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.

Births are joyous occasions and this is no exception. I’m proud to announce a joint effort between Micah Mertes and I, punchyouintheheart.com.

You might be a little curious about the name. “Why the long title? And why punch a heart, afterall?” We have Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers to blame. His asinine, stereotyping movie reviews for the magazine have long been a source of admiration/hatred/consternation. So while racking our brains for a proper name for this new baby, one of us remembered a long-ago review of the boxing movie “Cinderella Man.” While the actual blurb was “it hits you right in the heart,” the incorrect quote had already stuck and here we are.

Unlike this poor site, it should always be well-stocked and fresh. We’re planning on having several contributing writers, movie lovers like us who can help fill in the gaps. If you might be interested, a work sample.