Sledding

I know pictures are more powerful with a tight edit, but I couldn't chose.

Family

My mom, dad, Uncle Denny and the Ugly (Andy, our dog.)

The Cottage

My room at the cottage hasn't changed in years. I put that Snow White poster up when I was five. The Far Side comics were added when I was in high school.

Superior Genes

This is my dad. He has trouble spelling and remembering names. This is his contribution in the kitchen.

Winter Melancholy

Dow Gardens Christmas Walk

Ice, Ice, Baby. bading ding ding dada ling ding

Snow, yo!

Project Blue Light

Amazing Grace, Taps, Two Ornaments, and a 6 year-old girl who lost her father when she was only a year old.

Busted

For those of you who have ever met me, I am a complete disaster when ever it comes to telling someone how great of a human being they are. I always just assume that they know. It isn't until someone is in the middle of total breakdown when I will finally confess of how wonderful, or talented, or whatever adjective they are. And even then, my rudimentary vocabulary never serves them justice, so I often keep quite.
Well, this time I totally got busted. I wrote something nice. Even as I wrote it I cringed at the thought that they might read it, that they might find out how great they were... and even worse, that I thought they were great. So I took a risk. I wrote on my blog about how I thought the Senors were a great family, and I sort of, kind of hoped they wouldn't see it. Well they hadn't..... until.... Ryan, my editor saw the post. I got a call on Wednesday morning (my day off, mind you) that woke me up.
"Good morning," Ryan said.
"Ahhhh, what do you want," I grunted.
"So I was looking at your blog," Ryan started, after a chuckle from my friendly morning tone.
I am thinking... ohhh great. I made friends with a subject. I am so busted. This is probably unethical on some grand level and I am going to be asked to remove the post.
"I want you to write an Outside the Box column on it," he said to my surprise.

Now, Outside the Box is this phenomenal outlet for MDN photographers to give insight to readers on our perception and thought of a photo. I always thought it was a fantastic idea, but I really didn't expect to write one. So now, not only are the Senors going to see it, but all of Midland County. Ah, I showed a soft side and got caught. I hope it doesn't give me a reputation. :)
In all reality... I was more than happy to write it.



The life of a photojournalism intern basically involves packing only the essentials into a 2002 two-door Cavalier, moving to a town you’ve never been to, living there for three or four months, shooting photographs, learning, telling stories of the people in that town, packing your things back into that two-door Cavalier and moving on to the next newspaper and the next town.
The night of Oct. 12, a third of the way through my internship at the Daily News, I stopped by the office to do some work and a call over the police scanner caught my attention. A group of kids were spotted down by the Tridge carrying around a couch. I had found my Couch Wars story.
Through this story I was introduced to the Senor family. For the past six weeks this family has taken me under their wing. Whether it is watching movies or Sunday afternoon lunch, the Senor family has been extremely generous to include me in their life.
With the death of my last grandparent this year and my cousins already starting their own families, I worry that the Scroggins family gatherings are becoming a thing of the past.
The Senors were traveling this Thanksgiving week, and had to leave their middle son, Andrew, behind. They decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, so that they could all eat together. And I had a seat at their table.
So, in light of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the Senors and the other families and individuals out there who put trust in a stranger, and aren’t just thankful, but giving as well.
Thank you for all that you have done for me.

Trash to Treasure

"I am like a tinker," Don Sian, 61, said as he separated the wires in a cord that his puppy chewed through. "If you can fix it, fix it. If you can't, then....," Sian said as he let out a puff of air that vibrated his lips.


"Went to the mall yesterday with the wife. I'm just not the mall kind of shopper," Sian said with a laugh. "Luckily she didn't find what she was looking for so we got the hell outta there."

Play With Your Food

I shot a bunch of different ideas for an illustration that was to represent youth, and how their eating and exercising habits effect their health. This is my favorite of the day. I will include the others later. I would like to shout out to my homey, Shaminder, for his brilliant mind and his lovely assistance today. And my homegirl Ally, for calming me down when I thought I was going to launch a computer through a wall.

Thanks, Giving, Dinner

Since I have been in Midland, a family has really taken me under their wing. Whether it is watching movies or Sunday afternoon lunch, the Senor family has been extremely generous to include me in their life.
With the death of my last grandparent and my cousins already starting their own families, I realized that Scroggins family gatherings are now a thing of the past.

The Senors are going to be traveling this Thanksgiving week, and are leaving their middle son, Andrew, behind. They decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner today, so that they could all eat together. And I had a seat at their table.

So, in light of Thanksgiving, as cheesey as this may be, I am thankful for the Senors and the other families and individuals out there that put trust in a stranger, and aren't just thankful, but giving as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!


This is Andrew and Pita before Thanksgiving dinner today.

Midland Santa Parade

I should get up early more often.

19-25

54 Socks

Haitian Dance