On assignment at Bureau Valley High School in Manlius, Ill.

I shot a magazine assignment in Manlius, Illinois a few months ago, a story about one man who helped convince a school district to purchase and install a nearly 300-foot-tall wind turbine.

Of course, this assignment has been saddled with complications from the beginning. The weather in central Illinois is terribly inconsistent; several weeks of dreary, rainy days followed by blindingly bright and cloudless days. When the assignment is an hour north of Peoria, planning a shoot more than 4 hours in advance is begging for failure.

Also, I’m absolutely embarrassed that my camera sensor was as dirty as it was. Since I’m a photojournalist, and a second-shifter at that, I usually shoot my lenses wide open at f2.8. But stop down to f8 or f11 and suddenly the sky is littered with debris that closely resembles boogers or worse.