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A 1992 first-degree murder conviction. A 1993 death sentence.Inmate Aryon Williams, Jr. never thought he would be able to walk as a free man again. But five years after his conviction, new documents and a lawyer whose passion it is to help prisoners like Williams combined to give him a glimpse of hope and a new chance at life.The man who would be living that life was a different one. Twenty-one years in prison, 14 of them in solitary confinement, had made it difficult for Williams to touch anyone.”You get used to people not touching you,” says Williams. “It takes a little bit to get used to.”The Phoenix metropolitan area has changed in those 21 years, in everything from its geography to people’s fashions.Apprehensive about these changes, Williams makes his way towards his first interaction with his family. Knowing that his mother is “clingy,” he knows that this interaction will be difficult, but that it is something good.

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Life After Death Row, posted with vodpod

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Many of you who know me know that I am an avid Arizona State Sun Devil fan. I despise that other team. When I do drive south to that small city down there, I have bring my oxygen tank along because it is so difficult to breathe down there.

Strange what a difficult economy will do to you.

I am here to announce that as of this week and for a long time, I am a Senior Videographer / Editor at the PBS station KUAT and AZPM. A quick Google search allows you to see that AZPM is housed on the campus of………dare I say it? Dare I allow vulgarity to come out of my mouth? I must.

The University of Arizona……..yikes I said it.

I have been humbled. As the saying goes, I will do anything for my family. I would consider this anything!

In all seriousness, I am very greatful for this opportunity to work with a great staff of videographers, editors, producers, writers, EP’s, Directors, and a very involved management staff at AZPM. I am also looking forward to working with the many students that are employed at the station. It is another chapter in my career as a videographer / editor and I intend to be a long chapter. This is a great opportunity for me and again, in all seriousness, I am fully committed to adding my passion of telling visual stories to a station that has been telling informative stories for a long time.

Even if it is at the U of A. I now know this is how the U of A fan base tries to take from the Sun Devil fan base. I won’t work.

Once a Sun Devil always a Sun Devil.

Yes Wildcats, you can claim that your blood runs blue inside of you, but notice that when that blood comes to the surface and in contact with oxygen, it is maroon my feline friends.

Here’s to many great years with AZPM. Go Devils!

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“What’s mine is mine” is a saying that pops up every now and then. “What’s mine is yours” is a belief based on sharing. Parents teach their children to share with others. Marriages can be successful when spouses share all that they have with each other.

I was reminded of this basic principle on a recent story that I worked on for the national PBS agriculture show Americas Heartland. Reporter Rob Stewart and I visited the Crapo (Cray-po) family farm to tell their story of almost a hundred years of farming in the Snake River Plains area of eastern Idaho. We were to tell a story about the families potato and barley operations, but I learned a different lesson of work and service.

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It is always nice to get noticed for work that you do. Even better when your blog gets quoted in a National publication. The American Farm Bureau used my blog post about the 3-day cattle drive in Utah with Americas Heartland for their July 2010 newsletter. Check out page 8 of the .pdf for the whole article.

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I believe that inside each one of us lies an artist. With digital photography being so affordable and accessible, any one can explore the photographer within, like me. But art comes in many forms.

On a recent shoot for the 6th season of Americas Heartland, Jason Shoultz came across an unsuspecting farmer-artist. Dick Hazaert of De Pere, WI has been carving wood figurines for more than 20 years.

Dick is a very humble man, a farmer. Not boastful at all, just goes along with his business and gets things done. As a dairy farmer this is how he conducted his life. Along the way he had dabbled with wood working while farming. It was a hobby and he was pretty good at it. Dick creates figurines of how he remembers life in the 30’s and 40’s plus any sort of tractor or other farm implement you can imagine.

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Over the past 20 years now Dick Hazaert has created literally hundreds of these figurines, not for an income, that would be work. No, instead Dick Hazaert all along has been like you and me, an artist within.

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Not all dairy princesses are created equal. My basis for saying this is due to the fact that I have not met all dairy princesses. But when you say “princess” I think beauty queen. Young ladies standing on an auditorium stage in a bikini or evening gown with a sash hanging from their shoulder answering each question given to them with, “I just want world peace!” Since the age of 4 I have grown up around this pageantry of beauty from the Miss Arizona competition. So beauty pageants I am familiar with. Dairy princesses not so much. At first glance, to me they are all the same, but I admit I was wrong.

During a recent shoot for Season 6 for the national PBS agriculture show Americas Heartland, producer Mindy Yuen and I had the opportunity to tell the story of South Dakota’s 2010 Dairy Princess Emily Jungemann.

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Today I crossed into South Dakota from North Dakota. Basically the terrain looked the same as I had imagined. It was a monumental day for me though because with my stay in Huron, SD tonight, South Dakota becomes my 47^th state visited out of the lower 48 states in the Continental U.S.

How many people can say that?!

This has been possible from the 5 years of work on the national PBS agriculture show Americas Heartland. Heartland has been to all 50 states and shared stories of farmers and ranchers and other characters from these places over the past 6 years. I have been fortunate to have told stories for 5 of the 6.

One thing that I have learned from being this far north is that we in the lower states probably don’t have much of a clue how important the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana are to our economy. There is great grazing land up here, fresh, fresh water and a variety of other crops different than that of corn and soybeans which dominates the landscape south of here.

Thank you Dakotas. For me, on to explore more of number 47, South Dakota.

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Holy Cow!

And I mean that in a lot of different ways.

This past week I had the unique opportunity to participate in a “back to the ole west” 3-day cattle drive where we drove over 200 head of cattle 30 miles to their summer grazing pastures just outside Bryce Canyon National National Park in southern Utah. Holy Cow, over 200 cows!

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Another champion has been crowned for this years Kentucky Derby. Super Saver has been bred from a strong blood line, trained and accomplished his task of winning the Kentucky Derby and possibly the Triple Crown.

Having grown up in the southwest, this is all I knew of horse racing. It wasn’t until a recent working trip to Lexington, KY that I realized there is more to the story.

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OK, so I don’t have all the scriptures memorized and I hadn’t read this scripture before. I saw this passage from Corinthians (2 Cor. 5:7) hanging up in the hallway of the Schneider household in Lexington, KY. You see, their amazing son Cramer can’t see, but as his mom puts it, this inability only allows Cramer to be able to do many more things.

Cramer is a teenager, totally blind, and loves to show off huge, monstrous, beefy Simmental cows. And he is a champion at it. I was privileged to tell Cramer’s story for an upcoming Kentucky episode for Season 6 for the national PBS agriculture show Americas Heartland. Jason Shoultz and I spent the afternoon watching Cramer work with his champion heifer he calls “H”. This kid knows how to handle H for sure. With a gentleness and understanding that only he and H share together. I learned a lot from Cramer in just a few hours. That afternoon was one of those moments where you look at your own life and ask, “Gosh, what else can I do in my life to keep pace with Cramer.”

A reminder to walk a little bit more by faith, and not by sight alone.