Working through the cold for the Greater Good

while it was a frigid morning on saturday, you would not be able to tell if you passed by the site of these houses being built for Habitat for Humanity. they were eager to begin building and build some houses!

The Beginnings...

in a matter of less than 2 hours
these volunteers had put up almost all the walls on these two houses. its inspiring and amazing how willing and hard working these volunteers, homeowners, and Habitat staff members are. each homeowner is required to put forth 250 labor hours to receive a house. this acts as their down payment. seeing all the homeowners eagerly working not only on their own houses but helping their neighbors and fellow Habitat house recipients is an amazing feeling. these volunteers are willing to jump right in and get to work. awesome teams.

Faith Blitz Build

some may not realize that Habitat for Humanity is a christian organization. however, while they are a christian based organization, they don't discriminate against potential homeowners because of faith choices. Habitat kicked off their annual Faith Build saturday. they are building 6 brand new houses and refurbishing multiple other houses. it was awe-inspiring to see all the volunteers and future homeowners in the fairly cold misty weather bright and very early saturday morning. i spoke to a homeowner that received her house during the Faith Build last year. she says that she still gets chills when she walks into her house, almost a year later because of everything it means to her and she helped build it with her own hands. it was amazing to be able to talk to her and hear her story and how thankful she was for everything Habitat did for her.

Being a Lorax

i try to be a lorax. i speak for things that cannot speak for themselves, or as my website suggests, i am a "visual advocate for social justice". i am a humanitarian photographer, but behind all the photography, i am simply a missionary. here is a little slice of my life, in front of the camera instead of behind. i strive to help people and i feel my greatest contribution will be through my photography. i can tell their stories through my photographs and tell of situations that would otherwise remain silent and forgotten. i am a humanitarian, and a photographer and by combining those (2 of the most important aspects of my life), i become a humanitarian photographer. a lorax.

Awesome Opportunity

while in corporate industrial class, i had the opportunity to be an assistant for stephanie rakich. we went to Stewart-Haas racing and photographed them working on the cars and such. we happened to pass by and one worker suggested we photograph this neat contraption that finds cracks in the metal with a black-light and some special formula. it was really neat to see how it worked and of course photograph with a black-light.

Abandoned

over my summer break, as i spent 2 weeks painting my aunt's rather large fence, i drove past an abandoned building every day. in front of the building was an old child's bike overgrown and captured by weeds and plants. every day as i passed it, i told myself i would stop and take some photos. i've always been captivated by old things because i think they symbolize wisdom and knowledge. of course, they day i set aside to photograph was the day after they mowed the grass and cut back the weeds. but i still decided to photograph the abandoned bike and old building.