Staff
Mike Yoder (Chief Photographer)
I grew up in Kansas City, MO, where I attended Grandview High School.
I received a bachelor's degree in communication from Goshen College, IN. in 1978. Since I had earned an FCC radio license in school and spun actual records for a late night radio music show I initially considered a radio career. Instead, a photo internship at the Elkhart Truth newspaper in Elkhart, IN. convinced me to pursue a career in photojournalism. I choose Ball State University in Munice, Indiana, David Letterman's alma mater. Prior to completing my master's degree in journalism however, my first wife and I formed a bluegrass band and with 2 other musicians and toured Europe for six weeks with a folk dance troupe. In 1983 I received my degree and with a portfolio of photographs in hand I started looking for a job. Several months later I was offered a staff photography position at the Journal-World.
In my spare time I play guitar and sing with two area acoustic bands, The Alferd Packer Memorial String Band and Three Bean Salad. With the two bands I've recorded six albums of music and traveled extensively throughout the state to perform. I've even been know to write songs for the bands from time to time and managed to win a couple first place songwriting awards at the annual Walnut Valley Music Festival in Winfield, KS. You can sometimes find my on long-distant bicycle rides. I've done the Bike Across Kansas two times, a four-day bike ride through the Black Hills of South Dakota twice and a recent Cottonwood 200 spin through the Flint Hills. In 2008 I married Karen Seibel, a long-time Lawrence resident and local yoga instructor. We live in an 1880's house in Old East Lawrence and have been re-modeling and slowly bringing the house back to shape. We have three cats, two cars, one screened porch and tons of books. We enjoy traveling and then creating books from our trips. Currently we have self-published books on trips to South Dakota, the Sandhill Crane country in Nebraska and the hot springs area of New Mexico. In 2007 I published a book celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Vinland Fair in Douglas County after spending nearly 25 years documenting the community event.
Recent stories
- Behind the Lens: Three functions control camera exposure
- February 7, 2010
- For the next few columns I’m going to cover some camera basics geared for beginners or those not always familiar with the settings on their cameras…
- Behind the Lens: Put together your own panoramic image
- January 17, 2010
- Sometimes wide-angle lenses can’t capture the magnitude of a scene you want to photograph. A fun option is to create panorama images…
- Trip to crane migration site offers special experience
- January 10, 2010
- Last winter my wife and I combined our love of travel and nature to experience the Sandhill Crane migration along the Platte River in southcentral Nebraska…
- Behind the Lens: Seeking plethora of photo submissions
- January 3, 2010
- I’m looking for ideas for subjects to discuss or techniques to illustrate. Whatever your interest, we want to provide answers or insight to your questions and help you become a better photographer…
- Behind the Lens: Christmas lights can be tricky to capture with camera
- December 20, 2009
- Christmas light displays attract a lot of attention and are a popular subject for photographers. Whether you’re headed to the Plaza in Kansas City or just around your neighborhood, here are some tips on capturing the colorful displays…
- Behind the Lens: Children’s photography reveals their perspective as they grow
- December 13, 2009
- Digital technology has made the activity of taking photographs cheaper and more accessible. No longer do you need to worry about wasting film or paying for unwanted prints…
- Behind the Lens: These stocking stuffers would please the photographer on your gift list
- December 6, 2009
- When I was a kid, Macy’s, Montgomery Ward and Sears mailed out huge holiday gift catalogs. Now I get similar catalogs from photography retailers, and I can’t help but create a wish list of some of the cool gadgets and tools.
- Behind the Lens: Zoom lenses drop in price and shed some pounds
- November 29, 2009
- I’ve been amazed at some of the new digital point-and-shoot cameras hitting the market these days. The feature I’ve found to be the most impressive is the zoom lens capability on a few models.
- Behind the Lens: Snow elusive subject to photograph
- November 22, 2009
- Have you ever gotten prints back from your ski trip exposures and wondered why the snow didn’t look as white as you remembered?
- Behind the Lens: Many factors contribute to why photos don’t appear in the paper
- November 15, 2009
- For two years in the mid-1950s, Swiss photographer Robert Frank traveled across the country taking photographs.
Recent photos
1991: March 23, in Charlotte, N.C., after knocking off No. 2 seed Indiana to advance to the Elite 8, Kansas upends top seed Arkansas (and Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of hell) to advance to Final Four, where Roy Williams would coach against and defeat Dean Smith and KU would eventually lose to Duke in national title game.
1991: March 23, in Charlotte, N.C., after knocking off No. 2 seed Indiana to advance to the Elite 8, Kansas upends top seed Arkansas (and Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of hell) to advance to Final Four, where Roy Williams would coach against and defeat Dean Smith and KU would eventually lose to Duke in national title game.
1991: March 23, in Charlotte, N.C., after knocking off No. 2 seed Indiana to advance to the Elite 8, Kansas upends top seed Arkansas (and Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of hell) to advance to Final Four, where Roy Williams would coach against and defeat Dean Smith and KU would eventually lose to Duke in national title game.
As one student actor studies her lines in the foreground, West Junior High students rehearse “Through the Looking Glass” Monday on stage at the school. The school will present the play March 5-6.
Officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Johnson County Sheriff's Office and Lawrence Police Department, conduct a search and seizure Thursday morning inside Lawrence's Sacred Journey — a store at the center of the K2 controversy in Kansas.
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