Tim Hudak (and more!)

I have shot so many events, portraits, sports, and more over the past couple of weeks that I hardly know where to begin. So I will try to stay on course here for a bit, but if I wander off, it's because everything is so scattered right now.

For my documentary photo class, we are completing a project called Sense of Belonging, where you photograph five subjects who are somehow related in a group. My original project involved portraits of military families, but this got tied up in the red tape of CFB Trenton. While their public affairs officers (after gentle nudging emails and phone calls) have gotten me remarkably far, the fact that I have to wait for the subjects themselves to contact me is a bit frustrating. I will be shooting my third and fourth subject later this week, but it won't be in time for the deadline. Here are the first two.

AMELIASBURGH, Ont. (25/09/11) - Captain Paul McKinley is surrounded by his wife Andréa, daughter Amélia, 1, and son Kurtis, 7, at their home near Ameliasburgh on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011. Captain McKinley recently returned from a search and rescue mission in Jamaica and previously served as an air force pilot in Bosnia. "When I'm gone, I miss the chaos and the solitude. I miss my family and the ability to do things on my own time. And I miss my coffee. You can get coffee anywhere you go, but it's never as good as the coffee I can make at home, here, in my kitchen." Photo by Rachel Psutka.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (30/09/11) - Captain Adam Ackerson sits in his new home in Belleville with his wife Jo and their son Ethan, almost 3, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. Captain Ackerson recently returned from a mission to Cyprus, where he flies military planes in the retrieval of equipment from Afghanistan. Ackerson and his family recently moved to Belleville after living in Cold Lake, Alta., another large military base. "When I'm gone, I miss my family the most. I miss milestones. It's always nice to return. The day after I got back from Cyprus, Ethan broke his leg. That's the sort of welcome I get." Photo by Rachel Psutka.

Instead of these families making it into my final project, I went to Plan C (Plan B was horrible), and shot a strongman competition at the Mohawk Fair in Shannonville.

SHANNONVILLE, Ont. (01/10/11) – Terry Morrison participates in the Mohawk Fair 6th Annual Strongman competition on a frigid Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 in Shannonville, Ont. Morrison, from Cambridge, Ont., has been competing in strongman events for three years. “I do strongman to get rid of stress from work. It’s competitive. It starts in the gym, and then you want to do something bigger and better.” Photo by Rachel Psutka. 

SHANNONVILLE, Ont. (01/10/11) – Andy Burwell participates in the Mohawk Fair 6th Annual Strongman competition on a frigid Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 in Shannonville, Ont. Burwell, from Woodstock, Ont., is a strongman veteran, having participated formally in strongman competitions since 2004. “I got too old to be a fighter. You get to be this big and everywhere else you go people point and stare. Everyone’s staring at strongman, but it’s because we’re so much stronger than you.” Photo by Rachel Psutka. 

SHANNONVILLE, Ont. (01/10/11) – Bryan Volkmann participates in the Mohawk Fair 6th Annual Strongman competition on a frigid Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 in Shannonville, Ont. Volkmann, from Shannonville, is a casual strongman competitor, participating yearly at the Mohawk Fair since 2009. “I show up at the strongman every year for the fun of it. I show kids you can lift heavy stuff.” Photo by Rachel Psutka.

SHANNONVILLE, Ont. (01/10/11) – Adrian Kimmett participates in the Mohawk Fair 6th Annual Strongman competition on a frigid Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 in Shannonville, Ont. Morrison, from Colborne, Ont., participated in his first strongman in 2007 and has competed in dozens of competitions since. “Strongman’s fun and a challenge. The independence of it is good; you get to compete with yourself.” Photo by Rachel Psutka.

SHANNONVILLE, Ont. (01/10/11) – Jon Cavanagh participates in the Mohawk Fair 6th Annual Strongman competition on a frigid Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011 in Shannonville, Ont. Cavanagh, from Belleville, Ont., participated in his first strongman only a month ago. “The challenge of strongman is why I started. It’s only my second competition but I’m going to keep doing it. This is just the beginning.” Photo by Rachel Psutka.

So that's documentary, for now. I also have a pile of sports photos, but I'll save that for another time. I'm following the Wellington Dukes on a long-term news assignment, so I will have some good shots from that (hopefully) over time.

Lastly, today was an interesting day for local politics. I made the trip up to Madoc as I read that Tim Hudak would be doing a photo op on his way through the area to Peterborough, and was pleasantly surprised to see no other photographers there. Always what we want to see!

MADOC, Ont. (04/10/11) - Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak (centre) greets Ainsley Phillips, 3, and her father Brad along with Prince Edward-Hastings PC candidate Todd Smith (left) at a quick campaign stop at the Tim Hortons in Madoc, Ont. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. En route from Ottawa to Peterborough, Hudak took time to connect with the crowd of about 30 supporters before grabbing a hot drink for the road. Prince Edward-Hastings is one of the closest races in the province, with Smith trying to unseat incumbent Liberal MPP Leona Dombrowsky. Ontario visits the polls on Thursday, Oct. 6. Photo by Rachel Psutka.