Emporia State Women's Basketball for NYT

The New York Knicks are bad this season. Like, really bad. So bad in fact, that the New York Times sent their Knicks beat reporter, Scott Cacciola, out on a month-long road trip across the country to explore crowd-sourced stories of "good" basketball.

His first stop: St. Joseph, Missouri.

I had a blast covering the Missouri Western State University women's basketball team host Emporia State University at the MWSU Fieldhouse Thursday night. You can read Scott's great piece HERE, and follow along with his "Not The Knicks" column HERE.

As for my photos, these are a few that made the article, as well as a couple of outtakes that I liked from the game:

Bobby Bell for NYT

My late grandfather, Leonard Yanigan – after whom I was named (hence my middle name Len) – was born in 1916 in Staten Island, NY. He was a paper boy for The New York Times while growing up and later in life, carried that passion for journalism to Texas where he studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Poppa, as we affectionately called him, was my role model growing up. His intelligence and huge heart are something I strive to replicate in my personal and professional life. When I got a phone call earlier this week from an editor at NYT to photograph a freelance assignment for them, I nearly jumped out of my skin. He had been weighing on my heart heavily due to the Christmas season, and this felt like a Christmas present straight from him, as cheesy as that sounds.

It was a fun, stress-free assignment, as I drove out to east Kansas City to photograph former Chiefs player and NFL Hall-of-Famer, Bobby Bell. He's another inspirational man, who, after 52 years, went back and completed the necessary coursework to graduate from the University of Minnesota, having left school early for the NFL draft in 1963. In May, he will walk across the stage in Minneapolis and get his diploma.

Here are a couple photos I made of him and his wonderful wife, Pam.

Learning Tree for WSJ

Before I post photos from this assignment, I want to take a second to talk about how cool my network of friends is. People talk about the "Mizzou Mafia" all of the time, and I have to admit that as a student, I was skeptical of what the benefits of being an MU Journalism grad would be (besides my top-notch education, obviously). Let me tell ya – they have far exceeded what I imagined (granted, I would like to think that my friends are more talented and benevolent than your average grad). One of my good friends and mentors while I was in school, Timmy Huynh, is now a photo editor at the Wall Street Journal. Because he is a talented and benevolent dude, he called me up Tuesday and set me up with this assignment. Thanks Tech King Tim. You're a gem (;

Wednesday, I crossed the Missouri-Kansas border (a whopping 1.1 miles from my house) and drove down to Prairie Village, Kan. to check out The Learning Tree, an independently owned toy store. The owner, Jonny Girson, is the definition of cool. What started out as an educational toy store, now specializes in what Girson calls "good toys." They don't carry "hot items" or what's necessarily trendy, but rather toys that are meant to enhance, teach and be of substance. The customers I spoke with were all long-time patrons (10-12 years) and had nothing but praises to sing of how the store was run. Girson and his staff greet each person that walks through the door, ask about the child being shopped for and know the perfect toy(s) to suggest. I watched Girson spend almost an hour helping a customer find something for her husband with Parkinson's disease to play with to help with his coordination, which included a sponataneous game of cards. It's a cool place. Anyways, I'll stop rambling and let you see for yourself:

You can read the accompanying piece by Adam Janofsky here.
And here's a look at what ran on B5 yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014):

Mars Topeka for WSJ

Happy Halloween!

If you've got a sweet tooth, but are too old to go out trick-or-treating, as I am, I've got just what you need. Last month, a friend and fellow former-Columbian, Parker Eshelman, called me up and asked me to photograph the new Mars factory in Topeka, Kan. To say that it was a fun assignment, would be an understatement. I was a little worried that factory photos would be a bit flat, but the new facility was beautiful and full of colorful, fun features. I even got to eat a warm Snickers bar straight off the line. NOM.

PHARM Dog

Last month I had the pleasure of working with Out Here Magazine, a publication put out by Tractor Supply Company. They sent me out to the tiny town of Maysville, Mo. According to Wikipedia, the 2010 census logged 1,114 residents, but I'd be surprised if that were true. It's set back off of I-35 a ways, far from fast food chains, shopping malls, and traffic jams. Here, off short a dirt road, is the place Rick and Alma Owen call home.

Alda and Rick raise cattle – approximately 50 head currently inhabit their 260 acre farm. However, Alda is not your run-of-the-mill farmer. She's legally blind. To help her do her daily chores, including hearding cattle through different pens, feeding calves, and counting the herd, she has a service dog. Jo, a two-year-old border collie, has been with Alda for just over a year now. She's still learning, but already does a great job aiding her owner. Among other responsibilities, Jo's biggest job is to keep the cattle away from Alda while she performs her chores since Alda has almost no depth perception. The two have a great language of love, and it was very cool to document (well worth the 5 a.m. wake up call).