Words and Light

Off to the side

Chris Dunn — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:55:28 +0000

Sometimes, when the big event is happening, I look elsewhere to make pictures — especially when the big event involves somebody at a podium.

So, I look to the children.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Goode Elementary fourth-grade student Demylee Perez leans on her crutches while pledging allegiance during the 21st annual Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, at the Yorktowne Hotel. Perez, who is a member of the school’s select chorus, received her leg injury in a minor car accident the previous day, but nevertheless showed up at the school Wednesday morning with her mother so she could sing at the breakfast. Major General Wesley E. Craig spoke at the 21st annual Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast at the Yorktowne Hotel on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, while Hanover-based American Red Cross member Elizabeth Tyler received the Legion of Honor membership.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Leah Bazzle, 7, and Mia Johnson, 9, hold the keys to the city that were presented to their fathers David Uhrik and and Jamiel Alexander during the State of the City reception prior to York mayor Kim Bracey’s address at York College on Thursday, May 9, 2013. Uhrik received the York Humanitarian Award, while Alexander received the York Unity Award.

(I love that the fathers in the second photo can so easily show affection for their daughters without my having to include their faces: Look at their gentle hands.)

Small, simple, friendly: Newtown in December

Chris Dunn — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 02:22:22 +0000

Well, I thought I was okay.

Sometime between mid-January and late March, I had ceased thinking about Newtown on an hourly or daily basis. The holiday season was finally over, I got to meet my baby niece, Jeff and I were taking ballroom dance lessons and I was back in the swing of regular work.

But near the end of March, I had a dream: I was back in Newtown, and I was interviewing a florist as she was preparing spray arrangements for a child’s funeral. Suddenly, I felt my eyes burn hot with tears, and my mind went blank. I quickly turned away for a moment, then faced her again.

“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “I don’t know what’s the matter with me.”

Then I woke up.

Later that day, another reporter who had been in Newtown wrote a blog post in which he explained his reluctance to talk much about his experiences:

1.) I’ve been nervous that [this] just comes across as me complaining about my own personal situation.

2.) I’ve felt a certain amount of guilt for feeling so badly when there are obviously people who were directly and significantly affected by what happened far more than I can imagine.

Additionally, I’ve wanted to distance myself a little from my coverage in Newtown. It’s not a fun thing to talk about so I largely avoid it, though there are times when I’m drinking with buddies that things will slip out.

That basically sums up my feelings.

But now I feel ready to share some of the pictures I made while in Newtown. It could be that the warmer weather and sunshine are helping me overcome the dreariness of that trip. It could be that I’m actually getting okay-er over time. Or it could be that it’s simply time to do this now.

…December 15, 2012

Lauren and I had arrived in New Haven the previous night and slept for maybe six hours. The next six or so hours after we reported for work were fairly hectic and confusing. I was assigned to profile the school psychologist who had been killed, but after we’d knocked on doors all over her neighborhood and — along with a Wall Street Journal reporter and Bloomberg reporter we encountered on her street — felt like the most horrible people on the planet, we decided we’d had enough: We decided to strike out on our own.

So, at about 2 p.m., we went to Newtown for the first time, to do a profile of the town as a town of its own merits, not as a town defined by tragedy.

As we rolled into Newtown, I spotted a line of white objects neatly placed in the middle of a field. We pulled over.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. One of 20 votive candles sits in the park area of Ram Pasture in Newtown, Conn., presumably as a memorial to the 20 children killed when a gunman went on a rampage in nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School.

And we met Ron, a friendly groundskeeper who filled us in a little on the history of Newtown.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Ron Nicholson — a groundskeeper for Ram Pasture, a park and cemetery in Newton, Conn. — picks up small tree limbs and branches that fell during Hurricane Sandy, on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. Nicholson said Newtown residents traditionally receive a votive candle around the holiday season every year, and this morning he saw people setting up 20 of those votive candles in the middle of the park — presumably as a memorial for the 20 children killed when a gunman went on a rampage in nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Ron gave us directions to Sandy Hook Elementary: Go up the main road, turn right at the flagpole in the middle of town and keep going. Seems pretty simple, but that’s just how Newtown is. Small. Simple. Friendly.

But once on the road toward the school, we ended up sitting in traffic for so long that we knew we could be making more use of our time elsewhere. Seeing a sign for a Christmas tree farm, I turned left and drove along a hilly, semi-rural, two-lane road until we found the farm, where we then found families making an attempt at yuletide normalcy.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Tracy Millander of Sandy Hook, left, ties up a Christmas tree with help from her son Jason Benson, 6, and Medridge Tree Farm worker Frederika Leet on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, at the farm. Leet, who works as an occupational therapist, was helping out customers at the farm on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, and said although she has no children of her own, the previous day’s shootings at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School troubled her because she sees her young patients almost as her own children.

On our way back towards Newtown, we stopped to capture just one of the many signs of support on display:

© by Digital First Media. A bouquet of flowers sits underneath a sheet that was tied to the Church Hill Road overpass over Interstate 84 and that said, “We love you Sandy Hook Elementary,” on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.

Then we walked around town a bit, to get a feel for the place. Our impressions since Ram Pasture had not changed: Small. Simple. Friendly.

© by Digital First Media. The movie “Arthur Christmas” was scheduled to be shown at the Edmond Town Hall Movie Theater on Dec. 14-20 in Newtown, but signs posted on the building’s door and here at the ticket office on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, indicated that the ongoing event has been canceled.

After talking to several people at several different retail locations, we found ourselves at…

Yes — Newtown has its own souvenir store.

And its own line of greeting cards:

Small. Simple. Friendly.

Store co-owner Teri Brunelli showed Lauren and me around the store. There were Newtown shirts, Newtown baseball caps, Newtown Christmas ornaments, Newtown mugs, Newtown magnets. It really was “Everything Newtown.”

“Newtown,” Teri said, “is a very proud community. People in Newtown and Sandy Hook love Newtown and Sandy Hook.”

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Teri Brunelli, co-owner of the gift shop Everything Newtown, stands for a portrait among just a few Newtown, Conn.-branded items available in her Church Hill Road store on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. Brunelli said that in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, people have asked her to place her Newtown-branded items on the Internet for sale — an action she is loath to do because she does not want to commercialize the shooting.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Everything Newtown sales associate Christine Diorio, left, and co-owner Teri Brunelli, right, blow up white balloons that a customer ordered for an evening vigil on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, the day after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Brunelli said the people of Sandy Hook and Newtown, prior to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, were her primary customers.

After we left Everything Newtown, we left Newtown and turned in our work for the day.

That was just the first day.

…December 16, 2012

Sunday morning, I was assigned to do video of church services at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest church in town. Then Lauren and I were assigned a story about funeral preparations. We talked to funeral home directors and florists. We tried to talk to gravediggers and cemetery employees, and I was personally relieved that we were unable to do so.

I was going to write that Sunday was the worst day — because trying to talk to people digging graves for children is just… well, anyway — but then I remembered how we had knocked on doors on Saturday. And Tuesday hadn’t even happened yet.

So Sunday may not have been the worst day, but it wasn’t a good day either.

[UPDATED -- 6:17 a.m., April 6, 2013] Only after posting this did I remember that Sunday wasn’t entirely bad. After Lauren and I filed our work from the day, a video editor approached me about getting video of people’s reactions from the president’s speech, which he would make that night in the high school. So, as a nighttime mist began to fall, Lauren and I headed out… and got stuck on an on-ramp to the interstate just in time to see, alongside other drivers who got out of their cars, the president’s motorcade race past us.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. As Tami Wityak, far right, watches, Allie Wityak and Lara Stauff, center, use their phones to take video from a highway entrance ramp as President Barack Obama’s motorcade passes by on Interstate 84 on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. The three had gone Christmas shopping and were returning to their Southbury homes when they missed their exit, had to turn around and ended up having to park on the ramp to allow the president’s motorcade to pass.

Lauren and I ended up at a bar — one of only two or three within five miles of Newtown that turned up in my Google search — and got permission, alongside a BBC crew, from the manager and owner to spend time with their guests in the bar once the speech began.

Teri had been emphatic about how proud the people of Newtown and Sandy Hook are, and after covering the guests in the bar, I believe it. The entire area went silent as Barack Obama’s face filled the 17 TVs, and I saw that customers and wait staff in the restaurant area were also focused, hard, on the screens closer to them. Every time the president made mention of the resilience and strong community of Newtown, people clapped. They held hands. They embraced each other. They wiped tears from their eyes.

I had never seen such fierce hometown pride before — at least, apart from sports situations — nor had I ever beheld such strong positive reactions to a televised speech.

Due to some communication errors, both on my and the video editor’s parts, my video didn’t make it into the final cut that she produced. But even though I have little to show for myself from that night, I’ll never forget the ardent pride and love those people showed for their town. [END UPDATE]

…December 17, 2012

Monday, we were assigned to focus on “acts of kindness.” After feeling like horrible human beings for most of Sunday, we decided to stay out of Newtown. So we reported out of neighboring Monroe.

© 2012 by Digital Fist Media. Angel ornaments and other religious items hang from a tree outside the religious gift shop Angels & Company in Monroe, Conn., just seven miles out of Newtown. Midge Saglimbene said she and another business owner decorated the tree with such ornaments after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

We found a teddy bear drive organized by a church that was already operating several Christmas-related outreach drives. We ran into a local official who told us, “NBC called. I’m supposed to call them back, but I’d rather talk to you because you’re real,” and then began to give us all sorts of quotes. We discovered a religious gift shop whose co-owner opened its doors to anyone who needed a hug and a prayer.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Midge Saglimbene, a co-owner of the religious gift shop Angels & Company, helps customer Colleen Coyle of Trumbull with her purchases on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn., just seven miles from Newtown. Saglimbene said people have come to her store to purchase angel figurines, tokens and other religious items as gifts for the families of the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, or to be left at vigils. “You never know when one little thing is going to help,” Saglimbene said. “If you feel it in your heart, just do it.”

After encountering so much humanity in the midst of so much pain, I knew we couldn’t go another day without going to the school. So we drove, once again, into Newtown. Once again, into the traffic surrounding Sandy Hook. We left our notepads and cameras in the car and walked to the school’s driveway, where we paid our respects and where the only photo I took was this:

Then we left Sandy Hook and returned to the temporary newsroom, where we filed our day’s work.

…December 18, 2012

Tuesday had arrived.

I was assigned to cover funerals at St. Rose of Lima for video.

I remember, as I parked across the street, that I felt sick to my stomach.

The nausea was made worse when, later, I saw that school buses of young children had no choice but to pass the church on their routes.

The only levity provided that cold, wet, gray morning was this police officer’s handlebar:

One of the two funerals that morning was James Mattioli’s, and while I stood miserably outside the church, Lauren found someone who had known James: His hairstylist, Marci Benitez.

So after the funerals were over, Lauren took me to Marci’s salon, where we met her and her husband. She was from Brooklyn. He was from the Bronx. They came to Connecticut so their children could have a backyard. They used to laugh that they were surrounded by pick-up trucks. Then 9/11 happened, and the pick-up trucks and farms began to give way to Audis and wealthy developments.

A grown customer walked into the shop. Marci gave him a haircut. Her husband talked shop with him. I noticed that both were commenting on the heavy media presence, and they didn’t necessarily have positive experiences to report.

After the customer left, Lauren and I sat down. With Marci’s permission, I turned on my video camera, and she told us her story. Towards the end, she was weeping, but she remained calm and in control. I turned the camera off, and she told us some more. We stood up. She would not let us leave without giving each of us a strong hug.

© 2012 by Digital First Media. Marci Benitez, owner of and stylist at Fun Kuts in Sandy Hook, stands for a portrait at her hair-cutting station on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. James Mattioli, 6, never showed up for his 9:15 a.m. appointment with Benitez on Saturday, Dec. 15. Benitez learned later that Mattioli was one of 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting the day before.

That was our last full day in Newtown, Conn.

…

Those were all the pictures I have to share. If you are so interested, Lauren has compiled the articles that we reported and that she wrote, and this blog post contains all the videos I produced.

I don’t know that there’s more for me to say about those days, especially after having written this and this.

I’m just doing my best to forget that we had to knock on doors and try to talk to gravediggers.

But above all, I’m wishing so hard that this had never happened, and hoping so hard that this never happens again.

High school basketball: York Catholic loses PIAA Class AA championship game, 45-38

Chris Dunn — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:26:56 +0000

Today, the York Catholic girls played their seventh state championship game in the past eight seasons.

Today, they lost 45-38 to Bishop Canevin.

But — they lost with grace.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. (Left to right) York Catholic’s Zaenna Echevarria, Morgan Klunk, Hannah Laslo and Amelia York listen to head coach Kevin Bankos in their locker room after losing 45-38 to Bishop Canevin in the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game on Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Giant Center.

I began following the team’s journey this morning after I checked in with the student tailgate outside the Giant Center:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. (Left to right) York Catholic seniors DeeDee Davis and Bri Raineri and junior Ian Shelley help themselves to eggs as Mary Williams and her daughter Christina, 11, work on cooking the bacon at a student tailgate outside the Giant Center before attending York Catholic’s PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game on Friday, March 22, 2013.

Hairspray:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. (Left to right) York Catholic’s Zaenna Echevarria and Deanna Chesko fix up their hair as Morgan Klunk washes her hands in their Giant Center locker room on Friday, March 22, 2013, before playing the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game.

Socks:

High-fives:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic’s Morgan Klunk swoops in for high fives from her teammates as they get ready for a group picture on the Giant Center’s court on Friday, March 22, 2013, before the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game.

After the game, tears:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic’s Amelia York, right, wipes her face after receiving her PIAA Class AA runner-up medal on Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Giant Center. To her left is Marissa Ressler (22).

Trophy:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic’s Morgan Klunk holds the PIAA Class AA runner-up trophy while watching Bishop Cavenin players receive their championship trophy on Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Giant Center.

Chocolate:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic’s Hannah Laslo holds up a five-pound Hershey’s chocolate bar as she and her teammates greet the student section after losing 45-38 to Bishop Canevin in the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game on Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Giant Center.

And a pep talk:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. While comforting teammate Hannah Laslo, York Catholic’s Amelia York gives a pep talk to her fellow players after York Catholic lost 45-38 to Bishop Canevin in the PIAA Class AA girls basketball championship game on Friday, March 22, 2013, at the Giant Center.

I’d like to thank the girls for letting me follow them around, even inside the locker room, and being completely normal about it. They’re a class act, a strong team and wonderful people.

For more coverage:

Check out the full slideshow of photos I took today
Read reporter Matt’s game story
Watch photographer Jason’s video about Morgan Klunk’s mother watching her last game

Working out

Chris Dunn — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:03:17 +0000

I’ve never taken the time to count how many times I’ve been assigned to photograph people as they work out or otherwise exercise. But even if we don’t include sports practices and games, it’s still a fairly large number. In the week around New Year’s this year, I happened to have two separate assignments that had me cover people going through their routine gym workouts.

The funny part was, people in both assignments made remarks along this vein: “I’m sorry you have to follow me around while I’m in the gym today. This can’t be that interesting. I hope they’re paying you a lot.”

I assured them that I was not suffering in these assignments. On the contrary, I see these assignments as a challenge to show the human interacting with and mimicking the form of the gym equipment.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Shelby Dietz, 40 of Windsor Township, completes a set of pull-ups under the supervision of her personal trainer Evan Branin on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012, at Strictly Fitness in Springettsbury Township. Dietz has been working out with personal trainer Evan Branin for about five years, and has been concentrating on weights and strength training. Dietz said she typically does four days of strength training and two days of running in a week.

© 2012 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Mary and Craig Duttera of Dover Township exercise their arm muscles in the fitness room at Bob Hoffman YMCA on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The couple have been members at that YMCA for about 20 years, and work out 5-6 times a week. Since Mary joined Craig in retirement several years ago, they have been working out together more frequently.

2013 YAIAA Cheerleading Championship

Chris Dunn — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:35:07 +0000

My first-ever cheerleading assignment took me to the YAIAA Cheerleading Championship, where seven teams competed in two divisions. It was a lot of fun, especially with the presence of the youth cheerleaders who performed showcase, non-competition routines. If I shoot this next year, I’ll definitely take my shooting to the next level, but nevertheless — this was fun.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Dallastown Cougar youth cheerleader Nautica Shortlidge, 11, works on 11-year-old teammate Lauren Maher’s hair as Riley Sharp, 10, looks on before they showcased in the 2013 YAIAA Cheerleading Championship on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Dallastown Area Senior High School. William Penn took first place in the “small” division of the 2013 YAIAA Cheerleading Championship on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Dallastown Area Senior High School, while Central York won in the “large” division.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Members of a Dallastown Cougars youth cheerleading squad practice their routine in the wrestling room before showcasing in the 2013 YAIAA Cheerleading Championship on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Dallastown Area Senior High School.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Susquehannock cheerleaders return to the locker room after performing their routine in the YAIAA Cheerleading Championship on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Dallastown Area Senior High School.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. William Penn cheerleader Shalai Tyler and Central York cheerleader Abbie Davis, center, hug on the mat after each school took first place in its respective division in the 2013 YAIAA Cheerleading Championship on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Dallastown Area Senior High School.

Check out more photos, plus a video I produced of Central York’s winning routine.

High school basketball: The 2013 post-season

Chris Dunn — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 02:52:34 +0000

I love shooting basketball. It was the first sport I ever shot (thanks for throwing me in, Rae) and much of my first winter in York was spent covering high school games. This season, not so much, oddly enough. But here’s a collection of some reaction-oriented feature pictures — or jubilation, or “jube” — from the post-season.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Dallastown’s Katie McGowan cuts off a piece of the net after the Wildcats won the YAIAA girls title game on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. Dallastown defeated West York 50-37.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. William Penn’s Trey Shifflett, left, looks on as Stephen Dickson gives South Western’s Mike Duffy a hug after the Bearcats defeated the Mustangs 57-44 for the YAIAA boys title game on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, at York College.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Susquehannock’s Makenzie Fancher looks at the scoreboard after the first half of the District 3 AAA girls basketball title game on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at the Giant Center. Palmyra defeated Susquehannock 46-30 to capture the District 3 AAA girls basketball title.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Delone Catholic’s Allyson Shipley, 32, stares straight ahead during the runner-up medal ceremony after York Catholic girls defeated Delone Catholic 56-38 to win a District 3 record eighth Class AA basketball championship on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at the Giant Center.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. William Penn cheerleader Shalai Tyler comforts player Derek Wilson as he gets up from the bench to congratulate Harrisburg after the Cougars defeated the Bearcats 78-76 in overtime to capture the District 3 AAAA boys basketball title on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at the Giant Center.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. William Penn’s Stephen Dickson leaves the court after congratulating Harrisburg after the Cougars defeated the Bearcats 78-76 in overtime to capture the District 3 AAAA boys basketball title on Saturday, March 2, 2013, at the Giant Center.

And, to end on a joyous note, four pictures from the York Catholic girls’ eighth consecutive district title win — which, by the way, is a District 3 record:

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic’s Amelia York, 12, hugs her fellow starters as they greet the relief players on the court after defeating Delone Catholic 56-38 to win a District 3 record eighth Class AA basketball championship on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at the Giant Center.

For me at least, it’s easy to forget, after covering some of these girls for three seasons, that they’re just girls. They’re still in high school. They’re just kids. Then you get off the court, and they’re jumping and whooping and giving each other piggy-back rides back to the locker room, where they then break out into song and run around and remind you that they’re still girls, and that’s totally okay.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Standing on a chair, York Catholic’s Amelia York leans on teammate Morgan Klunk while pretending to be a character from the Disney movie “Mulan” in the team’s locker room after defeating Delone Catholic 56-38 to win a District 3 record eighth Class AA basketball championship on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at the Giant Center.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Catholic players Emma Keffer, Morgan Klunk and Amelia York celebrate in the locker room, alongside their assistant coach’s daughter Amanda Reed, 6, after defeating Delone Catholic 56-38 to win a District 3 record eighth Class AA basketball championship on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, at the Giant Center.

Pomp and circumstance: York Adams Academy’s winter commencement

Chris Dunn — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:12:03 +0000

I’ve lost track of how many commencement ceremonies I’ve photographed, but I learned pretty quickly that you’ll make the best pictures before or after the actual ceremony. I tend to arrive early, just to make sure I get pictures in case I’m called away to spot news mid-ceremony, but until somewhat recently, I never mustered the courage to walk into the girls bathroom and ask if I could make pictures.

Glad I finally did.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Adams Academy graduates Shawni Mitzel, left, and Aniamonie Walker adjust their caps before walking in the winter commencement ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, at the York Learning Center. York Adams Academy graduated 32 students from 14 York and Adams counties school districts in its winter commencement.

Hello baby

Chris Dunn — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 03:40:02 +0000

Hello baby.

Everybody, meet Layla. She’s the five-month-old daughter of my brother Matt and his wife Emily, and as the first member of my family’s newest generation, she’s a big deal.

Jeff and I flew down to Houston last weekend for Chinese New Year, and Matt and Emily brought the baby for everyone to meet.

© 2013. Wherein Matt offers a fish eyeball (held between the chopsticks) to Layla. Needless to say, Emily would not allow him to actually feed it to her, so he happily ate it instead. Eating fish eyeballs is, um, a fairly male Dunn thing.

In case you were wondering — yes, I have a lot of photos from the five days we spent in Houston. Like I’ve said, Layla is kind of a big deal. Plus, this is the first, last and only time I’ll have had with her as a baby. Because an ocean separates Matt’s family from me, the next time I see Layla, she’ll be crawling if not walking, probably talking and definitely showing more personality.

So yes, I made a lot of pictures, and this post reflects a few of my favorite moments from our trip.

And in case you didn’t think that was enough photos of Layla — well, here’re some more.

Discovering dinosaurs

Chris Dunn — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:06:23 +0000

Dinosaurs. This was reporter Lauren’s and my first assignment together since covering Newtown.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Holding daughter Sophie Hewitt, 1, in one arm, Jessica Fahringer of Wrightsville coaxes son Lucas Hewitt, 2, to stand with her for a picture underneath an Allosaurus dinosaur model in the “Discover the Dinosaurs” traveling exhibit on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, at the York Expo Center.

It was basically a big traveling exhibit of dinosaurs. No one in the newsroom was excited about it except for editor Kate and me. Me, I love dinosaurs. Everyone else, though, was hatin’ on it.

Turns out — if you read the comments on our story and a Facebook page dedicated to it — a lot of people hate on this exhibit. I’ll let you judge.

Rasslin’: Boiling Springs defeats Bermudian Springs for District 3AA championship

Chris Dunn — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:06:46 +0000

When I asked fellow photographer Kate about shooting wrestling at Milton Hershey School, she gave me two really good tips: Use a 300, and shoot from the track level.

I understand wrestling just enough to shoot it, so I’ve never tried to have fun with it before. Today, I did just that by acting on her tips. Thanks Kate!

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Boiling Springs’ Grant Bond, top, wrestles with Bermudian Springs’ Dalton Becker in the 120-pound bout in the District 3 Class AA team championship match on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at Milton Hershey School. Boiling Springs defeated Bermudian Springs for the District 3 Class AA team championship.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Boiling Springs’ Kyle Shoop, left, wrestles Bermudian Springs’ Ted Marines, right, in the 126-pound bout in the District 3 Class AA team championship match on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at Milton Hershey School.

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Bermudian Springs’ Briton Shelton, left, wrestles with Boiling Springs’ Tyler Kauffman in the 145-pound bout in the District 3 Class AA team championship match on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at Milton Hershey School.