Best friend

Here's my Charlie during an outing at John Tanner State Park a few weeks ago. It was super cold, and the water even colder, but that didn't seem to bother Charlie one bit. He's a shepherd/labrador mix that I've had for a little more than four years. I would go crazy without him.

Half the man

Meet Wayne Gantt, who's lost more than 400 pounds since having gastric bypass surgery in 2005. At his largest — more than 600 pounds — he had to get on a truck scale to find out how much he weighed. "The doctors didn't have a scale that went that high," he said. Now 220 (which, I know, is a third, not half, of his previous weight), Gantt can fit into one leg of the 72-inch pants he used to wear.

John Hicks

I shot this of Mr. Hicks, a concrete mixer, while shooting a construction site today in Griffin. I almost didn't take it, but I'm glad I did. Faces can tell so much.

Hands

I was really excited today to get started on this photo story. I don't think this particular photo will make the cut, but I just like it. I'm starting a story about R.L. "Skeeter" Norsworthy, who's the owner of Hollingsworth Repair Shop, where's he's worked for the last 65 YEARS! You'll find a photo of him at the bottom of my "2006 favs" post. After I took the photo last year, I knew I wanted to do a photo essay or multimedia piece on him. Anyways, about this photo: Pictured are the hands of Skeeter and his helper, Raymond Ledbetter, as they work on making a key to fit this General Motors steering column. I really think they're hands have lots of stories in them. I'll be posting more as I shoot more on this. I'm scheduled to go back on Thursday morning. Like many old southern business, Hollingsworth is closed on Wednesdays.

Pretty light

I've been going through just everything I've shot since I started working here in Griffin, and I found this from 2005. I couldn't believe my eyes when I drove by this — it was just too pretty to be in Griffin, Georgia. I shot it until the light faded, praying the whole time for at least one person to walk along the tracks to make a silhouette. This stretch of tracks is littered with liquor bottles and other garbage from the folks who take it as a short cut — but just not this December day.

Trivia night

Me and a few friends — Blaine (from left), Mark and Pam (and Brian, who's not pictured and is unfortunately an LSU fan) — won third place Wednesday in Buffalo's trivia night. All the questions were about the 80s, which I'm fond of, but didn't know too many answers. Mark pulled through in a clutch though, catapulting us from way back in the pack to third by putting five events in chronological order — Reagan's assassination attempt, Miami Vice's debut, the Iran-Contra Affair, the U.S. invasion of Panama, and the falling of the Berlin Wall. But he's old, so he naturally knew that.

The Professor

George "The Professor" Tiller at Madison Tire & Auto last fall. This guy is a character — to say the least.

Centenarian

I photographed a birthday party tonight for a woman who turned 100 last week. It was amazing to see most of her family assembled in one room. She has 7 children, 23 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild. Wow. Here's the caption: Rachel Lee Bain, 100, touches the face of her 11 month-old great grandson, Wyatt Ogden, during a celebration of Bain's birthday Saturday at Western Sizzlin in Griffin. Also pictured is Matt Ogden (holding Wyatt), and David Bain, the matriarch's youngest son. When asked about the secret to becoming a centenarian, she replied "Just be good."

Dr. Quimby Melton III

Dr. Quimby Melton III, a lifelong educator, is leaving his post as principal of Griffin High School to work at a new alternative school for troubled students. "I think everyone deserves a second chance," he said. "These are the students that other people have forgotten about."

Wayne

Took some portraits of my old boss and friend Wayne at an old house in Starr's Mill, Ga.

2006 favs

Gonna start out with some of my favorite photos from 2006. Enjoy.

David White, a battalion chief with the Spalding County Fire Department, talks on his radio while trying to organize firefighters at a house fire on High Falls Road.

A bicyclist crosses the tracks that run along Broad Street as the sun sets in Griffin.

Ketay White, 13, takes a shot during a game among friends in East Griffin.

Lucille Williams is a two-time cancer survivor. First diagnosed with cervical dysplasia in 1962, she also overcame a bout with the disease in 1982.

Quietly kneeling by his 12-by-eight-foot cross at intersections across the country, John Obadiah Franklin hopes to bring salvation to as many people as possible. “There is evil in this world,” he said. “The red is to remind Satan that the blood of Jesus is against him."

Emily Wallace, 18, reacts as Jason Clark lowers a milk snake on her head Thursday during a snake show at the Flint River Regional Library. Clark, who operates Southeastern Reptile Service, was demonstrating the difference between the non-venomous milk snake and the venomous coral snake, whose color markup is very similar.

Spalding High's Tripp Murray makes a backhanded throw to second, ending the inning during their game against Thomson.

Barry Montgomery is overcome with the spirit as Apostle Samuel McIntosh prays over him during a tent revival service in Griffin.

Getting a glimpse of real-life cowboys at the annual Shady Dale Rodeo are, from left, Justin Batchelor, 3, his 5-year-old brother, Jackson, and 6-year-old Jesse Johnson. Each year, the rodeo draws thousands to the small town between Monticello and Madison.

For the past 65 years, R.L. "Skeeter" Norsworthy has been working at Hollingsworth Repair Shop. The great-grandfather started working at the shop, which makes keys and repairs bicycles, when he was 11 and bought it from his uncle in 1956. “I’ve been here 65 years,” he said. “I don’t know anything else.”