How I Saw NASCAR

So this weekend I covered my first NASCAR race - in fact my first pro-sporting event of any kind. It was a pretty hectic, overwhelming atmosphere, but exciting nonetheless. Most of these photos didn't go to the paper, but this is what I took away personally. I was intrigued by the fans and "fringe" surrounding the race...and the rain!

Political Arena Continues...

Guess those presidential candidate assignments were closer than I thought...

Circus Fit

Goofy clowns travel the state, visiting local schools, to use comedy as a vehicle to teach students about healthy and active lifestyles. Good initiative to help fight childhood obesity - I wonder if there are any stats on its effectiveness...keep up the good work clowns!

Rainy Day

Weather feature without even getting out of the car! - until I got out to get his name. I'm a creepy car follower...

Politicking

So lately there has been an abundance of red, white and blue in the Concord area. Primary elections were on Tuesday, following weeks of campaigning. Trying to keep things a bit spicier than a talking head at a podium, but it's not easy! Any ideas on how to pump some more life in to politics that don't involve Obama or McCain (hopefully I'll get to cover them one of these days!)

Dog Days

Move In Day

From Beijing, China to Henniker, NH...good luck to the new NEC grad students!

A look at the Fair

quite is disjunct view, but the fair is a crazy place that tends to induce sensory overload. we ran a number of stories on different aspects of the fair (see summaries below), which gave me the opportunity to try and see the scene a bit differently each time. i wish i would have stuck with at least the same stylistic approach, and maybe walked away with something more cohesive...oh well. one note: heading to a state fair to cover the animal scene when it is hot as hell, loud, and way too smelly is NOT recommended when you are extremely hung over...good to keep in mind for next time...

a look at the people who run the fair, and make all our conscession dreams come true!
a tribute to the parents that tirelessly bring their messy, usually loud, albeit adorable, kids to the fair year after year...
pigs running an obstacle course is a pretty hilarious sight

Weirs Beach

journey to a wedding

last weekend, Janet Johnson and Sampson Davis wed in Concord. They are both refugees from Liberia , and remarkably did not come to the states together. Their incredible story of how they reunited is inspiring, and best read in the words of Chelsea (a Monitor reporter) here. And as Chelsea puts it, it really was a day of celebration...

things they lost in the fire...

everything. The Ingram family has been living in a single room in a hotel for over a week, after a fire destroyed their house, leaving them displaced. Local residents and community members have rallied to donate everything from money to furniture to diapers, all of which are currently crammed into their small, temporary living space.

places

toning for cmyk is far easier when there are no skin tones in your images...maybe i should try to start a wave of "person-less" photos for the monitor?? probably wouldn't go over so well, but in the meantime, it's always a fun thing to take photos of somewhat mysterious, abandoned pieces of history...

camp days

camp kesem has a brilliantly inspiring mission - provide a safe, fun, free place for kids whose parents have cancer to come spend some time for the summer. creating a supportive, nurturing and distracting (in the best possible sense of the word) atmosphere, camp kesem in new hampshire appeared a blissful retreat for these young ones, who have far too much to deal with in the real world. at kesem, all are referred to ONLY by their camp names - so today, I'm Sammy, a name given to me by the charismatic Rhinormous.

A tribute to Center Sandwich

Remarkably, this was the very first New Hampshire town that I ever visited, two summers ago, with the wonderful Jesse Neider. An assignment brought me out this way yesterday, and I couldn't resist a nostalgic visit to the Center Sandwich General Store, a place of many happy memories...

Military Burial

Second assignment for the Monitor was certainly a tough one.