Ed Fest 2009

This weekend our church held it's annual festival (Ed Fest) and Joe and I did our part as gate keepers of the Bounce Castle. Joe also cantored during the preceding outdoor mass during which time Truman explored another child's wagon and a tree, then made friends with a dog (who ended up making a little too good of friends with me).

Truman then found a series of different sticks and had a blast with them, went in the Bounce Castle three times, danced, played the drums for a minute, ate lunch, then promptly fell into a deep sleep.

It was fun to get back into shooting straight photojournalism. I miss covering events like this for a newspaper; but it was fun to actually enjoy a festival instead of just observing.

March 9 Rally For Better Birth

(Photo of Me and Truman taken by Sarah F.)


Yesterday I marched with my good friend Sarah and many mothers, fathers, doulas, midwives and even grandmothers through downtown St. Paul to the capital to bring attention to the cause of helping women and their children have better births.

A haunting fog permeated the air as babies bobbled in wraps along the 1/2 mile path. See more photographs on smugmug.

Photographing pregnant women, laboring mothers and new babies is an incredible experience that always makes me feel as if I've witnessed something otherworldly and blessed.

I am currently working on a birth photography project. Please contact me for more information, or for samples of my birth photography.

These Kids Rock!

I'm working on a story about the Paul Green School of Rock Music in St. Paul. Here's a photo I made Saturday straight out of the camera. I love the movement and light; it's even better than what I was imagining when I set up the shot, waiting for the light to be eclipsed by her figure. By the way, she's 14!
More photos.

Recognition

I made this picture during the tricycle and scooter races at Rambling River Days, the town festival in Farmington, MN. The photographer from our competitor newspaper was shooting the same event and I remember watching and wondering what he was seeing and thinking of what I wanted to see.

It seemed the glory for these kids was at the finish line, so I put on my long lens and hoped for the best. Lo and behold, I'd read the situation right and the above photo is what emerged. I love the drama and whimsy of the image. It's clearly a simple event — the trike tells us this. Yet the emotion, the attempt to capture it for all time on video and the juxtaposition of the teenager in the left corner, inattentively and talking on her cell phone make this image very real for me.

This year, I took second place in our company-wide editorial contests for Best Feature Photo for this shot. It was nice to be recognized, especially for such a fun shot.

I was also excited to win a few writing awards, including a first place for Best Social Issues story for a piece I wrote about Oral Cancer. It's gratifying to win the award, though I'd already been heavily rewarded through feedback I'd received from people who were helped or enlightened by the article.

In both cases, I felt the award winning work was created because I had the ability to recognize the possibility in situations that evolved on their own. That's the beauty in journalism and photojournalism — using knowledge, skill and intuition, not to create, but to capture what has already been created and represent it in such a way that others are able to access its message.

Smell of the Gas, Roar of the Engine

Standing in the dust and gas fumes taking this shot was made worth it by the lovely effect the 8pm summer sun had when it hit the particle in the air. I also like the way this shot looks like a well-orchestrated dirt bike gang coming to attack.

These, the first shots of my new beat in Savage and Scott County, were taken at the Supercross event at the Scott County Fair on Wednesday. More photos here.

A Little Bluegrass

I headed to the Dakota County Fairgrounds last Saturday to cover the Bluegrass in the Village festival. This video features Kegan Creek Bluegrass Band members playing with Jerry Hamel, of Eagan in a jam session at the end of the day July 7.

If These Walls Could Talk ...

In this week's paper I ran two house profiles for which I also created photo-tours.

You can view the Flynn house or read more about it. You can also view the T.C. Davis Manor or read more about it.

Incidentally, these will likely be my last Farmington stories as I transition to a new position as the city of Savage editor and Scott County reporter. I'll also be the Arts editor.

Panorama of Progress

After the Bluegrass in the Village Festival, I headed over to Pan-o-Prog to help our Lakeville editor, Derrick, cover the city festival. It was my gift to his wife, Carrie, who celebrated her birthday Saturday.

There are a few pictures I took during Pan-o-Prog in an online slideshow from the festival. The photos I took are the last seven in the slideshow. The other photos were taken by our staff photographer, Rick Orndorf and by Derrick Williams, the Lakeville editor.

Busy, Busy B

This post is dedicated to anyone who has been checking my blog and wondering if I dropped off the face of the earth in the last week. I did not. Here is what I have been up to recently:

My nephew Joe E.'s dance recital:





Portraits for my sister-in-law Nikki and her father, Roger:



Construction in Farmington, as seen in a post below. Head here for a slideshow:



Lakeville's Panorama of Progress festival:



(Taken during a wheel barrow race at the Beach Bash, a special event for teenagers)

Bluegrass Festival at the Dakota County Fairgrounds:



Farmington historical house profiles:





3-year Portraits of Jameson:



I took Jameson's portraits today, which also happens to be his mother's birthday. Happy birthday, Jolynn!

Full posts on each will come as I am able.

Construction Junction

After I trod around in the dirt Tuesday, I came upon this set of brothers digging for worms in the dirt. The older two were standing in the demolished street hacking into the side of their lawn and the youngest was out in the abandoned dirt road. The worms were for their new found friend — a bird that they assumed had been shaken from a tree by the construction. I photographed them trying to feed the bird.

As I was leaving this truck pulled up to help them remove some rubble and they excitedly hoped inside.

I don't wear anythinig I can't wipe my hands on

I haven't quite solved the problem wearing nice clothes to the office presents when my day involves shooting in the grass or water or mud. A lot of times this is because I don't know I'm going to be shooting in the grass or water or mud when I get dressed. But do I let wearing a dress stop me from taking pictures of construction on a rainy day? Of course not. I just slipped on my boots and trod through the mud, using a plastic bag to cover the camera from rain and to kneel on.




* The title is from an Ani DiFranco song.

And I'll Race, to Feel the Wind in My Face

Taken during the Big Wheel and Scooter Races June 22, and best viewed large. To view more pictures, head here. Because there are so many pictures, I think I'll do a post with some of my favorites in the near future.

Today, I leave you with one more picture from the Big Wheel Races as I head to shoot the Dew Run, Paintball and other aspects of the celebration.

And the Winner is ...

Last night I photographed the Miss Farmington Pageant. Although I took many photos of individual contestants, something about this one struck me. Something about the simultaneous anonymity and specificity of the photograph thrills me. Though you cannot see their faces, the iconic image of pageant contestants holding hands lets the mind decide what they look like. I tried to accomplish something similar with the Rosemount graduation photos I took a few weeks ago — create images that are iconic of a moment in the subject's life, not simply snapshots from an event.

To be able to make images like this, that communicate more than just the sum of the event at which they were captured, without interfering with the subject is the most exciting thing I accomplish as a photojournalist.

To see more pictures of the pageant, head here.

Tonight, I'll photograph Big Wheel Races, Bed Races and other things that happen at city festivals. It's going to be an exciting, but tiring couple of days.

p.s. Let me know what you think of the MyCapture website.

Ready to Roll

This ran as the dominant art on the front page this week. Farmington is gearing up for their annual celebration, Rambling River Days, this week. I came across the kiddie carnvial and snapped this shot while saftey checks were being run on various rides. The festival runs June 21-24, and it is where I will spend most of my weekend.

Expect pictures, lost of pictures.

Fire in Burnsville

Our Burnsville editor was out of town this week, so I covered an apartment fire for him. The fire destroyed 6 apartments Thursday and cleared out an entire 70-unit complex, leaving about 200 people without homes for the night.

Luckily, most people had family or friends they could stay with. The Red Cross helped others find a temporary place to stay.

By the time I arrived, police tape was everywhere and I could see no way of getting where the fire had burned the building. I was lucky to meet up with a guy who said he knew a way to the other side. After crawling through brush along a steep hill running side-by-side with 35W, we got to other side of the apartment building where I met several residents who had been heavily affected by the fire.

I really got the sense, while covering the fire, that I got a better story than other reporters because I was willing to wait, observe and listen to the residents.

You'll find the article here and more photos here.

The Future is Bright

UPDATE: More photos can be viewed here.



I shot Rosemount High School's graduation yesterday. I was entranced by this photo.

More images to come later; right now, we're off to hike in Lake Maria State Park.

(pictures of that to come later, as well =)

Memorial Day

I attended my first Memorial Day service last week in Farmington. It was unusual to photograph an event held in a cemetery, where everyone seemed calm and reverent. The feeling washed over me as I took these pictures. I ran them on a photo-page without an adjoining article because I felt they were better able to capture the feeling of the day than words.

If It's Not Scottish ...

Last Saturday I headed to the Minnesota Scottish Festival and Highland Games at the Dakota County Fairgrounds, backpack journalist style*. To see more pictures head here; to read the article head here. See the video below:





* A backpack journalist is a jack-of-all-trades journalist who produces video, photographs and text to tell a multimedia story. The term refers to the idea that carry a notepad, video camera and still camera in a backpack with us. Backpack journalist is also used to refer to television journalists who shoot their own footage.

Introducing Anthony

I met Anthony and his mom and dad last week while writing a story about a benefit their family was holding for him. The experience was very powerful for me. I had the common reaction of reflecting back on all the blessings I have been given -- down to the ability to talk, eat and, even, see -- but meeting Anthony also made me realize that it is important to be happy. He is truly one of the happiest children I have ever met. He blew me away with his smile.

To read more about him, go here.

Happy Mother's Day, All You Moms

I covered a story about a local playgroup last week. For more photos head to the slideshow.