Oregon Elementary Counselor of the Year

I haven't posted in a bit.

This is Nancy Ferguson whom won Elementary Counselor of the year at Templeton Middle School in Tigard. I orginally was going to get a shot of her on the front of the school's stage (this was shot behind it with the curtain closed) but I liked the coloring better doing it the opposite way.




Also, a shot of her at her office the day after winning. I went black and white with this because the sign is bright red and very hard to read this small.

Swing Dance

A shot from a small swing dance in Newberg, OR. The assignment was about the instructor, but I'm more partial to this one. The reason for the black and white (I always seem to default to color as a preference) was that I didn't feel the orange cast added anything to the content.

Any opinions as far as when to grayscale a color photo?

VP Julie

A quick portrait of Vice President of Oregon Scientific, Julie Hui.

Julia

I came home late the other night and my girlfriend, Julia, was already asleep. I found her with the door slightly cracked open.

Chess

I was at a chess tournament and found a finished game outside of the tournament hall.

My Buddy Jeff

Jeff is one of my oldest friends, and is coming up from California this week for a medical school interview at the Oregon Health Sciences University. Two summers ago we took a road trip from Chicago back home in my very well-used '88 Ford Escort. This is from the top of a mountain pass in western Montana, after my rear tire blew and Jeff kept trying to call AAA on his cell phone. He eventually got through and we got a tow, but the day wasn't over until my alternator died not 15 minutes after the new tire was installed.

Skyhawks Win

Girls State Basketball this last weekend. The Southridge Skyhawks ladies earned the titled by beating Central Catholic of Portland.

IPPA

A hectic week, which I'm finishing off by trying to get all of my entries together for the Illinois Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism contest. I interned at a paper out in the suburbs of Chicago for most of last year. I really miss my old staff, most of them were great..


Here is one of the images that I'm submitting.



Fernando Martinez checks to see if is son is still studying for a college exam in their living room while he reads the bible on his mechanical bed. Martinez fell to the ground while painting a home three years ago, which snapped a vertebrae and left him a quadriplegic. He is now on a list for an experimental surgery that would allow him to breathe on his own without a hose, but it will cost at least a hundred-thousand dollars and the health plan of his wife Maria, will not cover it.