Spring colors...not Spring temperatures

One assignment today took me again to football practice in the late afternoon. Luckily, this time we were back outside in the comfort of a more-than-enough-light situation.

But before all that fun could begin, it was wild-art hunting time.

I went first to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks to find something to show some nice Spring colors.

Following that, while riding around looking for ANYthing interesting, I ran across this middle school art class painting a horse statue to mark the annual Komen Ozark Race for the Cure.

Hunting down some eggs

Sunday presented the annual Easter at The Club at the Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club. I know what you're saying; and, yes, I eat brownies on cold days. Or maybe you're thinking it's not quite Easter yet. Well we like to get ahead the crowds.

Monday started early when a tanker truck hauling animal fat for Tyson Foods overturned less than two miles from home. So needless to say, I got there quickly (thanks, of course, to my photo editor calling me and telling me about it). The driver (pictured in red) realized coming down the exit ramp that his brakes failed and instead of making the intended left onto U.S. 412 west, he took the truck to the right and managed to hit no one in the process. Pretty impressive driving by Santa in my opinion.

After my fun with the WONDERFUL smell of spilled animal fat, I headed to Rogers for an advance assignment (not posted). After that, it was...everyone in unison now...wild art time. So I went first over to Dave Peel Park in Bentonville to find some kids hanging around on the playground equipment.

Next stop, Rogers Activity Center. I went in to hang with some kids playing on the Nintendo Wii.

Fun Light

Started off the morning with the ever-so-fun light that is indoor football practice. Shooting at 1/250th @ 2.8 on 1600 ISO is NOT pleasant. But they did let us actually shoot the scrimmage (as opposed to the normal 20 min. restriction). So that made the situation much better; it didn't change the quality of the images, unfortunately.

Following that, I went over to the NWA Mall to get a stand-alone of Le Chocolate Feast.

Aside from a couple assignments for advance publication dates, today was another enterprise art day.

Based in Benton County again, I went over to Memorial Park in Bentonville where a crew with the parks department were installing coverings over the seating areas around each of the nine baseball fields.

Following that, I decided to try my luck by driving up to Bella Vista. Fortune found me when I discovered this kid and his grandfather playing some miniature golf. I had a lot of fun hanging out with them for a bit. The kid's reward for winning the match was a Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Football's back?

First assignment on the day was a quick portrait of the chairman of the 2009 Ozark Komen Race for the Cure.

After that, I went to a retirement reception on the UA campus for the vice chancellor for Student Affairs.

And finally, the crux of my day was the first day of Spring football practice for the Razorbacks. After a huge storm earlier in the day, the skies cleared and the open practice was held outside in Razorback Stadium.

Yes, Virginia, there IS a women's NIT

I found myself starting the day just like most days -- hunting for wild art. So I found the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy and the cadets, in their second week, were focused on firearm training.

Later, I had a quick portrait and then the meat and potatoes of my day was the women's NIT second round matchup against Oklahoma State. I wish one of the celebration shots could have made it to print but I guess time constraints -- the game went into overtime -- put the sports desk in a little bind. So at least I have the blog where frames like this can still see the light.

Tree Frees!

I started out the day by heading over to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks where they were giving away free trees to local residents to assist in the damage caused by our ice storm earlier this year.

Following that, thanks to Tony's suggestion, I made my way out to Prairie Grove where the local FFA was hosting their annual Ranch Rodeo for some enterprise art.

Heather

Last Sunday, I did some portraits of my girlfriend's sister, Heather. All these were shot in Johnson, AR using simply one speedlight held off to the side by Ashley. Ashley was a GREAT assistant being my mobile light stand and model director.

Fishing away my Friday

Today was spent mostly around Beaver Lake.

I first found some enterprise art of a mother, her mother and her daughter playing on a slide at the Prairie Creek Recreational Area.

And then I went to Lake Atalanta to find a family fishing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I started off my day getting some enterprise art at a local Irish bar/restaurant (Celtic Grill) in Bentonville as people crowded the place for St. Patrick's Day.

Following that, I stayed in Benton County for some more enterprise by making my way over to the skate park in Rogers.

And the last frame posted here is a portrait of the pastor, Rev. Ronnie Floyd, at The Church in Pinnacle Hills (lovingly referred to sometimes as Six Flags over Jesus) in Rogers.

Eureka!

I spent most of the day today in Eureka Springs. I had to go there this morning for a plea hearing for a group of Hells Angels for a 2007 attack on a rival motorcycle gang, the Bandidos. I couldn't shoot inside the courtroom, so I had to wait for something to happen outside. Luckily the defendants stood out on the steps for a smoke.

Following that excitement, I headed over to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge to find some enterprise art. Although I didn't use 'em in the paper, I wanted to include a couple shots of exotic cats on the blog.