E Pluribus Unum
(Out of Many, One.)

I’ve never been good at completing projects. But today, I’ve now completed my project365 for the FOURTH time. Four years of photos. Four years of memories. Ups and downs, moves and new jobs, beginnings and ends. Life goes on, and so does this project.

Tomorrow, we start Year Five. May the next year of photos be as challenging as the last. And may the next year of life be as amazing as all the ones past.

Bring it on.

This is the audio and picture version of my final project story titled:
Of House and Home: Sheila Durnil’s journey through heartache and hope.

Please pardon the toning on the images at the moment – Final Cut Express decided to ignore the hours of toning I spent earlier to make the photos look perfect. I’ll be revising this file once I figure out how to correct the color.

You’re not seeing double. I’m reposting this with a slight re-edit of the images for class. I haven’t looked at this story in a while, and I do think that this edit is a bit stronger. (And who can resist a neon-yellow horse cake? Really!)

Sophomore Tanner Brundage looks for his mother’s car on Sept. 16, 2010 outside of Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, Mo. This was the last time his mother needed to pick him up at the end of the day, as today was his 16th birthday. Immediately after school, he took and passed his driver’s test.

While typical high school boys are involved with the traditional team sports offered by their school, such as football or baseball, Tanner competes in team roping for Missouri High School Rodeo and cowboy mounted shooting with Show Me Mounted Shooters. He began riding horses almost four years ago, and discovered roping after some of his riding friends started lessons with Mark Jobe, a roping instructor in Jefferson City. Many of the teens who compete in Missouri High School Rodeo grew up in rodeo families, but Tanner’s family has only recently been involved. “We’re kinda the rarity,” his mother Kim said. “We’re not the only ones, but most have been doing this forever.”

After spending the afternoon competing about six inches of mud, Tanner takes a hose to clean off the tack on his 12-year old horse, Cochise. His friend and neighbor Macy Randolph, 13, patiently waits for her turn, as her earlier attempts to gain control of the hose led to Tanner dousing her with water. While high school rodeo is not an organized team sport, many of the teens in the Jefferson City area practice together.

Gary Kueffer, right, holds tight onto the rope around the calf’s horns while Tanner attempts to catch its heels during an open team roping session at a small family rodeo on Saturday, Sept. 11 outside of Vienna, Mo. The open event allows combined teams of varying ages, letting teenagers compete with the more seasoned adults. Tanner prefers to compete as a heeler, which he says is the more challenging position in roping. He said that according to Mark Jobe, Tanner’s instructor, “You need to be a better roper for the heels, and a better horseman for the head.”

In honor of Tanner’s 16th birthday, his mother Kim ordered a cake made out of cupcakes to bring to roping practice on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010. “It’s supposed to be his horse,” she said about the conspicuously bright depiction of Cochise.

Heeding comments in class and from my instructor, Rita Reed, I’ve re-edited my profile on Kelly Schultz, previously a candidate for the 21st District of the Missouri House of Representatives. I say previously since the project was photographed before the election. Sadly, she didn’t win.

In any case, here’s the revised version, which I am much happier to share on my blog.

Some of these may make it into the final story. Some may not. But I like them for what they are.

Meet Sheila. She and I will be spending a lot of time together over the next few weeks as we get acquainted and I work on telling her story. It’s got all sorts of twists and turns, as every day she’s on the brink of losing her home. It’s a challenge, but I think a very worthy one. And she’s super nice, which always makes working on a project a pleasure.

I really look forward to exploring her world.

And the countdown to November 15th* begins . . .

[*Which is when I will start stalking my phone and email incessantly to find out if I'll be a White House intern for my master's project.]

The FinalCut presentation of the photos and audio interview for my character on Kelly Schultz will go here shortly. It’s rendering on Vimeo.

In the meantime, here’s my favorite photo from the entire project.

Ahha! The video is finally done. Please note – this is NOT a final but a work in progress. I do not like this presentation as completed here. The audio will be re-edited, and maybe the photos will be re-sequenced. It is only posted because it is a class requirement.

Kelly Schultz: The Triple Threat from Erin Schwartz on Vimeo.

Sophomore Tanner Brundage looks for his mother’s car on Sept. 16, 2010 outside of Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, Mo. This was the last time his mother needed to pick him up at the end of the day, as today was his 16th birthday. Immediately after school, he took and passed his driver’s test.

While typical high school boys are involved with the traditional team sports offered by their school, such as football or baseball, Tanner competes in team roping for Missouri High School Rodeo and cowboy mounted shooting with Show Me Mounted Shooters. He began riding horses almost four years ago, and discovered roping after some of his riding friends started lessons with Mark Jobe, a roping instructor in Jefferson City. Many of the teens who compete in Missouri High School Rodeo grew up in rodeo families, but Tanner’s family has only recently been involved. “We’re kinda the rarity,” his mother Kim said. “We’re not the only ones, but most have been doing this forever.”

Tanner waits for his best friend Spenser Epple, 15, to finish putting on his collared shirt – the only dress requirement for this particular rodeo – at a small family rodeo on Saturday, Sept. 11 outside of Vienna, Mo. The boys live across town from each other but see each other regularly in classes at school and at roping practice in Eugene, Mo. every Thursday night.

Gary Kueffer, right, holds tight onto the rope around the calf’s horns while Tanner attempts to catch its heels  during an open team roping session at a small family rodeo on Saturday, Sept. 11 outside of Vienna, Mo. The open event allows combined teams of varying ages, letting teenagers compete with the more seasoned adults. Tanner prefers to compete as a heeler, which he says is the more challenging position in roping. He said that according to Mark Jobe, Tanner’s instructor, “You need to be a better roper for the heels, and a better horseman for the head.”

After spending the afternoon competing about six inches of mud, Tanner takes a hose to clean off the tack on his 12-year old horse, Cochise. His friend and neighbor Macy Randolph, 13, patiently waits for her turn, as her earlier attempts to gain control of the hose led to Tanner dousing her with water. While high school rodeo is not an organized team sport, many of the teens in the Jefferson City area practice together.

This is where my subject’s horses live, but the horse here is actually his sister’s. (My picture of the day before starting to work on this project.)

My subject in action at a small rodeo on Saturday. He uses these small summer rodeos as practice for High School Rodeo.

Second half of shooting will be on Thursday. More to come.