Ron Paul. Manchester.

I asked Ron Paul if I could take a few on my iPhone.

Benzo. White Mountains.

While shooting a festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Weeks Act, I pulled Benzo aside for a portrait.

Commence Laughter, Shame. Sort Of.

Tonight I found my first portfolio, as far as I can tell. It was compiled in March of 2002. I was a junior in high school. It's a bit late, but I'm piggy-backing Melissa Lyttle's post when she called out people to show their first portfolios. So here is mine. Prior to college.

I'd say I'm embarrassed, but at one point in my life I was proud of this. I think I need to just own it and hope I've progressed since this point...although I doubt it.

It was interesting to look at this because in a lot of ways I think it shows that some people have raw talent and others don't. I most certainly do not. At the time I was shooting this, I was taken under the wing of several staffers at the one-time Potomac News in Woodbridge, Virginia. That was freshman year of high school. After that first visit, I was invited back and kept going back. I remember sitting outside the darkroom when my good friend Dave Ellis, DOP at the time and now DOP at the Free Lance-Star, was introducing me to F-stop and shutter speed. I remember nodding like I understood, but really I had glazed-over eyes and no idea what he was talking about. He was a huge reason I got into photojournalism, if not THE reason.

Because I couldn't drive, a staffer, usually Dave, would pick me up at my house when I got home from school if there was an assignment I could go on, and we'd head out. My first one of these treks was with Peter Cihelka on his last day at the Potomac News. We photographed a building mug and then hit a nature preserve. A lot of the times these assignments were on Friday nights and I would shoot football or a basketball game. We'd go back to the paper and develop the film, dry it, then scan our selects into photoshop. I shot film for probably the first 2 years while hanging out at the paper. My first camera, my mom's Pentax. Then a Nikon N90. Then the paper went digital and I got my driver's license, and with the license, freelance.

I remember riding my bike to a townhouse fire near where we lived at the time. I shot 11 rolls of 36 exp. film. I still get shit for it today but it was my first published photo in the paper. Eating was a big thing too. The staff always went somewhere for lunch just about every day. I'd say the camaraderie had me sticking around as much as taking photos did. Admittedly, I wouldn't make the connection about intimacy, moments, and really what photojournalism was about until almost the end of college I was only understanding photography. Today I am still trying to figure it out but I feel I've come a long way.

I gave up playing varsity lacrosse to work more at the paper. Much like probably most of you reading this, when my friends were hitting the beach and hanging out during the summers, I was explaining to them that I had to do an internship and wouldn't see them much and then I'd be going back to school. I don't regret any of it because it taught me work ethic but also that work is not everything. As much as work has been a huge part of my life, work is not life and there needs to be a balance so you recognize the joys of life when you're out photographing. I'm also still finding what that means.

I could go on and on, as we all can, remembering back. So I won't. I just wanted to share this because it's good to look back every so often and not forget people who helped you out. For me, I can't thank the group of people who started me out in this enough. I'm sure it kept me out of trouble. In the early days and even today for a few of them it was Dave Ellis, Peter Cihelka, Dylan Moore, Cindy Davis, David Holloway, and Amy Rossetti.











Um, yeah...photo illustration? First time using photoshop? FML.

Experimenting = Fun

Using Nikon strobes with Canon bodies, I set out for a second day shooting at Highland Mountain Bike Park. I had so much fun the first day I wanted to go back and bring strobes to light a few shots I had in mind. I've never been much of a gear head, but it was fun experimenting. I think if I were to do this type of photography full time (which part of me thinks would be awesome) I'd want a setup that lit every frame in a sequence shot...rather than just one. But it worked for me and what I was doing.

It reminded me of my skateboarding and bmx days...even still snowboarding and watching videos getting pumped to ride. There was always a part of me that wanted to photograph these athletes shredding a line down a mountain or pushing aerials to the next level. Check out what they're doing over at Brain Farm. I wet myself a little every time I watch their videos.

Heat Wave

Friday afternoon was a scorcher. Upwards on 100˚F. Friday morning it was decided that Saturday's lede was going to be a story about the heat. I thought about going to a local store to find people purchasing air conditioners and going home with them to photograph the installation. I scoped out a skatepark that borders a river, but no one was there. Although it was an obvious pick, I ended up heading to Lake Winnipesaukee in the hopes of finding someone on the water wake boarding or water skiing. Instead, I came across this family who took a break for lunch at one of the marinas and then took a dip.



I thought about putting this in as secondary, but it was too similar to the first image and it wasn't composed well.

The Blocks

Out on the blocks today I came across a park with this dino inside. I hung around for nearly 45 minutes hoping someone would come by but no one did. I had to scoot to another shoot. Something worth coming back to because as much as I like this scene, I think it would be much stronger with a person and a moment.

Welcome to: The Blocks

There are many reasons why I wanted to become a photojournalist. There was a time in my life I wanted to be the "Oh Shit" photographer. The one that a publication trusted to go into any situation and not only come away with good images, but more importantly than eye-candy, come away with a story. I think the closest I came to that was in Midland, Michigan when the photo staff fought our way to send me to Haiti with a team of local doctors. They trusted me to see how I see. We didn't talk about composition or technical garble before the trip, we talked about logistics, safety, mood, moments, feeling, stories, emotions, interactions. We ran up a $700 phone bill discussing this and working through my insecurities of finding a story and sticking to it amidst an overwhelming scene with infinite direction. I don't think it was a complete success, but I learned from failure because I was allowed to fail. I think that's an important lesson. We fought for something we believed in and something that fit the visual philosophy at the newspaper.

I think having a visual philosophy, a staff goal- a reason why we go out everyday and shoot what we do- is extremely important. It provides direction. It gives reason for spending time on assignments. It leaves the attitude of just spending an hour at something...just getting a shot to fill a hole...it leaves that approach in the dust. A philosophy says "This is what our department adds to the paper." A reason why we may turn down an assignment from a reporter or why we would accept and gravitate towards others. If the staff knows that philosophy, if it is a continual dialogue in the department and everyone is included in the process, I feel a staff goes from "just shooting" daily assignments to documenting a community and shooting a body of work. They feel good whether they're shooting a bean supper or a longer-term story. In turn standing strong to outside pressures legitimizes a photo department's reason of being a member in the newsroom than just a service. It educates people not to bring requests for a building mug. It educates people what it means to be a photojournalist. It educates everyone how important planning a week ahead is for everyone and how the quality of the product greatly improves. How such planning provides greater flexibility and ease. Spending time shooting what's real. Why we should be shooting the story behind the event rather than the event itself. Why we should hold a story for a day or two if necessary. There is an importance to treating every assignment greater than the next and spending time on every assignment. Respecting our community. A philosophy builds camaraderie through working as a team for a common goal. And a photo department should be one large, laughing, breathing, changing, functional team working towards the same goal. A philosophy lets a staff know that sometimes there are bullshit assignments that just have to be done and not every day is perfect, but there's an understanding that those are the exception, not the rule. If it's not there, it should be demanded. Otherwise it's a lot of day-to-day wondering what the fuck we're doing. Wondering what's the point. It makes a 9-5 just that and nothing more. It makes photographers post things only to their blogs. It makes fantastic photojournalists shoot for themselves.

For people who have read my blog rants in the past or who follow the posts, I think it comes at no surprise that I'm honest and open about everything. I don't believe anyone who is asking someone else to be honest and reveal their lives should shy away from doing so themselves, whether that's because they're trying to build a client base or want to represent themselves a certain way. So with that openness comes this blog post.

The presidential primaries are a huge reason I wanted to come to Concord and I feel like I've been putting in a great deal of effort getting to know the players and being around enough so they start to know me. I also have a long way to go. Whether people agree with my interest and desire to shoot it all or not. I've got to keep myself motivated. Fortunately at the Monitor I've been given time and have been able to attend many of the locations. The primaries are the Monitor's baby. I was out of town during a meeting but a reporter-friend filled me in that their goal is to cover the primaries so that every reader can make an informed decision. Reporters have been assigned to candidates and will follow them like a hawk. There is a philosophy that the staff knows; a North Star.

Another reason why I came to Concord was in the hopes of finding my roots. With my family being from New England, I moved around a lot with the hopes of coming back here. But I've been here a year and have realized I'm also a wanderer. While in New York this past week, I felt like I was stepping forward into a new world. A place of diversity and intellectual stimulation, from the architecture and noises to the people I met. It was amazing and a feeling of content that comes and goes. I use to think "the grass is always greener," but it's not. The greenest grass is right in front of you. Waiting. Things may not be ideal, but it's life and I'm finally realizing that the best thing you can do is enjoy it. Make an effort to better your situation no matter how daunting a task.

Lately I've been wondering what I've been doing with the last 8 years of my life. Completely drained. Exhausted. Uninspired.

But, instead of wallowing in the fact that I'm not the photographer being sent around the world and may never be, I AM a photographer who lives in an awesome community that needs to be explored. There's no reason any one of us can't step out from our homes and into our neighborhood to document the limitless stories within the homes we pass. Ideally we'd be doing this for a publication so people can see it, but lack of being published shouldn't deter anyone from starting to shoot in their homes, in their backyards and their immediate neighbors.

The other day I began a personal project I'm calling "The Blocks." I'm focusing on an area around my home shooting with my iPhone, my dSLR, or film. Just getting out and shooting and trying to find this thing one time Flint Journal photographer Steve Jessmore called "Sense of Community." There's no "It" photo. The "It" of this project is building a relationship with people I live near, to the point where I'm not an objective photographer entering people's lives for a determined hour of time, but a photographer shooting my friends.

I thought the best place to start was literally in my backyard when I saw a neighbor and my landlord, Catherine, talking and enjoying the evening breeze.



A few columns of inspiration and projects to check out are:
Steve Jessmore once of The Flint Journal- Sense of Community
Virginian-Pilot photographers- Common Ground
Jason Johns of the Valley News- Zip Codes
Scott Strazzante's- Common Ground

If not for anyone else, do it for yourself. For your motivation. For your sanity. And for your future community.

We Came. We Partied. We Conquered. Independence Day.

End of an Era

Eastman School closed it's doors after several decades of being a staple in the community. I was fortunate to be able to spend a few days at the school photographing and talking with students, parents and faculty. What the reporter and I learned was that people weren't attached to the building itself, but the relationships inside the walls and the lasting relationships previous students and parents still have today, decades after their direct involvement with the school.

Photo editor Alex Cohn and I worked on the layout and I was happy with the results.