OWL CITY!

Utah has one of about 50 federally protected migratory bird refuges in the country. Jan. 12 they held Owl Day to educate the public on wildlife.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is quite the diamond in the rough of the desert. An oasis of sorts, even in the winter time. Check out this video I shot of a family learning about owls. A 4-year-old also finds out to find the bones he has been dissecting an owl pellet. The look on his face when he makes that realization is priceless. It wasn't just brown dirt.

Here is the print story I did of all the facts about which owl can live up to 20 years and why the bird refuge hosts the events for free to the public.
A great place to take the children when experiencing cabin fever in wintertime or during summer break.

Featured on Romenesko: Morning Glory in Utah

Click link below to see story.

Salt Lake Tribune reporter says Morning Glory Road story was hard to report

Morning Glory: Utah's offending street sign.

What's in a name? Morning Glory! Covering a story that goes international.

STORY: MORNING GLORY STREET NAME GONE IN UTAH BECAUSE OF ERECTION CONNECTION 

My editor asks me to check my email and says "you'll want to get on that ASAP," that is it. I open my inbox and see a link to a story out of Provo's local newspaper about a street name change.
I had to explain to readers in Utah why Morning Glory Road was considered offensive by a company and introduce the conservative demographic to a uncommon slang term for when men get an erection in the morning, aka morning wood. Lehi city council approved a change to Morning Vista Road, which has already been updated with a new definition on Urban Dictionary.

The local paper story skirted around the issue of what a company calling for the name change said was an offensive street name. So when I wrote the story I decided to come right out and say it.

Here is my story that went international and garnered emails from the DailyMail in UK asking to use my story and pictures I had taken of the street sign. Also Jim Romenesko contacted me asking me about how I went about reporting the story and what the response has been on what has been one of the hardest stories I had to interview for. It was awkward to report, but it got quite the attention.

Disney's 'Up' movie house in Herriman Utah celebrates Christmas

I took a peek inside the 'Up' house during Christmas time to see what the new owners of the home have done with the place. You won't believe it. The California natives brought Santa Claus to the porch for donations toward The Sub-For-Santa Charity.

See the video below:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55493137-78/hamblin-param-value-disney.html.csp

Utah SmartPhone Shots

One day I was thinking, "Hey, why do only photos taken with fancy DSLR cameras have a group to share their artistic talent?"

So I started this Flickr group, where you share and view photos taken only with smartphone cameras.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/utahsmartphoneshots/


Have you ever taken a photo on your phone or iPod Touch and thought it looked pretty cool for the tool you used and then a real photographer thought it looked like crap? Well maybe it truly did look like crap, but it is still fun to share with others without being intimidated by posting a picture on a blog of pictures done by "professionals."


Now there is a place to share your photos without worrying about someone who has a DSLR laughing at your cheap equipment and wannabe photo skills.

Shooting photos with a smartphone require a different kind of talent and an artistic eye that cannot be captured the same with a Digital SLR camera.

There is no monetary benefit to the group. It is just a fun place to share your artistic talent and see others.