Angelle Seeling -1998

I was only a couple of years into being a motorsports fan in 1998 when I went to the NHRA drag race at the Route 66 drag strip in Joliet. My former boss was a big fan and belonged to the "Top Eliminator" club. This was a fan club that got him into the hospitality tents and a bunch of other good stuff for the race. It also got him good tickets.

Now I'm more of a oval track fan than a drag strip fan. I prefer to watch 43 cars turning laps for 3 hours than 2 cars driving straight for 5 seconds., but there is no denying the awesome power that these machines put out. We got there nice and early so that we could walk through the pits. The NHRA pits are open to the public and you can walk around and check out all the teams working on their cars (or motorcycles). It's really cool to see how much work they put into getting a car ready, and to see how fast they have to work within a time limit. I never really understood how much power these things generate. At one point I was more than 100 feet away from one of the pits when they fired it up for a test. As they were hitting the gas I could feel a blast of heat around my ankles with every rev. Truly amazing.

In racing the best seats are the ones higher up in the grand stand. We got the last row, looking down the track. I couldn't imagine a better seat for this race. We could look behind us and see the cars lining up or their turn at 250 mph, and then turn around and get a perfect view of the cars making their 5 second run. We also had our backs facing the sun all day. All I can say is... lobster.

The picture above is Angelle Seeling, now known as Angelle Sampey and at one time as Angelle Savoie. As you can see she raced pro-stock motorcycles. She was quite successful as a racer, but unfortunately did not win that day. I tried to make her feel better when I got her autograph, but I don't think it worked.

Hilltop Church

This may possibly be Melissa's favorite landmark in Kentucky. We pass this church on the road to Rattlesnake Ridge. This part if the road is somewhat flat, but it still has the twists and turns that we've come to expect down there. You're driving through a residential neighborhood and suddenly this church pops out at you. Every time we drive by, Melissa wants to stop and take picture, and I can't blame her. The scene is truly beautiful. What you don't see in this picture is that the ground behind the church drops off sharply right at the back door. From there there is an incredible view of the valley (holler) between here and Marshes Siding. Actually Jim Cmolik's back yard. You can see that picture in an earlier blog post.

As quickly as the church sneaks up on you, it disappears in the rear view mirror and you're back into the twisting countryside road. And before you know it you're heading downhill to the valley floor again. Hopefully not burning up your brakes as I tried to do. It's just not that much fun reaching the bottom of a hill at a turn in the road and having the brake pedal go to the floor.

This was shot with a Canon 50D and a Canon 17-85mm is lens at 17mm. 1/250 sec at f/11. ISO 100.

Old Ford

As many of you know, my family and I go down to McCreary County in Kentucky every December to bring Christmas presents to the poor kids and to minister to those who have fallen on unfortunate times. This year was no exception. While our specific projects seem to be evolving, we are still doing what we are called to do by God. Over the last few years w've brought down presents for children, helped work a Christmas party up at Rattlesnake Ridge, provided a Christmas dinner for families up at the Ridge, and visited those that we have built relationships with over the years. After all, as Jim Cmolik tells us, it's about sharing the love of God through our relationships, and not the construction. Which is temporary in this world. So as I've gotten to know the area and some of the people that live there, God's put a burden on my heart to take pictures of McCreary County Kentucky. My goal is to define McCreary County in pictures. When I first got the idea, my goal was to shoot the poverty and financial devastation that has gripped that region. I gave this much thought over the three years that I planned this. Unfortunately I was not able to get out and take the pictures I wanted to until this past December. The first shot I took was this truck. I saw it on the side of the road as we were driving in the day before. This was at the north end of the county. As we moved south I went looking for buildings and houses that were burned out, or really run down, and I took quite a few photos of these. But as the day went on, I started being drawn to the beauty of the area. We visited the Natural Arch State Park and got some pictures of natures amazing work. We got some shots in the woods, found another natural arch on the side of a road, and took a picture of a church on top of a hill. It's funny how my goals changed in the midst of the project. I was supposed to be showing the poorest of the poor, but ended up going for the beauty amidst the poverty. Some of the sadness will probably make it into the final project, but I want this area to be represented as a county full of beauty and God's work.

I know many of you have already seen these pictures, but I'll probably post a few more and talk about those a bit.

As I was shooting this truck, a local guy in his pickup stopped to see what I was doing. I thought I would be in trouble so I threw him a little wave. He got a big smile on his face, waved back and drove away. A little wave goes a long way down there.

This was shot with a Canon 50D and a Canon 17-85mm is at24mm, 1/100sec at f7.1 ISO 100.