Outside The Box

I wrote a column for the paper earlier this week. Enjoy!

Variey Is The Spice of Life

There are moments when all photojournalists stop dead in their tracks, sometimes even in the middle of an assignment, and think, "I can't believe this is actually my job." For me, one of these moments came just over a week ago on a small farm outside of Gladwin. There I was at my first ever mud-bog, barefoot and covered in mud from head to toe, climbing in the back seat of 18-year-old Joe Lobodzinski's Chevy Silverado. Up until a moment ago, Joe and I were strangers, but now I was sitting in his car taking photos as we bounced along the rugged terrain. Just the day before I had been in downtown Midland attending the Good Friday service at St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church. My assignment was to shoot a photo of the church's recently renovated interior to accompany an article that was being written by my friend and colleague, Josh Grosteffon. But today, today was different. I had exchanged my dress pants for a pair of ratty jeans and my button-up shirt for a hoodie. No more communion wafers and wine; now it was hot dogs and beer. Sticking my camera out the window of Joe's Silverado, I released the shutter, capturing Joe as he scanned the open field for other mud-boggers who might be in his way. Just like me, Joe was covered in splotches of thick brown earth, the same brown earth that had drawn hundreds of people out of hibernation to this 40-acre tract of land along Nettleton Road. Maybe it was the fumes from the exhaust, or maybe it was just the mud between my toes, but this was the most fun I have had on an assignment in a while. In fact, assignments like theses are exactly why I chose this profession. What other job gives you the opportunity to go to church one day and a mud-bog the next? No two days are ever alike. You never know what tomorrow holds and that's what makes my job so interesting.