spirit of giving.

Every year, the Stockton Record (the paper I used to work for as a staffer) does a series right before Christmas. It is called "The Giving Spirit," and it is a collection of stories that highlight the work of local non-profit organizations that give to the community. This year, the Record hired me to work on the project with amazing writer Jennifer Torres. We battle-planned out the 7-part series, and tried to tell the stories of the good works of these organizations through the eyes of individuals who directly benefit from the services.

I loved working on these stories and getting to know folks who were willing to open up their lives to us during the good and the bad. Hopefully next year we'll have the chance to try it again and turn it into a deeper look at the holiday season for those in need. Either way, it was great to be a part of the Record team again, and I have to give mad props to Jennifer for putting in so much work to get access to just the right folks on a tight deadline, and also to Jeff Criesi for being a bad-ass designer and making them look good on the page.

So here's a gallery of how the stories ran in the paper, in date order. If you want to check out more photos and read the stories, you can see them online here.



And, just for fun, here are some of my favorite photos from each story that may or may not have made it into the paper. Enjoy!

economy for the WSJ

Now that it's a new year, it's time to sort through the old hard drives and finally catch up on some blog posts from the last couple of months! So let's start from the last assignment of the year and work backwards.

I couldn't have asked for a better assignment to round out 2010. The Wall Street Journal asked me to photograph the McLaughlin family in Sacramento for a story about the lasting effects of the economy crisis. The McLaughlins have been trying to sell their home for several years, hoping to upgrade to a three-bedroom house to accommodate their growing family. But with the housing market in the region at a standstill, they are stuck in a kind of limbo, waiting for something to give.

Here are some of my favorite photos from that evening. The McLaughlins and their children were incredibly sweet and open, allowing me to spend hours photographing their nightly activities. Since it was the day after Christmas, the kids excitedly showed me their new toys... and I got to practice taking pictures while being shot at, which is a skill that could come in handy in the future.

Enjoy! And if you want to see the story, check it out here.

forage.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Bay Area forager Connie Green in Napa for the Wall Street Journal. We spent a few hours driving through the Napa Valley, finding hidden (and sometimes not-so-hidden) pockets of native plants, climbing through thickets and picking all kinds of fresh foods from public land. I'd never been foraging before and didn't really know what to expect but Connie was incredibly accommodating, showing me how to collect black walnuts and how to find wild fennel. She even gave me some tips on the plants that grow wild in Sacramento, so maybe I'll go foraging in my neighborhood instead of going to the grocery store this week.

You can read the story here.

holga

I finally got around to processing and scanning about 8 rolls of random expired film that I shot on my little Holga over the last year or so. Not a whole lot came out, but there were a few fun surprises in the mix. And at least now I know where my camera has light leaks... haha. Enjoy!

zombie walk

This past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in my first zombie walk! We met up with hundreds of zombie-enthusiasts to walk the streets of Sacramento for this month's Second Saturday Art Walk. It was amazing! But I have to say, it would probably have been easier to photograph if I wasn't covered in fake blood. Here's some photos I managed to snag between zombie-groans and utterances of "braaaaaaains!" Enjoy!