A throwback to some of my favorite University of Michigan Athletics coaches from my years at Michigan.
Larry Nassar Trial
5 weeks ago, I covered the last two days of Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing in Ingham County. Though I wasn't able to hear all the survivors speak, I witnessed a tremendous amount of bravery and courage. Last Tuesday, the AP published an article titled, "Nassar victims help unveil sweeping child abuse legislation." Because of these voices, change emerged.
A visit to Happy Valley
This weekend, I trekked to Penn State University with some of the finest Michigan Daily staffers to cover the football game against Michigan. I hadn't traveled to this state before, and it was nice to be greeted by mountains and bright shades of red and yellow foliage as we traveled 12 hours by car in a 24-hour timespan.
I hadn't photographed football in nearly a year, and it was an incredible feeling to get out on the field again.
Summer in St. Joseph
This summer, I decided to move back home to St. Joe after my internship in Metro Detroit fell through. At first, I was devastated to leave Ann Arbor and felt as though I wouldn't be doing anything worthwhile over the summer without a real internship. To my surprise, this was my favorite summer thus far, and I was able to practice my craft and gain a vast amount of experience in just a few months.
One of my favorite projects this summer was photographing Vacation Bible School for my church. People often say that children are the easiest to photograph, which is true, but capturing them in unique frames for a week-long period is always a challenge.
In addition to VBS, my other favorite project was working with local photographer Mari Maloney and Capture Studios as an assistant and a second shooter. We mostly worked with high school seniors, but also captured a few weddings in our free time. I gained so much valuable wisdom and friendship from working with Mari, and even produced a few interesting frames for my own portfolio.
In addition to these projects, I also expanded my own business with my own senior clients. Sticking to mostly journalistic coverage throughout my photography career, I've never had much portrait experience. I photographed a few fabulous seniors that are some of the coolest people I've ever met. With more and more practice (and encouragement from Mari), I was able to go outside of my typical comfort zone.
NCAA Sweet Sixteen
This school year held some incredible opportunities through The Michigan Daily. In March, I traveled to Kansas City (who knew this wasn't actually in Kansas?) to cover Michigan's Sweet Sixteen appearance. They suffered a heartbreaking 69-68 loss to Oregon.
