Point-in-Time Count

Point-in-Time Count | Fayetteville, NC | 1.31.13

(read article here)

POD: Day 290 | 6.1.12

From left, Leslie Guerra, Taniya Brooks, Fabian Hernandez and Oscar Cortez learn how the heart works as Duke medical student, Taylor Lu, (right) uses a bovine heart to demonstrate anatomy and functions to the third graders from George Watts Elementary at Duke Clinic on Friday, June 1, 2012. This learning experience, run entirely by medical students, is part of Duke Med Elementary where kids learn to be healthy.

 

Third grade students learn how the human heart works by examining a bovine heart during a hands-on learning experience about the GI tract and nutrition at Duke Clinic on Friday, June 1, 2012. Medical students provide this activity to young students in an effort to reduce childhood obesity and help future generations in Durham make healthier lifestyle choices.

POD: Day 243 | 4.14.12

I opted to work on my day off because there was a plethora of events happening in and around Charlotte today, mostly sporting events. I was assigned to cover the Olympic trials for U.S. Canoe Slalom at the National Whitewater Center and then with a tight turnaround, the national game at the Jordan Brand Classic at Time Warner Cable Arena. Both events were exciting and ton of fun to shoot, plus they provided me with several new experiences---all of them of the learning variety. I started today at 12pm and currently it's 12:20am in the news room where I still am, trying to build a slideshow that refuses to be built. Learning experiences... :)


Olympic Trials at National Whitewater Center (view slideshow)

   

Jordan Brand Classic at Time Warner Cable Arena (view slideshow)

Rodney Purvis, MVP of the East team. Purvis has committed to play at NC State after high school.

  

POD: Day 227 | 3.29.12

I had an assignment pretty late in the day, so I tagged along with photographer Jeff Siner as he took portraits of some of the top high school basketball players in the Charlotte area. I wanted to see his set-up and how he worked the assignment. It was a fun learning experience----especially seeing the time that goes into the prep and thought-process that goes into making an efficient photo shoot with several people in a very limited time span. This is a photo of the set-up, which consisted of a white, king-size bed sheet and a lot of lights.

Then I was off to my assignment at the Center of Hope shelter...

Sharon Harrison applauds for the families, including her and her children, that will be moving out of the shelter and into housing as part of a new Rapid Rehousing Program. The purpose of the program is to keep individuals and families in their homes or to help individuals and families who are already homeless find affordable housing. The families that are moving out of the Center of Hope on Spratt Street are the first families to be part of this program in the Charlotte area.

POD: Day 189 | 2.19.12

Mike Davis | NCPPA | Chapel Hill, NC

POD: Day 158 | 1.19.12

While researching different settings on my camera in my user manual, I stumbled upon a feature that I was not aware of: repeating flash. I set up a white towel in my kitchen and using a clear pint glass with water, I dropped ice cubes into the water while trying to capture something interesting. This was a pretty fun experiment--I love learning new things! During editing I played around with toning (black and white, selenium, etc.).

 

Wild Game Cookout

I was fortunate  enough to be able to shadow another staff photographer, but this time for the Fayetteville Observer. On Saturday I traveled with Andrew Craft to Clinton, NC, where his assignment was to get photos at the Wild Game Cookout. Proceeds from the cookout go to the Friends of Sampson County Waterways and a lot of the participants are members of the group. Some of the meats that were prepared included wild boar, raccoon, squirrel, beaver and deer. It was a unique event for me (I can now proudly say I have eaten raccoon!) and while it was small, I still learned a lot by watching Andrew work, asking questions and getting a lot of great advice during the car ride.  I am very thankful to Johhny Horne for allowing me to be part of that experience for the day and to Andrew Craft for letting me be his shadow for an afternoon. Going to two different newspapers and watching different photographers work in various situations has made me even more excited about interning with a newspaper this semester---can't wait! 

Fayetteville Staff Photographer, Andrew Craft, right, stretches his camera above a pit where Ralph Hamilton, center, is pulling pieces off of a roasted wild boar during the Wild Game Cookout on Saturday in Clinton, NC.

    

   

POD: Day 136

During the Atlanta Seminar earlier this month, I received a great piece of advice from LA Times photographer, Barbara Davidson. She told me to contact newspapers and ask them if I could shadow one of their photographers. I am always looking for ways to expand my knowledge and improve my skills as a photographer, so when I got home I took her advice. After contacting a few newspapers in NC, one of the papers I heard back from was my local newspaper, the Winston-Salem Journal. On Wednesday I had the incredible opportunity to shadow Winston-Salem Journal staff photographer, Bruce Chapman, for the evening. He made a stop at Finnigan's Wake to get some photos to go along with a story about the smoking ban in Winston-Salem. 

Photographer, Bruce Chapman, left, waits for a moment between diners at Finnigan's Wake to accompany a story regarding the smoking ban in Winston-Salem.

From there, the rest of the evening was spent at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum for the Frank Spencer Classic (a local high school basketball tournament). He covered the final two games, Forsyth Country Day vs. West Forsyth and the championship game, Winston-Salem Prep vs. West Stokes. The championship game was intense, complete with three OT's, a team technical and the title of longest game in the tournament's 37 year history. In the end, West Stokes was victorious over Winston-Salem Prep with a final score of 83-71.

West Stoke's Austin Fleming, left, jumps to block a shot by Winston-Salem Prep's Mike Hughes, top right, as West Stoke's John Spainhour sticks around to assist during the championship game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, Wednesday, December, 28, 2011. West Stokes defeated Winston-Salem Prep 83-71 to win the championship. Fleming, who had a total of 3 blocks and 18 points, was named MVP of the tournament.  

While the game was exciting and provided me with a little practice before we start shooting basketball in the Spring semester, I spent a lot of time observing Bruce work and asked him a lot of questions. He answered every one of my questions thoroughly and gave me a *lot* of wonderful advice, specifically about the importance of preparation, from finding out which players to watch to entering as much information as you can into Photomechanic so your captions are basically ready to go when you're working on a deadline. Many thanks to Bruce for being so nice and being a great teacher!