Fort Riley's New Commander - May 22, 2013

On May 22, 2013, the First Infantry Division at Fort Riley held a ceremony to recognize its outgoing commander, Maj. Gen. William Mayville, and also to welcome its new commander, Maj. Gen. Paul Funk. The ceremony was full of pomp and circumstance, with the band playing, an inspection of troops, and even a calvary charge by the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard. 

At the Rodeo- CBR bull riding comes to Manhattan

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph professional bull riders on K-State's campus. It was definitely a new experience for me, and a little more challenging than I thought. I asked a million dumb questions about what was going on from the reporter. But after a long week it was a fun evening that turned out some good photos. Enjoy!

K-State Football vs. Kansas, October 22, 2011

Last weekend I headed to Lawrence with the sports reporters to cover the in state rivalry between the Wildcats and the Jayhawks. It was perfect football weather! The Wildcats ended up beating the Jayhawks pretty handily, 59-21. Here are some selects from the game. These are just the ones I turned into the paper for a photo page that ran on Sunday. Stay tuned for a few more selects that didn't make the final cut into the paper!

And the best part about the game.... My dad came over to cover the game for KMBC-TV, so we got to work together on the sideline for the first time ever!!

Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet

Yesterday I got to shoot probably the most exciting assignment I've had yet: Eric Stonestreet. He is a K-State alum and apparently comes back quite often to speak to theatre classes on campus as well as attend sporting events. He was very funny in person, and had great stories and advice to tell the students. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Stonestreet decked out in K-State gear at the beginning of his talk to students in Nichols Theatre on K-State's campus Mon., Oct. 17, 2011. 

Stonestreet smiles up at a high school student who admitted how shy and scared she was to ask him a question. 

After another student was struck speechless when she ended up with the microphone, Stonestreet wandered up the stairs to sit by her, which only seemed to shell-shock her more. 

Stonestreet's Emmy award held by a faculty member of K-State's theatre department.

Stonestreet laughs as he makes a joke about not carting the Emmy with him everywhere he goes as he wanders around the stage. Stonestreet gave the Emmy to his parents as a "thank you" for their support of him early in his career. His parents live in KC, so it was an easy stop for him to get it on the way to Manhattan. 

Looking Back: Occupy MHK October 15, 2011

I'm sure by now you all have at least heard of the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place in New York. Since they began almost a month ago, several solidarity protests have popped up around the country, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, according to a NYT Topic page about the movement.

This past Saturday, Manhattan, Kan., joined the movement with a solidarity protest called "Occupy MHK." (For those who didn't know, like me, "MHK" is the airport code for Manhattan, Kan.) The event was held in Triangle Park, which is located on the edge of Aggieville, the downtown restaurant and shopping area in Manhattan, and also across the street from the K-State campus. Protesters lined up along Anderson Road, a main East-West street in town, displaying signs and showing their support for the 99%. All ages turned out, from children to seniors, with about 100 people in total. Considering how many other events were happening at the same time in Manhattan and a K-State football game on TV, I was impressed with the number of people who came.

Here are some selects I took of people preparing for the protest and the protest itself. It was a fairly straightforward assignment, so I tried to play around with light a little more than I usually do. Hope you like it!

This picture was from early in the protest. By the time I left the amount of people had doubled. 

The man in the orange shirt in the middle of this photo is Davey Rogner, one of the co-founders of a group called Pick Up America. They came through Manhattan and I photographed them picking up trash along highway 24 earlier in the week. His story is very interesting and he is a strong believer in grassroots movements and the ability of people to create change. For this reason, he came back to Manhattan to be part of the protest even though he and his group had already made it about 45 miles down the road to Clay Center, Kan.