So LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and I were there together hanging out and….well, there really isn’t going to be a time I get to say that again, so I’m going to take advantage now.

I was lucky enough to be part of the huge team that the fine folks at ESPN the Magazine put together for their latest One Day, One Game series. The point is to give fans a glimpse into everything that it takes for one single game to be put on with vignettes from every angle imaginable.  It was one of my most fun shooting days ever, and I don’t think I can really go back to “normal” access after this.  Of course I will, but now will at least have a hard time wondering why I can’t come back into the locker room and photograph a player in the ice bath.

Out of the many talented photographers they had covering this game versus the Chicago Bulls, my assignment was to be in the Miami Heat locker room with another talented shooter, John Loomis, which was a blessing to have a 1) room covered in red 2) insane access and 3) plenty of things happen I’ve never been witness to.  Half the time it was just me and whatever superstar player happened to pop into the room.  Very quiet, intimate, and subtle shooting – which is everything you would expect a NBA game to not be.  The calm before the storm.  I shared some tattoo war stories with a player here, a fist bump with another, but for the most part it was very much myself, some eye contact, and nods of approval before I shot.

Every photographer had a place, an assignment and it was truly a team effort between not only all the photographers, but the editors (thanks Jim!), reporters, assistants, and The Miami Heat staff and NBA that made it happen.  Very cool to see it all come together in one great issue, which is on newsstands tomorrow – so go check it out!  The ESPN the Mag online presentation has all sorts of online content from the other photographers as well.  Definitely worth a look-see.

I don’t know how a photographer can ever actually go on vacation – it might take a cement room devoid of any color in Des Moines for me to actually leave a camera aside and take a “vacation” from “work.”

I constantly find it amazing we can call photography work.

Oh well, let me load up the carousel with some slides and make you sit through my vacation photos.  Here I was in Mexico…then here’s that colorful wall I waited forever for someone to walk by….there here’s some strangers…here’s that cross that I bought…and…and…

For more photos from Sayulita, Punta Mita, and Puerto Vallarta click this sentence.

I could sit here and write a ton of copy about covering Florida politics.

Fact of the matter is, it’s weird, it’s draining, and it’s one of most fun things I get to do in photojournalism.

With that, here are some random rectangles from the week of covering Mitt Romney’s win in the Florida Primary with some scraps from the cutting room floor as a bonus.

I-4 is an interesting road.  Connecting Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, it slices the nub of South Florida right off the map, it provides a vast array of landmarks – strange kitschy theme parks, vasectomy billboards, and rest stop oasis after oasis.  It is also fertile ground for voters and an area candidates target every election cycle.

The New York Times sent me with a reporter and videographer to tackle I-4 man-on-the street style to try to find folks opinionated about the state of the GOP and politics in general.  I did that.  Then I also did this.  Whenever I could break away and find some images for me I did, and luckily the NYT embraced the latter and ran it A1 as a grid of four.

I know there aren’t any faces, a lack of folks, but sometimes the details and vignettes of nouns can tug at the sweater string of story mood.

For more photos along I-4 in Florida please visit my Photoshelter archive.