Boxing

This is from a shoot today for a package we're putting together on the recent rise in violence and gang violence around the Quad Cities. David Levi is a former gang member and now is giving back to the community, volunteering to train young boxers like his son David Levi III at Peña's Gym in Davenport.

My Brother's Room

Garrett is in the process of cleaning and rearranging his room... good luck.

Bubbles

Here are 3 pictures I made at the Taste of CU festival while I was back in Champaign for the weekend hanging out with friends.

Dragon Fire Parade

Dragon Fire Parade at "The House" in DeKalb, Ill. on Friday, June 20.

Made some frames of my friend Andy's band playing a show this weekend.

A Dog and Budding Young Clowns

Two outtakes from each of my assignments today.

The dog in the top pictures was recently found near a campground outside town full of ticks and with puppies in tow. They've now gotten her all cleaned up and healthy. Her puppies were found homes by Rock Island Animal Care and Control and now she's waiting to find a home herself. This woman Gwen is a massage therapist and volunteers some time giving massages to dogs like this at the shelter. The dog didn't have a name, but Gwen decided to call her Beauty.

The other two are from a beginning clown class. It looked like a lot of fun- these are some of the kids between activities.

Early Morning Shadows

These two are from the Race for the Cure event on Saturday morning- didn't really fit the story but just playing with the light.

Flood

John Hains picks up trash left by floodwaters outside his residence in the Watertown neighborhood of East Moline on Saturday afternoon, June 14. Hains chose to stay in his home even though most of his neighbors evacuated.



Eric Rico carries water damaged items outside as his sister and mother, Lilibeth and Vegonia Rico, talk in the doorway of their home on the 1300 block of 6th ave. in the Watertown neighborhood of East Moline on Saturday afternoon, June 14. Flood water filled the basement of the house and finally receded on Saturday morning, leaving countless items ruined.


These are two outtakes from today's visit to East Moline's Watertown neighborhood with some people from the Red Cross, who were doing damage assessment of homes in the area.

Portrait

Bill Tuman, 86, of Colona is a five-time American Motorcyclist Association Grand National racing champion who was part of the famous "Indian Wrecking Crew," a three-member racing team during the late 1940's and early 1950's. Tuman still builds and restores motorcycle engines.

Losing Steam

Today I followed around the General Manager of the QC Steamwheelers, our Arena Football 2 team and his brother who also works with the team. They're doing a weight loss and fitness challenge in the style of TV's "The Biggest Loser." They were doing some lunges with these exercise balls. This is the one frame of the lunges that I liked but this kid they were working out with is looking at me. The stuff I actually used turned out great, but I thought this frame was interesting and at least blog worthy. The guys were pretty tired after the workout, thus the witty title of the post.

Moline High Graduation

Moline High School graduated on Friday, which I think should be our last graduation of the season. The top shot is an outtake from the ceremony- one of the graduates was sporting a likely fake mustache and apparently his friends were proud of him and his faux facial hair. The one of the girls standing out of their heels ran with a few other shots in the paper.

Greek Fest

I shot Greek Fest this weekend. Usually it's held in downtown Moline, but this year it moved to Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport. We only ended up using one shot in the paper- of a Greek Dancer leaping in the air. These are a few quieter moments that I found.

Today's Highlights

Darrin Harrison and Perry Link of Northwest Restoration clean the north face of Rock Island High School's auditorium on Thursday afternoon, June 5. Both men are members of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen.
I shot this as a feature between assignments today.




These are outtakes from a shoot I did today at rehearsal with one of our arena football team's players and his dancing partner who are competing in the Quad Cities version of Dancing with the Stars that will be held later this month.