2009 in Photos

#1 Stepbrother Bucky and his bride, Stephanie, get married on January 17.



#2-3 Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States on January 20. My friend Ray and I watch at KC's Gem Theatre.





#4 My golden retriever, Jack, comes to live with me on February 16.




#5 Hiking in Colorado near Red Rocks with my friend Jay on April 13, 2009.



#6 Shooting the sides of buildings in KC on May 14.



#7 Church marquee in Weston, Missouri from a photo adventure with Orion and Rusty on June 27.




#8 Wedding Rehearsal for my Mom and Dan on July 24.




#9-10 Healthcare protesters in Washington D.C. on July 30.




#11 The office of Senator Kennedy on July 30, a little less than a month before he died.



#12 Construction workers near the WTC site in New York City on August 2.



#13 Fan tributes to Michael Jackson at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio on August 5.




#14 My cousin Chris proposed to his girlfriend, Crystal, in a garden near Houstonia, Missouri on August 14. I was along to capture the moment.




#15 My brother Grant got engaged to his girlfriend, Brandy, in early September. Soon after we shot engagement photos on KU's campus.



#16 Windows in downtown KC that I shot on a photography outing with Orion on November 7.




#17 We said goodbye to our good old dog, Buddy, on December 29 after 13 great years.

December

A photo I took at this time last year.

South

Playing around with some letterforms... has a tribal feel to it

Family Photos

A couple weekends ago I was asked by my stepbrother, Dave, and his wife, Christy, to shoot some photos of their family for their Holiday cards. We went out to Liberty, Missouri to Hodge Park where there are a bunch of older buildings. It turned out to be a perfect place to shoot, and Emma and Elliana are two of the cutest girls ever so it wasn't hard to capture them looking adorable.

American Indian Dancing

The Nelson-Atkins recently opened their new American Indian galleries and brought in a bunch of American Indian dancers and drummers this past weekend. Here are a few shots from the event.

Sign Painting

These days when we are setting type for signs, logos, etc. it's easy to take for granted the advantages we have with modern technology. My Grandpa was an artist in a small Kansas town that didn't have a "sign shop" or a place you could just call up when you needed something painted for your business. Instead they would call my Grandpa, and he would come up with the overall composition. Over the years he collected and cut out interesting type from magazines that he ended up using in signs around town.

Although he had some schooling to become an art teacher he relied on books to teach him about sign painting. One of these books that I came across is called Ralph Gregory's Sign Painting Techniques, published in 1973. Although the methods and styles have changed since then I think it's interesting that a lot of the basic design principles in the book are things we still follow today. Below are a few images from the book.

The first example talks about the importance of not overwhelming your viewer with information.



The next few show examples show how text can be arrranged depending on the importance of each word, and also ways to condense elements if you are running low on space.





I love how the following example says that "freak" type of lettering is popular with young people.



The book also talks about drawing, and how you should try to simplify art. Sometimes this means using a silhouette of an image. Other times in the case of a caricature you should highlight the odd features of the person you are drawing.




Here is my Grandpa working on one of his many signs.

Jazz and Alleyways

A few shots from this past weekend's photo adventure with Orion... Crossroads, a place called the Asylum, and the Jazz District... never know what you'll find.