Boots

An outtake from a house fire yesterday for the free lance firefighting story I'm working on...

A quick change from the cowboy boots to the Fire bunker pants and boots and the fight was on

Knee Deep

When I got off of work this morning I stopped on Highway 105 because I spotted a patch of Bee Balm (one of my favorite wildflowers) that looked easy to get to. It wasn't bad, just down a short slope and I was right at it. I took several shots and then...



stepped to the left to take one more. The grass was apparently growing in mud soup, as my left foot sank down to almost my ankle. After I retrieved my shoe from the sinkhole I I walked back to my car as everyone on 105 questioned why some barefoot vagabond had a camera.

The Big Toss

Yesterday Adam and I headed to the Benton Convention Center in Winston Salem for the annual International Jugglers Association festival. The festival is a week long and offers a variety of activities, workshops and shows. Adam and I were challenged with the task of shooting the annual Big Toss photo. We were up on a scissor lift shooting down towards the huge crowd of jugglers. If you have any interest in learning more about juggling check out the IJA.

Serene Scene

This past week or two I've been working on a story for High Country Magazine all about the vast amount of dedication it requires to be a firefighter. Monday I was given the task of listening in to a scanner for fire calls to chase down and capture these men and women at work on scene. No fires so far, but Tuesday I did follow them to two car accidents. The image above was taken at the second accident, while there was complete controlled chaos of firefighters and trucks, ambulances and paramedics, police and tow trucks all trying to frantically help clear the wreckage and victims of a head on collision. It was a deeply calming feeling to turn around and see the warm late afternoon sun glowing in the meadow.

Outtakes of the story to come after its published...

Bombadil CD Release Party

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.


Bombadil has released their third album "Tarpits and Canyonlands". The release party took place at my previous residence: the Golden Belt Lofts in Durham NC. The atmosphere of the lofts really complements Bombadil's style. Altho they did not perform, there was live music by:

The Tender Fruit
The Scene of the Crime Rovers
Luego

If you have not checked out the album, I highly recommend you do so. More information on Bombadil on their myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/bombadil

Independence Day

I hope everyone had a glorious July 4th, filled with parades, grilling out, fireworks and lots of red, white and blue. I was reading about July 4th on wikipedia and they have this quote from a letter John Adams wrote to his wife on July 3rd:
"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
Glad to be in America...

Rhododendron

My plan was to head out to Grandfather Mountain to try and use the Rhododendron to capture a few nice landscape shots, but the weather had it's own plans. As it started to rain as I was heading for the door I stuck around the house instead and ended up just taking a few shots of the Rhododendrons in the backyard. The Rhododendrons are in full bloom now around most of the High Country. Check out the High Country Press magazine online for a story full of info and photos of the "Rose Trees."

Fay Washington Sibling Trip

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
After many hours of editing, I finally made it through all of the Washington trip photos. We had an awesome time and saw lots of amazing things. I'll let the photos do most of the talking but I thought I would post a few excerpts from our trip Journal:

May 28th "Saw Mt. Rainer, awesome, stuck out like a sore thumb. Weather in Seattle was ~80 degrees, sunny, clear...Drove Hyundai Accent a.k.a Clown Car to Olympic, made it to Kaloch just it time for sunset. Beautiful, touched Pacific Ocean."

June 1st "The first .5 mi was straight up and intense. Then we were on the ridge, saw great views. Then we hit a snow field & lost the trail."

June 2nd "Stopped at Deception Pass State Park for lunch. We made fried bologna & cheese sandwiches. It was great!!! There were lots of fighter jets flying over the water because there was a Navy Base on the island...We stopped at Cascadian Farms which was lovely. We got homemade raspberry chocolate chip ice cream (organic)."

June 4th "Suffered through another oatmeal breakfast. Luckily the bears didn't get to ur bear bag 30ft up in a tree...we descended ~1000 feet down in .8 miles. At the bottom were two old miner/fur trapper cabins from the early 1900's. They are called Meadow/Swamp cabins...there are signatures on the wall from the 1920's and on. It seems that these cabins are not frequented as there were only 3 journal entries from 2009."

June 5th "Caught the bus back from Seattle to the hotel for the best night of sleep ever. Softest pillows ever made (esp. after 9 days w/o a pillow).

June 6th "we went to Pike Place market... There is a fish market there and the guys throw the fish over the counter to be filleted. They got Pat to go behind the counter and threw him a big fish, which he caught and everyone cheered...Took off for flight home! Great Fay Sibling trip!!! '09!

Note about the slideshow: If you roll your mouse over the slideshow you can adjust the speed, pause etc. at the top.

Montauk

On Wednesday a new member was added to the Fay family, Montauk. My mom has wanted a Newfoundland since she was nine years old, and this past fall my Dad suggested she get one. Montauk is a Newfoundland puppy from Warrior's Newfoundlands in Kannapolis, N.C. Warrior's, established in 1992 breeds very beautiful, healthy and friendly black and brown Newfoundlands. For more information e-mail Shirl at newfwarriors@earthlink.net Newfoundlands are known for their loyalty,large size and water rescue ability. Montauk seems to be adjusting well and we're all glad she has arrived!

The Decemberists - Raleigh NC

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.


I had heard of this band but never really listened to them much. When I got called to shoot on assignment for the INDY Weekly, I figured this was a good opportunity to check out the Decemberists.

The show was at the Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts in Raleigh NC. I had previously photographed the Smashing Pumpkins at this venue, so I kind of knew what to expect in terms of where I could shoot from. The Decemberists brought a whole different light show than I had expected. They seemed to use a lot of fog machines with low positioned lights, which really made for some cool shots. I am very pleased with the results.

The only disappointing thing about the Progress Energy Center is the fact that photographers can only shoot from really far left or right, so it makes it a little difficult to line up a good photo. I used a Sigma 2.8 80-200mm lens, and I still had my ISO up around 1000-1250.

All in all, from what I saw I enjoyed the show. I ended up buying the "Always the bridesmaid" 12" Vinyl set at the merch table.


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