Mike Yoder / LJWorld.com

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: Online sites make it simple to self-publish a photo book: By Mike Yoder; November 1, 2009; Two years ago, I wrote about self-publishing your own photo book.
Behind the Lens: Prevent camera shake in photos: By Mike Yoder; October 25, 2009; I spent last week on vacation traveling through parts of the Southeast.
Behind the Lens: Top photography workshops will inspire you: By Mike Yoder; October 11, 2009; There’s nothing like a good workshop to inspire your photography. Not only can workshops teach you new techniques and provide great motivation, but they can help you quickly find out how your work compares with other dedicated photographers.
Behind the Lens: Longtime passion for projects pays off: By Mike Yoder; October 4, 2009; I hope last week’s column provided an impetus for many of you to create a collection of images in the form of a photography project.
Behind the Lens: Book project can capture love of photography: By Mike Yoder; September 27, 2009; We get a lot of nice comments from readers regarding this column.
Behind the Lens: Photography can create optical illusions: By Mike Yoder; September 13, 2009; I had a phone message at work Tuesday from an observant reader who believed the Journal-World’s Image of the Day on Sept. 8, page 3A, titled “Airborne obstacle course,” was doctored. I quickly grabbed an issue to checked it out. The Associated Press photograph showed a paraglider floating by two wind turbines in Germany. It appears that the blade of the turbine in the photo’s background is overlapping the blades of the one in the foreground.
Behind the Lens: High school football games pose challenges to photographers: By Mike Yoder; September 6, 2009; Last week, I provided tips on taking photographs of indoor, non-sports school activities.
Behind the Lens: Photography 101 for school pictures: By Mike Yoder; August 30, 2009; School is back in session, and that means it won’t be long before the start of school plays, concerts and athletic events.
Behind the Lens: Copying methods preserve family photographs: By Mike Yoder; August 16, 2009; If you’re like most families who have enjoyed photography as a hobby during the last 50 years, you probably have a collection of picture albums full of 4x6-inch color prints.
Behind the Lens: The hunt’s on for the perfect ‘wild’ art: By Mike Yoder; August 9, 2009; “We need some wild art. Go shoot a feature.”

Full story list

Recent photos

Deerfield third-grader Amanda Stinnett practices writing a “W” in cursive Thursday at school. Teachers across the country are battling to save the art of handwriting as electronic forms of communicating gain cultural dominance.

Leaders at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., are working on fundraising efforts for the building.

The new Oread Inn, left, rises above the Ecumenical Christian Ministries at 1204 Oread.

South Junior High students watch a video of an interview with a prison inmate as he describes the hardships and sadness of being in jail. The video was part of the Road to Freedom program Thursday, presented by Tom Bevard and his son, Randy, that incorporated rock music and messages of staying off drugs and alcohol and avoiding jail.

Preliminary work has begun to shore up the Bowersock Dam on the Kansas River. Riding a barge just above the dam, contractors for the city were out Thursday conducting test borings to determine how deep into the Kansas River bed repairs will have to go in order to stabilize the more than 100-year-old dam. The repair project is expected to continue through much of the winter.

Full photo list