One Year, 100 Posts

With all the excitement I've had today, I almost forgot to make this post. Today is the one-year anniversary of Defining Moments, and coincidentally, this is my 100th post. Most of you have probably seen this collection of images already (because it ran in the paper a few weeks ago), but I thought it was appropriate. In the next year I hope to keep posting my favorite work (which will include a few stories) and in turn I welcome your eyes and your comments. Thanks for a great first year.

Here is the column that ran with the photos in the paper. Enjoy!

"Recently, while looking through some photos I took during the past year, I noticed a pattern. I don't do it often, but occasionally when photographing an assignment, I'll fire off a few frames of my left hand to see what f-stop and shutter speed I'll need before I begin shooting. I am pretty good at knowing what my exposure should be before I test, but I like the reassurance of seeing a correctly exposed image on the camera's LCD. By doing this, I have managed, somewhat unintentionally, to document my first 12 months at the Midland Daily News.

Typically, I'm like the cobbler who has holes in his own shoes. I get so wrapped up in the lives of others that I forget to document my own. But, as I scanned through some of different images of my hand, it caused me to stop and reflect. I noticed a shot with a U-Haul truck tire in the upper right-hand corner. It reminded me of my first day in Midland when my wife and I were moving into our rented house along M-20. Another showed the snowy driveway of Gladys Marsh's home in Edenville Township, which made me grateful for surviving that first Michigan winter. Then there was a photo shot one day last September for a story about Mike and Jamie Brandmair, a Midland couple raising nine children in Homer Township, and I thought of the many wonderful people and families I've had the pleasure of meeting and photographing.

Although they are an informal documentation of my time in Midland, these photos still are a journal of my life, each one a reminder of days that might have otherwise been forgotten. Midland is a special place, and I have enjoyed every moment I have had here. I may not be certain about what the future holds, but I am certain that I will never forget the past."