The Biggest Chicken Egg in the World???

This is one of two pictures that ran in Out Here Magazine’s Fall issue that helped illustrate a story about the (possibly) World’s Largest Chicken Egg that was laid in Smartville, California this past summer. (The egg was 6.4 ounces which blows the previous record holder’s 5.6 ounces out of the water.) I got a call early one morning from the editor asking if I’d be able to head up ASAP and shoot the egg for her mag. I was STOKED - this is exactly the kind of thing that Charles Kuralt (one of my personal heroes) would have covered!!!

Sixty miles later I ended up on the doorstep of the Peterson family, the group that owns the chickens that laid the egg. Because of the light-bluish hue of the egg’s shell, they know it was one of three Araucana hens that they have. (The Araucanas are well known for their ability to produce tinted egg shells.) None of them were the worse for wear, though. I kept my eye on each one and none were walking funny.

I could probably become a hermit if I wanted to...

I don’t know what’s going on. Just a few short weeks ago I was sick and had to sit out of my daily photographing activities for a coulple of days (as well as lose out on a weekend). After four or five days I was feeling much better so I went back to my hectic schedule.

Well, I’m sick AGAIN! I’m just getting over the worst (hopefully) - a terrible sore throat as well as a nasty and constant cough. The cough isn’t as constant now but just as nasty. (A few times I’ve nearly blacked out while hacking myself silly.)

While sitting in my illness-induced isolation from the world I’ve come to realize that I like not having to deal with the general public. Just sitting around creating white blood cells and sweating (because, of course, the interior of my house runs close to 90 degrees with the air conditioning on) has really made me happy as a clam… well, a sick clam who takes impromptu “naps” on the kitchen linoleum after coughing fits.

Folsom International Triathlon

So, this last Sunday I went out to cover the Folsom International Triathlon, an event in it’s fifth year out at Lake Natomas. I wandered around for a while (somehow I was the only guy who couldn’t find where the event was starting from…) and looked for interesting things to shoot.

One thing I’ve noticed about these types of events is how nice everyone is. I had one of the event coordinators come up to me and, instead of trying to chase me off or ask for credentials (which is common in other sports and events that I’ve shot) he actually clued me in on some of the better vantage points for photography in the immediate area. Very cool dude - it’s people like him at events like these that make me not mind the 5:30 AM wake up so much.

Click here to visit the F.I.T. website