Civil War Reenactment

Here is my favorite photo I took all week. Opinions differ. Tell me what you think.

Rodeo

Here are a couple pictures from a Jr. High rodeo I shot yesterday. I can’t say I rocked it, but despite being from Arizona, it was my first rodeo, so I don’t think I did so bad.
I am really trying to keep up with my posts and correspondence with friends and family far away, but it’s difficult when the weather is so nice. Did some gardening and hanging out this weekend after work and we’re going to New Orleans tomorrow – oh springtime, you leave me so unproductive.

Some outtakes

Here are a couple outtakes from the last week. Sorry I haven’t had more fresh material.

Mamou Mardi Gras

My first real Mardi Gras experience was one I will never forget.  I went out to Mamou, LA for a true cajun experience.  Mamou is famous for its ‘chicken chase’, a tradition rooted in the old-time practice of the men of the town going from house to house on horseback to collect the ingredients for a Gumbo.  Today, it has evolved into an all-day spectacle where men from around the state (and even some from out-of-state too) come to start drinking at 6 a.m., do crazy dances and tricks on horseback, and most importantly, chase chickens.

This is just another example of how Louisianans fiercly protect their customs – and I really respect that.  Fellow photographers Noah Devereaux and Matt Eich came down to visit Denny and one of my editors, Kevin Martin, and had a totally different experience in the town of Mamou, outside of the chicken chase.  Another example of what amazes me about Louisiana is how two different groups experience the same event in different ways on opposite sides of town.  Check out Noah’s pictures to see what I’m talking about.

This is just a tiny chip off of the iceberg of pictures I have to edit.  More coming soon.

New Orleans link

Denny just posted a great gallery of pictures from our rad New Orleans trip to help rebuild a couple houses in the Lower Ninth Ward.  We went with his family’s church group from Ohio to help them renovate the houses of a Pastor and his daughter, and his church.  It was a remarkable experience, and the Ninth Ward is really a place you have to see to believe.  It’s an incredibly sad story of the politics of poverty in our nation to walk through streets that were ravaged by a hurricane over three years ago – and have yet to even be touched since then.

Plane Crash

As I was writing the quadruplets post yesterday night around 1:30 a.m., I got a call about a small-engine plane that crashed about 45 minutes out of Baton Rouge, in a wooded area in Livingston Parish.  I headed right out there and stayed until a little after 11 a.m. this morning.  The crash site was in a remote area, so these are mostly photos of emergency crews preparing to excavate the site. If you would like to know more about the crash, please e-mail me at bhansen.photo@gmail.com or visit 2theadvocate.com

Needless to say it was a long shift and after pulling an all-nighter and sleeping for a little bit today, I am going to get back to bed.  My heart goes out to the three people aboard who did not survive the crash.  Thanks to David Mitchell, the Advocate staff writer, my editor Kevin Martin, photogs Arthur Lauck for letting me borrow his D3 and Travis Spradling for taking over at the scene and all of the emergency personnel who hung out and helped us along.

High school basketball

I tried shooting with a wide angle tonight because the wall was so close to the backboard. I almost got slammed into four times in 5 minutes this way, so I got my shot and got out of the way. It’s priceless and terrifying to see an athlete’s face the split second they realize that you’re standing in their trajectory. No one was hurt though and I hope to post the sweet outtakes from this as I go along.

Quadruplets

Getting behind again. I have to remember just to post post post as I go along. Here are a couple photos from a story we are doing about multiples. This family juggles their four surprisingly well-behaved children like professionals.