Taylee Smith talks with a friend during a class field trip to the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 in Provo.

February started off with lots of things to photograph, and now that the month's over, I don't think that pace is going to slow down at all.

It's tournament season for several high school sports. This month I shot a whole lot of high school sports with some feature, news, and portrait assignments sprinkled in-between fun nights of watching a ball bounce around (for most of the sports). Those daily assignments are book-ended in this blog post by two projects I particularly enjoyed working on this month. 

The first project was given to me by my boss. She noted when I first started at the Herald that I wanted to work on some feature-y sports stories, so when our sports reporter was going to do a story on a girl who has Down Syndrome and serves as a team manager for a local high school girls basketball team, she called me up. 

The story originally came to the paper's attention when our sports editor heard that Taylee Smith, the young lady with Down Syndrome, would be scoring the first basket of the Springville High School girls basketball team's last home game. I was assigned to photograph the girls and boys games and work on features of Taylee on her special night taking the court with her friends. The next day my boss graciously cleared my schedule (which is pretty special for newspaper photographers) and I was able to spend the majority of the day hanging out with Taylee to photograph her day-to-day life to round out the feature story. I tagged along with Taylee to a school field trip, time at school, a quick basketball practice, physical therapy, and at her home. It was an absolutely wonderful feeling to have the freedom and access to spend the whole day working on a story. It reminded me of how much I enjoy being a newspaper photographer, and how lucky I am to work at a newspaper that allows me to do work like this from time to time. Taylee's story begins with the image above, and continues with the 12 pictures below (I know, it's a pretty loose edit - I'll be working on it for future use).

The second project was my monthly edition of the Herald's Monday Close-Ups. I've been interested in goalball (a Paralympic sport for the blind) for some time now, and I finally got an opportunity to delve into it for this story. For the story I shadowed Elizabeth Chantry, a legally-blind goalball player who's a sophomore at a local high school who evens plays in the school band and takes piano lessons. Elizabeth has 20/400 vision, meaning she does have sight, but 20/400 vision means that she can see at 20 feet what perfectly-sighted people can see at 400 feet. She has Dominant Optic Nerve Atrophy, which is a hereditary condition she and her younger sister inherited from her mother, who also has the condition. Elizabeth's story wraps up this blog post with the last five pictures. The written story can be read here: http://provodh.com/o61iz. 

Taylee Smith checks out a dinosaur skull in the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology during a field trip Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 in Provo. Taylee has Down Syndrome, and is currently a senior at Springville High School.

Taylee Smith steps off the bus after her class's field trip to the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology as she heads back to class Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 at Springville High School.

Taylor Ehlert hugs Taylee Smith in the hallway between classes Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 at Springville High School. Taylee is near and dear to many students at school. She frequently greets her many friends in the hallways between classes.

Greg Thorpe fist-bumps Taylee Smith during her physical therapy appointment for arthritis in her knee Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 at the Springville Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center. Taylee is active and is an avid fan of sports, especially basketball.

Taylee Smith picks up her basketball during the girls basketball team's practice Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 at Springville High School. The ball was given to her on her 18th birthday by Sarah Radford, one of her friends with Down Syndrome, and signed by her friends and family at her basketball-themed party.

Springville forward Cheyanne Brown, center, talks with senior team manager Taylee Smith, right, in the locker room before a game between the Springville Red Devils and the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017 at Springville High School. Taylee has served as the team's manager throughout school, and the Red Devils thought it would be fitting to have her start the game with all of them on senior night.

Springville senior team manager Taylee Smith high-fives teammates and cheerleaders as she's announced with the Red Devils' starting line up before a game between the Springville Red Devils and the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017 at Springville High School. The two teams agreed to allow Taylee to start the game and also score the first basket for Springville.

Springville senior team manager Taylee Smith takes and makes the first shot of the game between the Springville Red Devils and the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017 at Springville High School. Maple Mountain then was allowed to score two points uncontested to even the score.

Springville senior team managers Taylee Smith, right, and Brittany Simpson hug after a game between the Springville Red Devils and the Maple Mountain Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017 at Springville High School. Both are seniors at their last regular-season basketball game together, and the duo have been close friends since the 7th grade.

Video of Taylee was picked up by ESPN after the game and went viral, accumulating over a million views by the next afternoon. While the Springville high school girls basketball team practices in the gym Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, Tammy Smith checks out several videos for the first time that the media posted of her daughter Taylee's opening shot from the previous day's game.

Taylee Smith and her siblings shoot basketballs around in the driveway of their family's home Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 in Springville.

Taylee Smith prepares to shoot a basketball in the driveway of her family's home Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017 in Springville.

Carolene Cook, who teaches Family and Consumer Science, waits along with the youths in her class for lunch time during a class Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017 at Slate Canyon Youth Center in Provo.

Members of Maple Mountain High School's military drill team perform during the 4A/5A State Drill Team Finals on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Members of Corner Canyon High School's military drill team get ready before taking the stage during the 4A/5A State Drill Team Finals on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Members of Pleasant Grove High School's military drill team prepare to perform during the 4A/5A State Drill Team Finals on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Members of Pleasant Grove High School's military drill team perform during the 4A/5A State Drill Team Finals on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Members of Skyridge High School's military drill team peek out from behind the curtains as another drill team performs during the 4A/5A State Drill Team Finals on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Skyridge's Cameron Schenk sustains a hold on Cyprus' Nick Korhonen during the 5A and 4A Utah State Wrestling Tournaments on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017 at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

Uintah's Gavin Ayotte stands backstage before the 5A and 4A Utah State Wrestling Finals on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

Tod Spencer, owner Leon Larsen's son, searches for a movie disc in the back of the store for a customer at Larsen Video on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 in Springville. Leon originally opened his video store in 1987 and it employed all of his children at one point in their lives. Now, only Tod stops by to help from time to time.

A side of mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon is pictured Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 at Chubby's Neighborhood Cafe, located at 91 Commerce Dr. in Saratoga Springs.

Q Sciences CEO Marc Wilson poses for a portrait Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at the Q Sciences offices in Pleasant Grove.

Pleasant Grove guard Casey Brown (3) looks to pass while guarded by Lone Peak defenders during a game between the Lone Peak Knights and the Pleasant Grove Vikings on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 at Lone Peak High School in Highland.

Brigham Young Cougars forward Eric Mika (12) lays the ball up while guarded by St. Mary's Gaels center Jock Landale (34) during a game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Saint Mary's Gaels on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 at the Marriott Center in Provo.

Lone Peak's Emma Clark (35) reacts just after the Lone Peak Knights were defeated by the Copper Hills Grizzlies 56-48 in the 5A state girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville.

Pleasant Grove guard Sadie Nixon (33) is fouled on her shot by Sky View center Hunter Krebs (42) during a game between the Pleasant Grove Vikings and the Sky View Bobcats in the 5A state girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville.

American Fork guard Savana Stephenson (3) looks towards her teammates on the bench as a timeout is called while American Fork leads Coppers Hills 48-45 with 1.1 seconds to go during a game between the American Fork Cavemen and the Copper Hills Grizzlies in the 5A state girls basketball semifinals Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville. The Cavemen defeated the Grizzlies to advance to the 5A state finals.

Jennifer Boulton hugs her daughter Madelyn Boulton after Timpview fell to Skyline 52-45 in the 4A state girls basketball semifinals Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville.

Elizabeth Chantry feels the goal to get into the right position as she prepares for a shootout during a community goalball tournament Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the Openshaw Education Center in Salt Lake City. Goalball is a Paralympic sport for the blind that relies heavily on players' sense of hearing. Elizabeth has Dominant Optic Nerve Atrophy, which leaves her legally blind.

Elizabeth Chantry reads a book after finishing a math worksheet during class Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 at Timpanogos High School in Orem. Elizabeth has approximately 20/400 vision (anything less than 20/200 is considered legally blind), but she can read if the words are big enough and close enough.

Elizabeth also spends some of her free time teaching younger and less experienced players how to play goalball. Elizabeth Chantry helps Thacia Bingham get into the proper blocking position during a youth goalball practice Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2017 at Bonneville Elementary School in Orem.

Elizabeth Chantry blocks the ball as her mother and sister look on during goalball practice Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 at the Northwest Community Center in Salt Lake City. 

Elizabeth Chantry hugs Madelyn Stafford after their team won a match during a community goalball tournament Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017 at the Openshaw Education Center in Salt Lake City.