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This month has been a bit busy. It didn't start off well, as I attended funeral and memorial services for two friends, Bryan Kolski and Jessica Adkins, at the end of July. Things have picked up since then, though, and among research work, a wedding and starting some volunteer reading for IRIS, I got two photo assignments from The Indianapolis Star. The first, taken on the 3rd and published on the 9th, was of a Greenwood man returning to the pool in Plainfield where he almost drowned in June, just to thank the lifeguards who saved him, especially Shelby Partin, who saw him first. The second, taken the 13th and published on the front of the West Local Living section today, was of a local YMCA that's gotten very popular and expanded a lot of its services, including the Zumba classes.

Sadly, the month ended with another death: that of Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon. He, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins traveled more than 230,000 miles just so Armstrong and Aldrin could walk on the Moon for a little over two hours. I've always been a fan of NASA, ever since I watched Apollo 13 for the 10th time at age 8, so while I wasn't alive on July 20, 1969, I still feel great awe that we did it and some sadness that Neil is gone. So, at the end of this entry is a set of pictures that should give a bit of perspective. It's my own way of doing what the Armstrong family asked people to do: "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

I took two photos of the Moon, one at 8:53 p.m. EDT last night (left) and the other at 3:33 a.m. EDT this morning. They show the satellite in ever-so-slightly different phases, but because they were taken 6 hours and 40 minutes apart, and because the Moon seems to librate, each photo sees at a slightly different angle. The angles are just different enough, and your brain is just powerful enough, that if you cross your eyes and put one image on top of another, you can convince yourself that it's a 3D image. Try it!

I've been a secondary photographer at a wedding a few times before (e.g. my cousins' weddings, one time with Jeff Dillow, another time with Jeff coming up Sept. 1), but I hadn't been a wedding co-photographer before. That's where I found myself, though, on August 11, at a ceremony near Anderson. Along with Arec's father, Steve Ligon, I worked with Rosi Jane's Photography, and our tandem effort meant that I didn't have to do everything. It allowed me to focus more on each shot and situation, as well as enjoy the first perfect day in a long time (75-80 degrees, slight wind, slight cloud cover, beautiful sunlight). The only thing that could make the day better for a photographer was an epic cake-smash, and I was so glad when it happened!

I don't know how it happened, but this concert ran very smoothly. There was no misunderstanding from a pit bouncer like there was during the Drake concert, and contrary to everything you would believe at a hip-hop show (or any concert, for that matter), Wiz Khalifa got on stage 20 minutes ahead of schedule. As for the performance, local DJ Nicholas Rage (@BenBrightLights) didn't go but said that others thought the show was "so so." The three songs (actually four or five; bonus!) I took photos of sounded good, but then again, I hadn't listened to any of Wiz's work before. I did, however, get a distinct Jimi Hendrix vibe from him, so that's a plus.

Once again, these photos were for The Indianapolis Star, just like the Drake and Chris Brown concerts before them. You can find more photos in a gallery on the IndyStar website, nestled in between the photos of Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney and the Brickyard 400 events.

Update: These photos have gotten some pretty significant pingbacks. First, Nick Rage's buddy Brandon saw the photos and put a link to this entry on the Complex sneakers website; I got onto the site because Wiz was wearing some new Jordan VIs that had been released in June. (The photos also got onto the site Jordan Depot.) Second, the Lafayette Journal and Courier reposted the photos from the Star, as did the Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal. (They can do that because both papers, like the Star, are owned by Gannett.)

Wiz Khalifa points to the crowd as lifts the microphone stand during his concert with Mac Miller and Kendrick Lamar on Jul. 28, 2012, at Klipsch Music Center near Indianapolis.