Dirty birds

I took this picture in April, at the Botanical Gardens park in San Francisco, when a few blackbirds didn’t seem to mind bathing in front of me.

Season’s over

With this weekends playing of the Iowa high school football championship games, it concludes the end of one of the more exciting seasons that I can remember shooting. I’m in the process of collecting my top 10 favorite pictures of the season, which I’ll post soon.

Ankeny’s Marshall Clark stiff-arms Johnston’s Mitch Boals en route to the endzone on Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, in Johnston. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

View complete Ankeny football photo gallery here.

Fire damages pallet company

Members of the Cresco fire department were dispatched to the SMI building in Cresco on Monday for a large structure fire. The building, home to a company that manufactures wood pallets, was heavily damaged in the fire.

Firefighters from Cresco and neighboring communities battle a blaze at SMI Company in Cresco on Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. The building is used to manufacture wood pallets. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

Falling into line

Things have fallen nicely into place for the Decorah high school football team when it mattered the most. The Vikings knocked off top-ranked Clear Lake and marched through West Delaware to make it to tonight’s game against Harlan in their 3A state semifinal football game at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Decorah senior Jacob Humpal, right, leads the Vikings during the national anthem prior to the start of Monday’s game against West Delaware. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

Revenge

On Monday, the Decorah Vikings football team upended West Delaware’s season, winning 24-14 and avenging a loss from earlier this season.

The Decorah Vikings football team celebrate a 24-14 win over West Delaware in the quarterfinal playoff game on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in Decorah. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

Decorah running back Kyle Hove, right, pushes past the defensive effort of West Delaware’s Brody Kruse in the second quarter of their quarterfinal playoff football game on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in Decorah. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

Sam Gonzalez: Hero

I fully expected tonight’s rematch to be less pleasant for Ankeny as Southeast Polk came back for a rematch of a game earlier this season. I expected SEP’s offense to be amped.

Ankeny linebacker Sam Gonzalez pretty much single-handedly stopped them, forcing prep standout quarterback Kyle Starcevich to hurry his passes, and picking up a couple of sacks to help the Hawks advance with a 27-17 win.

Ankeny’s Sam Gonzalez, right, hits Southeast Polk quarterback Kyle Starcevich for one of his sacks Friday night in Ankeny. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

Gonzalez reacts after the Hawks’ 27-17 win over Southeast Polk on Friday in Ankeny. (2011/Bryon Houlgrave)

View complete Ankeny football photo gallery here.

bald eagles

I saw a couple of bald eagles today on my way back from shooting an accident scene. It’s not often you see eagles so close to the road, and they didn’t stick around long enough for me to get up close and personal with them. I was lucky to even get this shot off.

Lost? Use the force

While I was searching for a photo from my archives tonight I found this. It’s always been one of my favorite moments. The clone trooper was part of a Star Wars character party at the Brookfield Library in Brookfield, Wisconsin.