Gallery: September Favorite News Photos of the Month

The casket of Navy Signalman 3rd Class William Shanahan is brought into the sanctuary for the funeral service at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Shanahan was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and his remains were identified this year and returned home last Friday. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Patriot Guard Riders stand at attention during the burial service of Navy Signalman 3rd Class William Shanahan at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Shanahan was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and his remains were identified this year and returned home last Friday. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Sailors fold the American flag that draped the casket of Navy Signalman 3rd Class William Shanahan during the burial service at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. Shanahan was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and his remains were identified this year and returned home last Friday. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

I took this photo almost a year ago. It was scheduled to publish in our Explore magazine about things to do during the fall. I'm fortunate to see and do some pretty cool things and get paid for it. If you have the opportunity to take one of the train excursions with the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, I highly recommend it. The volunteers working as conductors are knowledgable on railroading history. A family looks at the fall colors as they ride aboard the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad in Boone, Iowa on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

This was an outtake from the Labor Day picnic, where families are encouraged to attend. This group of kids was completely oblivous to the group of presidential candidates and journalists making their way around the grounds. Mica Baych (from left), 5, of Cedar Rapids, Phoenix Baych, 7, of Cedar Rapids, Tanner Puccio, 1, of Cedar Rapids, and Cheyenne Baych, 8, of Cedar Rapids play in a bouncy house at the annual Labor Day picnic hosted by the Area Labor Council at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Union members, their family members and supporters gathered for grilled brats, hot dogs, coleslaw, and ice cream served by local government officials. Several presidential candidates stopped in to greet constituents as well. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Arushi Gadde, 8, of Cedar Rapids performs a traditional Bharatanatya dance honoring the deity Ganesh at the Hindu Temple of Eastern Iowa in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Since the temple was officially incoporated in 2008, its membership has grown steadily. The congregation has purchased land to build a new temple in Robins. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

I like to be a fly-on-the-wall on my photo assignments. Given enough time, most people begin to ignore that I'm around and just tend to their work which is exactly what I hope happens. I made this photo with an ultra wide-angle focal length of 17mm. I crouched down and got in close to the tangle of tubing to fill the foreground. Andrew Gomez provided the human element of activity and the stainless steel tanks provided a cleaner background and added a sense of place. Andrew Gomez attaches couplers to kegs as he fills the barrels with Easy Eddy Hazy IPA at Big Grove Brewery & Taproom, 1225 S Gilbert St., in Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

It was great meeting Paulette Clark as she took an early tour of the Untangling the Roots exhibit. I appreciated hearing the stories she had in becoming the first black student enrolled at the Paris Academy, the local cosmetology school which later became Capri College. That's what drew me to become a photojournalist: the desire to visually report on moments in people's lives. Paulette Clark one of the subjects featured in the exhibit Untangling the Roots: The Culture of Black Hair stands next to items and an informational banner about her hairstyling education and subsequent Cedar Rapids hair salon at the African American Museum of Iowa, 55 12th Avenue SE, in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

I arrived at the new after-school youth center not knowing if I would be able to photograph any of the children as their parents hadn't returned the photo release forms that the Boys & Girls Club require. I'm glad that Devon and Patty started a short game as they tested out the just-arrived, donated air hockey table. I had intended to use this photo as my backup. It turned out that there were four or five children whose parents returned the proper releases. Devon Goodlove (left) tries out the new, donated air hockey game with Patty Bazan at the new Marion Youth Center, 440 S 15th St., in Marion, Iowa on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. The center has about 36 fifth and sixth graders from Vernon Middle School (with more on a waiting list) and about eight from Wilkins Elementary School registered for the after school program. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

A reporter and I were returning from an assignment in Dubuque. Since the hula hoop tree wasn't that far off Highway 151, we decided to stop. It was interesting to read some of the notes written on various hoops. I love being able visit quirky places and attractions that are unique to Iowa. Hula hoops hang from a tree along E23 County Home Rd. west of the town of Amber, Iowa on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. It's a mystery how and who started the tradition. Several of the hoops has memorial messages to departed loved ones. One had a happy birthday announcement. The attraction is featured on the website Atlas Obscura. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The week of the Harvest Moon was full of clear skies in the evenings when I was out photographing various sports assignments, so I got a chance to watch it transform of a period of a few days. The culmination was a rare (according to NASA) micromoon occurring on Friday the 13th. The last such appearance of the Harvest Moon was Friday the 13th happened on Oct. 13, 2000. The next one to coincide with Friday the 13th won't happen for another 30 years, on Aug. 13, 2049. The moon rises over Kingston Stadium at a high school football game between Cedar Rapids Kennedy and West Des Moines Valley at Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapirds on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

I'm attracted to photographing shadows cast on the ground or floor like a moth is drawn to a flame. I liked the combination of the angular shapes of the foam squares and the asphalt mixed with the organic shapes of the people. I also like the regressive difference in heights of the shadows. The splashes of color from the mats and the photograph also add to the scene. Students walk along a path with their eyes closed as they are guided by classmates to various German cities during a gam at a stop by the Wanderbus at Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. The traveling exhibit, sponsored by the Goethe-Institut and the German Foreign Ministry, features cultural exhibits focusing on German-American Friendship. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

I was assigned to make some portraits of Anna Blaedel for the cover and inside of The Gazette's Iowa Ideas magazine. I was happy with the more traditional portraits I made of Anna. But, when I saw the multi-colored chairs, each with a different shape, I knew I wanted to try a portrait incorporating the chairs. Anna was very patient and accommodating as I moved around lights and adjusted power levels and asked them to help me make the circle of chairs even tighter as to fit in the frame. Rev. Anna Blaedel at the Wesley Center, 120 N. Dubuque St., in Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Ambassador Tim Yuengel looks out toward Green Square Park from the Cedar Rapids Public Library while waiting out a rain storm on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Juli was fun to photograph. It turns out we had some shared experience with Racine, Wis., and Wisconsin's official state pastry the Kringle. Juli had plenty to do in her busy bakery so it was nice that she just went about doing her ting and I went about doing mine. Juli Hardin, owner of Jules Bakery, 3201 Armar Drive, pours champagne cake batter into a pan as she makes a wedding cake for a customer at her business in Marion, Iowa, on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. Hardin says you get buff from working in a bakery after lifting mixing bowls and containers a batter. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

I didn't offer this photo in my original edit because mother and son were looking at the camera. As a photojournalist, I'm always looking for the candid moments, where people are engaged in their lives instead of paying attention to me. I've photographed a few citizenship ceremonies to my career. Every one always gets me in the feels. Lina Afangbedji of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, holds her son Samuel Tekoe before her U.S. citizen naturalization ceremony at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, 210 Parkside Dr., in West Branch, Iowa, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Afangbedji is originally from Togo. Seventy-three new citizens, from 25 countries were sworn in during the annual event. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Ray Bures of Ridgeview Farm sits in front of the honey he has for safe during the Friday Farmer's Market at the Secret Cellar in Shueyville on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Kamala Harris campaign volunteer John West of Chicago (center) talks with camping staffers Katherine Gan (left) and Lydia Chitwood before the LGBTQ Presidential Forum at Sinclair Auditorium on the Coe College campus in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, is introduced by Angelica Ross during the LGBTQ Presidential Forum at Sinclair Auditorium on the Coe College campus in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Karamo Brown laughs as he dances with Angelica Ross on stage during the LGBTQ Presidential Forum at Sinclair Auditorium on the Coe College campus in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Ginseng grows on private property in Clayton County on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. Ginseng can only be harvested in September and October on private land with permission of the landowner by licensed harvesters. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Artist Julia J. Wolfe adds yellow detail to a mural while working with fellow artist Eli Sotillo to repaint the old bear enclosure at Old Macdonald's Farm in Bever Park in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019. Wolfe currently has an exhibition, ‘I Blame the Weather' on display at CSPS Hall. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Ruby Shire, 4, of Swisher rides on the shoulders of her father, Jason Shire, after riding the Hawkeye Express to the Iowa game against Middle Tennessee at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

A woman walks along the shore of a small lake at the Monarch Research Project in Marion during the Linn Landowner Forum on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Christene Dietz of Cedar Rapids shows a monarch butterfly to Beth Livengood of Marion during the Linn Landowner Forum at the Monarch Research Project in Marion on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. Dietz raises monarch caterpillars herself and last year released over 100 monarchs. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

I like the interaction between the patient and doctor. This was for a story on rural healthcare in collaboration with IowaWatch. I am always grateful to the people that let me document their lives. I find every assignment interesting and an education. Dr. Todd Ajax (right) tests Jim Ingersoll of Washington, Iowa, during an appointment at Washington County Hospital and Clinics in Washington on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. Ajax, who specializes in neurological conditions, joined the WCHC medical staff full-time in April 2016. Ajax had been working at the hospital for more than 14 years as a visiting specialist. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)