Nature

Last week was slow but hopefully this week I'll have some good photos from assignments to post on here. Until then, here are a few nature shots from last week. Now I'm no Ansel Adams but I thought these shots turned out well. I found two of these on the way back from assignments and the photo of the nature trail was for a story we did Friday on local attractions where you could spend your Memorial Day weekend without emptying your bank account at the gas station.

Strawberries and hailstorms

With the exception of the hailstorm yesterday, it has been a slow news week and that means little to nothing for me to shoot...so it can be tough to find a good feature photo in Sanford in a short amount of time. I decided to go to a few strawberry farms to see if anyone was out picking strawberries. First I went to a farm near Broadway...closed. Then I drove across town to a farm I saw online...no one was there. By this time I had been driving around for 45 minutes, burning my gas, and getting worried because the skies were turning dark with the approaching storm. I finally found some people picking berries at Gary Thomas Farms, near East Lee Middle School. Here is the photo that will be in tomorrow's paper of two adorable little boys sneaking in a few strawberries.

After I shot the photo I had to go to Pittsboro with Jon Owens and track down damage from a hailstorm there. We're gonna quit our jobs and become tornado chasers!

So last week was an interesting one for photos. On Monday, I started out shooting what was probably one of the most ridiculous assignments I've ever had. Kids reading to dogs... Chelsea, our education reporter, and I went to a local elementary school to do a story on a program that partners dogs with students who need a little extra help with reading skills. The dogs are apparently a good incentive to keep the kids interested in reading. But this has to be one of the most ridiculous pictures I've ever shot. 

The next photo is the one that ran on the front page.

And here is the photo that ACTUALLY tells the story about that day.

Those dogs couldn't care less about being read to. Imagine that. But hey if it helps the kids...

The middle of the week wasn't too exciting but I got a couple good images. One from the National Law Enforcement Week ceremony at the Sheriff's Department and the other from a story we are doing about live music at the General Store Cafe in Pittsboro.

Since Relay for Life was Friday, we did stories about cancer patients/survivors on Thursday. One story we did was on Olga Horton, who was diagnosed this April with stage four stomach cancer. Instead of staying in the hospital, Olga decided to spend her last days at home surrounded by her loved ones. Although Olga was probably in a lot of pain, she smiled nearly the whole time during the interview. Shortly after coming home, Olga decided to cut her waist-length hair and donate it to Locks of Love.  

I saw her the next night walking during the Relay for Life event. Something her family didn't think she would have the energy to do but she proved everyone wrong.

First wedding

So it's been a little while since I've posted something...I guess I'm not so good at this blogging thing. But I shot my first wedding a couple weekends ago and here are some of my favorites. Give me some feedback :)