The Heat Is On

We had a homicide late Friday night at an apartment complex in Fayetteville. So I went there Saturday morning to get some shots of the investigation.

After that I went to a food drive at a bank parking lot in Springdale where they were offering free personal document shredding.

Then I headed up to Lowell for their annual Mudtown Days festival. The Lowell Fire Department sprayed water from one of their ladder trucks hourly to cool everyone off that wanted it.

And the evening ended with me covering a wedding reception for our profiles section.

Sunday began with a wild art hunt and I found these kids playing on the playground at Wilson Park.

And I finished up the day covering the Naturals hosting their in-state rivals, the Travelers.

All-Star Week is over for me

After a rushed morning finishing up All-Star Week on my end, today was a rather relaxed day.

My day began shooting portraits for feature stories to preview both the boys and girls All-Star basketball games. Unfortunately, these two were practicing in two different locations at the same time. But I made it work. I don't think the portraits are that great by any stretch, but I feel like I did better today than the other day (see previous posts).

I then went to the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Arena in Fayetteville where local emergency responders were learning techniques for farm equipment related accidents including a rolled tractor onto its operator (photo posted).

Following that I spent the rest of the day driving seemingly everywhere TRYING to find people beating the heat. Finally I ran across this day camp where the kiddos were playing in a kiddie pool with one of them manning the garden hose.

All-Star Week

Started off the day with a truck fire alongside I-540 this morning. Unfortunately I got there after the fire departments had extinguished the blaze. But I still tried to make something outta nothing by showing the traffic stopped for miles behind the situation. Of course I shot and transmitted a normal perspective. And I won't know till the morning what was chosen by the editors.

Following that, I moved on over to the Jones Center for another installment of their Summer Youth Academy. And after that I went to shoot an advance assignment (as usual, not posted here).

Later in the day, tragedy struck again on I-540 -- this time less than two miles south. A one-vehicle accident resulting in all occupants being transported to the nearby hospital.

And my day concluded with the baseball portion of the high school All-Star week. I only shot game one of the double-header but that was mostly due to deadlines.

Day Late, Dollar Short

Usually when I skip a day on a post, I just combine days into one post. However, yesterday (Monday) was so busy -- good reason why I didn't post when I got home -- I decided it necessary to make separate posts.

And unfortunately, due to the rush of the day, I really feel like my work, especially on the portraits, faltered. But I'm committed to them so I'm posting 'em here anyway.

Busy Day

Started off the busy day with a profiles portrait on the UA campus. Following that, I went over to the Walton Arts Center for a choral camp.

I then found myself back at old familiar Arvest Ballpark for a feature for the news section and of course some good 'ole baseball between the Naturals and the Tulsa Drillers.

And my day ended again with a sad story, unfortunately. I covered a funeral/memorial service for Springdale Police Capt. Laney Morriss.

Rolling Trucks

Today was the epitome of how my job encompasses highs and lows. I started early with an overturned truck at the Greenland exit on I-540. Then I headed out to Goshen to shoot a quick portrait. And immediately after that, I went to the Jones Center where they were holding the second week of their Summer Youth Academy.

After that came the bad. Yesterday afternoon a pair of young siblings were reported missing at a Springdale home. After some searching, the 5- and 4-year-old brother and sister were found dead in the trunk of the family car in the driveway.

Whole Buncha Wild Art

While most of this post is wild art, I'm guessing a few of these may need some explanation.

There's a couple frames that went with stories including a trucking obstacle course competition and a welcome home party for any veteran that's served in a war.

Also included in this post is a picture of a rainbow. I just want to make clear that this photo has no PS work (as none of my photos ever do). But I know SOMEONE will ask. We had some severe storms pass through the area last Wednesday and the sunset created a VERY vibrant orange sky and provided a nice double rainbow.

Batman

This is just a series of wild art from the past three days and one feature photo of Harry "Batman" Harnish at Devil's Den State Park.

The Church of Walton

Shareholders week culminated today with the annual Shareholders' Meeting at Bud Walton Arena.

The Wal-martians were entertained by actor Ben Stiller (as the host), American Idol winner Kris Allen, singer Miley Cyrus, singer Paulina Rubio, singer Smokey Robinson and basketball great Michael Jordan. And KISS member Gene Simmons (and the other guy, Paul Stanley) were there in the audience as well. I broke down and Beth Hall, April Brown and I had our picture taken with him (last frame).

Overall, it was a great show. A couple notes, however: Ben Stiller was funny as usual. Kris Allen performed seamlessly. Miley Cyrus had troubles singing the live performance ("A little pitchy, dog"). And Smokey Robinson brings zero entertainment value to a live performance.

But, for me, the funniest moment of the entire show (first frame posted) was Ben Stiller, Kris Allen and Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, attempting the "Blue Steel" pose from Stiller's very underrated film "Zoolander."