Patrick Traylor's photoblog
Daniel Proctor (Center), 13, and Cheryl Cleary from City of Refuge Worship Center in Peoria stand at the corner of Western and Lincoln on Friday evening, offering prayers and alerting residents to the services the church provides. Representatives from the church take to the same street corner every Friday evening to spread their message.
The lead image from my assignment this evening- just really like the kids face and the way it’s framed up.
-Pat
William Cirone and his brother Chris (not pictured) helped design and build the off-the-grid power system for their parents’ new home in rural Knox County. The brothers are starting a consulting business for home wind and solar power based on their experience. A wind turbine and 36 solar panels all routed through a central power hub provide the home with power year-round. A backup propane generator adds supplemental power during periods of low wind and sun.
I found out the other day that this photo I shot a few months ago for the Journal Star is on the cover of this week’s Christian Science Monitor, which they got via the Associated Press. Read the article here… and the original Journal Star piece here.
Cheers,
Pat
Ronnia Simmons of Peoria stands in the intersection of Western and Kettelle at the scene of a police standoff with a reportedly suicidal man allegedly armed with a rifle on Monday night, July 12. “It’s a mess,” said Simmons of the wave of violence this summer. “I’ve got two years left of nursing school and then I’m leaving Peoria.”
While waiting in front of the police tape at the scene of a standoff a couple weeks ago, I saw this woman standing in the street watching everything unfold, perfectly lit by a street light. There was a large group of people on the street corner as well, but Ronnia stood out under the light. I knew that we wouldn’t need this picture for the next day’s story but to me, her body language seemed to sum up the mood in Peoria after an unsettling few weeks of violent crime. Fed up, tired- exasperated. After making the picture I talked with her about the violence in recent weeks and what she had to say entirely matched the look on her face, which was the same look I saw on a lot of faces that night. Hopefully things will start to quiet down and all those tired faces will start getting a little brighter in the next few weeks.
Friends and family of homicide victim Dustin Englebrecht along with members of the community gathered at Mineral Springs Park in Pekin on Saturday evening for a candlelight vigil in his memory. The Mason City man was found in a shallow grave behind a family barn on Sept. 7. Six months later, his case remains unsolved. In the top photo, Cheryl Potts (left), Dustin’s mother, kisses Amanda Hunt, his sister. “People still care,” said Potts. “We’re not going to give up.”
-Pat
Todd Snarr, VP of Operations for ELM consulting, walks through the old steam factory at the State Hospital Grounds in Bartonville, Ill on Friday afternoon. The Village of Bartonville just spent $350,000 to remove asbestos from the building, which Snarr oversaw as project manager. The structure is scheduled to be demolished sometime next week. It was really cool to get a tour of this place before it ceases to exist. More photos here. Since my Nikon D300 has been out of commission being repaired, I’ve been using my old Nikon D70 as my primary camera so far since starting at the PJStar (Better image quality than my two provided Nikon D2Hs). It’s been a nice reminder that my vision, not my gear, is what makes great pictures. This was taken at 20mm, ISO 200, f/2.8, 2/5 of a second.
-Pat
A few photos from my first few days at the Journal Star here in Peoria. I’m settling in here and getting used to new procedures. It should be a great several months.
Cheers,
Pat
Customers lined up to get into the new Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City, Kan., which opened for business on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 15. Boot Hill the first state-run casino in the country.