christmas 2007

it seemed rushed, but the time we spent with family this christmas was great. hope everyone had a nice holiday ... now get ready for 2008!

poy

made a pictures of the year slideshow (also known as the tim hussin photos of the year slideshow) for monroenews.com. our designer is on vacation, so i had to make the graphic too. one of the better ones i've done - i'm pretty horrible at fonts/graphics. thanks to alex cohn for showing me simpleviewer ... kewl.

snow

i was as cold as he was with my bare hands holding the camera. the wind was awful, hence the hood. his name is rock and he was my first photo during a day filled with feature hunting for weather photos as monroe county dug out from a snow storm. it could have been much worse ... the forecast predicted 6-10 inches, but i think we only got 5 or so ... hard to tell with all the drifting. i'm warm now, back at the office editing for tomorrows paper. i think i like the picture of rock. as i edit i keep going back to it ... it's not perfect i realize, i wish he had ice and snow all over his hood, but still something about it keeps drawing me back to it.

mommy is queen

it's no secret. mommy is #1. dad is fun and cool and all, but mommy is the fav. dad rough-houses, plays chase, cars and tickle torture, but mommy is #1 - enjoy it while you can lynne, 'cause your reign will come to an end. just as soon as i teach him to write his name in the snow - or - teach him how to "hock a loogie." then i will be king. i will be #1. but for now you rule and i know it and that's fine...for now. happy birthday baby, love jackson and daddy.

my addiction

i'm coming clean ... i have an addiction ... to abstract/cropped photos. why oh why do i love it so? i do not know. it just is. please someone help me, cure me from the high i get composing and cropping in the frame ... its so much fun, i can't stop - i need another fix ...

laugh at yourself

the photo department got a new laptop and while testing it our rob pointed out the build in web camera and the "funky" filters it has. some days its good to laugh at yourself.

the farm

so, this weekend after a thankful thanksgiving we visited with nene and papa in grand haven and then nana and papa in ionia. papa bennett took jack around the farm in the BIG tractor - which was a little scary for jack at first, he's used to the small farmall papa usually takes him out on, but its too cold for that. when we rode up to the steer barn he kept his distance from the animals. not sure who more skidish, the steer or jack. Its cute too, he say "cow" long and drawn out like, but then anything big on four legs is cow to jack ... like the horses we drove by today on the way home from work. "cow." I know what he means.

good morning!

it was my turn to get up with jack today - which is usually between 6 and 7 in the morning....lynne and i take turns so each of us has one day to sleep in late. while i was making pancakes for jack's breakfast i realized the kitchen got awful quiet ... hmm ... i wonder where jack went? he went looking for mommy - opened our bedroom door and told told her "up." and so mommy didn't get her sleep in this morning ... sorry mommy.

the fort

jack and i made a fort today after work. "go daddy" he commanded when i got tired from playing and sat in the chair. "goOO." he didn't stay in the fort very long - he's more interested in having you chase him through the fort rather than sit in it with you - but i was able to keep him still for a little while by showing him how the flashlight makes a circle of light on the blanket we used as the top of the fort. that kept his attention long enough to make one half-way decent frame. then it was more "go daddy. go!"

sad jack

i don't exactly remember why he's so sad in this picture. i think it was many things. what i do remember is that it was a long day (for both of us), mommy was working late and dinner was taking too long ... 'eat' jackson kept demanding - and crackers would not do.

energy illustration

shot an illustration this morning on deadline for a story about saving energy. pretty happy with it, tho it was rushed so there are some flaws (like the bulbs aren't exactly the same perspective ... d'oh!)

spirit week

its spirit week at monroe high school and tonight the students had a bonfire, dj, and talent contest ... revving up for this friday's game against dearborn. last week monroe knocked-off the number 1 state ranked team, allen park. its been an exciting week for football and homecoming.

bobcat band

i published an audio slideshow about the 22-member marching band at whiteford - same band as last post. these are a lot of fun to produce and work on, but they can be time consuming - working on these during normal work hours in pretty much impossible. "bryan is there a mug shot for so-and-so.... bryan is there a photographer available for an assignment this afternoon .... bryan there is a woman at the counter who wants to talk to a photographer" you get the idea. i can get 10 times as much done in one hour at night than a whole entire 8-hour day at work. click the picture to watch.

i'm a bobcat

"i'm a whiteford bobcat,"jaylon simms tells me at a recent football game. i've been covering a lot of football this year, like any other news photographer...but this night i was shooting a feature on a 20-member marching band at whiteford high school. jaylon told me he joined the band because he isn't good at sports, but wants to support and represent his school. while others in the band gossiped and giggled, jaylon was on the edge of his seat, rooting for his beloved bobcats.

homecoming

ahh...to be young again. it was milan high school's homecoming tonight and this group of kids were tailgating with hot dogs, country music, a sofa and a case of Big K cola. they were extremely nice kids, unlike the "hooligans" we always associate with younger generations.

senior olympics

this is lou. she's 97 and kickin butt in the the basketball hoop competition of a local senior olympics. she was graceful and a good sport, winning the bronze metal for this event. i hope i can still hold my head up when i'm 97.

psst...let me out

walked through the alley this morning to my favorite coffee joint ... tim horton's ... and noticed something through a small opening in a an old barn. the tiny opening revealed an old car - 70/80 era and in struck me as if the car was whispering "psst...let me out" as i walked by.

shirt N tie

it wasn't until i was washing my hands that i noticed, in the mirror, i made a mistake this morning dressing for work. i picked the wrong shirt in the dim bedroom light this morning.. you see lynne bought me this pimp tie with a long sleeve shirt to match, but it was gunna be 80 plus degrees today, so i opted to wear a similar orange/rust colored short sleeve shirt with my new tie ... trouble is red happens to look an awful lot like orange when you've just woke up and aren't with it yet. i didn't realize the mistake until i was already at work and couldn't change. one of my coworkers said the colors "complimented" one another - she was being nice. i'll admit i'm not a morning person ... i often walk out the door wearing dress pants without a belt - the shame!

back from vacation

took labor day week off and spent some time with my parents on barlow lake. great weather ... we were lucky this late in the year, only one rain day. lynne and i did sneak off to grand rapids for a night on the town - in honor of our 5th wedding anniversary (which is technically Sept. 14th - i have to say that, so she knows that i remember) we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant, walked a bit of downtown, stopped at some kind of street festival and then saw a comedy show. the rest of the week was very relaxing by the lake. no cell phone reception ... YES! but plenty of bud lights and great food (thanks mom). papa did take jack out on a boat ride, which i assume he liked - he wasn't real expressive. thanks nini and papa for a wonderful week. here are some pix (of course)

moon over monroe

one of the best things about having to report to work by 7am is the sunrises. the second best thing is seeing the setting moon - especially when its full like it was this morning. i've made a few pictures on my commute to work, which usually means i'm late on that particular day. this morning was one of those days.

sunflowers at last

i planted a half dozen sunflowers june 1st. (a little late i know....whatever) and today i'm enjoying their beauty. all have buds and you can see the yellow leaves ready to open up, they're just days away. this one is the "alpha" sunflower of the group. he's been out for about a week already and keeps getting bigger and bigger. today i finally took a photo to share.

friday night football ... almost

i was SO excited about the first high school football game of the year. shooting games takes me back to the days i was in the grand haven high school marching band. games were not merely games, they were events. everyone was there, and its nice to see that tradition still lives on - and i still like being a part of that ... but tonight, mother nature had other plans than football. with 15 minutes until kickoff she unleashed one hell of a thunderstorm. heading back to my car, i turned around to get this shot of people doing the exact same thing i was doing - running for cover. strong wind just about pushed me over as i took the photo - and i could feel the horizontal rain pounding my entire back side. it was a creepy feeling. the game was eventually canceled because of lighting. what a show - i left without a single dry piece of clothing ... not even my boxers!

matt and gina's wedding

a few pix from last weekend's wedding ... my brother-in-law matt got married. i liked this "reservoir dogs" look-a-like photo and a picture of jack on the dance floor at the reception. their wedding photographer noticed i shot canon, so he let me borrow his bounce flash ... i like the effect, i'll have to buy one ... someday.

mom and dad bosch

my parents, ron and marilyn at matt and gina bennett's wedding last weekend. i'd post more, but ... busy, busy, busy - you know how it goes.

Ray at the Fair

i spent fair week following Evening News report Ray Kisonas around at the Monroe County Fair this year. it's all about being goofy and having fun with the people we meet and interview with a video camera while roaming around the fairgrounds. this is something ray and i started last year and continued again this year, although it didn't really catch on. even tho we put something on the front page every day it just didn't get any hits - at most we got 600 - 800 views - all 5 videos combined. half of which are probably people Ray and I know or work with. oh, well ... it's fun trying new things. video presents a whole new set of challenges. here is my favorite one - simply because it was fun cutting all these short clips together. enjoy. There are more on the evening news fair page too.

bands of the living dead

thank you msnbc. check out this amazing photo gallery of all the bands you used to listen to ... and they are still performing!

birthday weekend and fair parade

this weekend was my birthday so mom and dad bosch came down from grand haven with my nephew reese. we bummed around the yard - pretty much just playing with the boys. swimming, riding bikes, playing in the park next door, laying in the hammock and cooking beer can chicken on the grill. jack thinks reese is the coolest thing because he is bigger and can do lots of stuff, so its fun to watch them play together. after mom and dad went home lynne, jackson and i went up to monroe to watch the fair parade on sunday. a great weekend. now its time to mow the lawn and trim some bushes - then maybe a nap on the hammock before softball tonight.

ahh....summer

we bought a hammock on sale and i got around to hooking it up (from the pool deck to the middle hook of the clothesline pole near the house) i did have to by 10 feet of chain from the hardware store otherwise the hammock would have been four feet off the ground - too scary. i played around with a slow shutter so you, the viewer, could experience the lazy sway of the hammock, but looking at this photo makes me dizzy - yikes. so i've been enjoying reading my summer book "slaughter house five" which i either borrowed from kohl or tim, i can't remember - but thanks i'm really into it.

brusha brusha brusha ...

so, yes, most of this blog is going to be about jackson. lynne and i have been encouraging him to brush his teeth, he's resisted in the past ... we let up and then kinda let it go. so we're back to encouraging again - two nights ago the three of us brushed our teeth together and he thought that was pretty cool. mom, dad and jack all sitting on the floor in the bathroom brushing our teeth. and i think that helped him realize this is something everyone does, not just him ... so now its cool. tonight i put out the stool and he stepped right up there and put his brush under the water - who taught him that? to anyone who doesn't have kids you're rolling your eyes right now saying, sarcastically "wow, jack really brushed his teeth huh - hmm," but to me its the best thing that's happened all week.

recent wedding

started editing a wedding i shot recently
and this is what i like so far

running

stopped to take this shot of a group of distance runners as they met atop a hill at a nearby park for a run together. i was on my way to a soccer camp assignment. i liked it, wanted to share it.

pressure tank

on the 4th of July lynne noticed a slow leak under our water pressure tank. a plumber told us the tank had rusted out and he'd fix it for $850. my buddy aaron found a tank for $99 at anderson's and i wasn't about to pay that much for labor - so i talked him into helping me do it ourselves. it went pretty good, except for discovering a rotted-out floor underneath the old tank - replacing the floor put us back about three-hours. we started a 3 in the afternoon and finished around 11. jackson thought all the commotion was cool, he grabbed a wrench and got right in there with us. everything is working fine - no leaks...but i'll need to make some adjustments with the tanks pressure to make sure its filling up all the way. thanks a TON aaron, you saved us a lot of money and it was fun too.

vacation notes

well it was a great vacation weekend. there we many firsts ... jacks first trip to the beach, first ride on the tractor, first ride on the quad and first fricanos pizza. he liked it all, especially the quad. in fact he cried when we made him get off. he's a video of the first ride on the farmall ...

tractor softball

while home on the farm this morning lynne, jackson, and i went to watch matt and bob (right) play tractor softball. each tractor has one driver and one rider. the rider hits or throws the ball. basically the rules are stay in first gear and you have to run over the ball with the tractor before you pick it up and throw it. to get someone out you have the throw the ball back to the pitcher before the tractor gets to a base. as you can image the game is pretty slow, but entertaining. here's a glimpse.

daddy's helper

last night kohl came over to shoot a "grilling" illustration for the paper and jack was right in the middle of it, trying to help us out. he wants to be just like the big boys.