I have been trying to describe just how beautiful Western Washington is, but photos say it best.
Moving to Washington might be the best decision I have ever made.
I covered the Barnsdall Elementary School’s Veterans Day assembly. The first and second graders sang patriotic songs for the school and local veterans. Here are a few of my favorite photographs from the event.
First grader Melody Hanes hugs veteran Barbara Taylor as she hands out small flags to students after the assembly Monday morning. Taylor introduced herself to the crowd as an army cook from Barnsdall.
Second grade students goof off with their American flags before heading back to class after the Veterans Day assembly.
LaRae Clark, a reading tutor at Barnsdall Schools, holds her emotional son Bodie, a first grader, after the assembly. “That one song, the hero song, gets him every time,” she said.
I went out before the sun to cover the annual bison roundup at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve north of Pawhuska. It’s my third year covering it, and each year is exactly the same so I was trying to shoot a little differently than I have before. It was my first year covering the ranch hands herding bison into the pens. Unfortunately, the video won’t turn on with my 5D MarkII, and I didn’t have time to send it in for repairs before the event. Read my story in The Bigheart Times (Yes, I am a reporter too).
This bison lost one of its horns recently. It is not unusual for the bison to come in bleeding from injures sustained while fighting with one another.
I took portraits for the Barnsdall Elementary Cheerleading squads last week. It wasn’t a newspaper assignment. The squad wanted individual photos and team photos to buy prints. I don’t care for smiling posed photos for my photojournalism work, but when it comes family portrait like shoots I usually get a few laughs and smiles out of everyone. This little girl was not having any of that. I stopped trying to reason with her and just let her be mad, shooting this photo the moment she glared at me, signalling she was clearly done. It might not be her family’s favorite, but it’s definitely mine.
Bree, one of my two dogs, has a habit of bringing me bones and some times dead animals during our morning runs at Birch Lake. Today she brought me this:
Ellie, my other and much larger dog, likes to catch live animals and bring them to me. Thankfully, that has only happened a couple of times. The small rabbits were released slobbery but unharmed.
First grade Panther Maverick Lanphear, 7, takes a short nap while waiting for the fifth and sixth grade team to finish their game in Barnsdall on Saturday afternoon. The Barnsdall Panthers played the Pawnee Black Bears. The fifth and sixth grade Barnsdall team stomped Pawnee 36-0.
Flower girl Lainey Tarwater is not impressed with Kissing Captain Caleb Smith’s moves on Barnsdall Homecoming Queen Cassidy Kelley during the Friday ceremony. After the crowning, the Barnsdall Panthers took on the Pawnee Black Bears and eventually fell 37-0 for their first loss of the season.
While most people were watching college football, I was covering the Pawhuska and Fairfax youth football game. The photos below are from the third and fourth grade combination team. The Pawhuska Huskies eventually defeated the Woodland Cougars of Fairfax.
A fellow photographer and I were talking with Fayth Holloway and her boyfriend Haden Bethel before the start of the Osage County Free Fair’s OCCA Ranch Rodeo in Pawhuska Saturday night. She informed me that cowboys are the best type of men and that I should get myself one. It was seconds later I took this shot.
But Holloway is tougher than she looks. She is only 13 and the only female bronc rider at the Junior Ranch Rodeo Association (JRRA) rodeo earlier that day. There is probably a reason she has the reins.