Baltimore woman Sheontay Smith, 27, is on a waiting list for subsidized child care. She is photographed Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in the Southwest neighborhood of Baltimore “Sowebo” where she works as an inspection scheduler for the Baltimore Housing Authority. Day care for her three-year-old is $520 a month, her second highest monthly expense next to rent. She could apply for child care assistance if she didn’t have a job.

The New York Times story, which outlines the frustrating reality of raising a kid by a single working mom, is here.

One of the tough parts of making these portraits is that they were during her lunch hour. Ideally I would’ve gotten her at least getting her son ready for school in the morning, but, for some reason, that wasn’t feasible. We also couldn’t make pictures in her office. So, we just walked around the block. I felt bad because Sheontay — a pretty attractive woman — would get hollered at. “Damn Girl! You a model?!?” I know my camera and I didn’t help. Sheontay took it all in stride, though. 

AARP Bulletin DOP Michael Wichita called me up a few months ago — actually, while I was in Denver for Geekfest – needing an in-house mock up made so he could pitch an illustration idea to his bosses for a big story they’re doing on the kind of people who use Social Security. He needed it ASAP! So, I grabbed whoever was closest: Denver Post staff video shooter Mahala Gaylord and Denver-based freelancer Ben Rasmussen. Oh. and that’s me on the left.

Michael sent me a fast drawing of his idea: …which I LOVE!

The idea is to make a white seamless portrait of several Social Security recipients and explain their situations with written vignettes.

This is Michael’s idea put to work. It’s the promo piece for the story.

The story section looks a little different. You can see it here.

I photographed one recipient from Baltimore, Dr. Timothy Modlin. Here’s his vignette.

I was told to make a mugshot, too.  – which I kinda like.And of course what kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t show the outtakes from the mock-up shoot in Denver?Cheers!

City Springs School social studies teacher Nick West catches “Bobby the Beaver,” the talking piece he uses for “circle time,” Thursday, August 25, 2011. His 8th grade home room students, including Dwayne Jefferson, middle, and Jonte Parker, right, use circle time as an opportunity to interact, and discuss issues of concern.

The Baltimore City charter school has implemented several structural practices such as single gender classrooms and the Restorative Practices pedagogy.

Principal Rhonda Richetta’s idea is to create a safe and respectful culture rather than utilize traditional “crime and punishment” methods. After Restorative Practices became mandatory, the school lost a majority of their teachers. Mr. West, who just started his third year at City Springs, has the most seniority among middle school teachers.

This was one of the more interesting assignments I’ve had for Education Week. The story is about school security. But when I got to the school, I felt like security was a non-issue. I guess that means its working. Everyone was respectful towards everyone else — which is a pillar of the Restorative Practices model of education. Staff members use “affective language” when talking with students. Students were encouraged to deal their issues in “circles” rather than fighting, employing the teachers as mediators of sorts. I bet that gave the teachers a super-strong connection to their kids.

Something’s working at this place. I’ve never met more polite middle schoolers. And it’s not like this school is full of hand picked genius/polite students. City Springs is an inner city Baltimore neighborhood school. It’s not the worst neighborhood, but it’s comprised of three housing projects and 99% of the student body receives free lunches.

I got the impression that school was, ironically, a source of calm for most of these kids. Everything’s structured. — even their locker breaks. I guess that makes sense because when I was in school, locker breaks were when most of the fighting happened. And most importantly, the kids are learning! The teachers have the time to finish lessons.

“I don’t really use it that often.” says City Springs School Principal Rhonda Richetta talking about her security system. “It’s not this security system that has changed the climate in my school. It’s the Restorative Practices.” When she first started as principal she remembers having to break up fights 5 or 6 times a day. She wanted to change the school’s culture rather than beef up the security measures. She now finds that she has to rely less on the school’s security camera system set up in her office, and has fostered a respectful culture between students and faculty.

Faculty did leave, however. After Restorative Practices became mandatory the school lost the majority of their teachers because, according to Richetta, they didn’t want to change how they taught.

From what I understand, a major critique of this approach to teaching is that it doesn’t allow for educator creativity. Almost everything is structured and scripted. But when your students live in poverty, I wonder how much structure and respect a lot of them are getting when they’re not in school.

When installing new security cameras Richetta chose small cameras to not foster a an over securitized ambiance.

Eighth-graders in Tracy Hauser’s home room Brittany Carter, left, and Tyveona James, right, join hands with classmates during “circle time.” 

Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School Kindergarteners in Amy Raymond’s class Piper Stephan, left, and Delaney Lane, right, read to each other. Amy Raymond, kindergartener teacher at Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School in Glenelg, Maryland — part of the Howard County Public School System — utilizes Common Core Curriculum to teach her students Wednesday, November 30, 2011. Her class is the first generation of students taught under the new national standards, emphasizing subject mastery.

Thanks to Education Week, I had one of the most adorable assignments I’ve had since leaving my staff newspaper job at The Patuxent Publishing Co. But as it turns out, Common Core is anything but …cute. It’s a big deal in the business of public education. Here’s a link to the article, but unless you’re a subscriber you can only read the first few paragraphs. Don’t worry. Here’s the Common Core Standards State initiative page, the Wikipedia page, and — get this! — there’s an iPhone ap, too! At the end of the post are some newspaper .pdfs “clips.”Students in Amy Raymond’s kindergarten class at Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School in Glenelg, Maryland play “Try To Go Home,” a number game utilizing common core curriculum K.CC.4a & K.CC.4b. (how’s that for wonky?) The way it works is, a pair of students roll dice to move a figurine. They used dinosaurs this week because the letter of the week is “D.” The purpose is to emphasize “one to one” number correspondence and improve operational and algebraic thinking. The students are (L-R) Marisa Lamb, Sierra Collis, Caroline Zdrale, and Dylan Ma. Maggie Metz raises her colorful finger-tipped hand.You know me… I really like to put myself in my work. In front of his classmates, Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School kindergartener Austin Wagner pauses before turning over the date “30″ on the calendar. Daily rituals like this help Amy Raymond’s class develop number proficiency. As I left the office, this Labrador mascot statue made me jump a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of dogs, I just wasn’t expecting a dog in a school. … And out the corner of my eye, this thing looked super-real.Maggie Metz, left and Austin Wagner, right, work on assignments.

The nice thing about kindergarteners is that there are moments all over the place. Amy Raymond plays “Try To Go Home,”  with Sierra Collis.Ethan Sutch writes his class’s attendance on the board. This daily exercise utilizes math skills learned in Amy Raymond’s kindergarten class.…as in, “and why not make this picture?”Amy Raymond and her students (L-R) Dylan Ma, Gregor Lesho, Ethan Sutch (standing), and Gouri Gupta.I MADE THE COVER!!!

Sally Carle, an interior designer and home organizer from Bethesda, Maryland demonstrates how to thoroughly clean a toilet, Sunday, December 4, 2011. Aside from a minimal amount of bleach, she uses all green products.

I made this wacky wacky photo shoot for a fun story the New York Times did on Extreme Cleaners.

Sally’s a regular germ-slayer!“Blue is for the loo. Pink is for the sink.”Aside from a minimal amount of bleach, she uses all green products, like toilet paper made from recycled material and Seventh Generation cleaner.

This photo even made it onto the New York Time’s home page for a bit!

Kal Penn, actor and former Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, is photographed in a neighborhood of northwestern D.C. Tuesday, November 8, 2011.

I got to meet a movie star a few weeks ago! Kal Penn!

Some of you might know him as Kumar, Dr. Lawrence Kutner, or Gogol from The Namesake.

…but I imagine his White House security badge said Kalpen Modi, his birth name.

The New York Times profile paints him as a modest, hard worker. Kinda the opposite of a Hollywood stereotype. I’ll be honest, I was charmed.

It’s always good to find common ground with subjects, but I was a little trepidatious to bring up the Harold & Kumar movies. I assume it’s a point of exhaustion for him, but I couldn’t help it. I’m genuinely excited to see the third movie. I also said I was rooting for his character on House. But we went on to talk about other stuff, too, like how uninspiring the food at the White House cafeteria is, how he’s barely experienced life in DC because he’s always working, and, of course, really good bad movies.

ABC News Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz sits in her office at the ABC Washington DC Bureau Thursday, October 13, 2011.

Martha is a super cool person. When we were setting up the shoot for a New York Times profile, she wanted to know what I was thinking for the shoot. So, I threw out a few ideas, then she paused and asked: would you be interested in doing the shoot by a Blackhawk helicopter?

Me: YEESSSSS!!!!

She knows a guy, of course.

And in true Murphy’s Law fashion, it was drizzling the day of the shoot. It’s hard to look attractive, professional, and well put together when damp. Am I right? So, unfortunately, we nixed the helicopter shoot last minute. Lucky for me, she has an absolutely gorgeous office AND a sense of adventure. So, when I asked if she wanted to continue the shoot on the roof, her eyes got wide: Yes! I’ve never been up there!

She calls the operations manager and next thing we know, we’re on top of the world!!!!

…errr, the ABC building in DC.

On our way back down, she noticed these cool reflections and walked out into the shallow water.

Me: Oooooh! can we take some more photos here?

Martha: Duh!

…okay, she didn’t say “duh,” but she was super-into the idea.

This was definitely one of the most fun portrait shoots I’ve had this year.

Brooklyn couple Jason Feifer, and Jen Miller, both 31, married at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington D.C. Saturday, October 29, 2011. After signing the Ketubah, a Jewish wedding contract, the couple gathered in the Farimont’s lobby with the wedding party and their parents minutes before getting married.

I shot a wedding for the New York Times! …weird, right?

Well, I guess it’s not that weird if you’re an avid Vows reader. And, let me tell you, I met a few during the shoot. They were soooo excited to see me. Which, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed being “the photographer from the Times.”

But not to misrepresent myself, I let everyone know I’m a freelancer. It irks me when photographers try to pass as staffers when they’re not.

Jason and Jen are a writerly couple. I love this quote from the story: “He used a semicolon correctly; that was reason enough to get a drink with him.”

Jason is an editor at Fast Company, and in May Jen will have her 2nd book (first novel), The Year of the Gadfly, published. They’re both freelance journalists, too. So, of course, their vows were amazing. They made us laugh — like a lot! And because it’s a wedding, people were crying, too. Not me, though. I’m tuff!

To emphasize their love of books, each table was adorned with hardback copies of their favorite authors.

The “I do” kiss.

The flowers are Jen’s homage to the country wedding she daydreamed about.

Jen shows her brother Danny Miller a few dance steps. Where he lacked in dance floor grace, he absolutely made up for in his speech. He absolutely slayed! 

Who doesn’t love a good Hora?

Jason’s parents Roy and Barbara get hoisted, too.

Miller family patriarch Aaron Miller, left, is hugs his family, Lindsay, his wife, Danny, his son, and his newly married daughter Jen. She’s covered up by her taller dad & brother.

Jason Feifer and Jen Miller show off the silver knife from Tiffany, wedding gift from Jen’s maid of honor and best friend Risa Berkower. According to Jen, Risa and her mother are amazing cooks who often hosted dinners and celebrated jewish holidays at her home. Before cutting the cake, Jen made a comment about Risa’s gift being “aspirational,” hoping “one day I might bake a cake as well as Risa and her mom.”

Personally, I love this little moment. Who doesn’t love a little icing on their fingers?

This was a really cool wedding, but to make things even cooler, was that Jason’s mom Barbara will forever share her birthday with their anniversary! She turned 60! Doesn’t she look great?

hahaha! In the spirit of Halloween, the wedding party surprised guests with a choreographed rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller!!!

Jason even found a rad, creepy zombie mask to wear. This is him pulling off a spin. One of the things Jen’s brother said to close out his hilarious, sarcastic, sardonic speech resonated with me. He quoted someone — I think a family member — who said “Never marry someone you love. Marry someone you like.” But he went on to acknowledge that Jen and Jason are that rare combination who both love and like each other. And if there’s one thing that struck me about this couple — who met on OK Cupid — is that they operate like a team. I agree with Danny. Jen and Jason are a good model of friends in love. Hats off!

their twitter:

Jason: @heyfeifer

Jen: @propjen

Oh! I know you wanna see more photos from their wedding! Click here to see 60 more photos. You can buy prints from there, too!

Last weekend Weird Sports Photographer Sol Neelman & I shot the Run For Your Lives zombie 5k in Darlington, MD at Rablewood Saturday, October 22, 2011. The event is a zombie infested 5k obstacle course. I heard anywhere from 10,000 – 13,000 participants and spectators showed up for the sold out event which raises money for the American Red Cross.

In case y’all haven’t heard of The Image Deconstructed blog, it’s an amazing resource! It deals with photographers’ mental processes & as a whole, gives insite into how photographers think — and sometimes feel — when they’re making pictures. It’s the brain child of Ross Taylor, who — and it should go without saying — is Rossome!

Here’s my specific entry, but I truly and whole heartedly recommend seeing some of the other photographers’ work being deconstructed. (each word is a link to a different post, by the way. Isn’t that super clever!?)