Aint My First Rodeo

The Kissimmee Sports Arena Rodeo has come a long way since Gary Suhl opened the arena in 1992. Suhl, a former Silver Spurs cowboy, built the arena as a place for his children to practice their rodeo events. Now, cowboys and cowgirls come from all over central Florida to compete twice a month in the rodeo. Every show, fans pour in to watch bull riding, barrel racing and roping competitions.
Since I grew up riding horses and watching rodeos, I’veĀ been wanting to photograph one for a long time. Last weekend I got that chance at the Kissimmee Sports Arena Rodeo.

NOMNOMNOM

Since I love good food it wasn’t a surprise to find out that I love to photograph it too.

Iza Tapas Bar is a new restaurant in Thornton Park; it opened just six months ago. Part-owner Jessica Barrientos said she was inspired to open the restaurant after visiting Barcelona two years ago.

Two Firsts: NASA and NASCAR

This week was an eventful one for me. It started with me joining Red Huber, a senior staff photographer, to cover the opening of the Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors complex. Red has been covering NASA throughout the space program’s lifetime. Since I have not been to the Kennedy Space Center before, I wasn’t quite sure what type of crowd it drew. I was surprised to see all the emotions from NASA fans as they saw the Atlantis Space Shuttle so close for the first time.
The following weekend I photographed NASCAR in Daytona. Our afternoons were spent on infields with fans, at press conferences and public appearances. After transmitting photos from the afternoon and grabbing some food, it was time to head out to turn four to photograph the race. For someone who has never been to a NASCAR before, it was awesome being so close. I can definitely say that watching the sport on TV doesn’t give it justice.

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Multimedia: The Last Generation

Missouri dairy farmers have been having a tough time. Last year’s drought caused their feed and hay prices to skyrocket and put their herds and milk production in danger. Although the drought is over, dairy farmers that were able to make it through the winter are still paying high feed prices.
As input costs stay consistently high, small dairy farmers are making less profit from their milk. Furthermore, what little assistance they were expecting from the Farm Bill didn’t come through.
Some dairy farmers feel that they aren’t being represented fairly and are barely able to keep their business afloat during these tough financial times.

Multimedia: Once in a Blue Moon

Janet Moreland has always loved adventure. Previously an avid windsurfer and skier, Moreland now spends her free time kayaking on the Missouri River. On April 14, Moreland will begin a 2,600 mile kayak trip from the source of the Missouri River in Montana to St. Louis. The trip will take her about three and a half months. Moreland lives near Cooperā€™s Landing in Columbia, Mo. and was inspired to do the trip after talking to a kayaker who was almost done with this challenge.

Tough Life of an Intern

The other day, an assignment came in about new water slides and recent interior renovations at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Andrew Gibson, the other Mizzou intern, and I jumped on it. We grabbed the newsroom Go Pros and our bathing suits to try out the slides for ourselves. Sometimes it’s really tough being an intern.

Click here to see what Andrew Gibson did with the video!

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Multimedia: You’re in the Fight

The lift of the Pentagon ban prohibiting women from taking combat positions means hundreds of thousands of front-line jobs will open to women. Capt. Elizabeth Arrington however thinks the ban hasn’t imposed on her career, ā€œDespite the path the Army has kind of chosen for me, Iā€™ve still had a say in it and Iā€™ve still chosen to do things that are fulfilling and interesting to me.ā€
Arrington has reached a level in her career that many others, men and women, have not. Currently in her fifth year of serving in the Army, she is now in the Sapper engineering career course in Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. Arrington has deployed to Afghanistan three times, the first time as a platoon leader and the other two times to engage the local populace.
Like many other women deployed in the past decade, Arrington found herself in combat situations even though her title wasnā€™t a ā€œcombat role.ā€ Part of Arringtonā€™s duties during her first deployment was to supply a large US base near the Pakistan border. ā€œOur mission wasnā€™t to conduct offensive operations,ā€ Arrington said, ā€œbut we do come in contact with the enemy.ā€
After completing the engineering career course, Arrington will be deployed again.

First few weeks at the Orlando Sentinel

After a few weeks in Orlando, besides learning that its way too hot here, things have been going smoothly. Everyone here has been so great so far; from the photo editors and photographers giving me advice, to my neighbors in the office making me laugh, and lunch breaks and weekend fun with my fellow interns. I’ve had a few assignments so far, and started to branch out and explore on my own during slow days. Here’s a little bit of what went on during these few past weeks!

 

Multimedia: Their No. 1 Protector

Joel Ewbank runs a group home in Columbia, Mo. Not only is Ewbank a nurse at the home, he lives there as well. Ewbank’s mother started the home 10 years ago. They converted the basement into an apartment, where Ewbank lives, and the upper level of the house is devoted to the patients.
Ewbank cares for patients on ventilators, requiring a huge time commitment to care for them. Besides Ewbank, there are seven other nurses on staff and at least one is on shift at all times.
Unlike other jobs, Ewbank doesn’t really leave work. He said the fact that he lives with the patients makes his relationship with them stronger, “You do establish this feeling of you are their family member,” said Ewbank, “You are their number one advocate, you’re their number one protector.”

Indiana Reptile Expo

I was a bit of a strange kid. I was alwaysĀ outsideĀ rooting around in the dirt and turning over rocks looking for snakes, frogs, and other things that would freak most little girls out. I also think I was the only second grader that wanted to be a herpetologist, or even knew what that was. My mom, being the awesome mother she is, supported me and all my quirkiness. She took me to reptile shows around the state and even a few in Illinois without mentioning that there were probably 100 other things she’d rather be doing than be surrounded by reptiles all day. So, for a capstone assignment I headed to Indiana for a reptile show to revisit what I so loved 15 years ago.

Colorado

I learned to ski in third grade when my family and I took a trip to Aspen. We’ve returned a couple more times over the years but this past winter break was the first time I learned to snowboard. When we first arrived I was doubtful that I would learn by the end of the week but after a couple days of a sore butt and wrists from my spills, I was cruising down the blue runs!

Placenta Remedies

Jennifer Graham owns Baby Home Brewed in Columbia, Mo and processes placentas into remedies to help new moms fight post-pardum depression and exhaustion. Melanie Morgret had a home birth and then had Jennifer process her placenta into capsules, chocolates, soup, and ointment as remedies. Morgret was one of Graham’s first clients.
Birth photo courtesy of the Morgret family.

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Germany Pt. 2 + Austria

For the second part of my trip in Europe Im biking from Munich, Germany to Vienna, Austria. My journey consists of 7 days of biking from Munich,Germany to Salzburg, Austria, then 7 days around the Salzburg Lakes, and finally 7 days from Salzburg to Vienna. As of now I finished the first leg of my trip and I’m leaving for the Salzburg Lakes tomorrow. It’s been a crazy and beautiful experience so far and I can’t wait to see what’s still in store.

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Germany Pt. I

My Germany study abroad trip was an amazing experience. We started in Hannover, Germany for the Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalists. Next we headed to Hamburg and got a chance to talk with Directors of Photography from Stern and Geo, as well as tour the publications. We ended the trip with a photo workshop in Munich (Separate Lives was the story from that). The trip went by so quick, but Im still amazed at how much I learned in just that short amount of time.

Ft. Riley, Nebraska

I’ve been riding horses since the first grade, but it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school that my parents finally caved in and bought me my horse, Fiona. In high school I competed in 25 mile endurance races, since Fiona is half Arabian and half thoroughbred we did quite well. Since then, my parents have joined in on my passion and now have their own stables in Oconomowoc, WI. Now that my family owns a 12 stall barn and 7 horses of our own, horses have become a central and exciting part of our lives. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to compete since moving away for college, but a riding trip to Ft.Riley, NB with my mom and friends gave me a chance to once again travel cross-country with my horse.

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Missouri Cave

While looking at schools with my mom, I remember her asking me to consider Missouri. I remembered asking, “What the heck’s in Missouri?” I dismissed state as a whole and went to Savannah College of Art and Design. A year later I found myself enrolling at Mizzou; once again Mom was right. To my surprise, I also realized there’s a whole lot in Missouri. The landscape is beautiful and during the summer we waste away days on the river, at the swimming hole, or most recently in a backroad hidden cave. I guess I shouldn’t have been so hard on good ‘ol Missourah.

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Madison Bike Polo Tourny

I was introduced to bike polo when photographing a tournament for my Fundamentals of Photography class. The sport is crazy and I quickly became captivated, not just because of the fast pace and aggression, but also because of the great atmosphere surrounding the sport. When the Columbia bike polo team played in a tournament in Madison, WI while I was home for a visit I decided to make a trip over to make some photos.

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American Next: Ezana Gebru

As the son of Ethiopian refugees who came to the US and worked to get their family into the middle class, Ezana Gebru is having a hard time maintaining the work ethic and determination his parents had. Throughout his college career, Gebru has taken out loans and worked as a waiter to pay for the seven years he’s spent working on earning his bachelor’s degrees. Growing up, Gebru’s parents told him he was going to be a doctor, but he has different plans and still hasn’t finished earning his undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Economics at Missouri State University.

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Katherine Irwin

April 2012
Katherine Irwin is an escort at Planned Parenthood in Columbia, MO. Thursdays at Planned Parenthood is abortion day, and Irwin walks clinic patrons to and from their cars to shield them from the protestors that line the sidewalk outside the clinic. The protestors frequently pray, call out to the patrons, and hold signs with sayings like, “Babies are being killed here now.”
Irwin volunteers at the clinic because she too once found herself walking into the clinic and facing the protestors. Irwin got pregnant when she was 17 years old. In Missouri that means she was too young to get an abortion without parental consent so she instead had the baby. Irwin figured her parents wouldn’t have agreed to sign the abortion consent form so she decided to not even ask. Irwin said that if she would have been 18, she would have had the abortion.
Now, at 23, Irwin is a mother and a student at the University of Missouri. Every day Irwin wakes up around 6 or 6:30 to take her daughter, Rylee, to day-care in their hometown of Jefferson City. She then commutes to Columbia for school. Irwin is double majoring in psychology and women and gender studies. During the day she stays on campus for classes and homework, and then heads back to Jefferson City to pick Rylee up from day care around 5:30 pm.
Because she was 17 when pregnant, Irwin didn’t have the option of having an abortion. Despite this, she says she doesn’t regret having her daughter.

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O’Reilly Auto Fire

April 1, 2012
Firefighters battled a blaze at O’Reilly Auto Parts, a fire that damaged multiple businesses at the Business Loop 70 strip mall. The fire broke out at O’Reilly Auto Parts and spread to Hong Kong Restaurant, Sami Beauty Supply, Adam’s Barber Shop, and Dollar General. The first call to the Columbia Fire Department came in at 4:45 a.m. Sunday and the fire was not considered under control until 3 p.m. Eleven units and 35 firefighters responded to the fire. There were no reports of injuries.

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Spelling Bee

March 13, 2012
Students competed in the Columbia Daily Tribune Regional Spelling Bee in hopes of earning the honor to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The event, hosted by Christian Fellowship School, featured 53 students from the seven counties in the Tribune’s delivery area and ranged from third to eighth grade.

Home-schooled student, Priscilla Liow, 14, won the contest by correctly spelling “neptunium.” Liow won an all-expenses paid trip for two to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee from May 27 to June 1.

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Mojo’s

March 3, 2012
Mojo’s hosted a concert as a part of the True/False Film Fest. The Mojo’s A-Go-Go concert featured four bands: Cassie Morgan, Dark Dark Dark, Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?, and Believers. The concert was one of many events held over the weekend for True/False in Columbia.

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Chili Cookoff

February 18, 2012
The seventh annual Rootin’-Tootin’ Chili Cookoff was held in Columbia, MO to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Columbia. Fifty-one different teams competed in the cook off, attracting 1,500 people and raising $65,000. Besides awarding the best recipe, teams were given awards for the best booth theme and best costumes.

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MU v OSU

February 15, 2012
The No. 3 Missouri Tigers beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys 83-65 at Mizzou Arena. Missouri (24-2) is tied with Kansas in the Big 12 Conference standings. Both teams are 11-2 in conference play.
Five Missouri players scored in the double-digits against Oklahoma. Marcus Denmon led the team with 17 points, Michael Dixon and Ricardo Ratliffe each had 15, and Phil Pressey and Kim English each had 13. Ratliffe also led the team with 12 rebounds.

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Ragtag Trivia

January 29, 2012
The Blue Note hosted Ragtag Trivia Night to raise funds for the $200,000 digital projection system for Ragtag. Twenty-six teams competed, each donating $135 as an entry fee. Once the new projector is bought, Ragtag intends to keep their old film system as well to show archival movies.

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Men in Dresses

Spring 2011
SoCo Club boasts as having the best drag shows in Columbia. For my Advance Techniques final project, my group focused on the show as a whole and more personally two performers. I had the chance to see one of the performers “transformation process,” something they don’t let many people watch because it ruins the illusion behind their art. After seeing everything they put into performing, I truly think it is an art.

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Beyond Mountain Climbing

Summer 2008
The summer after graduating high school, I went to the British Columbia in Canada for a trip with my school’s Young Life group. We sea kayaked 50 miles up an inlet, then climbed a mountain from sea level to the summit. I don’t think Ill ever forget our first day of the hike. We had to go through a forest of elders, and the trail wasn’t cleared very well. With every step we were whipped by the trees branches. We also carried all of our gear and I was sore, hot and very grumpy. I love the outdoors, was in good shape, and consider myself to be pretty tough but Ill admit I was on the verge of tears. Im glad I sucked it up though. Although the trip was the most physically demanding experience Ive ever had, it was also one of the greatest.

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Tybee National Wildlife Refuge

2009

Tybee National Wildlife Refuge was established by an executive order from Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, and is an important resting and feeding area for migratory birds passing through the region. The 100-acre wildlife refuge is located at the mouth of the Savannah River in Savannah, Georgia. The area, once known as Oysterbed Island, was previously used by the Army Corps of Engineers during harbor dredging as a soil disposal site. Because of that, the majority of the area is now covered with sand deposits, however there are also areas with dense woods and saltwater marshes.

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SCAD Tree Study

2009

My freshman year of college I had the opportunity to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. I was only there for a year before transferring to the University of Missouri, but I’m still grateful I had a chance to take fine art classes. SCAD is an amazing school filled with talented students, but quickly I found out that a photojournalism degree was what I wanted.

One of my last photo projects at SCAD was a study comparing trees and man-made constructs in the city. Savannah is known for it’s rich history, which is easily observed through the city’s architecture, and beautiful squares and parks that are scattered around town.

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