Bomb Scare

We had a gentlemen doing general home improvement on a trailer he rents out when he found a hand grenade. The bomb squad from Raleigh was called in, and they told us the grenade was rusted beyond use, and took it away. Amazing how boring a bomb scare can be when it takes over two hours for the squad to show up. In my boredom I found a willing model in the inchworm. To the great amusement of the reporter and several officers.

People

Places

Wow, so I have not been good at updating at all. My apologies. This week will bring massive updates as I have about 2 months to catch up on! First up, a sampling of some of the places I've been. Gotta love any room with an antler chandelier. As for that last photo, a gentlemen was doing his own version of a farm funeral with dead chickens, except the chicken parts were rather large and did not agree with state codes for fertilizer. I was rather sick when on this assignment, no voice and could barely breathe nonetheless smell. I figured what the heck, that wing would be really pretty against the sky with the grass so delicately hiding the remainder of the rotting carcass. So I threw on my wide angle and got down about 2 feet from the thing. The guy who took me out there asked I wasn't gagging from the smell. But I figure, if life hands you lemons make lemonade. Like this wider shot better than anything I shot with my longer lens and it's a different view than you'd expect.

Baseball!

It's baseball season so time to post some of my favs. Really tried to get variety out of the action shots. Enjoy! I love the kid trying to jump Superman style over the catcher in an attempt to score a run.

Tug of War

Rocky Mount/Nash schools have a fantastic program for Elementary students to battle the rise in childhood obesity. The students have from the first day of school to the beginning of April to walk 100 miles with the teachers. Every student that completes this goal gets to participate in a field day at the park filled with fun events. The children love it, and it's such a good way to encourage a healthy lifestyle. My favorite event is always the Tug of War just because it brings out the competitive side in every person, no matter the age or how reserved they may be in everyday life. The top image is a couple of boys reactions after they lose a girls vs boys tug of war.

Tornados in NC

We had a series of tornadoes touch down throughout North Carolina in mid April. Thankfully, Rocky Mount was spared and had very little damage from the storms. A neighboring town, Wilson, was hit and suffered damage to several residential neighborhoods and businesses. The tornado hit on Saturday, and I had Sunday off, so I drove down to Wilson to spend the day shooting the aftermath. Unfortunately, that is the only time I have been able to get down there. But even in the short time between when the tornadoes hit and the time I got there, the community outreach was incredible. It's always amazing how in a time of crisis people reach out to one another.

Livestock Event

This was a fun assignment-the 4-H livestock show and sale. The actual event doesn't always give up the most interesting shots, but the backstage and feature potential is endless. I could've shot all day. I also learned several things-sheep are not cute and cuddly at all. They kick and are quite temperamental, which means you have to be aware of the hooves at all times when shooting or you get a surprise kick in the back. Narrowly avoided multiple times. And pigs are apparently very emotional creatures. At least that's what the girl in the pig pen told me as she laid in the pen with her pigs after they didn't place in their competition. She felt the pigs were upset and so she climbed in to comfort them. A very caring little girl.