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Archive for May, 2014

Howdy toddler (Houston)

Posted in Personal, Photography, Travel on May 30, 2014| 1 Comment »

When I first made plans to fly to Houston for my grandfather’s funeral, I had no intentions of bringing a camera. When my brother made plans to fly himself, my sister-in-law and my niece to Houston, I packed up my cameras, both digital and film.

As I previously wrote, exploring our childhood home through the eyes of my niece, then almost 20 months, was a lot of fun. Without further ado, I present pictures of the world’s most important toddler:

© 2014. A particularly grueling customs process at IAH put Matt in the depths of despair, but gave Layla some time for a nap.

© 2014. Wide awake, Layla explores one of her favorite things — the stairs — under the watchful eye of my mother. To the right are baby portraits of my younger brother and me. Matt’s baby portrait is out of frame.

© 2014. Mother and child.

© 2014.

© 2014. Jet-lagged.

© 2014. You’d be pretty self-satisfied too, if you’d navigated going down the stairs by yourself not long after waking up.

(more…)

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Howdy toddler: This face

Posted in Personal, Photography, Travel on May 23, 2014| 1 Comment »

Earlier this month, I returned to Houston for my grandfather‘s funeral, but I was hardly the most far-flung traveler: My brother, sister-in-law and almost-20-month-old niece flew in from Italy.

Not since Christmas 2010 had my two brothers and I been together under the same roof, so while we had gathered to pay respects to our grandfather, we had fun being siblings again and exploring our childhood home through the eyes of Layla, who is now a very confident toddler.

Making pictures of a constantly/unpredictably moving target is a lot different from making pictures of a babe who is either being held or lying relatively sill, but it’s also a lot more fun. Unfortunately, editing down pictures of a toddler who is rambunctiously touring her new domain is pretty difficult. How can you say no to this face?

Saturday, May 3, 2014. Layla at 19 months in Houston, Texas.

© 2014. Like many other young ones, Layla has been trained to stop what she’s doing and smile at the camera. I think I’ve largely trained her out of that when I’m the one holding the camera, although she’s still pretty intrigued by its buttons. This was the first (and only) time she actually walked right up to me and smiled. I’m okay with that.

…Or to this face?

Friday, May 2, 2014. Layla at 19 months in Houston, Texas.

© 2014. EPIC POUT.

Layla isn’t quite ready to put nouns and verbs together to form sentences, but she is very capable of understanding directions and making pout faces. The pictures in this blog post wouldn’t have made the final cut for what I’ll ultimately share, but I take my responsibility as family photographer* very seriously and believe that not sharing these pictures would be akin to committing a serious transgression.

Saturday, May 3, 2014. Layla at 19 months in Houston, Texas.

© 2014. At the breakfast table, with the “Little Mermaid” plate that was my favorite when I was 5 or 6.

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© 2014. I think my younger brother Geoff made this picture, at Grandma’s house.

Obviously, there will be more Layla pictures to come.

 

* Apparently I was always the family photographer: While looking through photo albums for pictures to submit for my grandfather’s obituary page, my uncle Doug discovered this picture:

A picture of Chris taking a picture of extended family at Uncle Emmo's Sugar Land house in 1994. Friday, May 2, 2014.

A picture of me taking a picture of extended family at my second-uncle Emmo’s house, probably in 1994. I would have been 6 years old. We couldn’t figure out who actually took this photo, unfortunately, nor who the girl on the far right is.

Uncle Doug was very proud of this discovery. I am very excited about this early evidence that I’m better behind the camera than in front of it.

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Doggy paddle

Posted in Journalism, Pennsylvania, Photography, Photojournalism, The York Daily Record/Sunday News, York on May 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

We’re currently enjoying spectacular weather here in Pennsylvania, which certainly wasn’t the case even last month when April dared to hurl hot days, cold days and snowy days at our faces, as if the snow-laden winter hadn’t been brutal and long enough.

In January, my editors sent me to a local pet daycare where dogs can indulge in the luxury of two heated swimming pools. It was a fun assignment made better by the caring and energetic dog handlers. My only advice to anyone photographing swimming dogs: Wear rain pants. I’m glad I did.

Morgan's Paws Pet Care Center dog handlers Roxanne Smeltzer, left, and Rikki Herbst keep an eye on six dogs and the two heated pools during the daily one-hour pet swim session on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Dogs enrolled in Morgan's Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township have access to two heated pools for an hour-long session, while dogs not enrolled can participate in private or open swim sessions. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

Morgan’s Paws Pet Care Center dog handlers Roxanne Smeltzer, left, and Rikki Herbst keep an eye on six dogs and the two heated pools during the daily one-hour pet swim session on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Dogs enrolled in Morgan’s Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township have access to two heated pools for an hour-long session, while dogs not enrolled can participate in private or open swim sessions. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

Charlie the English Springer Spaniel wades in a 2-foot-deep, heated pool at Morgan's Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Dogs enrolled in Morgan's Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township have access to two heated pools for an hour-long session, while dogs not enrolled can participate in private or open swim sessions. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

Charlie the English Springer Spaniel wades in a 2-foot-deep, heated pool at Morgan’s Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Dogs enrolled in Morgan’s Paws Pet Care Center in Spring Garden Township have access to two heated pools for an hour-long session, while dogs not enrolled can participate in private or open swim sessions. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

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A tale of two tracks

Posted in Journalism, Pennsylvania, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports, The York Daily Record/Sunday News, York on May 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I wouldn’t call myself a sports photographer by any means, but when you photograph as many sports as we at the Daily Record do, you can’t help but consider the immense variety of humanly physical achievements these athletes are attempting via any amount of training or number of techniques.

Take, for instance, javelin. Javelin is but one sport in the all-encompassing term “track and field,” but it’s similar to shot put in that both involve an athlete manipulating his/her physique in order to manipulate physics in order to propel an object as far away from him/her as possible. Yet, if you observe different javelin athletes, you can’t help but notice each one is using completely different techniques to attempt the same basic objective.

And that’s just javelin. Shot put has the same basic objective, but it’s achieved completely differently. And again, each athlete has his/her own techniques to that end.

Maybe I think too much about these things. But these are the types of things I think about when I’m sent to cover two very different track assignments in one day.

Track and field…

Littlestown's Lucas Reynolds fails to clear the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Littlestown’s Lucas Reynolds fails to clear the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University.

…and sprint car racing:

Hanover driver Logan Schuchart, in his first season in the World of Outlaws, drives a time trial before racing the Pennsylvania Posse at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Hanover driver Logan Schuchart, in his first season in the World of Outlaws, drives a time trial before racing the Pennsylvania Posse at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014.

Yesterday was the first of two days of PIAA District 3 track and field championships at Shippensburg University. Track and field is a good sport to cover if you want to stay on your toes, because it comprises so many different types of sports (and, in the case of track, different events) that are all photographed differently.

Yesterday was also the World of Outlaws’ season debut at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg. Sprint car racing is a good sport to cover if you don’t mind partial hearing loss.

Anyway, when you cover these different sports in one day, it’s hard not to marvel at what the human body (plus the occasional gears, wheels and oil) is capable of doing.

I’ll stop babbling. Photos:

Drivers warm up their cars on the track as others get their cars pushed onto the track before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Drivers warm up their cars on the track as others get their cars pushed onto the track before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014.

Dallastown's Lillian Cook throws the javelin for 117 feet, 9 inches on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Dallastown’s Lillian Cook throws the javelin for 117 feet, 9 inches on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University.

(Left to right) Crew members Vince Hamberger and David Rohrbaugh change out the rear gears of York driver Cory Haas' car before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. (Left to right) Crew members Vince Hamberger and David Rohrbaugh change out the rear gears of York driver Cory Haas’ car before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 16, 2014. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014.

West York's Abdul Junaid runs the 100-meter dash trial on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. West York’s Abdul Junaid runs the 100-meter dash trial on the first day of the District 3 track and field championships on Friday, May 16, 2014, at Shippensburg University.

Hanover driver Jacob Allen drives a time trial before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced Friday, May 16, 2014, at Williams Grove Speedway. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News

© 2014 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Hanover driver Jacob Allen drives a time trial before the World of Outlaws and the Pennsylvania Posse raced Friday, May 16, 2014, at Williams Grove Speedway. The World of Outlaws raced their first night of the season at Williams Grove against the Pennsylvania Posse on Friday, May 16, 2014.

You can view more track and field photos here, and more sprint car racing photos here.

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Groundhog hunt

Posted in Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, The York Daily Record/Sunday News, York on May 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Cue the obligatory kick-in-the-pants. Like many other photo-bloggers, I’m guilty of falling way, way behind in posting current — or even old — photos.

It’s my personal rule to share pictures I made for the paper only after they’ve been run in the paper. I actually have a number of photo stories — some dating back to 2012 — that I haven’t yet blogged. I’d like to think I’m a mercilessly efficient and adept photo editor, but the reality is that I still struggle to edit many of those photo stories in a way that I’d be comfortable sharing. That said, I hope sometime this year to finally post a few of those stories.

But for now, a fun photo from an off-the-beaten-path story that reporter Rebecca LeFever (soon-to-be Rebecca Hanlon) and I covered last summer:

James Parsons IV, 13, lowers two dead groundhogs into a tub on top of a scale to be weighed together, as his father and volunteer firefighter James watches and as his twin sister Rebecca, 13, stands by to record weights on Saturday, June 15, 2013. The groundhogs were two of nine brought in by Steve Wilson of Lower Chanceford Township, who registered in Airville Volunteer Fire Company's first-ever groundhog hunt fundraiser. "Now I get the dubious pleasure of getting rid of them," Wilson said as he scooped the carcasses back into the bin in which he'd brought them. Airville Volunteer Fire Company hosted a groundhog hunt fundraiser, registering 38 local hunters who hunted for groundhogs on Friday and Saturday, June 14-15, 2013. Two prizes -- one for the heaviest groundhog and one for the most kills -- were awarded. DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - CHRIS DUNN

© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. James Parsons IV, 13, lowers two dead groundhogs into a tub on top of a scale to be weighed together, as his father and volunteer firefighter James watches and as his twin sister Rebecca, 13, stands by to record weights on Saturday, June 15, 2013. The groundhogs were two of nine brought in by Steve Wilson of Lower Chanceford Township, who registered in Airville Volunteer Fire Company’s first-ever groundhog hunt fundraiser. “Now I get the dubious pleasure of getting rid of them,” Wilson said as he scooped the carcasses back into the bin in which he’d brought them. Airville Volunteer Fire Company hosted a groundhog hunt fundraiser, registering 38 local hunters who hunted for groundhogs on Friday and Saturday, June 14-15, 2013. Two prizes — one for the heaviest groundhog and one for the most kills — were awarded. DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS – CHRIS DUNN

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