Nothing better than watching 5-year-olds make gigantic messes in the name of art on a Saturday afternoon.

This was the most frustrating assignment I've had in a while. I was sent to photograph a women's health fair, and I had to make 10 pictures with different people in them. In two hours, seven women walked through the door. Most of them were coming to have their annual mammogram, which means about half of them said 'no' when I asked to take their picture.

Approximately 800 people attended Wednesday's Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Forum at the Kentucky International Convention Center, with speeches by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
I love assignments where the light is terrible and the only thing happening is talking heads talking and business suits shaking hands. It forces my brain to work. There's nothing better than filling a frame with your own creativity. Well, there's a different sort of satisfaction than comes with photographing something beautiful in its own right.

The circus came to town this week. Clowns, elephants, lights, rigging, sequins, snowcones and all.

I've been helping to teach a photography class over the last month to adults with severe and persistent mental illness. Most of this group has been diagnosed as paranoid- schizophrenic. It has been an incredible experience. One of our first assignments was to create a still life using objects that represent their recovery from mental illness. Everyone talked about the objects they had chosen, then constructed a piece using backdrops and various types of lighting. They've been running around the city shooting landscapes, and this week it's on to portraits.
At the end, the group hosts an "Art as a Part of Healing" gallery opening to display and sell work as a fundraiser.