to see, because it was the first normal season that I had had since the pandemic hit.
Today's post is from the two Honor Flights that I went on this summer to Washington DC. The first one in June was extra special because it was the first-ever all female flight from Kentucky. It was so neat to meet women like Ashley Hawkins, who was the first woman in U.S. Army history to receive the bronze star for valor, that came from a 2005 battle in Iraq, known as the Palm Sunday Ambush. And then seeing so much emotion from the MASH nurses from the Vietnam era lay a wreath at the Women's Vietnam Memorial. It's always a pleasure to go on the honor flights each year.
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Then, come July 1st, the corporate world goes on vacation, and so do I. August is usually busy with back-to-school stuff with the universities, and I see the same trend as in January. It takes the Tuesday after Labor Day for them to wake up and realize that summer is over and the kids are back in school, and it's time to get started on projects again. It slows down in November, just in time for me to go deer hunting, but then comes back with a vengeance in December. It then becomes a race to get as much work done as possible before Christmas. In December, I'm back to several jobs a day until December 20th, and then it dies off again for the holidays.
I'm going to do a few blog posts on some of the work from this year's Salad Days, which I was glad to see, because it was the first normal season that I had had since the pandemic hit.
Today's post is from the Washington Youth Tour. Washington DC is one of my favorite places to visit. I guess that's the history buff coming out in me. The Washington Youth Tour is a national program where high school juniors from electric cooperatives from all over the country go to Washington DC for a week. I ride up with them and spend the week. My main job is to produce 22 magazine covers for Kentucky Living Magazine. And, every now and then they let me volunteer as a tour guide and share all of my pointless information about DC. Being a DC tour guide is my dream retirement job. One of my favorite parts of the Youth Tour is being at the Vietnam War Memorial on Fathers Day. They line the entire wall from end to end with single roses. It's very moving!
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Then, come July 1st, the corporate world goes on vacation, and so do I. August is usually busy with back-to-school stuff with the universities, and I see the same trend as in January. It takes the Tuesday after Labor Day for them to wake up and realize that summer is over and the kids are back in school, and it's time to get started on projects again. It slows down in November, just in time for me to go deer hunting, but then comes back with a vengeance in December. It then becomes a race to get as much work done as possible before Christmas. In December, I'm back to several jobs a day until December 20th, and then it dies off again for the holidays.
I'm going to do a few blog posts on some of the work from this year's Salad Days, which I was glad to see, because it was the first normal season that I had had since the pandemic hit.
Today's post is from work that I did at Transylvania University in Lexington this spring and summer. I can safely say summer because Transy's commencement ceremony is always over Memorial Day weekend, a little later than some of the other universities and colleges. This is a combination of some classroom stock work and commencement. I was really happy that I was able to also do some photographs of Taylor Kennon, who graduated in May. His parents, Jared and Julie Kennon are life-long friends of mine, going all the way back to Clay City Elementary in the late 70s and early 80s. Once again, I love when life comes full-circle.
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Then, come July 1st, the corporate world goes on vacation, and so do I. August is usually busy with back-to-school stuff with the universities, and I see the same trend as in January. It takes the Tuesday after Labor Day for them to wake up and realize that summer is over and the kids are back in school, and it's time to get started on projects again. It slows down in November, just in time for me to go deer hunting, but then comes back with a vengeance in December. It then becomes a race to get as much work done as possible before Christmas. In December, I'm back to several jobs a day until December 20th, and then it dies off again for the holidays.
I'm going to do a few blog posts on some of the work from this year's Salad Days, which I was glad to see, because it was the first normal season that I had had since the pandemic hit.
Today's post will be some work that I did with Alltech. I've been working their symposium and ONE Conference since 2004. I also did some social media work this spring for their dietary supplement Acutia.
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I got to go this morning and see the photos for the first time since they were hung on the walls a few days ago.
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One of the best ways to get better at photography is to study other photographer's work, especially the great ones, even if they don't do the same type of work that you do. I used to stand in the grocery store dissecting fashion magazines just to pick up on lighting techniques. I began the habit of studying other photographers back in the early 1990s when I was still up to my elbows in chemicals and the darkroom process, while working as a newspaper photographer for The Clay City Times. I would pour over The Lexington Herald-Leader while eating lunch each day, studying the work of photographers like Charles Bertram, Ron Garrison, Mark Cornelison, David Stephenson, Frank Anderson, and David Perry. I would later become good friends with all these guys, but at the time, I knew each one based on their style of photography.
Although Ansel Adams is somewhat of a cliche today, I can honestly say I have learned more by studying him than anyone else, with former University of Kentucky yearbook photographer and National Geographic phenom Sam Abell as a close second. I never did a great deal of landscape photography but I always admired Adams for being a pioneer and I consider him the father of modern-day photography. He legitimized photography with his previsualization and use of the zone system that he created. I like to think that he created the foundations of Photoshop decades before it was ever a thing. He also inspired a lot of the photography that I did on three hiking trips to the Grand Canyon between 1996-1999.
As odd as this may sound, I also learned a few corporate photography tips from Mr. Adams. Which sounds weird, because he's so well known for his landscape photography, few people realize that he did a lot of corporate work as well. It was actually a lot of the corporate photography paying the bills that allowed him to invest so much time in the vast landscape and environmental projects that he took on in the early part of the 20th Century. I fell in love with his autobiography and have read it several times. One of my favorite pieces of advice from that book is to never go on a business lunch with an empty stomach because the client may try to get you drunk and bargain the price. Adams would always eat buttered bread before such meetings to coat his stomach. I also learned how the pressure of being self employed and the fact that photography of any nature is a seven-day-a-week gig and can take it's toll on your body, because at one point Adams was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown.
As much as I had read and poured over the work of Ansel Adams, it was in 2002 that his work totally changed my life. Ironically, my father, who was the one who introduced me to the photographic life in 1978, called me one night and said there is a really good PBS documentary on Ansel Adams playing on KET and I think you would really enjoy it. Just like in 1978, my Dad had no way of knowing the impact that that conversation would have on me. I went on to watch that documentary no less than fifty times. I used to watch it over and over, picking up something new each time. And the documentary's soundtrack had an even bigger impact on my life. I can honestly say that if iTunes hadn't come around when it did that I would have easily worn out my copy of the soundtrack CD. I suffer from panic attacks and high blood pressure, and if I'm ever "stroking out," the Ansel Adams soundtrack can always calm me down. I like to think of it as musical Xanax.
In 2012, I got to check off a major piece on my bucket list when I visited the Ansel Adams Gallery, where he processed much of his major works during his hay-day in Yosemite National Park. I not only got to spend time in the building where Ansel Adams actually worked and built his career, but I was also able to buy a couple of his prints for my office.
I would be remiss to do a post like this without saying which Ansel Adams photo is my favorite. I'll start with my second favorite, which is the photo of Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox taken in 1937 at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. I love that photo because it captured such a beautiful behind-the-scenes moment with his fellow artists. I have devoted an entire gallery on my website portfolio titled "Snappers" to that very thing, behind-the-scenes moments with my cohorts.
So. Drumroll please. My favorite Ansel Adams photo is his 1941 image titled "Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico." My reason for loving it isn't because it's one of his most famous prints, it's because of the brilliance behind it. For the man who meticulously calculated all of his photographs, this one was done on the fly. He didn't have time to calculate the light, because the sun was dropping fast, and he was about to lose the light on the crosses in the graveyard, so he quickly set up his camera, and created it based on instinct alone. Remarkably, he was able to read the light! This matters to me because my first camera in third grade was an old Agfa viewfinder camera that had no light meter, and my Dad unknowingly gave me the greatest gift that he could've ever given me, even though it was years before my time...he taught me how to read light because the camera itself was incapable of calculating the light for me. That's why I relate to that photo so much!
Some things are just meant to come from the heart.
R.I.P. Mr. Adams.
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I got to visit the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park in 2012.
Adams' autobiography served as a huge inspiration to my career.
The 2002 Ansel Adams documentary and soundtrack were truly life-changing to me.
"Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico" was so inspirational to me because it reminded me of how my father taught me to read light when I first started in photography in 1978.
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Joetta Tipton, seen here at her retirement party in 2003, was the administrative assistant and the glue that held our office together. I owe her a great deal of thanks because she was the one who introduced Natalie and I to her granddaughter's baby sitter when Natalie was pregnant with our oldest son Nolan in 1997. We made one phone call and that was it. Daycare was never an issue with us. The same baby sitter and her husband achieved grandparent status in our family by keeping all three of our kids over a period of 11 years.
It was during my time at Eastern that I started collecting photography books and old cameras. I became like the Statue of Liberty for old cameras because people would show up in my office with old cameras to give me.
Hiding out in my ultra-cool darkroom that Kodak designed when the building was constructed in 1969 was the highlight of my days. It's so funny that darkrooms and the chemical process are now back in vogue. But, I've been there done that. Time to move on. I'm satisfied to be an old man using Lightroom.
Karen Lynn joined our staff in September of 2000, and quickly became one of my best friends. I always said that Karen was like the Cal Ripken Jr. of our office because she could do just about anything. She was so versatile. She could write, do photography, and graphic design. I used to joke and say that all you had to do was give Karen a roll of aluminum foil and the internet and she could build you a rocket ship the moon.
Shortly after Natalie graduated Morehead State in 1995 she hired on at Eastern at the ripe old age of 21, which worked out really well because we had the same work schedule and holidays. She eventually moved over to the student life office and was over student organizations and programed all the fun stuff for New Student Days. Above, she is seen in her office in the Powell Building in August 2001, and with the band Rascal Flatts who was on campus for a concert in April 2002, leaning on a column at the Powell Building during New Student Days in August 2001.
Below, Natalie and I both worked on the day of the 9-11 attacks. The University cancelled classes that morning as a show of respect, but also so that students and faculty could watch it as it all unfolded on the news. They put several large screen TVs in the student center of the Powell Building so that the university community could come together, and they fed them pizza as we all watched the news, trying to process what was going on. Although all we were doing was taking photos and serving pizza, she and I both understood that we were witnessing history as 9-11 was the Pearl Harbor and the JFK of our generation.
If you've ever seen the movie WE ARE MARSHALL then you're looking at the real life Jack Lingyel, right, who was played by Matthew McConaughey. Lingyel came out of retirement in 2001 to serve as Eastern's athletic director, which coincided with coach Roy Kidd's 300th victory and retirement. The two are seen here at the Oregon State game August 2002, Corvallis, Oregon.
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Ami Piccirrilli was my last director at Eastern. I really didn't get a chance to work with Ami all that long before leaving, but it's funny how so many things come full circle. I hadn't talked to Ami much since 2003, other than on Facebook. But then, when I went out of business at the height of the Covid pandemic in March of 2020, it was Ami, who is now working in marketing at UK Healthcare, who called me out of the blue in April, and gave me my first assignment, post-Covid, when I needed it most. Ami unknowingly, literally helped resurrect my business from the ashes of unemployment.
I now photograph all of her provider portraits for the pharmacy division of the UK Chandler Medical Center. She always brings her laptop to work on stuff when we have photo shoots, but we usually sit around as we wait on people to show up and shoot the bull, and she doesn't get much work done. But...life is short. Why answer emails when you can catch up on things (just don't tell UK). It goes to show, don't ever write anyone off in your life, you never know when they'll be there to lend a helping hand.
I've really debated on whether I would show this photo and talk about the life-altering story behind it. I'm a man of faith and I don't like throwing anyone under the bus, and I'm a big believer that we're all a "work-in-progress" in God's eyes. But, ultimately, this one photo, and this one singular moment in time, changed my life forever. I appreciate history for the sake of history, regardless of whether it's good or bad, because it'll always be history.
At precisely 5:36 P.M. on November 18, 2003, the wrath of EKU President Joann Glasser caught up with me. And it was at that exact moment, that I knew with absolute certainty that my time at Eastern Kentucky University was over. A lot of good people had left Eastern because of Joann Glasser, and in the blink of an eye I joined that illustrious crowd. I waited until the next morning to resign, but I knew, even with three young children at home, that I would go work at Walmart if I had to, but either way, I was moving on with my career. It turned out that I was able to stay on a couple of more months, because I didn't want to be unemployed at Christmas, and I really wanted to make sure my wonder-student Chris Radcliffe, who graduated in December 2003, would get my job. And he did. Once again, the rest is history!
Like the old saying goes...the more things change the more they stay the same. My first official job as a freelancer with Tim Webb Photography was to go back on campus and photograph a major electrical outage for the Lexington Herald-Leader, that forced the University to put kids up in local motels during cold temperatures.
I want to end this post in a positive light. Working at EKU was the greatest thing that ever happened to my professional career. It brought me back to my alma mater and to Richmond, where I have lived for over 26 years. I love this photo because the building behind my right elbow was the Donovan Annex Building, which was the building where I earned my journalism degree. And the building directly behind it, near the edge of the photo is the Donovan Building that houses Model Laboratory School, where all three of my kids attended pre-k through 12.
By the time my daughter Laura started pre-k in 2007 they had moved her classroom into the old Eastern Progress office. Her little backpack locker was about 10 feet from where my photo cabinet was when I was Photo Editor my senior year in the Fall of 1991. Literally, her educational career began in the same spot where mine ended. Things really do come full circle if you wait long enough.
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]]>My very first student was a young lady from Hindman, Kentucky named Shannon Ratliff. I owe Shannon a great deal of gratitude because when she started working with me in early 1995, I had no clue what I was doing, and was working way above my pay grade. But we made a good team and we were patient with each other as we figured things out.
My next student was a fine arts student named Richard Garland. I just thought I was a bonafide Pink Floyd fan until I met Richard. He was a very worthy music fan and a good photographer. Richard came back to EKU and now works for the library. It was also funny how one student would lead to other students. Richard introduced me to Hannah Trustee, who replaced him and worked with me for a while. Hannah completed a really nice photo essay on Eastern Kentucky that went toward her thesis while working for me.
Every now and then you get to experience a defining moment in your life, the type of moment that creates shock waves for decades to come. One day in 1996, a very confident ginger named Brenda Ahearn walked into my office and proudly declared, "I have my Daddy's camera equipment and I want to be a photographer!" I was having a bad day and thought... "Sure you do!" I told her that my two paid positions were currently taken. She quickly informed me that she would be happy to volunteer. And she did. She had the most incredible work ethic that I had ever seen. I usually showed up to work around 8:20 each morning and Brenda had already been there for an hour, filing negatives or whatever needed to be done. Brenda was a rare breed who never questioned anything that I asked her to do. She would knock you down to answer the phone on the first ring because she said her father always told her it was good business to answer the phone on the first ring. It didn't take long for my two paid positions to weed themselves out, which opened up their spots for Brenda. And as they say, the rest is history, because Brenda overcame many obstacles in pursuit of her dream of becoming a photographer. She graduated in 1998 and went on to a phenomenal career in photography. Life has come full circle for Brenda. Her first job was the University Photographer at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Then she worked for several newspapers all across the country, and is now once again a university photographer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
I finally learned that the best photographers were the ones who sought me out. The ones that I recruited never seemed to work out. I took it as a God-thing and would just let the Good Lord send people to me. Somewhere around 2001 or 2002, a kid from Mount Sterling emailed me saying he was leaving Western Kentucky University's photojournalism program to come to Eastern, which was unheard of. He said he felt like he was just a number at Western. I told him how myself, along with Mark Cornelison and Rob Carr had come out of Eastern and succeeded when Eastern truly didn't have a photo program to speak of. But, I told him Eastern would give him one thing and that was opportunity. Opportunity to be a Big Fish in a very small pond. Me, Corn, and Carr were all examples of what hard work and perseverance could do for you at a place like Eastern. Kevin took my advice, transferred, and worked for me, The Eastern Progress and the Lexington Herald-Leader. Kevin took some criticism for leaving Western, but he proved his critics wrong by going on to get a masters in photojournalism from Ohio University, served on the board of the National Press Photographers Association, and eventually worked at newspapers in Boston, Augusta, Baton Rouge, San Antonio, Knoxville, The Associated Press, and is currently freezing to death as the Visuals Editor at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, where he was recently named the national visuals editor of the year.
I wish I had thought to take a picture of my student photographer Luke Ramsey on the morning of September 11, 2001, as we sat in my office editing photos while watching the events of 911 take place on a little black and white TV that I kept in my office. Whenever Luke and I see each other today, we both talk about how seeing each other reminds the other one of that Tuesday morning, and watching the second plane hit the South Tower on that little fuzzy black and white television.
Much like with Brenda years earlier, I had another life-altering moment while shooting homecoming portraits on October 1, 2001. My wife Natalie had already told me about a guy named Chris Radcliffe who worked for her at the Information Desk in the Powell Building. She said, "He is a real sweetie and if I could bottle him up and save him for a daughter someday, I would. He's also really interested in photography." As I was sitting in Conference Room C of the Powell Building that evening, bored out of my mind, waiting for homecoming contestants to trickle in for their portrait, I kept noticing this guy walking by really slow, checking out my studio lights. After his third pass-by I told him to come and talk to me. Once again, the rest is history! Chris was my longest tenured student, and he eventually got the University Photographer's position when I left in early 2004. Ironically, I had the job nine years and two months, and Chris was in the job nine years and five months. Just like with Brenda, I'm proud that I was able to give him a start, but he has since then blazed his own trail, having become a lighting guru and what I would consider an expert in Lightroom. After leaving Eastern, Chris has created a very successful freelance business that has literally taken him around the world.
Finally, my last student photographer who was there to help me turn out the lights on my last day was a guy named Chuck Vance. Chuck was the second student who influenced my music tastes when he unknowingly introduced me to a little indie band called Guster. Most people have never heard of Guster but they made a huge impact on me when I reached mid-life and was looking for something new to listen to. Chuck now goes by Charlie and is a CEO in northern Kentucky.
I was blessed to have some great talent to work with in my nine years at Eastern, and I like to think that I had a positive impact on them as well. Or at least I hope I did.
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Shannon Ratliff covering EKU Baseball, Spring 1996
I did a portrait with Chris and Brenda in the studio in February 2003, when Brenda came back to Kentucky for her mother's funeral.
Brenda and I, Summer 2018. She always comes to see me when she's back in Kentucky. I'm proud to have always been her mentor, her impromptu father at times, and always a trusted friend. I don't talk to her often, but when we do talk we never hang up the phone without saying "I love You!" It's just that kind of enduring friendship! She still calls me "Boss Man" to this day.
Brenda holds her Dad's original Canon camera that brought her into my office in 1996, along with a
copy of Time Magazine from 2016 with one of her photos inside.
Chris Radcliffe was Sigma Chi president while he worked for me, and now my son Cameron is the current Sigma Chi president. I love how things come full-circle. The great thing about having students come and go like a revolving door was they kept me young, not only in how they dressed but also with music. Chris introduced me to the music of Ben Folds. Our running joke is I used to make fun of the shoes that he wore, only to turn around and buy the same shoes a year later. In many ways, Chris was ahead of his time...well, maybe he was just ahead of my time.
Natalie always wanted to bottle Chris up and keep him for our daughter Laura, who was a newborn at the time!
Sometimes I could con Chris into being a model for stock photos.
Even after I left EKU and moved onto the freelance world, Chris and I continued to work together. We made several trips across Kentucky, including a couple of magazine assignments to the Red River Gorge, Wise, Virginia, and my family farm in Carter County, above.
When Chris worked for me he and Nolan would argue over who actually owned a Sponge Bob Square Pants stuffed animal that I kept there for Nolan. A few years later Chris took this really cool remote-fired photo of all three of us with a camera mounted behind the basket in Alumni Coliseum.
Richard Garland...the man, the myth, the legend!
Kevin Martin covering EKU Football Media Day, August 6, 2002.
Kevin, seen here with Eastern Progress adviser Dr. Libby Fraas, in April 2003. This photo meant a lot to me because Doc, as everyone called her, was not only one of my former advisers, but she was also a good friend and my greatest mentor. She could be a real ball-buster when she needed to be. And believe me, if you were one of her editors and you missed deadline she would dock your pay in a heartbeat. And when you only made $45 a week, that really cut into your beer-budget for the week. Anyone of us who came out of The Eastern Progress was well prepared to work at any newspaper in the country thanks to Doc. This photo meant a lot to me because Kevin was attending from the "University of Doc" the same as I had 12 years earlier.
In May 2009 the four "Big Fishes" from Eastern Kentucky University and former photo editors of The Eastern Progress, Kevin Martin, myself, Mark Cornelison, and Rob Carr worked the Kentucky Derby together. (Never mind the fact that Corn has a spire growing out of his head!)
I held a rare staff meeting with my student photographers on October 21, 2003. Little did I know at the time, that three months later I would be turning over the reigns to Chris Radcliffe, who is seen in the bottom left corner with his Nokia phone. It's also interesting to see the evolution of my office decor over time. It was such a great office to work in each day!
Chuck Vance, center, walking across campus at Horny Corner. Student's today don't have a clue where Horny Corner is located because the center of campus has changed so much.
Chuck posing with Amber Jones (Kennoy), who is now with WKYT Channel 27, for stock photos in the library, March 2003.
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I graduated EKU on December 12, 1992, with a degree in Journalism. After graduation, I went back to my hometown in Clay City and worked for my hometown newspaper, The Clay City Times. I came back to work for my alma mater almost two years to the day later on December 1, 1994. I was like a kid in a candy store working in a darkroom and office that was designed by Kodak in 1969 when the Jones Building was constructed.
My time at EKU totally shaped my career as a photographer because I went into the job as a boy and came out as a man, several hundred thousand photos later. I left EKU on January 23, 2004, and dove head-first into my own business as a freelance photographer. I will always love Eastern Kentucky University as both a former student and a former employee, and I will always appreciate the opportunity that Kentucky's school of opportunity gave me.
My first digital picture with an SLR camera came at 9:02 A.M. on August 2, 2001. I was unpacking and setting up my brand new Nikon D1X digital camera when our graphic designer Don Rist came through to get his morning coffee and stopped for a photo. Sadly, Don past away just a few months ago.
My second picture, a few minutes later, was of my computer desk in my office.
Jerry Wallace was the writer and the walking rock-n-roll encyclopedia in the office.
Our director Ron Harrell on the phone in his office.
Jerry and I got to travel with the football team to Oregon State University in 2002. We got up early the day of the game and visited the Oregon coastline.
I had yet to master the art of the selfie in 2002.
A mere shadow of myself covering the 2003 homecoming parade.
I decided not to shoot the Three Doors Down concert in April 2003, and instead sat next to another co-worker from our office Karen Lynn.
My former editor at The Eastern Progress and roommate in Frankfort during the spring semester of 1992, Terry Sebastian. Terry was back on campus in 2002 as Gov. Paul Patton's Press Secretary.
Jerry and I helping to plant a tree in front of the Cammack Building.
I was really active with the University Photographer's Association of America, seen here at our annual symposium
at Kent State with a side trip to Cleveland and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. I brought the symposium to EKU the following year.
It's funny to think about now, but with one leg still in film and one leg in digital, I really was a pioneer in the Digital Revolution. I literally kept a film camera, left, and a digital camera, right, in my bag for a while in 2001. Where I started in photography at such a young age, I still have more time with film & chemicals, 23 years, than I do digital, 20 years.
I always wanted to do a coffee table book on the best bathrooms on campus. My personal favorite was the men's restroom
in the Burrier Building because that building had the Home Ec classes and was full of girls, which meant the
men's room was always open.
I got to meet the venerable White House Correspondent Hellen Thomas in May 2002. She gave the best commencement address that I ever heard while at EKU.
My last official photo as EKU's University Photographer was of chemistry professor Tom Otieno on January 22, 2004.
The following day was my last day. Ironically, our two sons Chris and Cameron would go on years later to become best friends.
It all comes full-circle!
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Yesterday, shortly after the UK bowl game against Iowa started, the tornado sirens went off and within a few minutes this funnel cloud formed within a mile of my house here in Richmond. Shortly after I shot this video it transformed from a funnel cloud into an EF-1 tornado that hit Union City and other parts of northeastern Madison County.
One of my greatest photography mentors is Sam Abell, who grew up in Ohio, but had family from LaRue County Kentucky. Sam left Ohio and came to the University of Kentucky in 1967 and produced the greatest two-volume yearbook that the university has ever seen. In 1970, the year I was born, he landed with National Geographic and went on to lay the roots of a phenomenal career in photography. His 2002 book The Photographic Life inspired me to leave my position as EKU's University Photographer and pursue a career on my own. In that book, Abell talks about the influence that his Dad had on him as a young photographer. Our stories are similar in that both of our fathers peaked our interest early in life with make-shift darkrooms in our homes. In the book, Abell also talks about the basic photographic concepts that his father shared with him, one of which, is that bad weather makes good pictures.
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I have no idea of how many total stories I've shot for Kentucky Living over the years, other than a lot, because most weren't cover stories. Just know, there's something special about a cover photo! And as I count the 75, I'm not including those from the Washington Youth Tour, because I've done several hundred of those covers since 2009, and they're in their own little category. The 75 are true statewide covers, with the first one coming in July 1992.
It came from an article that I wrote for Dr. Liz Hansen's Magazine Writing class at Eastern Kentucky University in the fall of 1991, about a volunteer rescue team in the Red River Gorge in my home of Powell County. Then Kentucky Living editor Gary Luhr spoke to our class one day that fall and Dr. Hansen suggested that I pitch my story to him. After class, I stood in the back of the room on shaky knees and gave him my spill as a college student who didn't have a lot of confidence at the time. I wish I knew the date because I'm a historian at heart and it turned out to be such a milestone in my life. Gary liked it and told me he would pay me $200 for the story and photos...if I could provide them. I was thinking, "Well hell-yeah I can provide photos!" I was scared to death a few weeks later as I repelled over a cliff in the Red River Gorge to get the said photos, but I wasn't going to pass up my big opportunity to get published in a real-live magazine.
And the rest is history.
We did the shoot early in the spring of 1992 and the magazine cover ran a few months later in July 1992. I was on Cloud 9 when the magazine came in the mail. Along with my parents, I showed it to anyone who would look at it! Forget the $200. I was actually published in a magazine. My dreams had come true! Later that summer, I put the $200 toward my wife's engagement ring.
I photographed several more stories for Kentucky Living in the early 1990s, but it wasn't until I had given my notice and was resigning my job as University Photographer at EKU in December 2003 that the magazine's editor at the time called me one day out of the blue. His name was Paul Wesslund. It truly was a God-moment because I knew in my heart that it was time for me to leave EKU, as great as it had been, but I had no earthly idea how I was going to make a living as a freelance photographer and support my family of a wife and three young kids. So when Paul called and asked me to shoot a cover story on the All-A Classic basketball tournament that was held annually at EKU, I did a little happy dance while I was talking to him on the phone, trying to maintain a sense of coolness and calm. Even though my insides were turning to jelly, I still had to maintain a sense of professionalism, HA!
Paul Wesslund has since moved on to the greener pastures of retirement, but I can honestly say that the staff of Kentucky Living, at any point of my tenure with them has always set the bar for journalistic excellence. The irony of that is, technically, they're a PR magazine, but they have always been the epitome of sound community journalism and cutting-edge design. Editor Anita Travis, Managing Editor Shannon Brock, and their three designers, Katy Hurt, Kacey Harmeling, and Jessica Hawkins continue to set the bar so high!
Who knows. Maybe I'm making too much out of all of this. If I'm lucky I'll make it to 100 cover photos someday. One of my mentors is the great Annie Lebovitz, who spent her career churning out cover photos for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. If I had studied algebra in high school the way I've studied the photographic work of Annie Lebovitz I'd be a freaking rocket scientist! I'm no Annie Lebovitz. But I'll always appreciate the importance of a good cover photo.
November 2021
July 1992
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We were truly blessed to have him in our lives for 73 years. I took this photo of his shadow a few months before he died on one of his last visits to my house in Richmond. I knew exactly what I was doing when I took it because I knew the inevitable was somewhere close in front of us. But I had no idea until after he died just how big that shadow really was. I miss you Dad.
I got to go up recently and do some shots of downtown Lexington with Officer Don. He was a super nice guy. It was the only time that I've never gotten sick, which means he was either a really good pilot or I'm getting better at it. Or both.
After retiring from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Tim created a cooking show called Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen, along with his wife Nicki and their daughter Kelli Kinman, who is a videographer and editor for the show. The Emmy-nominated show is about cooking, farming, canning, gardening and smoking and preparing meats, and, like Kentucky Afield has risen to the top of KET’s most popular shows.
I had a chance back in April to photograph Tim and company as he "threw together" some fisherman's stew. It was amazing watching him work, while we exchanged stories, and then to actually sit down with him and eat a bowl. And yes, it was delicious.
It never gets lost on me at how lucky I am to meet the people I meet and go the places I go. God and camera have been very kind to me.
This past week I won my second Best of Show with the same organization, this time with a photo that I took for Kentucky Living Magazine of a breed of horses known as Curly Horses playing in the snow in Lawrenceburg in February of 2020. I guess it says something about patience and endurance, and that good things come to those who wait.
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A few notes about the shoot...
1. The bath tub was her idea. I told her about Annie Leibovitz's famous shot of Whoppie Goldberg in a bathtub of milk.
2. She didn't exactly get my humor, but I told her on the phone shot to say in a really hick accent, "Sarah, this is Andy can you get me Floyd?"
3. The old trunks in the attic were still full of clothes, shoes, and hats.
4. Casting her inside her own shadow in the mirror was a complete accident, although, I will take credit.
5. The dirty foot was also her idea. She said it was a good contrast to the lace.
6. The street photos are in Lexington on prom night with her best friend Paige. Both of these beautiful girls were unfortunately dateless and decided to go eat together in Lexington before the dance.
And...a few outtakes!
I called this project "The Faces of COVID." I kept the ground rules pretty simple with black and white on a black background. I used all available light with East Kentucky Power, but then I set up a studio for Baptist Health Richmond. East Kentucky Power will feature it in their upcoming annual report and Baptist Health printed 16x20 images and displayed them at their regional COVID vaccination center, and have plans to eventually make it a permanent display inside the hospital. This will make three permanent displays for me inside Baptist Richmond. They already have my 2009 Faces of Madison County photo essay hanging near the emergency room, and I have several Kentucky scenic photos hanging throughout the hospital as well.
To see the compete collection, please visit my portfolio.
Minus the two Polar Vortexes from 2014 and 2015, there just isn't much opportunity for good winter shots in Kentucky anymore.
It's only 45 minutes from driveway to driveway between here and my parent's house in Clay City, and I'm sure I missed a couple of days of going over there, but not many! Most of these pictures reflect the priceless two months that I got spend in my old house, getting to experience the dying process with my Dad, and offer what support I could to my mother.
I'm not going to explain every photo but here a few explanations from the top...getting in some beach time with my girls in Florida. Coming back home to do a little work, thank God, because work has been pretty scarce this year! One job took me to Fort Wayne, Indiana with LinkBelt cranes to set a bridge. Travelling during the COVID-era isn't what it used to be. All I can say is...don't pass up a rest area when travelling. I found a picture of an obviously-possessed baby hanging in my parent's bedroom! I took a picture of my feet one morning after spending the night at my parent's house. It seemed weird to be back there every day and night for the first time since 1993, even to the point that it seemed out of place for me to be back home in Richmond. If I was home, I felt like I needed to be back in Clay City. I love the photo that I took of Dad with Natalie and Mom in his bedroom. I came to realize that his good days were actually measured by his bad days, and the fact that he had a smile on his face made it a good day! A basket of rocks from our travels all over the country sits on the back of our commode and is my view when I pee everyday.
Cancer really does suck! Even our dog Slinky is dying of cancer right now. 2020 can't end fast enough for me! Dad's temporary grave marker in the Garvin Ridge Cemetery in Olive Hill is really close to a little boy's grave named Gary Carroll who died in 1949. My grandmother Jessie Bell used to take me to the cemetery when I was little and I always loved looking at his grave because he was a little boy like me. So I can't go to that cemetery without looking at his gravestone.
Lastly, my Dad worked for four different telephone companies starting in 1969 so he had the opportunity to collect several scissor and knife pouches that cable repairmen use during his career, and at the same time, when you deer hunt as many years as we have as a family, you have the opportunity to collect a lot of antlers.
Dad then gave me an old Agfa viewfinder camera that was 100 percent manual! There was no light meter. Just f-stops, shutter speeds, and a manual focus ring that taught me to judge the distance from the camera to the subject. And with that, Dad unknowingly gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life, he taught me how to read light. Of course, none of us thought anything about it at the time, but to a photographer light is everything!
We'd be driving down the road and he'd say, "Tim Bo, what's your camera settings for that house over there? I'd think about it and say something like, "f-8 at 250???" He'd say, "Yeah, that's pretty close." To make matters worse, he started me out on slide film, so I really did have to learn how to read light at a young age, or none of my photos would've ever turned out right.
Both of my parents supported me as I followed my dream of becoming a professional photographer. Ultimately, they gave me the one thing that no one will ever be able to take away from me...an education!
The photos above are of the Agfa camera that's now in my office, the flooded barn that got it all started, and a photo from a few days later, which is undoubtedly the first photo that I ever took in my life, a photo of the man who introduced me to all of it, a picture of my Dad sitting on the couch in our den in Clay City, Kentucky, during the snowy winter of 1978.
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Here are a few images and a couple of behind-the-scenes videos of a shoot that I did for East Kentucky Power as we set up a storm scene with Clark Energy linemen Richard Steele and Chad Cline in Winchester a couple of weeks ago. Wet pavement at night always makes for good reflections. I used some yellow and orange gels to play off the caution lights on the truck, and the Good Lord tossed in a few ominous clouds for good measure!
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Here is the cover story that I photographed for the June 2020 Kentucky Living Magazine.
The wedding was supposed to be in a perfect circle that was mowed out of a hay field at my grandparent's house, with Nolan and Kelsie standing in the middle of the circle, while their family was socially-distanced around them. Because of a couple of rainstorms at the last minute we had to move it a half mile up the road to the church. We were thankful and blessed that we had a solid backup plan. The church worked out beautifully, but we weren't prepared to go there on the fly, so Natalie and I wound up getting ready, literally about 30 minutes before the wedding started, and both of us were drenched! At the end of the day, it all worked out great, and I now have a daughter-in-law! #itheewebb
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Here are a few images of the work I was doing for East Kentucky Power when the world turned upside down. I had been documenting a large overhaul at their Spurlock Station Power Plant in Maysville and a series of environmental portraits of their brand ambassadors.
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Here are a few shots of St. Henry winning the All-A Classic in January, and Franklin County taking the 11th Region over Scott County a couple of weeks ago...you know, back when life was still normal.
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Natalie and I took the family on a Caribbean Cruise over Christmas break. We got to see a so many beautiful places, while we were in the Dominican Republic, Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk. San Juan in Puerto Rico was my favorite place because the street scenes were beautiful. We came off the ship and went to Disney for a few days, while we were waiting on WWIII with Iran, and COVID-19 had not made the news yet!
Day 1: Antelope Canyon, June 2001. I've been fortunate to photograph the American Southwest several times. The slot canyons of Page, Arizona are one of my favorites. You're walking out in the middle of the desert and then drop down into a hole in the ground. The color and light are awesome.
Day 2: Yosemite National Park, July 2012. While our family was on a 30-day RV trip across the northern part of the United States, Natalie Webb and I detached the van took a quick side trip to Yosemite. I've always been a huge fan of Ansel Adams, so going to visit his studio in Yosemite was definitely a bucket list trip. We were there in the middle of the day, and the light was horrible on most of the places that Adams made famous, but as we were leaving the park that evening I found this really cool sunset shot. I hope to make it back and spend more time there in the future.
Day 3: Torrent Falls, Wolfe County, February 26, 1989. This one goes way back. This was one of the first good photos that I ever took, or that I at least considered a wall hanger. I was shooting pictures for my photography class at Georgetown College, and everything on the contact sheet for this roll of film (for those of you born after 1995, feel free to look up what film is on Wikipedia) was junk, either over exposed or underexposed. But there was this one good picture in the middle of the roll. I was like, "Holy Crap! How did that get there?" Torrent Falls forms a really cool ice-wall several feet tall when the temperatures drop below freezing for several days. I shot it from behind the falls. I remember the exact date because later that night I went to Rupp Arena and saw Bon Jovi in concert. With words like Bon Jovi and film, I've really dated myself.
Day 4: Indian Shores, Florida, July 7, 2006. When ever a thunderstorm rolls in on your beach vacation, there's only one thing to do...go inside and take a nap! But, before nap time, I hung out with the pelicans and grabbed few shots as this storm was coming in across the water.
Day 5: Grand Canyon, Arizona, March 1996. One of the highlights of my life was three backpacking trips to the Grand Canyon during the mid-1990s. They were sponsored as EKU wellness trips and lead by former EKU professor Wayne Jennings. We would drop over on Sunday morning smelling good, and hike back out Thursday, stinking really bad. My Dad went with me on the first trip in 1996. Mom and Dad both made the second trip in 1997. Natalie Webb was set to go in 1997, but was pregnant with our first child Nolan Webb. All four of us made the third trip in 1999, as Dad and I went rim to rim that year. I'm very proud to say that I've hiked over 100 miles in the Grand Canyon. But the best part of all, was making and meeting a lot of life-long friends from the group of people that went on these trips.
This was one of the first photos that I took actually down in the Canyon, along the South Kaibab Trail, March of 1996.
Day 6: Chimney Rock, Red River Gorge, August 8, 2004.
A nature photography challenge wouldn't be complete without a photo from the Red River Gorge. The funny thing is, I grew up not from there in Clay City but hardly ever went when I was younger. Then after I moved to Richmond I spent a few years going back and photographing it whenever I could. I shot that whole project on slide film, so technically it was the last time I ever used film. The last day I shot up there, April 21, 2006, I had half of a role left in my camera, so I decided to keep it instead of developing it, since I knew it would probably be my last roll of film ever, and it was.
One of the golden rules of nature photography is that bad weather makes for great pictures. I went to the Gorge one evening with my friends Chris Radcliffe and Karen Lynn. Right as we got on the Mountain Parkway it started raining. We went on and when it finally quit raining a big heavy fog set in. I shot it pretty hard, then packed up to go back to the car. Then out of nowhere, as the sun set, all of the white fog turned pink. It only lasted a few minutes, and I don't think I have ever unpacked my equipment as fast as I did that night because I knew it wouldn't last long.
Day 7: McGlone Creek, Carter County. I saved my favorite place for the last day. This is my farm in Carter County, where my Mom and her four brothers were raised (technically they lived up the road, but in my eyes it's all the same farm.) The little house is where my grandfather was raised, and is now my deer-hunting shack, where we stand around eating bologna sandwiches and Vienna Sausages, and laugh at the same old deer stories that we told last year, and the year before that. Somebody once commented that this picture reminded them of the Little House on the Prairie. I'll take that!
The second photo is actually on my uncle's portion of the farm, but it's good example of how a bad day deer hunting can always be salvaged with a photograph. I don't think I have ever been hunting without a camera.
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With all this talk about Pitino and the post-game crowd at Rupp this past Saturday, it reminds me of a photo that I took after the 2008 game. A fan in the student section came over to the rail, with his hand held out, like he wanted a high-five, and kept yelling, enthusiastically (as if he liked him), “Coach Pitino, Coach Pitino!” As Pitino walked by and held out his hand, the fan pulled his hand back and yelled, “Psych!”
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I used to do an on-going photo series called What Mankind Left Behind. The rules were it had to include things that were man made, abandoned, and once part of someone's livelihood. I even had a collection of it hanging in EKU's Library for several years. While I've gotten away from it, I saw something a few weeks ago on my way back home from Clay City along KY Hwy. 82 that I couldn't pass up. It was an old house that has been abandoned for several years, and it is finally starting to fall in. The front walls have fallen down, exposing some clothes that were hanging on the second floor, like they were put there yesterday. It's just another example of how time marches on, with or without us!
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Scott and Kyle Bottoms become the first father and son duo to officiate a Sweet 16 game together.
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My former high school classmate Donna Bliss Perkins, second from left, helped lead the Letcher County Central squad to third place in the medium category.
A selfie with Allan Hisle of First String Media.
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Joker got a warm welcome from his former players at the end of the game. ]]>
It all starts in the Louisville Airport early that morning, and ends about 14 hours later.
The reception at the Baltimore Washington International Airport is always a surprise for the vets.
Several of these active duty service men and women drove 12 hours from Ft. Gordon, near Augusta, Georgia, just to greet The Honor Flight vets as they got off the plane in Baltimore.
The whole day is a great experience. But the Homecoming Parade, with about 300 people in the concourse at the Louisville Airport, tops it all off. It's something that will make even the toughest of men cry. These, and all vets fight for a cause. The Homecoming Parade symbolizes what they fight for.
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Nolan volunteered his services by being a test subject for the light, and a pack mule for all my equipment.
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I saw one thing that really moved me. Seeing the Vietnam Memorial lined from end to end with roses on Father's Day was a touching sight. I also saw two things that I may never see again. The Washington Monument was totally encased with scaffolding, needed to make repairs from a 2011 earthquake. And the eternal flame at JFK's grave has been moved temporarily to repair the original copper lines that feed gas to it.
As a photographer who shoots with his big boy camera and lenses daily, it's good mental therapy to get away from them and use a my iPhone. I love the Hipstamatic app, and all the effects you can do with it. So everything on my sight-seeing-day was shot with my phone.
And of course the highlight of it all was Ken-Jah Bosley hitting the game-winning shot for Madison Central over Ballard, with 5.4 seconds to play in the championship game of the Boys Sweet 16. Sports photographers live for game winning shots like deer hunters long for trophy deer. I know, because I do both. I got off three frames on the now-famous shot, but the Ballard defenders blocked me out in all three. It was a classic example of being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Oh well...that's life.
I sat with Herald-Leader photographer Mark Cornelison during part of the Sweet 16. And we pondered the question of why we never hear the phrase anymore, "Let's take state." We never figured out why, but decided if we ever get back to state again, we're going to yell out, "Let's take state!!!"
Wrestling is by-far the most intense sport that I cover.
The winning coach always takes the plunge!!!
Joe and Denny can teach us all a lesson on perspective.
I went to Georgetown my freshman year of college to play baseball. While baseball for me was short-lived, it was still a great experience before I found my permanent home in Richmond, at EKU. While there, I had Happy Osborne as a PE teacher. I was really happy (no pun intended) to see the coach with so much personality and a national championship to boot, coaching on the high school level at the Sweet 16. I really loved this photo of him with his walker on the floor at Rupp, because of a fluke leg injury, working hard on Saturday night to get Montgomery County to the championship game on Sunday. They eventually lost to Ballard 59-55. After the game, I packed up my equipment and was heading home. As the Montgomery County bus rolled away in the background, there sat Happy on his little chair in the dim yellow light of the parking lot behind Rupp, waiting for his ride. I said, "Coach. I doubt you remember me, but I had you as a PE teacher at Georgetown in the Spring of 89." He said, "You got an A, didn't you?" I said, "Yep. I made my 6-minute mile on time." He said, "Well good." I said, "That was a good game tonight coach. Better luck next year."
That was not goal tending!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The shot that got away from me.
But I nailed his dumb-founded reaction a few seconds later.
I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to do a portrait session with Kentucky Nature Photographer Dean Hill at his studio in Moon, Kentucky, in Morgan County. Dean turned the wood from an old tobacco barn that was destroyed by last year's tornado, into a beautiful studio.
Photo by Dean Hill
Photo by Dean Hill
Photo by Dean Hill
An American Flag flaps in the wind on a bathtub pipe, on what's left of the of Jill Adams' house on Opossum Hollow Road in Menifee County. The flag was placed there by a Frenchburg Job Corps volunteer.
Tim Williams describes the 2012 tornado that hit rural Menifee County. Williams and his family survived their house being blown away by laying down in the house's crawl space.
The community of West Liberty took a direct hit at 5:51 on March 2, 2012. Although the town has a long way to go toward rebuilding, it has come a long way in a year's time. This photo was taken from behind the hospital, Thursday, February 28, 2013.
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Sports photography is all about action photos as teams compete, but the true challenge of sports photography is capturing peak action and the game changing moment. Sometimes that moment happens after the game, like this photo of Abby Stadtmiller of Bishop Brossart. Abby hit the game winning shot at the buzzer to beat Frankfort in the quarterfinal round of the Touchstone Energy All-A Classic, January 25, 2013, in Frankfort. It was by far the most compelling moment of the tournament. Abby was fouled hard during the shot, so she is shedding tears of joy and pain.]]>
Joe and his wife Cindy at home in Richmond
I’ve had the pleasure of documenting the Honor Flights the past three years for Touchstone Energy. The Honor Flight is a program that flies World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorials that honor them and their service to our country.
There were twenty-five veterans on this year’s trip, and their stories alone were enough to make any reality show on television today pale in comparison (not that reality TV needs any help looking stupid).
One particular vet from Louisville, witnessed not one but four nuclear bomb tests in the South Pacific aboard a Navy cruiser in 1951. They were positioned too close to the first detonation and his ship nearly capsized, while having his eye brows singed off during the blast.
Another vet served aboard the same U.S.S. Hornet that launched the Doolittle raids in February 1942. The Hornet was later sunk and he treaded water with a life jacket for 72 hours before he was rescued.
One of the best stories to come out of our trip to D.C. was with Charles Jackson Jr., a vet who now lives in Maysville, but who grew up in Fleming County. A Kentucky man named Frank Sousley helped raise the flag over Iwo Jima, and is immortalized in the famous photo by Joe Rosenthal and at the Marine Corp Memorial. Jackson graduated with Sousley from Fleming County High School in 1939 .
Many of these men never received a parade in honor of their service because they simply returned home in 1946 to places like Salt Lick, Louisville, Maysville, and Somerset, to pick up where life left off in 1941. That’s what makes this trip so special. These men saved the world but are now very feeble and vulnerable. Many of them won’t live to see Christmas. Thousands of WWII Veterans are now dying on a daily basis. I guess life comes full circle after a while. This trip is so special because this was their last hoo rah.
As I write this the week after Thanksgiving, getting the opportunity to share this trip is one of the things that I’m thankful for each year.
Passengers and local military are always there to greet us in the Baltimore Airport.
Each place that we go in Washington or Baltimore has it’s own set of volunteers called the ground crew who help.
This year we even had a police escort for the day.
Senator Bob Dole and his wife Elizabeth are usually at the WWII Memorial to greet veterans from all over the country.
The volunteers who go on the trip to help are called Guardians.
Charles Jackson Jr. in front of the Marine Corp Memorial. Kentucky native Frank Sousley
is second from left (carrying the rifle) on the memorial.
These guys love flirting with the airline attendants.
The men receive mail call from friends and family before landing back in Louisville.
The parade of several hundred people waiting on us in the concourse of the Louisville Airport is the highlight of the trip.
Archie Goodwin poses for photos with Photographer Clay Jackson of the Danville Advocate-Messenger,
during the UK Basketball Media day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Nerlens Noel poses for photos during the UK Basketball Media day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Nerlens Noel poses for photos during the UK Basketball Media day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Nerlens Noel poses for photos with Photographer James Crisp during the UK Basketball
Media day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Jon Hood
Julius Mays
Ryan Harrow
Kyle Wiltjer
Ryan Harrow & Kyle Wiltjer
Alex Poythress
Archie Goodwin
Jarrod Polson
Sam Malone
Newcomer Alex Poythress throws down a dunk between photos.
Newcomers Alex Poythress, left, Julius Mays, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, and Archie Goodwin, pose for photos during the UK Basketball Picture Day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Newcomers Alex Poythress, left, Julius Mays, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, and Archie Goodwin, pose for photos during the UK Basketball Picture Day at the Craft Center in Lexington.
Alex Poythress (22), left, Willie Cauley-Stein (15), Archie Goodwin (10), Julius Mays (34), and Nerlens Noel (3)
Julius Mays, left, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, and Archie Goodwin
Julius Mays, left, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein, Nerlens Noel, and Archie Goodwin
Chuck Franks celebrates with the Western mascot after beating UK 31-32 in Lexington.
Western's Antonio Andrews (5) and Andrew Jackson (4) run toward their fans after beating UK in overtime 32-31.
Terran Williams celebrates in the stands with the Western fans after beating UK 32-31.
Coach Willie Taggart hugs Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell after beating UK in Lexington, 32-31.
Coach Willie Taggart celebrates after beating UK in Lexington, 32-31.
Western's James Hervey yells to the Western crowd after beating UK 32-31, in overtime.
The Western players celebrated with fans after beating UK in Lexington, 32-31.
Arius Wright soaks in Western's 32-31 win over UK from the end zone at Commonwealth Stadium.
Western's Brett Harrington celebrates in the tunnel leading to the locker room after beating UK 32-31 in Commonwealth Stadium.
Western's Kawaun Jakes scores the winning two point conversion on a flea flicker pass from Antonio Andrews.
Western's Antonio Andrews scores the overtime touchdown that set up the winning two-point conversion against UK. Western won 32-31.
UK's DeMarcus Sweat ties the game 24-24, with 23 seconds, on a 22 yard pass from Maxwell Smith.
UK's DeMarcus Sweat celebrates in the end zone with Gene McCaskill after tying the game with 23 seconds against Western.
La 'Rod Kiing fights to stay in bounds against Western's Arius Wright on UK's last drive in regulation. Western won 32-31.
UK's Tyler Robinson is brought down by Western's Cody Lewis in the third quarter. Western beat UK 32-31.
Western's Antonio Andrews walks in the end zone past UK's Farrington Huguenin (91) and Avery Williamson (40) during the first half.
Western's Antonio Andrews walks in the end zone past for his second touchdown of the first half.
Western's Antonio Andrews celebrates in the end zone with Adam Smith, after scoring his second touchdown of the first half, putting Western ahead 17-0.
It was good seeing Walt Wells, Western's offensive line coach and running game coordinator, whom I'm first got to know when he was an assistant coach at Eastern under Roy Kidd.
You knew it was going to be a bad game when Maxwell Smith had three interceptions in the first half.
UK's Craig McIntosh kicks a field goal at the end of the first half against Western, making the score 17-10.
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A daughter never loves her Dad as much as she does the day that he packs a refrigerator up ten flights of stairs to her new dorm room. And Dad does it with a tired broken down back and tears in his eyes because his baby girl leaving home.
This young lady will have to wait a few years before Ole Dad packs a refrigerator up the stairs.
This year’s trip started in St. Louis, and Kansas City. From there we went north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Yosemite, Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we ended the trip once again at a Cardinals game in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visited. But in reality, I’m was just a tourist on this trip. So I did the best I could with the light that was in front of me.
U.S. Route 101 is one of the prettiest scenic highways in the country.
The kids climb a stump in the Redwood Forest of Northern California. According to the boys, there was no room for little girls in the middle of the stump, but Laura made it up anyway.
Natalie drives our covered wagon through a 3,000-year-old Redwood.
Well…you see kids, this is a California Hemp Store. Things are different out here. No, the Terminator isn’t governor anymore.
Hanging with Charlie Brown at the Charles Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa.
Natalie has been a huge Snoopy fan all her life. We even have a Christmas tree devoted just to Snoopy each year. Coming to the Shultz Museum was huge on Nat’s Bucket List.
San Francisco Bay
The Bay Bridge leading to Oakland
Apparently, it’s a big deal to swim the bay on Sunday mornings.
The Novato RV Park.
Playing dominoes with Pap in the RV
A wild San Franciscan woman hanging out of a limousine.
The boys represented Kentucky well at the Giants baseball game vs. the Astros. We determined that since the Astros were the worst team in baseball, and have sold off all their big players, that most of their current roster had probably played for the Lexington Legends at some point.
It’s Cameron’s personal quest to visit as many MLB ballparks as he can.
We saw more homeless people in San Francisco than any other city.
When in San Fran, ride the trolley.
China Town
The Golden Gate Bridge was fogged in the entire time we were there.
The abandoned military outposts above the bridge.
Sausalito, California
Laura found her buddy Paul Frank in San Francisco.
For those of you who don’t receive the magazine in the mail, Kentucky Living is published for the state’s 26 electric cooperatives. It reaches over 500,000 households. My all-time favorite cover shot came on the front of this month’s edition. It commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, that left Kentucky divided, brother against brother, in the war against the states.
But I can only claim half of this cover. Kentucky Living graphic designer Jim Battles did a fabulous job of combining several photos, that portrayed Civil War re-enactor Chad Greene of Perryville, as both a Federal officer and a Confederate private.
Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos that we did at the Perryville Battlefield in rural Boyle County.
Some of the co-ops chose to run a cover photo from June’s Washington Youth Tour. So not everyone got to see this cover. Jim combined several photos from our shoot with Chad Greene to create this cover shot. I photographed the barn wood, that’s in the background, on my family farm on McGlone Creek in Carter County.
Jim and I took time out to get in on the action! I don’t always get to have an art director with me on photo shoots, but I requested Jim on this one, because the cover was his concept. Sometimes it’s hard to carry out someone else’s artistic concept. But, as always, Jim and I made a good team and we both came up with different angles and ideas.
Chad was a hoot! And a pleasure to work with.
Here a few light-hearted moments from the shoot.
This year’s trip started in St. Louis, and Kansas City. From there we went north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Yosemite, Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we ended the trip once again at a Cardinals game in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visited. But in reality, I’m was just a tourist on this trip. So I did the best I could with the light that was in front of me.
Of the two trips, the desert southwest in Arizona and Utah is my favorite part of the United States. Especially the area in and around Page, Arizona. The coast of Oregon is definitely my second favorite. It’s not your typical ocean. The water is cold, the wind is strong, the rocks are big, and the sand dunes are as large as buildings.
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visit. But in reality, I’m just a tourist on this trip. So I do the best I can with the light that is in front of me.
The family in front of Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier, 14,411 ft. above sea level
Sandal -n- Snow
Ale-8s Across America: Mount Rainier
Traveling the American West in our trusty covered wagon.
The lodge at Mount Rainier National Park
The kids loved the snow in July
Just like Top Gun!
Back in Seattle
The original Starbucks in Seattle
Seattle is home port to the fishermen of The Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch. Capt. Phil Harris’ name was one of many on the memorial at Fisherman’s Terminal.
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Here are some images that I did with Kiefer back in April at the Bluegrass Fencing Club, for this month’s Kentucky Living Magazine.
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visit. But in reality, I’m just a tourist on this trip. So I do the best I can with the light that is in front of me.
Pike Place Market lived up to it’s billing. I like cities and places that have genuine and unique culture, rather than straight up commercialism. Sometimes the two coexist together, sometimes they don’t. Cheyenne, Wyoming, as you will see in later posts, was a place where unique culture and commercialism worked together. Seattle didn’t have much commercialism, but it had a lot of culture!
Throwing fish at the world famous Pike Place Fish Market
Negotiating fish orders
There was also a lot of vegetables at The Market.
When Natalie and I first got married there was one obvious thing that we had in common. And that was our tastes in food. We truly love seafood, and are always game to try seafood that we’ve never had before. Sometimes with the kids we have to declare Marshall Law and force them to eat seafood when we are in a city that specializes in it. Here, Nat is looking at a menu at Lowell’s Seafood in Pike Place Market. Our motto is: “When in Rome…do as the Roman’s do!”
Where’s Waldo?
Ale-8s Across America: The Seattle Space Needle
Downtown Seattle and Puget Sound as seen from the Space Needle.
Self-Portrait on the Space Needle
Puget Sound
Three Space Needle soda drinks inside the Space Needle
Nolan hanging in the RV
You can take Gale away from the Boonesboro Campground, but his grill comes with him!
Judy turns the RV into a buffet of macaroni & cheese and potatoes.
Gale watches NASCAR in our campground in Kent, Washington.
When the slides are out, the RV becomes a 12×39 home on wheels.
The Webbkins game on the PS3 in the RV’s upstairs penthouse. Just joking…only rich people have two-story RVs.
Natalie maps out our next day trip to Mount Rainier.
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visit. But in reality, I’m just a tourist on this trip. So I do the best I can with the light that is in front of me.
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
July 5th: Yellowstone National Park
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
*From a photographers point of view, I would love to spend several days shooting each spot that we visit. But in reality, I’m just a tourist on this trip. So I do the best I can with the light that is in front of me.
July 3rd: Lower Mesa Falls, Idaho
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
Ale-8s Across America
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
July 3rd: Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
Cameron and a moose. Cameron is the one on the bottom.
July 3rd: Near Ashton, Idaho
July 3rd: Near Ashton, Idaho
Rows and rows of potatoes!
July 3rd: Near Ashton, Idaho
Cameron and a potato field
July 3rd: Near Ashton, Idaho
July 3rd: Ashton, Idaho
July 3rd: Ashton, Idaho
We had lunch at this 50-year-old drive in
July 3rd: Big Springs on the Henry Fork of the Snake River in Idaho
July 3rd: Big Springs on the Henry Fork of the Snake River in Idaho
July 3rd: The Montana and Idaho state line
July 3rd: The Montana and Idaho state line
July 4th: Dropping over the mountains in the Grand Tetons.
July 4th: Jackson Hole, Wyoming
The Elk Shed Antler Arch in the middle of the city
July 4th: The Grand Teton Mountains
We got a kick out of the fact that the Tetons were named by French Explorers in the early 1800s because the peaks reminded them of big breasts.
July 4th: Jackson Lake, in the Grand Teton National Park
July 4th: Jackson Lake, in the Grand Teton National Park
July 4th: Yellowstone National Park
July 4th: Yellowstone National Park
July 4th: Yellowstone National Park
July 4th: West Yellowstone RV Park
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This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
July 2nd: Rolling into West Yellowstone, Montana from South Dakota
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
Laura & Cameron dipping their feet in the Madison River
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
A cow elk rests between the breaks of the Madison River
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The Fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The Fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The Fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The Fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, The Fountain Paint Pots
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, Old Faithful, erupting at 3:36 p.m.
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake
Ale-8s Across America
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
An Bull Elk rests along the road side
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
Buffalo eating along the highway
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
July 2nd: Yellowstone National Park
After a long day of sight-seeing Yellowstone National Park, Pap and Granny had a great supper waiting on us back at the RV.
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
June 30th: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota
June 30th: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota
Once again, I’m working on my Ale-8s Across America photo essay
June 30th: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota
June 30th: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota
June 30th: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, South Dakota
June 29th: Interstate 90, Wasta, South Dakota
Roadside Motel
June 29th: Interstate 90, Cactus Flats, South Dakota
No Webb Vacation would be complete without stopping at military museums. This was the Minuteman Nuclear Missile Launch Site. Had we gone to war with the Soviets during the Cold War, this is where some guy would have pushed the big red button that would have ultimately sent us all to oblivion.
June 29th: Interstate 90, Somewhere in South Dakota
June 29th: Interstate 90, Sturgis, South Dakota
Home of the great bike rally
June 29th: Interstate 90, Sturgis, South Dakota
Home of the great bike rally
June 29th: Interstate 90, Sturgis, South Dakota
Home of the great bike rally
July 1st: Somewhere in Montana
Nolan making the most out of a 9-hour drive across Montana.
June 30th: Keystone, South Dakota
The kids thought Mount Rushmore was okay…but thought a real gold mine was awesome!
June 30th: Keystone, South Dakota
The kids thought Mount Rushmore was okay…but thought a real gold mine was awesome!
June 30th: Keystone, South Dakota
The kids thought Mount Rushmore was okay…but thought a real gold mine was awesome!
June 30th: Custer, South Dakota
Custer National Park
June 30th: Custer, South Dakota
Custer National Park
June 30th: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Once again, I’m working on my Ale-8s Across America photo essay
June 30th: The Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: Near the Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: Near the Badlands National Park, South Dakota
June 30th: Near the Badlands National Park, South Dakota
This year, the plan is to start in St. Louis, and Kansas City, then go north through Iowa and Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Across the Badlands, through Montana and into Yellowstone National Park. Then back up through Idaho and Washington State to Seattle. Then down the coast of Oregon, through the Redwoods of Northern California, to San Fransisco. Over to Reno and Lake Tahoe, to Salt Lake City, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Nebraska, back to Kansas City, and we’ll end the trip once again in St. Louis.
June 27th: Newtown Pike, Lexington, Kentucky
I took this same picture at the beginning of the first trip in 2010.
June 27th: Interstate 64
Rolling through St. Louis
June 27th: Kansas City, Missouri
Traveling with a full range of transportation
June 27th: Kansas City, Missouri
June 27th: Kansas City, Missouri
In 2010 we stayed at the Worlds of Fun Amusement Park Campground. We returned two years later to the same conditions: 101 degrees, and sultry hot. Good thing they had a really nice pool.
June 28th: Somewhere Along Interstate 29 in Iowa
Hanging out in the RV while Pap drives us between the fields of corn in Iowa.
June 28th Somewhere Along Interstate 29 in Iowa:
Laura soaking it all in
June 28th Somewhere Along Interstate 29 in Iowa:
Cameron contemplates his next move.
June 28th: Somewhere Along Interstate 29 in Iowa
Hanging out in the RV
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls South Dakota
Laura rummaging through the storage bins
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
You can introduce your kids to America, but until they get older, nothing is going to beat a swimming pool!
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
I asked Natalie out on our first date 21-years-ago
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Hey Boo Boo!
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
You can introduce your kids to America, but until they get older, nothing is going to beat a big trampoline at an RV Park.
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Natalie and I enjoyed the Bouncing Pillow as much as the kids. The Yogi Bear Park was by-far the best RV park we had ever stayed in.
June 28th: The Yogi Bear RV Park, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Corn, Corn, and lots more corn!!!!
East Kentucky Power sub station in the fog at night.
Stanton, Kentucky
September 2011
Nolan and Nick Prewitt, Deer Hunting Youth Hunt
McGlone Creek, Carter County, Kentucky
October 2011
WWII Veteran Jouett Falkner escorted by his grandson at the WWII Memorial, on Washington D.C. Honor Flight.
October 2011
Garvin Ridge Wesleyan Church, where my parents were married.
Olive Hill, Kentucky
October 2011
A Photographer’s curse: a son who hates to have his picture taken.
Lake Reba, Richmond, Kentucky
September 2011
Natalie, the Baseball Mom who is sad to see each season end.
Lake Reba, Richmond, Kentucky
September 2011
Grain Silos
Bagdad, Kentucky
October 2011
A very foggy high school football game between Powell County and Estill County
Stanton, Kentucky
September 2011
Nolan chilling out in his room
Richmond, Kentucky
November 2011
Downtown Cincinnati. The late Associated Press Photographer Ed Reinke’s Memorial Service at Great American Ball Park.
November 2011
A rare 2012 winter snow
Hampton Ridge, Richmond, Kentucky
January 2012
Laura self-portrait. The backseat of Daddy’s Car
Richmond, Kentucky
February 2012
Basketball in the snow
Hampton Ridge, Richmond, Kentucky
January 2012
Self-portrait
Fifth-Third Bank Building, Lexington, Kentucky
February 2012
The Kentucky River
Irvine, Kentucky
February 2012
Laura, Natalie, & Cameron vegging on the couch
Hampton Ridge, Richmond, Kentucky
March 2012
Downtown Lexington
February 2012
Dad’s old trailer
Blackcreek, Powell County, Kentucky
February 2012
Tornado storms
Tates Creek Road, Richmond, Kentucky
March 2, 2012
Mom and Laura
Bowling Green, Florida
March 2012
Solomon’s Castle
Ona, Florida
March 2012
Natalie driving through Tampa
March 2012
Tarpon Springs, Florida
March 2012
New York Yankees Spring Training
Tampa, Florida
March 2012
Cameron, Laura, Natalie, and Nolan
Honeymoon Island, Florida
March 2012
The Ulysses S. Grant and The War Between the States Statues, in front of the U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The White House
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The U.S. Navy Band playing on the steps of the Capitol. The light at the top of the dome indicates that the Senate was in session.
Washington, D.C.
June 2012
The Derby is an awesome place for a photographer to do visual storytelling. It’s a cornucopia of culture, from the decadence of the Infield to the elegance of the Grand Stands. All walks of life can be found at Churchill on the first Saturday in May. Derby is like Prom for adults. Let’s get all dressed up and not remember it tomorrow.
My assignments this year were Hats, the First Turn, and the guy from Flushing, New York, who got to place the $100K Dream Bet. The Dream Bet is horse racing’s version of the people who try to kick a field goal during halftime of the Super Bowl. I decided to go to the Infield for my most of my hat shots, mainly because I hadn’t got to spend much time there the past few years. I’m not EVEN going to post a picture of the Jerk from Flushing. Why? Because he was a jerk! He didn’t win, and he didn’t deserve to win. As a New Yorker, he might have had a chance to win big money at the Kentucky Derby, but he totally missed the concept of what Kentucky is all about. And that is, we are nice people, so please be nice to us in return. Thank you. I was given the task of getting as many horses in my photo of the First Turn as possible, which takes away from the composition, but it’s still a great place be sitting during the race.
The Derby is an all-day-event for me. But my favorite bucket-list moment is when I’m standing on the track at the First Turn, with dirt on my knees, with my hat off, watching 165,000 people sing My Old Kentucky Home. It doesn’t get any more Kentucky than that!
I don’t really have an explanation for this photo, other than this is one of my all-time favorite from the Infield. I call it “Fabio & Crack of Ass.” Like I said. Culture. Lots of Culture at the Kentucky Derby!
Britain’s William Fox-Pitt dominated the competition once again. I’d like to act all smug, like I know a lot about the sport of Eventing, but I really don’t. As a photojournalist I have to write my own cutlines, so a name like William Fox-Pitt tends to stand out in the brain over time. Besides competing in Rolex Kentucky each year, he’s also a big contender in the World Equestrian Games and the Olympics.
The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is the only annual four-star Eventing competition in the Western Hemisphere. As pomp and circumstanced as the competition may be, there was one moment of embarrassment Sunday after Fox-Pitt won. The sound booth upstairs seemed to have misplaced Great Britain’s National Anthem. Then for some reason they played half of the German National Anthem, only for the Three-Day champion to politely give it a thumbs down. In my opinion they should have compromised and played My Old Kentucky Home one more time. William Fox-Pitt has competed in Kentucky enough…I’m sure he knows the words. Heck, even his horse, Parklane Hawk, was a thoroughbred, which is a little unusual for Eventing. I’m sure as a thoroughbred, he knew the words.
William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain wins his second consecutive Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, while riding Parklane Hawk.
William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain wins his second consecutive Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, while riding Parklane Hawk.
William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain celebrates after winning his second consecutive Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
Boyd Martin of the United States jumps the final fence on Remington XXV, during the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Mary Dutton, daughter of rider Phillip Dutton, back, takes a few photos during the stadium portion of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Emily Beshear, daughter-in-law of Gov. Steve Beshear, jumps the final fence with Here’s To You, during the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Austria’s Andrew Hoy jumps a fence with Rutehrglen, during the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Riders Jessica Hampf, with her boyfriend Doug Payne, look at video after their rides.
Karen O’Connor of the United States, celebrates after her final ride of the 2012 competition.
Boyd Martin of the United States jumps a fence with Otis Barbotiere.
The United States’ Allison Springer finished second in the Rolex, and won a Land Rover.
A large crowd watches the stadium jumping portion of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Kate Hicks smiles after jumping the final fence with Belmont.
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Hansen created drama at the track long before the race, when his caregivers dipped half of his tail in blue dye, representing the team colors. Keeneland officials put a snaffoo on that, and the Hansen group scrambled to uncolor his tail.
In the end, Dullahan came from behind and beat Hansen in the last furlong, with an equally large group of owners.
The Kentucky Derby runs in a couple of weeks. I hope that Hansen and Dullahan provide us with another close finish.
Dr. Kendall Hansen, owner of Hansen, the Bluegrass Stakes favorite, looks at his horse in Keeneland’s paddock before the race.
The Hansen Girls, left to right, Laurie Weber, Jill Lockwood, and Brittany Crank, worked the crowd in the paddock, for Hansen, the favorite going into the Bluegrass Stakes.
Hansen warms up in Keeneland’s paddock before the Bluegrass Stakes, while his owner Dr. Kendall Hansen and the Hansen Girls pose for photos.
At the end of the day, it was Dullhallan and Kent Desormeaux, that stole the show by catching Hansen in the last furlong.
Dullahan warms up in Keeneland’s paddock before winning the Bluegrass Stakes.
Members of the Donegal Racing group celebrate in the winners circle after Dullahan beats Hansen to win the Bluegrass Stakes race at Keeneland.
Members of the Donegal Racing group celebrate in the winners circle after Dullahan beats Hansen to win the Bluegrass Stakes race at Keeneland.
Winning jockey Kent Desormeaux walks the media through a replay of the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland after Dullahan beats favorite Hansen.
On a personal note, I’ve been a fan of, and a photographer of The All-A Classic for several years. Two of Louisville’s sluggers last night (sorry, I couldn’t help the pun) played for Owensboro Catholic a few years ago in the All-A Classic Baseball tournament. I photographed Cole Sturgeon and Stewart Ijames in the 2008 All-A Classic championship game.
Here are a few images from last night’s game that I shot for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Coach Cal and wife Ellen were on hand to watch the Batcats.
Darius has proven me, and any other doubter of his ability, wrong over the past four years. Darius Miller will go down in history as one of only a handful of Kentucky kids to win a Sweet 16 Championship and a National Championship. And he is the only Kentucky kid to be named Mr. Basketball, while winning the other two championships. What Darius did in the state of Kentucky is the stuff that backyard dreams are made of.
Elisha Justice, another Eastern Kentucky kid also has a chance at that feat, with Louisville. But for now, hats off to Kentucky’s Graybeard, who survived the Billy Gillispie era, and gave Cal the much-needed leadership of a senior.
“Hey Kid! Do you like to run? Wanna come play for me at Kentucky?
We brought the kids to Florida to spend Spring Break with their grandparents. My parent’s spend the winter in Bowling Green, Florida, in a little house in an orange grove, east of Tampa and South of Orlando. Their place is always great for relaxing, eating, peeling oranges, and watching good television. We also get to see our long-time friends the Saddlers and the Duke’s. Natalie’s Mom, JW, and Brent, have been enjoying the beach this winter, a little further south near Naples. They then moved up the coast to Tarpon Springs to meet up with us this week.
The temperatures were really nice and the kids got some beach time in at Honeymoon Island. We spent Thursday walking around the old town of Tarpon Springs, and got to eat at our favorite seafood spot, Crabby Bills. Friday, I took Cameron and Brent to see the Yankees play the Braves in Tampa. Later that evening, we went back to the beach at Honeymoon Island one last time before coming back home.
The old looking photos were taken with the Hipstamatic on my iPhone.
Mom and Laura out for a walk
Paw Wayne walking on Kelsey Road
I was relieved to know that our friends in Florida are Florida State fans, as we ate dinner and watched UK whip the Florida Gators in Gainesville.
Laura and Nolan with Baby Duke
Solomon’s Castle near Ona
Cajun Etoufee and beer cans through history, at Linger Lodge in Bradenton
We had some great BBQ at Smokin’ Joe’s
Laura keeps in touch with Facebook
“Spanish Moss Down South…”
Hanging in the grove with Maw and Paw Wayne
Tampa
Nolan silhouetted on the rocks at Honeymoon Island
Natalie and Uncle Brent
Cameron finds the greatest seashell in the history of Webb Family vacations
Tarpon Springs
Sponges of Tarpon Springs
Me, Cameron and Brent watched the Yankees and Braves play Spring Training Baseball
Sunset on Honeymoon Island
Hanging out at the campground with Momaw & Popaw Jubble and Uncle Brent
Other shoots that I did for the magazine included Saint Joseph employee Steve Martin, and how a simple employee screening discovered that he had 90 percent blockage of the blood flow to his right leg.
RJ Croman employee Noel Rush was another example of how a simple health screening alerted him that he had unknowingly had a heart attack. After recognizing it at the Saint Joseph-Jessamine RJ Corman Ambulatory Care Center, Rush was taken to Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington and underwent an angioplasty; two stents were placed in Rush’s heart.
I did a nice group shot with Saint Joseph ER nurse Pat Jarnigan and her co-workers. Jarnigan was a breast cancer survivor who returned to work after surgery only to find her entire unit wearing pink T-shirts emblazoned with “Positive Attitude,” with a breast cancer awareness ribbon on the front and back. Team ER demonstrated her co-workers’ unity and support.
My photography for Common Thread also included a shoot with the Virtual Nurse Coach Program, which is a robot of sorts that allows new graduate registered nurses to receive virtual support and coaching from expert, experienced nurses via texting, voice, and videoconferencing.
Saint Joseph London Executive Chef Terry Crist
Saint Joseph Hospital Executive Chef Pedro Green
Saint Joseph Berea’s Hunter Purdy, with her garden on the Berea campus.
Steve Martin
Pat Jarnigan
Noel Rush
Virtual Nurse Coach Program
Actually, I was just a wanna be, in a fashion sort of way. I really didn’t understand the whole process, all I knew was, all the cool kids were wearing UK National Championship t-shirts and I felt like I needed one too. But in reality, I didn’t know if UK played in the SEC, the FBI, the NAACP, the NFL, or the NBA.
I had no real clue about the situation. Jack Givens and company beat Duke that year for the championship. I didn’t even know who Duke was. The only thing I knew about the Duke Blue Devils came from the playground when we would divide into teams and play basketball. It was always Shirts vs. Skins, UK vs. Duke, and of course, I always got stuck on the Duke Team…which meant I had to take off my shirt. Seriously, I had no clue. I went home one night and told my parents I had to play for the Pukes. My Dad said, “You mean Duke? Yea, Duke, that’s it!!!”
From that season on, I learned my teams and I learned my players. I was a true UK fan! I remember Kyle Macy rubbing his socks during free throws. And I remember the big man in the middle, Sam Bowie. Funny enough, Cameron, my 10-year-old, plays for Model Lab’s 6th Grade team. We played Lexington Sayre a few weeks ago, and there was none other than big Sam Bowie keeping the books for Sayre, and his son playing against my son. NO WAY! It just couldn’t be!?! Time out Ref. Let me call all my family and friends and get them over them over here to see this. But in reality, only a few of us Old People appreciated the moment of having UK Royalty in the building.
I feel very lucky 30 years later to be sitting on the floor at Rupp Arena, photographing UK Basketball. Its a big contrast for the little boy who didn’t understand who the Pukes were in 1978. One of Sam Bowie’s teammates was Melvin Turpin. And tonight I got to witness and photograph UK’s Anthony Davis blocking shot #84 this season, which broke the single season shot blocking record held by Turpin and Andre Riddick.
I have photographed Kentucky Basketball during some trying times and some good times. But my friends, I’m here to tell you, these are great times. We’re 18-1, with a potent defensive and offensive team. People can say what they want, negative or positive, about John Calipari. But the man knows how to coach and he knows how to inspire. I know, because when you sit on the first leg of the W for 20 minutes in the second half, you get to here his inspirational coaching first hand.
Things can go right, and things can go wrong during the NCAA Tournament. But for now, we’re witnessing perfection at it’s best. Soak it in and enjoy it, regardless of who the team is or what the score is. As they said in the movie Raising Arizona, which is one of my all-time favorite movies…”These are the salad days!”
Here are some images from tonight’s game against Arkansas.
I loved this shot because the Arkansas player looked like he was sorry for even being on the court!
I did a corporate shoot for a trade magazine called Plant Engineering back in the fall. The magazine, based near Chicago, named NACCO Materials Handling Group the top energy maintenance company in the nation. NACCO which is in Berea, employs over 700 people, making a variety of forklifts.
It was a nice surprise when I found the magazine with my cover shot buried in my daughter’s backpack. Turns out that one of the plant manager’s wife works at Laura’s school, and her husband sent it to me. He and his wife were originally from Owsley County, so we had a lot of mutual friends and 56th District stories to share.
I think those of us who live in Madison County take for granted, and don’t always understand, the number of good manufacturing companies that are located here.
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Refried Cow Patty
If the Mayan Calendar is right, it won’t be necessary to make my house payment next December. But I don’t believe The Lord intended for the Mayans, or any of the other kooks that have predicted the end of the word, to know when he’s coming back for us. So at this point, I plan to make my house payment on time.
I believe mankind is like a teenager. We’re going through a lot of changes right now that we don’t understand. But I whole-heartedly believe that mankind is only getting started.
However, all of this doomsday talk has got me to thinking. It has me thinking about life and time. No, I didn’t leave an “s” off the word time. I meant to say time rather than times. The times of our lives are what we take from time itself. Kind of sounds like a plug for Days of Our Lives… like sands through the hour glass…
Part of our Christmas to each other was several television shows on DVD. This past week, Natalie and I have been staying up all night, watching shows like Mad Men. There is more drama on these discs than a classroom full of third grade girls.
The history buff in me loves Mad Men, a show that eloquently captures the nuances of the male-dominating world of 1960, in the advertising offices on Madison Avenue, in New York City. It’s humorous at how politically incorrect and polar opposite 1960 was from the time we live in now. I started to say, “the world we live in now,” but it’s more than that. Our world has always been here, it’s really time that changes. And for some unknown mathematical reason, time changes with the decades. Or maybe math has nothing to do it all. Maybe it’s society’s way of keeping track. People love to tell you that they grew up in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or my beloved 80s.
Mad Men shows us things like pregnant women smoking & drinking, kids wearing dry cleaner bags over their heads for fun, and climbing over car seats without seat belts. The Audacity! The show centers on executives chain-smoking and chain-drinking like there is no tomorrow. And the core of the show’s drama is centered on the office relationships between men and women that would be one great big sexual harassment lawsuit today.
I find it funny to watch. However, I don’t blame or look down on the age of my parent’s innocence. It was simply their time. Keep in mind, they were the ones who put a man on the moon without an iPod, and they gave us the foundations of the digital world in which we live today. And they were the ones who eventually passed seatbelt laws, sexual harassment laws, and yes, they even figured out that smoking and drinking too much will kill you.
As I watch Mad Men in the wee hours of the morning, I think about how my grandkids will someday look back on the hay-day of my generation and laugh. And trust me folks, they will look back on us and laugh.
“Texting while driving!?! Seriously Grandpa Tim? Seriously? And think about all those chicken nuggets that you fed my Daddy when he was young. How did you not know that they would cause cancer!”
Don’t you know you could’ve died from doing that? What was your generation thinking? “And how could you all stand using things that had to be plugged into the wall, like your computer and those big telephones. I bet that was a real ball-and-chain! Geez, I would’ve hated living in the olden days like you grandpa!”
“OMG… little granddaughter, I don’t know how we survived it either… LOL! Now it’s your turn.”
Bill was instrumental to me when I first left Eastern and started my own photography business in 2004. He was in charge of the photo desk for a while at the CJ, and it seemed like everyday I was getting a call that began with, “Hey Tim, this is Luster, can you go Harlan County and send us an A1 Center Piece by 6:30…Thanks!” I never knew what to expect when Bill called, but that taught me to always be ready, for anything. He was a great mentor.
Bill catches grief over his height, or I should say, “lack thereof.” But he’s a great guy who takes it all in stride.
Glad to have you on the Freelance side of things Bill. Just keep in mind, there ain’t nothing free about freelance, so take it easy on the rest of us. We still need to work.
Those of us who freelance for the CJ have to put the words “Special To The Courier-Journal” in our photo credit. We told Luster that day at Rupp, that after 40+ years at the paper he could finally be considered Special.
This is a black and white frame that I grabbed a few years ago of Luster in the tunnel between the paddock and the track at Churchill Downs.
Bill heading out to a muddy track during the 2010 Kentucky Derby.
Hiding out behind the Blue Curtain at Rupp Arena. I started to make a Wizard of Oz reference here, but nah!
The Kentucky-Louisville game, Commonwealth Stadium 2011
I loved the shot of the girl squeezing her cheeks while he autographed her CD. She was in seventh heaven.
I did a lot of work this year for East Kentucky Power, work that took me all over Central and Eastern Kentucky. It was some of the best corporate work that I’ve done in a while. I’m going to do a larger blog later, but for now here is my car camped out in the coal yard at Cooper Station on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, back in September. I was using my headlights and interior light to help light the foreground for a shot.
Former Kentucky stars DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall talked to fans before the game.
U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner dons his UK jacket while he does the 3-sign before the game.
Judy may be in wheelchair, caused by a motorcycle accident when she was 15, but she has the spirit of hundred horses. It was because of her love for horses that we chose to do the photo shoot at Keeneland, a place that she truly loves.
After rehab at Cardinal Hill Hospital, she returned to Clay County High School, went on to the University of Kentucky, taking up wheelchair basketball, wheelchair racing and later, wheelchair tennis. After graduating UK in 1982, she moved to Dallas to become a technical writer and then a consultant.
Along the way, she won the 1980 Bluegrass 10K, placed third in the 1987 Tennis U.S. Open and won the 1988 Australian Open. Yep, that’s right, the Australian Open. I think it was even held in Australia.
When it came to wheelchair equipped vehicles, she wanted something that represented her spirit. She always resisted minivans, saying, “They’re just not me. I can’t see spending so much money on something I hate. I’m more of a pickup sort of girl.” She stayed true to her beliefs in transportation, literally aggravating Chevrolet until they built a first of its kind, Chevy SUV Suburban, equipped and fitted for a wheelchair. Forty seconds in and forty seconds out, is all that it takes Judy with the custom-built lift system.
I was looking at her Suburban while I was setting up lights for this shoot, thinking how in the world will she get out the front door. But when she activated it, I saw that the front door and driver side passenger door were welded together, and were part of the lift system.
Judy’s Suburban, in little ole Richmond, Kentucky, was the first of its kind in the United States. She joked in her competitive nature, saying that somebody may have the second one by now, but I had the first wheelchair accessible, modified Chevy Suburban in the country.
After spending an afternoon with Judy, who hasn’t had the use of her legs since she was 15-years-old, it made me less tolerable of people with use of their legs who whine and bitch about how bad their lives are. She’s a great example that your life is what you make of it.
This was a shot I got a couple of weeks ago at Wolf Creek Dam on Lake Cumberland at sunset.]]>The election was pretty low-key this year in Kentucky. David Williams and Richie Farmer simply didn’t make a race out of it. Last year I had a few assignments to cover the Rand Paul Revolution. At least then there was excitement. People were coming in from other states just to be a part of it. Regardless of what you or I think about the Tea Party, those people had passion for their cause and beliefs.
I did cover one event for Steve Beshear and the Democrats this year. A lot of my photography cohorts hate covering elections, but I like it, mainly because it makes for good feature photography, as a chance to capture a slice of Downtown Americana, on the sidewalks, and in the back corridors of the courthouse. It’s one of the few times that Americans waive their flag with enthusiasm.
So the next time you find the American election process to be a bore, remember the guy in the photo below. This could be us some day!
It all begins as a trip that many of the veterans aren’t sure they want to make, and usually go, only because their family members talk them into it. But all that changes when they enter the concourse at the Baltimore Washington International Airport. This year, 65 U.S. Naval Academy Cadets formed a receiving line saluting and thanking the vets for their service. At the same time, other travelers in the concourse begin gathering to clap and cheer. Its part planned, part impromptu, and very moving.
When most people think of the soldiers returning home, the iconic image that comes to mind is the Alfred Eisenstaedt photo of the sailor kissing a woman, who was a complete stranger, in Times Square on VJ Day, August 1945. But in reality, most of the veterans came home in 1946, and simply went back to life. So for these Kentucky veterans, the Honor Flight became their long, overdue, Thank You parade!
Unfortunately, we are losing our World War II veterans at a rate of 1,500 per day. Several of the vets on the 2010 trip passed away between October and when the story ran in the May 2011 issue of Kentucky Living. This is what makes it so special to the veterans, and the guardians who go, we all know in an unspoken way that this is the last parade for the men who gave so much.
I said it last year, and I’ll say it again, The Honor Flights have been the most touching stories that I’ve ever worked on as a photographer.
Sen. Bob Dole, a WWII veteran himself, is often on hand to greet veterans at the WWII Memorial.
I’ve tried to photograph the World War II Memorial on seven separate trips to DC. I’ve worked every angle that I can think of, with every lens that I own.
But fittingly enough, just like the war itself, you can not capture it from one single angle. It’s hands down my favorite attraction in Washington.
Forrest Sparrow meets a Dominique Potier from Liege, Belgium. Sparrow was wounded and hospitalized at the Battle of the Bulge in Potier’s hometown of Liege.
Potier couldn’t thank him enough for saving his country and his hometown.
The two men simply met by chance on this day at the WWII memorial!
Oddly enough, the Korean War Memorial tends to evoke a little more emotion than the WWII Memorial.
Chow time!!!
The Rolling Thunder brought the vets back into Baltimore at the end of the day.
On the plane ride back home, the men received “mail call” from school kids all over the state.
Returning to the airport in Louisville, to a reception and parade of over 200 people was the emotional straw that broke the camel’s back.
You would have to have been a robot not to cry!
This is the parade that most of the Kentucky veterans missed out on.
Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt
Willie Nelson will always be an artist who has his own style. I had the opportunity to photograph him a couple of weeks ago at the brand new Center for the Arts on Eastern’s campus. Willie followed another man of style who performed there the week before, BB King.
There were two aspects of Willie’s style that I wanted to capture in photos, his guitar and his hair. At the same time, I wanted capture a sense of place with the new 2,500 capacity Center for the Arts. I’ve seen many, many concerts in my time at Rupp Arena, and heck, I even remember most of them. But the older I get, the more I appreciate a good concert, with a sound mind, in a small venue. One of these days, my dream is to catch Nora Jones at the Ryman in Nashville.
However, there was one part of Willie’s style that deserved questioning. He was The Man from head to ankle, but from the ankles down he was showing signs of his age in ways that his voice did not. He was clad in black, except for his gray New Balance tennis shoes. But that’s the beauty of style, piss on what everyone else does and thinks! Your style belongs to you. It’s a mirror image of your personality. Age creeps up on all us in its own little way. I’ll accept the New Balance shoes if that’s what it takes to get a legend like this on stage. Rock on Willie!!!
I’ll end with this. I’ve never been one to collect autographs from the celebrities that photography allows me to encounter. I’ve always felt my photos were more valuable than a signature. As Willie and his crew were leaving, and had just done a small VIP session in the basement of the Arts Center, he turned and went to shake my hand. When he did, he dropped a blue Sharpie on the floor. I picked it up and handed it to him. He looked me in the eye, as time stood still, as if he was sizing me up. He shook my hand, thanked me and walked out the door to his tour bus.
I can’t sell that moment on Ebay, but knowing that me and his Sharpie were the only things standing between this musical legend and his herbal night cap…. was priceless!
I don’t think this photo does it justice, but when I was up there, and the bucket was swaying back and forth, the little truck that the boom was attached to looked like a Matchbox truck. That didn’t do much for my confidence. From now on, I’ll be sending up a remote camera and staying on the ground.
Okay folks, here is the new John Wall & Brandon Knight. His name is Marcus Teague.
I can say that Nolan has taught me more about being a father than my other two kids. When people see him they say he looks just like me. My reply is that I put all my eggs in one basket. And what they don’t realize is that Nolan on most days is truly reliving my life. He has all my characteristics, both good and bad. I look at pictures of me at his age and we could be twins. He tells me about the struggles of middle school, and I think, “yep, I was right there in 1982, 1983, and 1984.”
Nolan is my first born, he’s my military man, he’s my History Channel Freak, and he’s my hunting buddy. Happy Birthday Nolan!
Nolan has never been short on hair, even from day one.
Well…what’da you know. I used to be skinny. That all changed with kids too.
There’s a slight possibility that he’s flipping the camera off.
Nolan relaxing with a sippie cup, watching Barney, after a long hard day at the baby sitters. Nolan was a Barney fanatic!!!
The Cu l-de-sac Kids:Â Riding the Gator with Cameron
His athletic days only lasted a few years, when we figured out he was more of the hunter-gatherer type.
Taking pictures with Daddy
Nolan’s very first day of school
His 5th Grade trip to Washington DC
Nolan wins Model’s science fair, with what else, rifle ballistics
Hitting the waves at Indian Shores, Florida
Mr. Military Man sits in the cockpit of a WWII bomber at air museum in Midland, Texas
Nolan, Laura, Cameron in the Rocky Mountains
Deer Hunting 2009
Disney World 2010
Pouting behind Mommy’s truck 2001
Looking cool at cool at Disney World, 2010
I’m a Kentucky fan through and through, and always will be. But I’m first and foremost a Kentuckian. And in this game, the state of Kentucky never loses.
Rondo comes home!!!!
This photo is a little soft, but the beauty lies in capturing the moment. Pure ecstasy with the coach that used to roll into
Commonwealth Stadium and beat UK with ease when he was a coach with the Florida Gators. He found out last year that
Kentucky-Louisville was an entirely different game.
On the surface, races are held at Keeneland during the prime times of the year, the peak of spring and the peak of autumn. But in reality, Keeneland is a place of elegance that never shuts down 24/7/365. Racing on the track is only part of it. It’s a photographer’s dream to watch the horses go through their early morning workouts, as the sun rises over the grandstand, and warm steam rolls off their backs. Thoroughbred racing at Keeneland is one of the few places in sports where the super stars are close and accessible. Its a place where you can get close and rub elbows with horses, jockeys, owners, trainers, grooms, hot walkers, and exercise riders.
A pageant almost as big as the races themselves lies with the variety of thoroughbred sales that take place between the spring and fall meets. The Keeneland Sales bring together a cornucopia of international spectators and buyers, along with the local celebrity horse farms such as Taylor Made, & Gainesway. These buyers are prepared to drop over a million dollars on a single colt, based solely it’s Mommy and Daddy.
Each year the big question is whether or not Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the world’s leading thoroughbred buyer, will be in attendance. He accounted for more than a quarter of all revenues at a sale last month in New York. When I was there Sunday for the opening night, he wasn’t there, but no one ever knows when his luxury private jet will make surprise landing at Bluegrass Airport.
With or with out Sheikh Mohammad, Keeneland is, and always will be, a central Kentucky jewel. Here a few shots from the opening night of the 2011 Yearling Sales.
These are a few shots that I grabbed after doing a magazine shoot for the November cover of Kentucky Living at Shaker Village Friday Morning, and then brought Rt. 169 cross country back home to Richmond.
I’ve waded it, swam it, drove through it, drank it, fished it, photographed it, and floated most of it in a john boat with some of the purest muskie fishermen in the world.
I’ve been at its headwaters in Morgan County, but only a few times have I been at its mouth in Clark County. I was on an assignment in Trapp this morning and decided to go down and see what I could find with my camera at the point where Red River empties into the Kentucky River.
It was no Cape Cod, but it was quintessential Red River.
Laura and I have decided that Little Miss Magic by Jimmy Buffett is our song. Here are a few lyrics and pictures of my Little Miss Magic over the past 8 years.
Constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling
The clever little glances she gives me can’t help but be appealing
She loves to ride into town with the top down
Feel that warm breeze on her gentle skin
She is my next of kin
Chorus:
I see a little more of me everyday
I catch a little more moustache turning gray
Your mother is the only other woman for me
Little miss magic, what you gonna be?
Sometimes I catch her dreamin and wonder where that little mind meanders
Is she strollin along the shore or cruisin oer the broad savannah
I know someday she’ll learn to make up her own rhymes
Someday she’s gonna learn how to fly
Oh that I wont deny
Chorus:
I catch a little more dialogue comin my way
I see those big brown eyes just start to lookin astray
Your mothers still the only other woman for me
Little miss magic, what you gonna be?
Yes she loves to ride into town with the top down
Feel that warm breeze on her gentle skin
She is my next of kin
Constantly amazed by the blades of the fan on the ceiling
Those clever little looks she gives just can’t help but be appealing
I know someday shell learn to make up her own rhymes
One day she’s gonna learn how to fly
That I wont deny
Chorus:
I see a little more of me everyday
I feel a little more moustache turning gray
Your mother’s still the only other woman for me
Little miss magic, what you gonna be?
Little miss magic, what you gonna be?
Little miss magic, just can’t wait to see
Its raining, it’s pouring
Your old man is snoring
It all started here, December 20, 2002
We took Laura to the beach with us the summer before she was born.
August 6, 2003
Big brothers checked out all the equipment before she was born.
I bought her this little pink bear at the hospital gift shop the day she was born, and she still sleeps with it 8 years later.
Helping Mom make a grocery list
Angie gives Laura her first haircut.
She spent Christmas Eve 2003 in the same gown that Natalie wore on her first Christmas in 1973.
Laura shares some of her first birthday cake with me.
Playing war games with her brothers
When we moved to our new house in 2005, she didn’t want to sleep in her new bedroom, and spent the next nine months sleeping on
a recliner in our bedroom.
Little Mary Poppins
Kissing mommy
In the shadows with Nolan
Her little pink bear still in tow
You’re all grown up now (or at least it seems that way)
Happy Birthday Laura Kathryn!!!!
I pretty much pulled out all of my lighting gear for this shoot. I did a Joe McNally special on the outside shots, including the cover shot, with several smaller speed lights, then I set up three strobes with beauty dishes, and a spot grid for the inside shots. For the outside shots, I ramped up my shutter speed to darken the background, and then darkened the corners even more in Lightroom. It had just rained that morning, and the overcast skies made it easier to use my lights, because I wasn’t fighting with the sun or shadows.
As a Kentucky deer hunter, I looked forward to making this trip to Owen County, because it’s the deer hunting capital of Kentucky. By the time I left, I had spied eleven deer.
I love doing unique self portraits when I can a canvas outside the box. I shot this at the Licking Valley RECC Annual Meeting, near West Liberty, in May. In addition to scholarships, and a beauty contest, they have a really nice car show. It looks like I really need to lose weight!
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It took me nearly 25 years, but I finally made it to the state tournament baseball championship. Getting there wasn’t at all how I imagined it would be. This wasn’t what I imagined during all those evenings of passing ball with my Dad in the front yard, or playing whiffle ball games with Darby, Dustin, and Shim in the summers, or playing four years of high school baseball at Powell County from 1985-1988.
I always imagined me in my Powell County uniform, wearing #3 of course, being carried off the field on the shoulders of my teammates after throwing a no-hitter… no, no, a perfect game in the championship. Of course my championship performance would’ve been against one of those big city teams from Louisville or Lexington. My baseball fantasy was always based on a David vs. Goliath scenario. All the while, the ultimate championship songs like We Are The Champions, by Queen, and Don’t Stop Believing, by Journey, would be ringing out through ball park.
I don’t think there has ever been a  kid who was serious about baseball who hasn’t dreamed this dream. And there is an equally impressive fantasy about doing equal major league feats in the World Series, for the Cincinnati Reds of course. Except in that dream, Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, are let onto the field afterwards to personally congratulate me for defeating the Yankees in Game 7.
But in reality, I made it to the state championship, as one of the official photographer’s for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, along with my buddy Jim Osborn. I made it to the state tournament as a 41-year-old who is technically overweight, according to my daughter’s Wii Fit game, and I now have more gray hair than black. I’ve traded my Wilson A-2000 ball glove, which was top shelf during Christmas 1986, in for my Nikon camera and lenses. I traded my cleats and uniform in for a fanny pack full of camera equipment. Darrell and Dustin Billings were in the stands for the championship game and texted me saying I “looked like I was going into combat.” I feel like that sometimes. A photographer’s fanny pack system is like a woman’s purse, you stuff it full of crap, never knowing when you might need something. Preparation is the key to success in my business.
When it was all said and done, two Cinderella teams played for the championship after a week of great baseball. Unfortunately, Mercer County ran out pitching in the 6-day tournament, and got pounded 21-3 by Central Hardin. It felt great to run out on the field with Central Hardin and document their celebration, with Journey and Queen as the house bands.
Whether its a soap opera, a great movie, novel, or yes, even wrestling, the human spirit needs to fantasize and dream about something other than waking up on Monday mornings and going to work, paying bills, and taxes. Photography is good to me. It allows me to live my dreams everyday.
Now they just sit there. Fragments of our of heritage, deteriorating a little more each year. Kentucky is a perfect place for these old houses, because we’re still a state that has more land than population. I enjoy seeing these plank board museums, as I drive by listening to my satellite radio and probably talking on my cell phone. Its a reminder that the old and new can still coexist.
Although I have no emotional or physical ties to these houses, it’s a little sad to think about the livelihood that used to exist within them, and now see the stark contrast with its slow, dilapidating death. But then I remind myself that its all part of the circle of life, and that someday my grand kids will make fun of cell phone and my satellite radio because they were so old fashion.
This is an old house that I see every time I go back to Clay City. It’s at the intersection of Hwy. 89 and Hwy 2001.
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She and I have done a lot of soul searching recently on the magic of a marriage and how it disappears over time. If you think about it, magic is usually a poof of smoke or abracadabra that comes and goes quickly. Magic wasn’t meant to be sustained over a period of time. Magic is a fleeting moment, just like a photograph. It comes and goes. John Lennon said it best in the lyrics of the song Beautiful Boy, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Really, if you think about, life itself is what makes a marriage and its also what can destroy a marriage.
Over the last 18 years, really 20 years if you count the time that we dated, there has been lots of magic, and lots of moments. Many times, we didn’t recognize those moments as being magical at the time. It happens that way when you’re in the moment. Magical moments are like good vacations, you need to step away from them a few months later to see how good they really were.
One of my greatest treasures in life are the rocks in our flower garden. We decided from the beginning that rocks were great and cheap souvenirs from our travels. Each time I pull in the driveway, regardless of where I’ve been, regardless if I made money that day or lost my ass on a blown assignment and all the mileage that went with it. I can pull into my driveway and get a glimpse of the rocks that surround my mailbox and my house, and it reminds me that it’s not about a single moment, or a single day, but rather life is about the long haul. Just like mine and Natalie’s marriage.
There are rocks from Tennessee that we collected when she was 8 months pregnant with Nolan. There are lava rocks from when her parents sent us to Hawaii to reward her for graduation with her Masters. There are memories embedded in those rocks of snorkeling Molokini, climbing up to Haleakala, and our unplanned 5-hour-drive, zig zag adventure, around the road to Hana (we were lucky to even make our flight after that trip). There are rocks that we packed out of the Grand Canyon, when we hiked there in the 1990s. And of course there are rocks there from our epic RV trip last year across America.
There are two rocks in particular from that trip that represent our marriage. One is a deep red rock from Arizona and the other is the big rock that she and kids worked on digging out of the snow illegally in the Rocky Mountain National Park, while I was in the car with elevation sickness. These two rocks represent a marriage because of these reasons: the red rock from Arizona wasn’t meant to be in a rainy climate that Kentucky has had this year, and it’s disintegrating and breaking apart. So I had to move it closer to the house to protect it. It’s not strong enough to stay out in the open. And the Rocky Mountain Rock is tough! It was designed to survive any type of weather.
Mine and Natalie’s lives are like those rocks. There are moments with our kids, that are like the Rocky Mountain Rock, that could survive any weather, under any conditions, 365/24/7. We’d kill for our kids. We relish in our kids, like when Cameron hit a triple to the fence last week in Little League. And when Laura comes up with some bright idea on how to make money with her own business selling brownie cakes, and when Nolan gives us a dissertation on something he learned off the History Channel and then applies it to his real life. And then there are moments like the Arizona rock, that are more tender, and needs more care, like when we put so much time and effort into our kids, and into our careers, that we forget about those moments of infatuation, like when I first met Natalie at the Powell County High School lunch room during her honors banquet in the spring of 1991. We often tend to lose sight of what got us here to begin with. And the weather starts chipping away at us, every time it rains, until eventually we disintegrate! We have learned, although painfully at times, the parts of our marriage that needs protection from the house itself and the parts that can withstand the test of time.
I’ll always be a creative brain. Natalie will always be a math brain, (whose check book is never off by even a penny). I feel good myself as a person if I make through the month without the bank telling me I’m overdrawn…yet again. I ran into yesterday, perhaps the greatest teacher I ever had in college or high school, and although I struggled with every high school algebra class I ever had with Diane Davis, she and I agreed that the world needs people who made straight A’s as well as those people who made D’s. I’ll always be a photographer who is obsessed with his work, and with high blood pressure, and Natalie will always be the greatest mother in the world. God made her, and designed her to be a mother, from the moment her little brother Brent Douglas was born. God designed her to be a caretaker, to be compassionate, to be understanding, and above all else to be patient in ways that I will never understand or be capable. To me that’s what a marriage is about. It took me many years understand that. Marriage is about love, but it’s also about a partnership between two people who bring both their strengths and weaknesses to the table, and commit to that partnership. God may have designed me to see and help save the world through the lens of a camera, but he also brought me together, as a team with four other people in this world. And without US, or without that TEAM, I’m nobody.
Happy 18th Anniversary, and on June 30th, Happy 20 years together! Rock On.
I went to the 1991 PCHS Honors Banquet to award a scholarship from the Clay City Times,
and met my future wife in her pretty white dress.
This is a photo of Natalie and I while we were dating. Very few people have ever carried my camera bag, but I let her pack it
while we were visiting my Papaw Tojo, a true Eastern Kentucky man, in the Spring of 1992. A fellow photographer, Rob Carr, saw this print later and
said it looked like Natalie was standing in Honduras. After several years of hard work, my parents have turned this farm on Garvin Ridge into
a weekend get-away.
I proposed to Natalie with a half-carrot diamond slid onto half of a carrot. I couldn’t pass the opportunity to insert
a little humor into the moment.
My Graduation from Eastern in 1992.
Natalie’s Graduation from Morehead in 1995.
Our Wedding Day, June 5, 1991, Stanton First Presbyterian Church (look at all that black hair in my head…geez where did all of it go to?)
The same three kids that stole all of my black hair tried to tell me how to drive to the pawn shop this weekend that used to be Gales Market
back in the day. I said, “we used to live there, I know how to get there!!!”
The birth of Nolan Gale, September 23, 1997
The birth of Cameron Wayne, April 3, 2001
The birth of Laura Kathryn, August 6, 2003
Making babies sure was fun! But maintaining babies wasn’t any fun at all.
Natalie and I have vowed to go back to Hawaii as skinny people and retake this photo.
This was my third trip hiking the Grand Canyon when Natalie got to go with me in 1999. I’ve hiked over 100 miles
in the canyon between 1996 & 1999, and went Rim to Rim in 1999.
Niagra Falls 1995
I’m going to trade in my Guy Club card here with this photo. God gives us these beautiful women as our wives. And then we tend not to appreciate their bodies after they give us our children. Stretch marks are signs of character and sacrifice for the children that go on to ultimately continue our families.
A 2-foot snow storm at our trailer park in Richmond, 1996.
Vegas 2007
An elevator in the Downtown Boston Marriott, February 2006
Kelly Wells’ Wedding, sometime 1991…I think…maybe 1992.
Happy Anniversary Nattie!!!!
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Growing up, I never did get into or understand horse racing very well. I remember going to my 8th Grade May Dance, in my pearly white John Travolta tuxedo, listening on the radio as Swale won the Kentucky Derby. Later on in life, I started going to Keeneland, treating it more as a cultural event rather than a love of horse racing. Still to this day, there are certain math-minded people in my family, including my wife, who make fun of me because I can’t figure out the betting system. Back to the culture of horse racing…. when I left Eastern in 2004 and ventured out on my own as Tim Webb Photography, I covered my first Derby at Keeneland and its 25, 000 fans, watching Smarty Jones cruise to victory for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The next year, I covered the first turn at Churchill Downs for the Louisville Courier-Journal. I’ve been there ever since then, from Giacomo in 2005 to Animal Kingdom this year. My greatest moment on the first turn of the Derby came in 2008, when Big Brown came within inches of my camera lens after winning the Derby.
Regardless if you understand horse racing or know how to bet on it, The Kentucky Derby and the sport of racing is a big part of our culture in Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby should be to Kentuckians like Cinco De Mayo is to Mexico, or like Saint Patrick’s Day is to the Irish. It’s not only about the horses, the race, and the culture, such as mint juleps, big hats, sear sucker suits, and the beginning of Spring, it’s about our culture and heritage as Kentuckians. Its our time to shine, when the world is watching us. Celebrities from Jessica Simpson to Queen Elizabeth come to Kentucky to experience our culture. We should too.
The following photos are from the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Enjoy the Kentucky culture!!!!
The view from the Spires
A buffet in the Jockey Club Suites
Terry Bradshaw
Relaxing in my room on Friday night with Jethro and the gang from NCIS
One of my mentor’s Robb Carr, aka Bobby Lee, with Getty Images in Baltimore, the 1992 author of “Shoot ‘em up Webbie!!!”
Bill Frakes of Sports Illustrated, adjusting one of his many remote cameras.
And where is Animal Kingdom at this point?
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At the turn of the other century (the 1900s) there were a number of Italian immigrants who settled in Whitesburg to work in the coal mines and on the railroads that first opened a very isolated Eastern Kentucky. Although they were there for other reasons, they left their mark on the city’s architecture. Many of the old houses and buildings look as if they were lifted out of Italy. One building in particular was built right on the river, reminiscent of Venice.
Along the way (no pun intended) yesterday, I found a city that has come and gone with coal, but is still working hard to maintain its identity.
A barbershop in downtown Whitesburg
I even found a sign with name on it.
The North Fork of the Kentucky River is in the heart of Whitesburg
Italian stone workers who came with the railroad in the early 1900s left their mark on Whitesburg's architecture.
A duck flies up stream over the headwaters of the Kentucky River.
The assignment that I was working on was photographing power plants at night for Kentucky Living (coming out in July…I think). I already had my tripod set up for time exposures, so I tried to capture a little bit of the Blackcreek Night. This is a 30 second exposure with the neighbors lights illuminating the hill behind Mom and Dad’s house. It really isn’t all that dark at night.
David Harrison, photo director of the Louisville Courier-Journal
David Stephenson, UK Photojournalism director
Courier-Journal photographer Michael Clevenger strikes a pose in the media pavillion.
Lexington Herald-Leader Photographer Mark Cornelison makes final adjustments on his remote cameras
Next to the NBA Finals, the Derby media pavilion is considered one of the nicest accommodations for journalists.
Calvin wins #3
Stuck in the mud!!!
I love this time of year! This is when the world of photography turns its attention from the almighty orange bouncing ball to the moving hooves of the horse. For me, it starts with a few trips to Keeneland, and then the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, seen here, and then on to Louisville tomorrow for Oaks Day and the Kentucky Derby.
Great Britain's Mary King rides Kings Temptress to a first place finish in the jumping portion of the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park.
A large, partly international crowd watches the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Kentuckian Hannah Sue Burnett, aboard St. Barths, places eighth during the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park. Burnett entered the day fifth place.
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Last year's winner William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain, clears a fence during the jumping portion of the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Great Britain's Mary King rides Kings Temptress to a first place finish in the jumping portion of the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Great Britain's Mary King, pats Kings Temptress, after winning the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park. King was the first rider to ever win first and second places at the Rolex, as her second place horse Fernhill Urco, right, looks on.
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I got a glimpse of God’s power with weather a couple nights ago in Frankfort. There is a message there.
I don’t always get to see a photo assignment come full circle, but I did back in the winter with Commonwealth Legacy Awards, given by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. The Kentucky Chamber celebrates Kentucky with its Commonwealth Legacy Award. It is presented exclusively to individuals, companies or organizations which have demonstrated outstanding leadership and made a profound impact on the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This year the award was being given to two gentlemen in tribute to their vision and leadership; Dr. Pearse Lyons for bringing the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games to Lexington and Mr. Jim Host for making the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville a reality.
In January I did some preliminary photographs with the award, that was created by Kentucky artist Dan Neal Barnes. My photo buddy Chris Radcliffe and I set up a small studio inside Dan’s studio to create the images that were later used for promotion by the Chamber. Then in february I photographed the actual ceremony, where the speakers list included the likes of Wayne Martin, Lonnie Ali, wife of Muhammad Ali, former governors Ernie Fletcher, John Y. Brown, Martha Layne Collins, and Steve and Jane Beshear.
This little girl was peeking out the front door window at me while I was photographing her grandmother in Winchester last week.
I love when color and composition come together in a photograph.
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Oldham County's Tyler Wesley shoots over Clark County's Jaylen Daniel. Clark County won the opening game of the Sweet 16, 56-39.
Clark County's Bopper Stenzel passes around Oldham County's Kerry Smith, left, and Tyler Wesley, right, during the opening round of the Sweet 16.
Eastern's Kameron Woods uses his face to secure a rebound against Warren Central's George Fant, during the opening round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington. Eastern won 54-51.
Eastern's Arman Marks drives the lane against the Warren Central defense, during the opening round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington. Eastern won 54-51.
Bullitt East coach Troy Barr makes a point to his team from the sideline against Bardstown.
Bullitt East's Trey Rakes is fouled under the basket by Marshall County's Chase Buchanan.
Eastern's Jon Davis fights for a loose ball against Warren Central's Adam Bradley, during the opening round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington. Eastern won 54-51.
Warren Central's Jordan Shanklin tries to send the game to overtime on a 3-pointer over Eastern's Byron Sanford with one second left, but the ball rimmed out, during the opening round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington. Eastern won 54-51.
Warren Central's Jordan Shanklin is fouled by Eastern's Arman Mark's, during the opening round of the Sweet 16 in Lexington. Eastern won 54-51.
Eastern Coach Jason Couch revs up his team after cutting into Christian County's lead on Saturday morning.
Wayne County & Rowan County
Wayne County's Gavin Dunagan drives the basket against Rowan County's Adam Wing.
Rowan County's Adam Wing celebrates after hitting a 3 pointer in the semi finals against Bullitt East.
Rowan County's Corey Hunter breathes a sigh of relief after knocking off Bullitt East in the semi finals.
Eastern's Remy Abell drives around Clark County's Vinny Zollo.
Lexington Catholic's Taylor Martin drives on Christian County's Anthony Hickey.
My 9-year-old son Cameron and our cousin Austin Monnett got to enjoy the tournament this year.
Cameron gets to talk smack with his favorite Associated Press photographer James Crisp, as Herald-Leader photographer Charles Bertram, Austin, and I look on.
Cameron gets to talk smack with his favorite Associated Press photographer James Crisp.
Kameron Woods sat in disbelief after heavily-favored Eastern was knocked out by Anthony Hickey and Christian County.
The heavily-favored Eastern team sat dejected after losing to Christian County on Saturday morning.
Christian County celebrated after beating Eastern in the semi finals on Saturday morning.
Christian County's Kenyon Wheeler consoles the Eastern team after knocking off the top team in the semi finals.Christian County piles on the floor after their big upset on Saturday morning.
The Webbs at Disney
On every trip to Florida we seem to accidentally stop at the same exit in Ashburn, Georgia with the cow.
Waiting on the bus
An explosion at the Indiana Jones show at Disney Hollywood
Laura found her 2nd Grade Teacher Mendi Lake at Disney on Ms. Lake's birthday!
We DO have three kids, Cameron just hates having his picture taken!
Laura doing her Hop Scotch thing.
We got to see & hear the Space Shuttle Discovery make its final landing across Florida. The sonic boom sounded like a two big coal trucks hitting a pot hole.
Natalie & Nolan taking in the thrill of Big Thunder Railroad
Hey! There's our third child!
Cinderella's Castle at night with the fireworks.
Mommy & Daddy time on Sarasota Beach
Creative Rejuvination
Hanging out with Maw & Paw Wayne in Bowling Green, Florida.
The corrections reform bill received unanimous support in the Senate.
Secretary of Justice and Public Safety J. Michael Brown, right, speaks with Rep. John Tilley about the corrections reform bill that passed the Senate Monday. Tilley sponsored the bill in the House.
Senators Robert Leeper, left, and Tim Shaughnessy, right, talk during a recess, before the Senate unanimously passes the corrections reform bill.
Senate President David Williams spoke from the floor during the Senate's passage of the corrections reform bill.The corrections reform bill received unanimous support in the Senate.
Tom Jensen, who sponsored the corrections reform bill in the Senate, smiles during a recess, before it received unanimous support.
Gov. Steve Beshear signed the bill into law with key members of the House and Senate.
Gov. Beshear signs the bill into law with key legislators and officials who made the bill a reality.
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The answer is simple. My kids love it!
Being a parent is all about love & sacrifice. That doesn’t mean you have to give up your life as an adult, but your frame of mind changes after having kids. It’s no longer JUST about you.
A few years ago when Natalie’s grandmother died, one of her friends from work came to the funeral home for visitation. The kids asked why did that person come when they never knew “Momaw Crystal.” We told them it was because she came to see Mommy, and because she cared about Mommy.
That story made a really good moral. Too many times in life we do what’s convenient for us instead of doing what’s right for the people around us.
I feel like I’m blessed with the greatest job in the world, or at least Kentucky. I’ll be shooting the Sweet 16 next week when I get back and doing what I enjoy, so taking off a week to do something that makes my kids happy is more than worth it.
The Owensboro Catholic Lady Aces win the girls championship
The 15th Region captures the boys title three years in a row, as Betsy Layne beats Louisville DeSales for the title.
Remember this name, Rebecca Greenwell of Owensboro Catholic is a sophomore who averages over 30 points a game!
Lexington Christian double-teamed Greenwell the entire game and she still scored 16 points.
Laura Kathryn, my onsite editor
Jimmy Oz saves me and my shoulder by filling in for me for several games.
We had a great Christmas as always. How can you not have a good Christmas with three kids who believe. We watched A Christmas Story a hundred times as usual, and they finally stood their ground and said no more Polar Express on Christmas Eve! Come on kids, Daddy loves that movie. We kept our new Christmas Day tradition going two years in a row by staying home all day, playing, being lazy, and going to eat Chinese, just like Ralphie and his family. Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra…Ra Ra Ra Ra!
After Christmas Natalie and I headed south to the Smokies for a few days of R&R sans kids. It was really pretty once we got there after being stuck in traffic forever on the interstate.
I brought in the New Years a little differently this year. The boys and I went Coon Hunting for the first time. I won’t mention any names, but a certain cousin of mine that I hunt with a lot, allowed us to get lost in the woods in the middle of the night. Then, shortly before midnight, I remembered that I had a GPS on my iPhone and thought it might be a good time to use it. So we brought in 2011, on a very memorable night, lost somewhere deep in the Carter County woods, between McGlone Creek and Jordan Fork. The only thing that would have made the night more complete would’ve been a little banjo music…ouch!
Finally, on January 8, I got to do something that I never thought I would do. I went to a wrestling match with Cameron and his friend Lee (sorry Jim Chadwick of Stanton, I mean no disrespect to the sport of wrestling, it’s just never been for me). But Cameron, however, loves it, and never misses a Monday or Friday night to watch it. He and Lee even give me verbal and written tests on the super stars of WWE, and they love to test my knowledge of different types of matches and the rules (rules!?! Really????). Anyway, I enjoyed it, and although I like to make fun of it, there is a lot of real pain and athleticism involved.
Well, that’s all I know to write for now Mrs. Whitabird, I’ll do it again when school starts back in August.
Cameron wraps himself for Christmas on the last day of school.
The Stephens grand kids and Uncle Brent
Somewhere near the Kentucky-Tennessee boarder, south of Williamsburg
Downtown Jellico, Tennessee
Stuck for hours on I-75 Southbound. And why? I still don't know.
We had to use four wheel drive to get to our cabin in Sevierville
Slip Slidin' Away
"Look Mom...it even has a fireplace!"
Gimping with my sling, with Nolan and Laura
This little piece of cartilage had been floating around my shoulder for months. So long pain!!!!
It looks like Jupiter, but it's not... it's the inside of my shoulder!
Alberto Del Rio and R-Truth battling out in the Smack Down ring at Rupp Arena..
Cameron and his friends Lee, left, and Chase, right
Cameron and Lee
Three days removed from shoulder surgery, but keeping my promise to Cameron, this was my view most of the night.
Doing things like this reminds me of my age, when I look into the stands and see the parents with their cam corders cheering for sons. These parents were people that I went to school with and played baseball with. I remember our parents doing the same thing at our ball games back in the 80s. I used to go to Morehead and watch Austin’s uncle Alex, who was also #11, play in the 16th Region. It’s funny how it all comes full circle.
If Nolan is my hunter, then Cameron is my athlete. Cameron loves to go to ball games with me. He went with me Sunday and had some great conversations with Austin’s Daddy Roy. The doctor expects to have Roy’s left ear sewn back on any day now.
One of my other favorite landmarks is the little wooden boat dock that sits on Lake Ellerslie, which is located across from Jacobson Park on Richmond Road in Lexington. I was driving into Lexington early this morning and the fog coming off the water was lit up like a Christmas tree by the early morning sun. It was one of those occasions where I passed it up at first, thinking it was too cold to get out of the car. Then I reminded myself as I turned around to go back that great photos seldom happen during ideal weather.
The Three Amigos
Smack Down in the snow
Self-Portrait with Laura
Daredevil Cameron spins his mini-bike in the snow.
The garden troll, watching over our winter garden
Our winter garden
Moonrise on McGlone Creek
Saturday was a blue-sky day
I got an Eight-Point Saturday Morning
Uncle Paul’s Barn
Uncle Paul’s Barn
Nolan is working hard at becoming a good deer hunter.
The Spike decided to run over the hill into Lewis County and reminded us of the old saying
about deer hunting, “the fun ends when you pull the trigger!”
We had a great day on Saturday. I got a doe and an eight-point, and Dad got a spike.
Mamaw Evelyn and Laura
Walking back in for the afternoon
Nolan is not driving on the farm as a 13 year old, it just looks like he is.
Death of a frozen mole
Reading Material
Ray Waits had as much character as his tobacco barn did. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of him, in surroundings that once was Kentucky’s mainstay and is now almost forgotten.
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There’s nothing like opening morning, on the second Saturday in November.
I even have dreams during the year about that first day break.
Day break on my Uncle John Fred’s portion of the family farm on McGlone Creek in Carter County.
The sun light spills out of the sky
Even if it hadn’t been opening morning, it was still a beautiful morning to be sitting quietly and peacefully in the woods.
5 a.m. came a little too early for Nolan. Good thing that Daddy has his back.
The Corn girls play a game of Corn Hole
Jerry & Mac McGlone
Laura and Emmy Corn, with Nolan the fire tamer in the background.
Mom and her brother Paul McGlone
Mac with his Daddy Jeff McGlone
Nolan, with Jack & Lisa Corn
Nolan and his .30/.30
Larry Smith, a shooter out of Wichita, Kansas, for the European PressPhoto Agency, finds himself shooting from a corn field during the Endurance portion of the games.
Larry and I shared a table for 16 days in the Media Village at the games. He's a great guy, and we got to be good friends. I left WEG and came home. He left WEG and covered the World Series.
Larry Smith transmitting in the corridor
Hey Dude! You're not in Europe anymore.
Media Village
Waiting for a golf cart with Herald-Leader photog and fellow smart-ass Mark Cornelison.
Self-portrait with Mark
The Media Village
Photographer Jeff Rogers. If you've ever seen your luggage pop out of a horse farm onto the conveyor belt at Bluegrass Airport, that photo is his.
Herald-Leader photographer Dave Perry
From beginning to end I shot 13,889 photos. After I packed up and was walking out of the Media Village on my last day, I thought this was an appropriate image to end it with.
One of the most fulfilling assignments that I’ve ever had was with a group of World War II veterans from Kentucky back in October. The Honor Flight program takes vets, totally free of charge, from all over the country, to Washington D.C. to see the World War II, Korean, and Iwo Jima Memorials. Civilians and service men and women came out at all of our stops to thank the men and women who saved the world in 1945. Our World War II vets are leaving us at a fast rate. They were able to defeat Hitler and Tojo, but they can’t escape time.
Just by lucky chance, the University of Louisville LaCrosse team was on the flight back with us from Baltimore after playing Temple. It was such a neat contrast seeing these young girls 19 and 20 years old genuinely taking an interest in these men who are in their late 80s, and even one young man who was 95. But nothing could prepare us for the parade and reception of over a hundred people that awaited us in the Louisville airport when we returned late that night. Words and photographs will fail to do it justice when Kentucky Living runs this article in time for Memorial Day next May.
Flying out of Louisville, bound for Baltimore, then on into DC
I found out that these guys weren't too old to flirt. Actually they were quiet good at it!
A warm reception at the Baltimore airport
The Army Band from nearby Ft. Meade played God Bless America in the Baltimore terminal.
The reception line at the WWII Memorial with a soldier's wife dressed in her throw back dress and gloves.
Cruising around the WWII Memorial
The local servicemen really step up each weekend for the Honor Flight program.
Raising the flag one last time.
Picking up chics in the airport
The men with the U of L LaCrosse Team
The LaCrosse girls were a real treat for the vets!!!
Welcome home!
Back home in Louisville
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I did these photographs with him one afternoon in October while he was racing at Keeneland.
UK's DeAndre Liggins reverses a lay up
Coach John Calipari schools UK big man Eloy Vargas
Former Paintsville star and UK walk on Landon Slone returns to Rupp
UK's Brandon Knight soars for a dunk over Pikeville College
Kelley Wells took Rowan County to the Sweet 16 in 1988 as a player, won the tournament with Chris Lofton and Mason County in 2003, and returned again in 2010 with Pikeville College.
UK's Brandon Knight fights for a loose ball against Pikeville's Landon Slone, left, and Vance Cooksey, right.