I grew up in Kansas City, MO, where I attended Grandview High
School.
I received a bachelor's degree in communication from Goshen College, IN. in
1978. Since I had earned an FCC radio license in school and spun actual records for a late night radio music show I initially considered a radio career. Instead, a photo internship at the Elkhart Truth newspaper in Elkhart, IN. convinced me to pursue a career in photojournalism. I choose Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, David Letterman's alma mater. Prior to completing my master's degree in journalism however, my first wife and I formed a bluegrass band and with 2 other musicians and toured Europe for six weeks with a folk dance troupe.
In 1983 I received my degree and with a portfolio of photographs in hand I started looking for a job.
Several months later I was offered a staff photography position at
the Journal-World.
In my spare time I play guitar and sing with two area acoustic bands, The Alferd
Packer Memorial String Band and Three Bean Salad. With the two bands I've recorded six albums of music and traveled extensively throughout the state to perform. I've even been know to write songs for the bands from time to time and managed to win a couple first place songwriting awards at the annual Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, KS. You can sometimes find my on long-distant bicycle rides. I've done the Bike Across Kansas two times, a four-day bike ride through the Black Hills of South Dakota twice and a recent Cottonwood 200 spin through the Flint Hills.
In 2008 I married Karen Seibel, a long-time Lawrence resident and local yoga instructor. We live in an 1880's house in Old East Lawrence and have been re-modeling and slowly bringing the house back to shape. We have three cats, two cars, one screened porch and tons of books. We enjoy traveling and then creating books from our trips. Currently we have self-published books on trips to South Dakota, the Sandhill Crane country in Nebraska and the hot springs area of New Mexico. In 2007 I published a book celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Vinland Fair in Douglas County after spending nearly 25 years documenting the community event.
Recent Stories
Behind the Lens: Things photographers don’t want to hear
Recently I came across a photography blog about what newspaper photographers don’t like to hear said to them when working.
Behind the Lens: Finding a perfect feature photo
Our photography staff is often relied upon to gather stand-alone images for the newspaper.
Behind the Lens: Effective lighting kits don’t have to be expensive
In last week’s column I mentioned using household table lights as a possible source of illumination to re-photograph prints or other hard-copy documents. It is a make-do solution only and not one I recommend if you plan on doing a lot of tabletop photography or have a growing interest in photographing other subjects requiring artificial lighting.
Behind the Lens: Camera, scanner can be used to digitize old photos
Mike continues where he left off last week to give more tips on digitization.
Behind the Lens: Preserve old slides by digitization
Mike talks about the process of digitizing old photo slides and offers some first and third party options for getting your slides from the shoebox into the computer.
Behind the Lens: a look back and a look ahead
As I look forward to new adventures and photographs in 2012, here are some observations and notes to sweep out 2011.
Behind The Lens: Use sharp contrast when shooting snow
When shooting objects against snow or trying to capture the powdery stuff itself, stark backgrounds and drastic color shifts are your best friend.
Behind the Lens: Capturing the coach
In a little more than a 36-hour period, on three separate occasions Journal-World photographer Nick Krug and I covered the arrival and introduction of Charlie Weis to Lawrence as Kansas University’s new football coach.
Behind the Lens: Cameras for kids
Considering that children are experiencing digital devices at younger and younger ages, it’s not a crazy idea to provide them access to better cameras.
Behind the Lens: Gifts for the photographer in your family
If you're like Mike's family, you're hesitant to buy photography gifts for a seasoned photographer, likely because they already have everything or the process of buying for them is intimidating. This guide should help east the latter.
