Susanna is a passionate historian, archivist, and my favorite co-worker at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. In fact, over the past year and a half we’ve become good friends and confidants.

Recently, Susanna graciously volunteered to be the test subject for my new web video series: Place/Identity. This series intends to explore through video profiles, the relationships between individuals and the places they live, work, love or hate. (The idea is loosely based on the concept of “place identity” studied by environmental psychologists.)

Susanna’s strong bond with the house she has lived in her entire life, made her an ideal subject for the video. I am so appreciative of how open she was to letting the wide world into her home, and sharing her personal feelings about it.

Please see the video on my Vimeo page. I welcome constructive feedback and suggestions for improving future videos in the series.

As I was shooting these images, a man riding his bike along the path with his young daughter stopped to remark about the interesting image I had found: He had passed by many times before, but hardly noticed the vaguely creepy, and striking landscape. “You have a keen eye,” he said, and he implored his young daughter, whom was interested in photography, to look at the images I was capturing on my camera. I happily accepted the compliment, and let the moment serve as an encouragement to keep my eyes open wider- to keep my faith in my talent strong, my passion for photography ignited- and my camera always within reach, no matter how discouraged, frustrated- or swamped- I may sometimes feel.

My young friend Victoria Blakely wanted some decent portraits of herself. I wanted to practice my portraiture photography. Thus, we hatched a plan that benefited us both: I would take portraits of her. We hung around my own neighborhood of Edgewater in Huntsville for a couple hours Wednesday evening, as I tried to make the most of the golden hour. I welcomed the opportunity and enjoyed experimenting with the light, posing my lovely subject, and playing with images in Photoshop. My favorites may not be hers- I found that the images I liked best were mostly the more unusual ones- or shots that I initially didn’t think were working.

In any case, it was a lot of fun. Victoria was an excellent model, and I hope we got some pictures that afternoon that she likes and will enjoy sharing.

On Wednesday, April 27, record-setting severe weather swept through Alabama. Tuscaloosa, in particular was hit by an enormous tornado that decimated a significant portion of the city, and killed many people.

I visited the city where I lived for three years as a student at the University of Alabama, four days after the storm, two days after President Obama’s visit, and one day before Charlie Sheen’s.  The destruction was unbelievable.

Police patrolled and guarded lengths of road on which there were nothing but piles of rubble. Families picked through piles of debris, where once their houses had stood. Volunteers offered free clothing, supplies, water, and food to anyone who would take it. In fact, one parking lot right across the street from several blocks of the city that was completely reduced to rubble, felt almost festive, with free barbecue, and live (uplifting) music. At the edge of this community gathering, Candace Nail read to her young daughter, Lacie, pictured below.

You can see more pictures I took the same afternoon on my Flickr page. You can see incredible photos here taken more immediately after the storm by my friend, Tom Neil. And of course be sure to check out the amazing work of my photog friends on the ground at the Tuscaloosa News.

I spent yesterday afternoon walking through Huntsville’s Big Spring Park. The weather was gorgeous, and the park was teeming with families and festivity. A bongo drum circle kept a steady beat for hula hoopers and belly dancers. Children fed ducks and splashed their feet in the water. Others picnicked on the lawn, or simply strolled along the shady walkways, enjoying the atmosphere.

It had been a while since I visited the park on the weekend. Was this a typical Sunday in the park, I wondered? Or was this a special Easter day celebration? I guess I’ll have to go back to find out. Either way, I was impressed and heartened by the great sense of community and harmony I felt on this beautiful Easter afternoon.

This time I may not have spent hours playing in the snow, but I enjoyed it in a different way. I took a long, pensive walk and appreciated its its soft, quiet, almost dream-like presence.

It snowed Christmas morning in Huntsville, Alabama- at least a whole two inches, breaking a Christmas record! It even continued to snow lightly on the 26th. It was lovely while it lasted. As recently as yesterday I saw a few determined snowmen hanging on, although I doubt they survived through today, as it’s already back into the 60’s. Hope they had some fun before they melted away! My friend, Harley, pictured here, seemed to enjoy the snow himself.

The Huntsville Christmas parade is pretty much like any other small city Christmas parade in America: boring. Woefully uninspiring. Here comes a firetruck. Here comes a high school marching band. Look, a car with a local politician inside. And another car with… a dentist?

But every year community photojournalists from around the country faithfully show up to their local Christmas parade with the daunting challenge of finding that shot that is different from any other ever taken at a hometown Christmas parade. To them I say, good luck!

I, however, don’t have to worry about pleasing an editor with the requisite shot of the mayor waving, or of big tasseled men in tiny cars (although I took it anyway- really, who can resist taking that one?). Instead, I only have to capture the images that I’m drawn to. In this case they were the faces of the littlest spectators, not yet cynical about the silliness of the spectacle before them. Stay sweet, little children, and may Santa be good to you!

Sunday was a perfect autumn day. I wanted to make the most of it, so I headed over to Maple Hill Cemetery to soak in the glorious late afternoon sun with a few dead socialites and gypsies. What fun! The event was a “cemetery stroll” in which the dead who played pivotal and noteworthy roles in Huntsville, and Alabama’s history, emerged from their graves for one afternoon to share their stories with any passersby who wanted to listen.

Yes, Huntsville takes “Southern hospitality” very seriously like that. Can you even remember the last time the dead at your local cemetery graciously welcomed you, or made a meaningful contribution to the community?

That’s what I thought. Deadbeats.

Leaving the Monte Sano Art Show on Saturday, I was feeling a little disappointed with the pictures I had shot. I just couldn’t seem to get into the groove. Apparently the gorgeous weather and beautiful artwork all around me was acting as more of a distraction than an inspiration. But on the way back to my car a huge spider web a couple feet above my head caught the late afternoon light in such a spectacular way, that I couldn’t resist whipping out my camera again and filling up the rest of my flash card with its subtle glimmer and shimmer. I know some people gave me odd looks as they passed, seeing a small woman pointing her lens up toward a random bunch of tree branches. But I didn’t notice. I was finally in a groove.