What's the Buzz? (2024) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
For this project, I had the opportunity to travel around our region with one of our writers and meet a handful of beekeepers, learn their stories, and try some amazing honey along the way. Going into this project, NEVER did I want to get so close and personal to bees, but knowing I wanting to take my own photos for this story, I had to face the fear. Turns out, these little honey bees weren't so scary after all, as long as you bee-have and stay out of their way!
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
A Coffee Crawl Around Downtown Rockford (2025) | Northwest Quarterly Dining Guide
As an avid coffee drinker (sometimes a little too much coffee!), it was a no-brainer the Northwest Quarterly editorial team pitched me this project for our dining section! In collaboration with one of our editors, we traveled around the downtown Rockford area to some caffeine hot spots and experienced the real caffeine-buzz of the area! Not only did I get to photograph some great looking sips and snacks, I gladly sampled them all too! I certainly had enough caffeine that day to hit the "grounds" running for this layout.
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Illustrator
Hog Wild for 25 Years (2024) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
Drop the puck! For this project, I was beyond excited for the opportunity to get up close to the action at a Rockford IceHogs playoff game. The outcome of the game wasn't exactly how we wanted to end the season, but having the chance to get up close to the ice, get some great shots and design this layout was certainly a "score" in itself!
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
Stand & Deliver (2025) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
Stand up comedy is no joke! This story was created in-team with our resident comedian/editor to highlight some of our local stand-up experts and teach our readers what it takes to get to the stage. I had a lot of fun with this layout, and taught myself a new skill in Photoshop to pull this one off: neon lettering!
Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Illustrator
Booze-opoly (2024) | Northwest Quarterly Dining Guide
It's 5 o'clock somewhere! For this project, our editor and I teamed up to create an interactive monopoly-style board game featuring many of the breweries, wineries and distilleries in our region!
Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
Retail Pawfessionals (2025) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
Its a "ruff" day of work when you get to hang out with dogs all day! For this paw-ject, our editor and I sniffed out some local businesses known to have 4-legged friends on staff! From "chief vibe officer" to "certified couch inspector", we met all sorts of qualified pups who took their jobs seriously!
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
Ghosts that Haunt Us (2023) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
Everyone loves a good ghost story, but not EVERYONE gets to see where these stories originated. Our managing editor and I teamed up for this project and traveled around to some of the most hauntingly boo-tiful sites in our region. From the tales of Dekalb's Egyptian Theatre to the ghostly past of Galena, there were plenty of legends to be told. While I don't think I managed to catch a ghost on camera, I still couldn't help but feel I was being watched...
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
Feet on the Ground, Looking at the Stars (2023) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
We all know the saying "shoot for the stars, aim for the moon", but let's just say I was completely over the moon when I was granted the opportunity to visit some of the most legendary stargazing sites in our region! After witnessing the presence of the Great Refractor telescope and walking on the same grounds that George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble and Carl Sagon did before us... let's just say I was star-struck!
Photography by Me | Layout created with Adobe Indesign, Illustrator & Photoshop
See You at the Supper Club (2023) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
Friday-night fish fry with a brandy old-fashioned? You must be in Wisconsin! For this project, our executive editor and I scoured southern Wisconsin for some of the stakeholders in the world of Wisconsin supper clubs, and met with the owners that keep their histories living on!
Photography by Me and additional Staff | Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
On the Water (2021) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
There are plenty of activities and destinations along the water in northern Illinois & southern Wisconsin, so our executive editor and I worked together to create a fun listicle to give our readers the chance to dip their feet into local waterfronts!
Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Photoshop
Toward a Safer Rockford: Crime Series (2023) | Northwest Quarterly Feature
This series was created in collaboration with our executive editor to highlight some of the hot-button issues that trouble the Rockford region. All three parts of this series were heavily data-driven, so he and I worked together to create a plethora of visuals to represent some of the statistics within these topics. There were a lot of heavy issues covered in this series, but I was honored to be granted this project and help create awareness and inspiration for change.
Layout created with Adobe Indesign & Illustrator