Earlier this month I traveled out to the Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, Ill. to check in on the bison after covering their relocation from Iowa earlier this year. A link to our newest editorial about the bison is HERE .

I was excited to see how the herd was looking and adapting to their new home. Knowing the animals don’t typically like people approaching them very much I took along a 600mm lens with 1.4x converter to essentially give me an 840mm f/5.6 lens. This setup would allow me to get tight photos of the bison without disturbing them too much.

Once at Nachusa I chatted with project director Bill Kleiman and restoration ecologist Cody Considine. They both showed me different parts of the property and updated me on the bison herd and their progress building the south bison unit. The south unit will eventually give the animals an additional 1,000 acres to roam and graze.

When Cody and I first found the herd they were resting under a shade tree on the far south west end of the...

It started out simple enough, with an email from Tribune photo editor Andrew Johnston:

“Do you have time later to discuss a project?” he wrote in May. “Probably a month” of shooting, he said.

After seven months, thousands of images, hours of video and hundreds of miles traveled we finally published "Harsh Treatment" in the Chicago Tribune.

This project was the culmination of more than a year of investigative work by Tribune reporters David Jackson, Gary Marx, and Duaa Eldeib on the state of residential treatment centers for youth, both in Illinois and nationally.

Their work uncovered abuse and neglect in several facilities tasked with caring for disadvantaged kids. As Jackson explains, the residential treatment centers are designed to give kids short bits of treatment to get them back on their feet. Instead, reporting showed that these juveniles were abused, both physically and sexually, by the hundreds. Many ran away from the facilities and often took up crime to survive. In the...

Yesterday I was wondering around the ice skating rink at Millennium Park taking photographs to illustrate today's column by Mary Schmich ( HERE ). I met number of wonderful people while there, including Emily Slaw and Theresa Martinez whose photo ran with the article in print.

Another couple I had a great time photographing was Philipp Hopfe and Rong Zheng. I made some really fun photos of them skating around the ice, but my favorite came just as I was leaving when I noticed Philipp lean in for a kiss at the rink’s edge.

I love these little moments.

Back in August I traveled to Ferguson, Mo. By now most people will know what those words mean, but for those who don’t: Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, inciting mass protests around the country.

Last Monday evening, having just finished editing an unrelated project, I watched on television as protesters, reacting to the decision by a grand jury not to indite Wilson, set Ferguson ablaze. I left Chicago bound for St. Louis Tuesday morning. 

I arrived at the Ferguson Police Department in early evening. By then, there was a large group of protesters already gathered in a strip mall parking lot across the street. The weather was cold and both sides, police and protesters, were bundled up to stay warm. Many of the protesters used bandanas to cover their face. With each breath they exhaled a little cloud of condensation would push through. The police, equally cold, found their condensation fogging up the clear shields of their...

On Sunday, fellow Tribune photographers Jose Osorio, Nuccio DiNuzzo and I were assigned to cover the Bears’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Going into it, I knew the game would be interesting for a few reasons: they were playing against former head coach Lovie Smith, as well as former backup quarterback Josh McCown, and the forecast called for scattered rain throughout the day. Rain isn’t nearly as fun as snow, but it can often make for interesting photos.

We arrived at the stadium in the morning, several hours before kickoff. Nuccio headed out to the tailgate area to make photos of fans and Jose and I roamed around inside the stadium looking for pre-game features as the grounds crew worked to keep the field as dry as they could before game time.

Normally when we’re photographing a football game we do so from right on the sidelines, most often with a 400mm lens. Being at field level gives us the best view of the players and allows for the most dramatic photos; however, it also...

This afternoon I was assigned to photograph Archbishop-designate Blase Cupich as he arrived at O'Hare International Airport days before taking over as archbishop of Chicago from Cardinal Francis George.

When I arrived at the airport I immediately saw a group of the local television videographers waiting at the bottom of the escalator near the baggage claim, so I took up position alongside them and waited. As we waited I noticed more and more media folks showing up. By the time Cupich arrived, flanked by three airport police officers, there were more than a dozen cameras there to greet him. Having served as a bishop most recently in Spokane, Wash., Cupich seemed a bit surprised by all the media attention at his arrival.

After a short press conference Cupich left the microphone and headed for the car, but was instantly surrounded by press, each trying to get in one more question. As he walked the huddle grew larger, at one point reminding me of the circus that surrounded Rod Blagojevich...