Happy Holidays

I couldn't afford Harry & David pears for everyone on my list, so here's a little eye candy as my holiday gift to you. It contains NO trans fat and won't cause you to gain weight. So, enjoy as much as you like.

Here's looking at you

I've been making prints for Christmas and a friend requested this image, which was an outtake from an annual report gig last year. Kinda weird.

Wishing for warmer weather

Had a few spare minutes today. I was looking at my files and remembered this summer image from Michigan. Not a big fan of shooting in the cold--as a newspaper photographer, I couldn't avoid it for many years. It must be pretty good for me to brave the cold and ice to shoot. And that hasn't happened yet.

Stick a fork in me--Finals are done, and so am I.

After finishing my finals [two of which I think I did OK on and one of which I am relatively sure that I totally FUBAR'd], it is only appropriate that I thank all the women in my life who are such big supporters. That includes you Alan because you once said you weren't a guy. Well anyway, my hat is off to you. Thanks for putting up with me. I know it hasn't been much fun. Congratulations to Aimee--she has a job!! And positive vibes to Mallory and Kelsey as they finish their finals and med school tests. I love all of you.

Band on the Run, runs

Before I hunker down to study for finals, I thought I would share the finished product of the KU Band story. It runs in KU Endowment Association's magazine. Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know, I don't shoot a lot right now, so I apologize that I don't have a lot of new work to show, but that's just my life right now. However, I had a few moments this morning and was checking my hard drives. Of course, I fired up RTE on the web and listened to trad music from Ireland. And I started looking at images from my last trip to Ireland. I posted a few of my favorites.

Gotta Dance

I had a little assignment this week, photographing the University Dancer Company's Fall Recital rehearsal. I have been doing this for several years. It is a lot of fun and the dancers and dance is great. One woman really had "ups." Enjoy.

Point and shoot

I don't have much time to shoot right now. Classes, impending finals, work and my mother's illness, but I do mess around with the G9 some. I really love it's macro capability. It's a fun little tool. Not a moment camera, but a scene camera. I shot these just messing around in an exotic location--the 700 block of Missouri Street.

12 mp point-and-shoot

When I began shooting with digital cameras in 1999, we were using these terrible 1.7 MP cameras that produced horrible files. The cameras cost in excess of $12K. I purchased an EOS-1Ds (11mp) in 2003 for considerably less than $12K, but it still wasn't cheap. I've been looking for a point-and-shoot for at least a couple of years. The major drawback for me was the lack of RAW capability. Well, if you are looking for a high-quality point and shoot, look no further. I just got my Canon G9 on Friday. And while I haven't really put it throught its paces, I am amazed that I could buy a solid point-and-shoot that will give me 12MP of RAW capability--for under $500. No, it won't replace my DSLR--it's not super fast and above 400 ISO it's quite noisy. But what I do have now is a wonderful little pocket camera that produces very nice files at low iso (80, 100, 200). And it's just perfect for travel and photographing scenes that you come across during your daily life. What's even better is its macro capabilities and image stabilization. It will focus down to 1cm. I have posted several macro images I shot just messing around.

Feeling Irish today

I haven't been t0 Ireland in three years. I really want to go back. I was thinking about my last trip in October 2004 and decided to post a few images from County Kerry. When I look at these, I can almost smell burning peat.

Band on the Run

I haven't been doing much shooting lately, what with class and clerking, but I did get an assignment recently to photograph the KU Band f0r the KU Endowment Association. It was a good gig--pretty much what I wanted to shoot. I put together a few of my favorites.

Law school assignment: Oread polyptych

This was produced as a first-day assignment for my Intellectual Property class in law school. My description/rationale is below:

I am always looking for ways to reinterpret my work, both aesthetically and economically. My idea was to repurpose existing images I had made for a calendar into something that would be a collectible art print for KU alums. I used some of my existing iconic KU campus images showing well-known campus details photographed from a different perspective and architectural details. I created layers in Photoshop using textures I had photographed, giving the images a weathered or distressed look. I then put the four selected images together in a polyptych (quadtych), output as a Giclee print on archival watercolor paper.

Everybody's making a . . . Suppression motion

Last month, I wrote a motion in opposition of suppression of evidence. In my last day at the Douglas County DA's Office, I had the privilege of representing the state in the hearing. It was a nightmare morning--my witness overslept, the hearing started late, but I found out today that the state prevailed, so the evidence is not kept out of the trial. It might not seem like much to a lot of folks, but it was my chance to sink or swim. I think I at least dog-paddled to the ladder in the deep end after doing a cannonball off the low diving board. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but I didn't drown either.

Life's a Holden Beach

We spent a week at Holden Beach, NC--one of our favorite places--and I wanted to share a few images that remind me of the week. Summer is ending soon, so this is my visual ode to summer at the beach.

My daughter will be a doctor. . .in 4 years

Mallory took her first steps in the medical profession yesterday. After a week of orientation, she was awarded her white coat at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Class start Monday. 9am. Sharp.

Colorful Colorado

Not much new the past month. The highlight of the previous 30 days was a quick trip to Colorado with Mallory and Alan before Mallory begins medical school.

May it please the court

After several false starts, I did my real first hearing today. I'd taken some pleas, dealt with some probation violations and a sentencing, but this was the real thing, It was essentially a commitment hearing. I had about an hour to get ready. It almost didn't happen because the defense attorney almost had the person talked into waiving the trial and accepting voluntary commitment. In the end, the person couldn't make a decision, so we had a hearing.

I called one witness for direct examination--a master of social worker. The State won. I think. It was very sad. Winning meant the person will be committed to a state hospital for a week or 2 to get some treatment. I certainly hope it all works out for the person and their family.

Resume+burritos=job offers

After not needing a resume for 20 years, I still find it strange that I now need a resume, AND I've got to keep it updated. But then again, that's law school and the pursuit of a different career.

After the first semester of law school, the school's career services office puts on a duplicitous dog-and-pony show to get everyone ready for their first round of on-campus interviews (OCI). In one breath, you are exhorted to get the resume ready and try to get as many interviews as possible. However, in the next breath, you are warned that hardly anyone actually gets a job from OCI during the first year. Unless you are in the top 10% of the class. I wasn't. The whole process is humbling and painful. And in the end, it's much like hitting yourself over the head with a sledgehammer--it feels so good when it stops.

At this dog-and-pony show, students are encouraged to be creative in assembling their resume and touting their strengths. One may not have had any legal experience, but if you worked the lunch rush at a fast food Mexican restaurant, we were told that fast-food experience was transferable. Transferable to what? A Greek eatery? I had to slap my hand over my mouth to keep my laugh under wraps. This fast-food experience we were told, showed leadership skills and the ability to handle stress and multi-task. Strangely, when one of the folks in career services scrutinized my resume a few days later, I was told that I didn't have any experience that showed leadership ability, even though I had worked in the real world for 20 years, managed a staff of seven people and $750k annually for several years, owned my own business, and had served on several civic boards. This career "counselor" also said that all of my experience was in newspapers and not in a legal setting. Really? I certainly wasn't going to apologize that I had a non fast-food career, or explain the obvious--that I was going to law school to start a career in the law.

What was even more laughable was this person's reaction to the fact that I share a small slice of a Pulitzer Prize from the 1981 Hyatt Skywalk collapse in Kansas City. This person said I should take any reference to the Pulitzer OFF MY RESUME. Sorry, not in this lifetime. I guess the lesson I took from this is that I should have worked fast food instead of having a newspaper career the past twenty years.

All of this leads to only one logical conclusion: If I knew how to make a burrito under time pressure, the job offers would be rolling in right about now.

Making the grade

Well, the dust has cleared and the grades are in. With two years down and one to go, I am exhausted. And exhausted from worrying about my GPA. In a few years it won't even matter. However, because we are our GPAs in law schoool, a lot of psychic energy is wasted worrying about grades. For the record, I had a very nice GPA with both surprises AND disappointments. Not major surprises or major disappointments, but surprises and disappointments all the same. But then again, that's life.

I had a little time to myself today, so I spent it looking at old images and making a few prints. There are 2 images from 1996 that will always stay with me. I shot them in Ireland while on vacation with the family. Enjoy.

Moving Day

Well, the day every parent knows will come, but still dreads, was today. Mallory and Alan loaded up the U-Haul and headed off into the world. They are not moving far away, so we can get there in an hour, and hopefully see them on a regular basis without becoming pests. But a chapter in our lives ended today and a new chapter began for all of us. The house will certainly seem empty without the two of them around on a regular basis. Sure, she moved out of the house for college, but you always knew she'd be back for holidays and summer. She is now on her own. She will come back to visit, but not to live here.

Teresa, Aimee, Alan's dad John, and I moved them today. So, I sit here tonight with a sore back, feeling just a bit empty. Teresa reminds me that this is just a natural progression--kids grow up, get married, move away--but that doesn't make it any easier. I am grateful that they head out into the world with the love and support of both families and a U-Haul full of the necessities to set up their home, which was not the case when Teresa and I got married 27 years ago. As she and Alan pulled away and I saw the lights of their car turn on, I suddenly felt very old.

The roller coaster ride continues--her youngest sister Kelsey heads off to college in the fall, so the process will begin all over again. And I will feel even older.

Wedding Day

My friend, Eli Reichman, delivered the files from Mallory's wedding today and all I can say is WOW. At least when I wasn't wiping away tears. Looking at the photos I am amazed at what three wonderful daughters Teresa and I have. They get their looks and intelligence from Teresa, so I am not sure what I added to the mix.

On the record, part II

I had my first speaking part in court today. I accepted a diversion agreement for the state which meant that I had to announce my appearance, "May it please the court, the state is represented by legal intern Earl Richardson . . . ." A little later, I was prepared to state the factual basis for a defendant's plea. If he pleads guilty, his lawyer gives the factual basis, which is essentially a recitation of the facts fulfilling the elements of the crime charged. If he pleads no-contest, I give the factual basis. I spent some time yesterday going over affidavits and case file and writing the factual basis. Well, as luck would have it, he pled guilty, so I had to listen to make sure his attorney covered all the elements. He forgot one element, which I had to pipe up and add in. All in all, an inauspicious start, but a start. Next week I might get to do a probation revocation hearing. That should be interesting.

On the record

So, at 8:46 am this morning, assistant DA Kathryn Marsh said, "The State is represented by Kathryn Marsh and Earl Richardson." I didn't do anything but sit there, hand her case files and try to look lawyerly. She hopes to have me doing lawyer things in court by Thursday. Maybe a probation hearing or a plea. It should be interesting.

Winds of change

The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of rites-of-passage experiences for our family. In that span, Mallory was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, received highest distinction from the University of Kansas, and got married. All of this before she heads off to medical school this summer. Her younger sister Kelsey graduated from high school yesterday. She heads off to college in August. But we won't be empty nesters just yet. One of my law school classmates, who just happens to be my oldest daughter Aimee, is moving back home for her final year of law school. Consequently, I awoke this morning dizzy and exhausted. Tomorrow, I begin an internship with the Douglas County District Attorney. Life is much different now than this time last year. Who woulda thunk it?

What's this?

I have a blog now. Stay tuned for updates