While I may not have updated here for a while, if you follow me anywhere else on the internet you know that I’m no longer at the Rockford Register Star.
I ended my nearly 7-year term as a staff photographer in Rockford at the beginning of September, and started at The Villages Daily Sun in Fla. later that month.
So to start out, here are a few frames from my final months in Rockford.
Silas Setterstrom, 18, returns a forehand against Ed Schradermeier in a semifinal singles match Saturday, July 1, 2017, during the Freeport City Tennis Tournament at Read Park in Freeport. [MAX GERSH/THE JOURNAL-STANDARD STAFF] ©2017
The Santa Clara Vanguard of Santa Clara, Calif., performs Friday, July 7, 2017, during the Phantom Regiment’s 42nd Show of Shows at Boylan High School Rockford. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
The Phantom Regiment performs Friday, July 7, 2017, during the Phantom Regiment’s 42nd Show of Shows at Boylan High School Rockford. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Dean Leifheit of Illinois races his 1962 Chevy Nova down the track Saturday, July 15, 2017, during the eighth annual Meltdown Drags at the Byron Dragway. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Lightning strikes over downtown Rockford Friday, July 21, 2017, as a severe thunderstorm moves through Winnebago County. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Daniel Schroeder looks back as Sarah Stewart tattoos a cardinal on his shoulder Friday, July 21, 2017, at Delicious Ink in Rockford. [MAX GERSH/815, RRSTAR.COM & THE JOURNAL-STANDARD STAFF] ©2017
Magpie owner Stephanie Caltagerone talks Thursday, July 27, 2017, about the challenges she has faced at her restaurant since a fire gutted the neighboring former Hanley Furniutre building last month in downtown Rockford. Caltagerone’s restaurant shared a wall with the former Hanley Furniture building. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Runner up Ashleigh Ann DeLay (left) reacts with Lauren Michelle Clemens as she is named the queen Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, during the 58rd Annual Miss Boone County Fair Queen Pageant at the Boone County Fairgrounds grandstand in Belvidere. Clemens was also awarded Miss Congeniality. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Participants swing from rings while crossing the Kong obstacle Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, during the Tough Mudder at the Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM STAFF] ©2017
Lena-Winslow players celebrate Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, after defeating Forreston 14-28 at Forreston High School. [MAX GERSH/RRSTAR.COM & THE JOURNAL-STANDARD STAFF] ©2017
The start of my final week at the Rockford Register Star.
After nearly seven years of employment and over 22k published images, I punched the RRSTAR time clock for the last time on Sept. 9.
And with that, my wife, Erin, and I were sent into the frenzy that can only be brought on by moving. We had a lot of the packing done, but a lot more to go.
Max and Erin sit in front of their Rockford home for a picture Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017.
So began our two-week journey from Illinois to Florida. Did it have to take two weeks? No. We made it take two weeks. Stopping at places along the way we’ve wanted to see for years.
And let me go off topic a moment and talk about Tallulah Gorge. If you’re in to hiking at all, this is a must. It’s not a terribly long hike, but it is technical and will give your muscles a workout. Once you reach the bottom of the gorge, you have the opportunity to slide down a waterfall. This is a must. You’ll want to be cool before you start the ridiculously steep rocky climb back out.
As far as work goes, I’ve had to get used to using Nikon gear. I had been a Canon shooter my whole career. But a camera is a camera is a camera. It just takes a little while for the buttons and menus to become muscle memory. But I’m getting better.
Stay tuned to see some of my work from the sunshine state.