Late Night Fire

Bank Robbery

Last day of work before Christmas holiday, December 23, and it was an odd one. To finish the day off, we had a bank robbery downtown. Hopped in my car, made it down to the scene, parked and shot. Nothing to exciting at this point. Went to leave the scene when I was informed by a bystander that they had called in my car as a possible "getaway" car because of my out of state license plates. Despite having stood outside the bank for over half an hour with the cops, talking/interviewing them, carrying cameras and my press badge, they still wouldn't let me leave the scene for another 15 minutes while they "checked everything out." I was found clear of all charges. The cops reporter was still amused to hear an a.p.b. put out on my car and have the incident written about in their final report.

Fire

There is something unsettling about this image to me, but there is something about gas masks that freak me out a bit.

Hail Mary

Being a 5'2" photographer is fun. I am always trying to make sure I have a variety of angles and heights in my shots, which means I have become quite the climber. Despite my notorious lack of grace, I can now balance/stand on a variety of objects never built for such a purpose. Lately, I have been trying to work on my "hail marys" as an alternative to clambering around people's living spaces. This shot is from a story we did on a half way house for women which is suffering from a lack of funds and may soon close. I was struck by this woman's room, filled with dream catchers. She is celebrating 18 months clean and working towards finding her own place. There is something in the symbolism of her walls covered in dream catchers that spoke to me, a very visual representation of trying to keep the negatives out of her life and focus on her goals. Pretty happy with the resulting image (full disclosure, I am actually standing on a chair+hail mary-ing, if only I could work in platform shoes).

Snow Storm

In mid December we had a snow storm. About an inch of accumulation. Some schools were closed preemptively the night before. The snow had pretty much melted by 11am the next day. This past weekend we got hit by a snow storm that dumped about 12 inches. I was home in NY while this storm hit, so I can only imagine the sheer panic in the streets. No worries people, majority of the snow has in fact melted, and we should be hitting the 60s for New Years Eve.

Chicken Escalation

State Championship Football

One of the local high school football teams made it to states this year, returning to defend their title. The game was fantastic, and I'm not a football fan. Our team struggled through the first half and came out swinging for the second. Second year as state champs! Go team! Had a great time with our sports editor, Jessie, and one of our sports writer, Nick. Trevor was fantastic and ran a bunch of photos for next day, thanks!

Food Illustrations

I have never done a lot of studio/still life work before. Every week we have a food column that we shoot, and this has been a fantastic opportunity to learn and play. This week was hot alcoholic drinks for those cold winter nights. I was pretty happy with the way this turned out and would love any feedback on how to improve. By the way-my mad barista skills are quite obvious, huh? That perfect whipped cream tower drizzled with caramel only adds to the photo. Thank you Barnes and Noble Cafe.

Work in Progress

I am attempting to do a long term project-possible multi media piece-on Deborah and her daughter as they transition from a shelter to a new home. They are suppose to move out around the New Year. So far, it's been a hit or miss and for the last two weeks I have been the only photographer at the paper, limiting the amount of time I have been able to spend with them. Hoping that the project continues.

Chickens

We've got trouble. Right here in Rocky Mount. With a capital T which rhymes with C that stands for Chickens. Ok, so Sanderson Farms wants to bring a chicken processing plant to Rocky Mount which would bring over 1,000 jobs to the area. There is so much debate over this matter, it's incredible. Both sides are incredibly passionate and it has gotten to the point where no matter where I go, I get yelled at for working for the Telegram which is obviously in Sanderson's pocket/against bringing industry to the area depending on who's doing the yelling. As one of my editors Gene says, if both sides are pissed at us, we must be doing it right. Above are photos from a plant in Kinston NC that is set to open in January.

general assignments

First off, we have inmate labor from the minimum security women's prison in Rocky Mount. They clean the stadium and locker rooms of the sports teams in the area during the fall and winter months.

Rocky Mount is split into two counties-Nash and Edgecombe. Edgecombe is a bit more rough and tumble and doesn't really get too much positive coverage, so I've made it a point of trying to grab features from Edgecombe rather than Nash to show the flip side of the coin. Not as bad as they paint it. This couple was wonderful, started out with them cleaning their front lawn and then they around me around back. That light was just gorgeous.

Black Friday-hit the mall at 2am and was there before anyone else, with the exception of 50ish people outside Best Buy. There were some hardcore people at Best Buy-one family camped out Wednesday night and had Thanksgiving dinner in a tent in front of Best Buy. Good to know for a story next year.

Rocky Mount Christmas parade, a grab shot from the end that I kinda like. It's odd to here Santa say "y'all".

Joe Cherry owned a used tire shop in Rocky Mount and it was burned down by a couple of teenage arsonist. No connection to Joe, just wanted to see something burn. He was upset, but amazingly positive by the end of the interview, considering his situation. First shot, him with the remains of the shop. Second is a detail from the debris.