GR Boxing - MLK Gym

I'm part of a small Leadership Grand Rapids team that has chosen to work on a special project for GR Box...an amazing gym located in Martin Luther King Park on the city's southeast side. 

In short, the volunteers at this boxing gym teach boxing skills to kids ages 7-19 as a way to help mentor kids, inspire them, be a friend, and keep them in school and off the streets.

Last night I met a couple of State champion boxers in the program...great kids. Our goal is to create a multi-faceted awareness program to help GR Box recruit more adult volunteers, and reach out to various after school programs and churches to let them know that this resource is available for kids.

I'll be shooting at the gym a lot over the next few months...it's an inspiring place that I feel quite lucky to be around.

and this one too

This gives you some idea of the scale...but it's probably only about 2/3 of the crowd.

ZOMBIES!!

Zombies in downtown Grand Rapids...there were thousands of them.

Rockettes make the cover!

It's VERY satisfying to see a result like this for my clients Madison Square Garden and Wondergem Consulting!

Thanks to the Revue team for making a fantastic looking cover!

The Rotunda

I had the pleasure of going with my daughter Hanna's exuberant 4th grade class to Lansing today to visit the State capitol. Although I've been to Lansing many times, I had never before been inside our Capitol Building.

It was a great tour. I was truly moved by the beauty of this building, its architecture, history and attention to detail.

I only wish our legislative and executive branches weren't so intent on polluting the process of serving the people of Michigan with personal politics and greed. The last 4 years have been an embarrassment to all that work inside this building...they've filled it full of gridlock and grand standing.

Shame on them...they don't deserve such a nice office.

back home

I drove over 1600 miles in 5 days...got back late Tuesday night. My trip to northern michigan and the U.P. was a blur of beautiful fall colors, historic downtowns...and bad hotels.

I once again was impressed by the beauty of our state and how vital our water resources are... everything possible should be done to protect them.

more Tahquamenon Falls

into the mist

I've always wanted to shoot Tahquamenon Falls in the UP...but amazingly I've only shot in the Les Cheneaux Islands previous to this trip.

I arrived at the upper falls in the late afternoon today and found I was shooting squarely into the sun...not ideal.

But with a little help from a mild breeze, the mist off the falls was backlit.

Autumn in the U.P.

Many of you know I'm on an extended assignment shooting all over Michigan...this photo is from Hancock in the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P.

I thought the fall colors might be past prime already way up here...but boy was I wrong!

Michael Moore and Me

Today I was shooting in downtown Traverse City outside the State Theater. I pretty engrossed in shooting the facade of this lovely theater and wasn't paying much attention to anything else.

This guy walks up to me and asks, "Hey...where are you from?"

This is a pretty common question when you carry around a large camera and I'm used to being approached...but this time I looked up and it's Michael Moore standing there.

We chatted for a few minutes...he was curious who I was working for. He seemed like a really nice guy...almost made me want to go bowling with him.

At the end of the conversation I asked if I could take his picture and he said, "Sure, I know you're not the paparazzi because you asked permission."

Up North for a while

I'm leaving Friday morning on a 5 day trip to shoot a couple of amazing assignments. I'll be shooting all over northern Michigan.

I'll try to post some a photo or two each day. It looks like I'll have some good weather at least for a few of those days.

banjo player in the living room

I recently had this strange dream about a banjo player...luckily I was able to snap this picture before I woke up.