Stephenson was one of 30 York Art Association artists who came to the Greater York Center for Dance Education to photograph and sketch costumed dancers on Sunday, April 10, 2011. The artists had three weeks to create artwork based on their sketches, photographs and observations that will be on display in the dance studio 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 8.
Photographing (and taking video) of Stephenson working on her art was part of an extended assignment, the first installment of which you can also view on my blog.
This, following a Premiere-vs-Final Cut, Mac-vs-PC discussion with fellow photographers Kate and Paul.
Anyway, I’m getting a little more comfortable in my digs at The York Daily Record/Sunday News. See what various items you can identify in this quick shot of my cubicle.
I know it’s been just about 12 days since I last posted and since my first day at my new job, which means I’m even more behind on blogging. (Eep.) But I’m half-at peace with that because I had to wrap up some projects at my internship, I changed newsrooms with no days in-between, Jeff came to visit for a few days and I just spent four days in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Things should normalize now that I’ll begin my regular work schedule. In the meantime, I’m glad I could spend a few days at The Poynter Institute to help out this year’s crop of college fellows.
May 19. Walking back to the hotel with the fellows after dinner at Red Mesa Cantina.
It was wonderful to meet the fellows — some of whom are, surprisingly, older than I am! — and see Sara Quinn and Al Tompkins again. Two other fellows from last year, Abbey and Graham, joined me to talk to the fellows and coach them along on their projects. I’m really excited to see how the projects turn out.
Speaking of projects, I’m also pretty excited about having been a part of this:
May 21. Yep, that's me, getting in touch with my inner gymnast, with the help of fellow Cliff Davis and St. Petersburg Times deputy photo editor Bruce Moyer. The photographer for this conceptual shoot is John Pendygraft. Photo by Sarah Vasquez.
I don’t know how much I can say about this conceptual photo shoot, except: Details forthcoming. And a behind-the-scenes video, too.
Anyway, back to real life and my regular work schedule — and, hopefully, a more regular blogging schedule.
As I wrote in my cover letter, I really think I’ve grown as a photographer since I’ve come to York, and I hope that growth continues. I’m excited to start growing some roots here in Pennsylvania and to learn and contribute at the Record. And I’m grateful to the editors and staff at the Dispatch for offering me the opportunity to come here in the first place and for enabling my growth.
I’m fairly behind in blogging some Dispatch assignments — the past week has been a flurry of assignments and projects — but even as I begin working at the Record, I’ll be sure to get caught up and take care of the backlog.
Funnily enough, it’s been a year almost to the day since I graduated from college and began a new chapter in my life. Today, that chapter closes; tomorrow, a new one opens. I’m feeling some trepidation, but more than anything, I’m excited and ready to take on this challenge and opportunity.
Tooling Dynamics — a company specializing in metal stampings, tool and die design and more — held an open house and tour 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, for its various customers and vendors. The company recently received the 2010 York Entrepreneur Award.
I was originally saving these photos and some others for a “tools we use”-themed “vignettes” blog post, but realized that that many photos in one post would have been a little unwieldy. So instead, I’ll have a mini-series of “tools we use”-themed diptych blog posts.
Here’s the extended caption for this first installment:
A 4-H community garden is taking root in an empty lot at 234 South Pershing Avenue in York City. At least 15 garden beds will be available, with more beds built specially for the Healthy World Cafe’s use. Community members interested in using a garden bed or two can sign an agreement and pay 10 dollars on a first-come, first-serve basis.
I’m torn over which one I’d choose, if I had to make that decision. These two would/should never run together in a two-picture package, so it’d have to be one or the other. So which is it: A slightly more artistic shot that emphasizes the corn planter? Or a shot that shows the farmer’s slightly preoccupied face and not much else?
Thirty artists from the York Art Association came to the Greater York Center for Dance Education to photograph and sketch costumed dancers on Sunday, April 10, 2011. Over the next three weeks, the artists will create paintings based on their sketches, photographs and observations that will be on display in the dance studio 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 8.
I’m blogging these now because they’re now published in this week’s York Weekend section. Making pictures of artists making pictures was a little challenging, so I tried to have fun with it and work the situations for creative pictures.
Pit bull owners brought their dogs to Cold Springs Farm & Pet in East Manchester Township on Sunday, April 10, 2011, for the semiannual Bully Boneanza event. Twice every year, Lori and Bill Carpenter host the event in conjunction with Bad Press (Breed Anti-Defamation, Protection, and Rescue Society, Inc.) so pit bull owners can bring their dogs to a place where they will be comfortable. Bad Press cofounder Lori Zimmer, of Camp Hill, said pit bull owners are often ostracized by other dog owners at dog events and parks because of pit bulls’ bad reputation.
Anyway, back to the Jewish temple. Sunday was Yom HaShoah, otherwise known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. A local Reform temple held an evening service, during which the congregation also rededicated its Holocaust Torah scroll.
Thursday morning brought buckets of rain and a tornado, but the sun was shining by afternoon, and roads that had been brimming with water in the morning were completely dry.
By evening, the sky had clouded over again, which made for a completely gorgeous backdrop for girls soccer.
I’d covered the team’s first exhibition game last week, so inwardly I was worried about making the same “first game”-y pictures. Fortunately, the fanfare was much different and more grand than it had been last week. And I didn’t make still pictures of the opening ceremony after all because my editor had me on video duty:
The most exciting moment of the game? For at least a few people, this was it:
I happened to be shooting from the stands when Martinez caught that ball for the Riversharks’ final out of the third inning. Otherwise, I’d never have made this shot — and I wished all the more I had a 300mm for less depth of field. (With the access we get in the stadium, a 400 would be almost excessive except for far outfield action.) I’m shooting the game tomorrow, though, and will probably be borrowing Bill’s (manual) 300.
So I went to an adjacent rowhouse that had suffered water damage from the fire hoses, and I made a few pictures there. Upon my exiting that house, I met its owners/former residents, the Follers, and got to know them a bit. Soon, a pregnant woman approached us, and I found out quickly that she had lived in one of the fire-destroyed homes.
I asked her if I could make a few pictures of her around the area. She said no, that she was too emotional for the time being. I let the matter rest and continued to listen to her share stories with her former neighbors.
Then, her husband and daughters pulled up in a van, and her older daughter ran out, in tears.
Then, with no protest or objections from Katie or her husband, I began to follow them and make pictures as they went through their house once more to salvage any playthings to comfort Mariah.
The Whites have no renter’s insurance. Friends and neighbors helped them remove most of their salvageable items yesterday after the fire was extinguished. For now, they are staying with family — and Katie said they probably won’t return to their old home even after the repairs are made, because their growing family needs more space.
Yesterday morning, a four-alarm fire destroyed three homes in York City and displaced seven adults and three children. Bill and John covered the fire itself and the immediate aftermath. This morning, I headed over there to see if anything else was happening.
The fire had destroyed three rowhouses on the 600 block of Wallace Street. The house adjacent to those three had suffered water damage from the fire hoses, so I looked around in the house and followed the restoration technicians at work in there.
Then I went back outside, and found the Follers themselves talking to another Belfor technician. Then a very pregnant woman approached us as we talked, and I quickly learned that she was one of the displaced residents. Then — well, that’s another blog post coming up soon.
I’ve been asked a few times whether and why I like York. There are several reasons. One is that it’s old. Old and beautiful.
For example, the churches. Last month, I made pictures in a church that was founded in 1733. The building itself dates back to 1814, but that’s still older than just about anything that’s still standing in Texas.
Yesterday, I returned to the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist — where I’d previously made pictures during a 7 a.m. Ash Wednesday service — because they were serving up an Easter lunch. Founded in 1755, it, too, is an old and beautiful church.
Even the windows in the Parish Hall's kitchen at the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist are beautiful.
I mean, really — you won’t find windows like these in any megachurch.
Since this window is quite long and begins about three feet from the ground, I'm not sure how anybody was able to reach up and draw in a smiley face.
Yesterday was the York Revolution’s exhibition game against the Heroes of the Diamond, which is a traveling team of former and active-duty military personnel. Opening day isn’t until April 29, but I worked to make plenty of “first game” feature pictures.
Field sobriety tests do not include the driver’s having to recite the alphabet. Or recite anything.
The volunteers to whom the officers administered the tests actually were impaired. The seven volunteers had been drinking beer and mixed drinks in a controlled environment for about four hours before they met the officers.
Words and Light 