When I tell people I'm a photojournalist, visions of car wrecks and courthouse photos come to the forefronts of their minds. Most people don't realize the bread and butter of community journalism is everyday happenings, such as high school sports and ... babies and books.

I was smiling to myself during this assignment at the Franklin Public Library, mostly because of the name of the book, "The Incredible Ned." My younger brother's name is Ned — my father named him after Milwaukee Brewers Manager Ned Yost — and without any knowledge of the existence of this book, we've always called him, The Incredible Ned. I showed these photos to Ned's fiancé and told her, "It seems as though you aren't the only girl enamored by The Incredible Ned." She replied, "I am going to be waiting for her at the bike racks ... "

 
Nikon D2H, 28 mm, 500 ISO, f2.8, 1/200, Manual

Nikon D2H, 120 mm, 500 ISO, f2.8, 1/200, Manual

I don't have wings, but I spend a lot of time climbing and crawling with my camera in hand. Although, the photos below didn't require any climbing or crawling whatsoever. My feet never left the ground.

I used a simple and common technique we call the "Hail Mary." This technique involves holding the camera over my head and shooting "blind." (I was standing on an indoor running track built on the second floor of the gymnasium.) You oftentimes see sports photographers doing the Hail Mary when shooting post-game celebrations. Not too many of us are 7 feet tall, thus, this technique offers a view from up top. Sometimes, I use the Hail Mary to clean up my backgrounds. Digital photography allows shooters to do this and instantly receive feedback on the backs of our cameras.

Basically, it's a calculated guess. I get paid to take photos, and the least I can do is know how to work my camera, whether it's up against my face or four feet away.

These photos were taken at the new Community Center attached to Hales Corners Lutheran Church, located on Janesville Road. The center is complete with a gymnasium, indoor running track and fitness center.

“I’m so depressed,” said Bob Bakic, owner of New Berlin’s Moorland Auto Repair, Inc. Tuesday afternoon, speaking of the Packers’ NFC Championship loss to the New York Giants this past weekend.

No worries Bob, you’re not alone. I’m pretty certain the entire state of Wisconsin had an awful case of the Mondays following Sunday’s game.

I was driving down Moorland Road this afternoon, contemplating what I was going to have for lunch, when the sign posted below caught my eye. If it made me smile, it will make viewers smile, I thought. I knew the business had to have put up the words last week, but I still wanted to stop in and chat with the owner.

Oh fine, I’ll be the first one to admit: I’m a Packer fan. By stopping in, I was 80 percent doing my job, and 20 percent in search of some Packer Therapy of my own.

“That guy was playing like a brick chicken house,” Bakic said, speaking of New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, whose 11-catch, 154-yard game against Green Bay catapulted the Giants into the Super Bowl.

Like everyone else — Favre included — Bakic never expected the game to end as it did.

“Brett Favre’s still my guy,” Bakic said, shaking his head. “He doesn’t walk on water.”

So what’s next for Bakic’s sign? He’s still thinking, he said, but one thing's for certain: It will make drivers turn their cheeseheads and smile.

As a way of enforcing my curfew during the high school and college years, my dad once said to me, “Nothing good ever happens past midnight.”

I wish he could have been by my side Wednesday night.

It was shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday when Cpt. Tim Patterson, a Franklin police officer from New Berlin, arrived at General Mitchell International Airport. Patterson had just finished a one-year tour of duty in Afghanistan. While 90 percent of those reading this were sleeping, a military husband and father reunited with his wife and 8-year-old daughter. I would give up a week’s sleep to witness this moment again.

All technical aspects of photography set aside, there’s nothing better than capturing a true decisive moment. Backgrounds can’t always be perfect. The lighting can’t always be ideal. But if a photo encourages the reader to react, we’ve done our job.

You’ll be seeing more of Tim and his family in the months to come, as this is just the beginning of his journey back home.

Considering the camera body I use (a Nikon D2H), some gymnasiums allow me to shoot available light, while others do not. If I enter a high school gymnasium with adequate available light and a high place for me to stand, it's a good night. I shot a couple basketball assignments in Franklin a few nights back. The first was a free throw competition and the second was a girls' varsity basketball game. I shot the varsity game at f2.8, 1/250 of a second, ISO 500. The free throw competition was mostly the same lighting conditions, excepting I slowed the shutter speed down to 1/200 of a second.

I'm a sucker for wandering backstage.

As photojournalists, we're given the opportunity to see moments audience members oftentimes may miss. A few days back, I was assigned to photograph the rehearsal for a Winter Concert recital, held at the Muskego High School Performing Arts Center. I walked in the front door and sat down with the audience for a few minutes. I found my way to the front row and shot a few different angles of the kids singing on stage. After about a half hour, my frustration was getting to me. I had one or two "decent" shots, but nothing I was proud of. I decided it was time to move on to my next assignment, so I gathered up my gear and slipped out the side door. But as I was leaving, I glanced backstage and saw some great moments happening — the teachers were helping some of the children with their hand motions. They were encouraging the kids to sing louder and pay close attention to the director.

This, in my opinion, is the type of story we're there to tell. Anyone can bring along a point-and-shoot camera and take a picture from the 17th row. But not everyone is afforded the opportunity to see an unassuming teacher simply encouraging her student to do his best.

I spend a lot of time watching other people's kids. And I don't mean babysitting. I mean, staring.

Kids are great. When I tell them to ignore me, they actually do. Children accept the presence of a "really big camera" far better than adults. I sat in on a Geography Bee this afternoon at Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin. An incredibly easy assignment ... something I'd consider, free smiles.

To my loyal photo blog readers my mother:

I apologize, I've been slacking on photo updates this week. I'm glad you're still lurking around my blog; it's so nice to see you and welcome back!

January is what we call a painfully slow month in the journalism world. Ad sales are down after the holidays have passed and people like to stay indoors when the mercury in the thermometer drops below zero degrees. Who can blame them? I've been so cold the past couple weeks that I find myself sitting underneath the heat lamp in my apartment, just to get a little light in my life.

As the winter weeks creep on by, we tend to spend our days photographing a blood drive or two, hanging out at the nearest sledding hill, and patiently praying for the first batch of brave ice skaters to test out the local pond.

That, and basketball.

There's always basketball. Within the past 24 hours, I've shot three different basketball assignments. Here's a pic from big-boys basketball and a shot from little-boys basketball. It was a packed house last night when cross-town rivals New Berlin West and New Berlin Eisenhower went head-to-head during a Woodland Conference showdown at Eisenhower High School. Eisenhower ended up winning the game during overtime with a 66-64 victory.