18% Josalee Thrift

Yes, I'm still here.

2011-04-28T15:30:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the lapse in blog posts. Though I have been busy doing freelance photo work, I have also been busy going to school and working at a new job. I was, and still am, hesitant about telling people about my emerging new career, for fear that people will think that I've completely moved on from photography. I am still a photographer! And I am still available to shoot portraits and weddings and even news!

With all that being said, I have begun my studies to receive a Master's in accounting. Thrifty, I know. I decided on accounting obviously because there's a variety of jobs in the field, and no shortage of them, but I also didn't feel like I was doing enough of fighting the good fight when I worked in journalism. I entered journalism with the intention of making the world a more honest place by shining light on issues that should be more transparent and holding people accountable. What discouraged me was how limited the resources are in newspapers to support the work that must be done to make any sort of impact on those things. Time is limited, money is limited, and there's always the looming pressure of feeding the beast and meeting deadline, resulting in stories that merely scratch the surface. With accounting, you get right in the heart of the beast, and you work from the inside out, making sure every penny is accounted for.

I work as a bookkeeper at my new job. I'm still amazed at how within six months I went from being a full-time newspaper photographer with absolutely no knowledge of accounting principles to being a part-time student and part-time bookkeeper.

Change happens quickly.

I love my new job. I work at an agency that assists people with mental and physical disabilities, and runs several programs for its clients' benefit and also owns a few residential facilities for clients to live in a family-like, cooperative setting. I do a lot of things at my new job, but probably the most important thing I do is overseeing that the clients' funds are appropriately handled. If that's not fighting the good fight, I don't know what is.

Since I quit the paper, I don't grind my teeth anymore. My stomach doesn't tie in knots from the stress of being assigned three assignments 30 miles apart within 90 minutes. I don't get migraines. I haven't had to risk life and limb driving in blizzard conditions to get to work just to spend the next eight hours risking life and limb again. I can enjoy snow, and rain, and any sort of precipitation without constantly worrying about keeping my equipment dry. I can go to baby showers and weddings and birthday parties. I don't get nasty emails from readers, or nasty looks from presumptuous people who accuse me of being a minion of the "liberal media" even though I worked for a place called the "Republican-American." I don't lie awake at night wondering if I made a typo that will be seen by more than 50,000 readers, with my name on it. I don't get yelled at by overzealous state troopers, overzealous athletic directors, and overzealous parents of little league players just for doing my job. I don't look out into the newsroom at all the working parents who never get to tuck their children in and think to myself, "There's no way I could do this with a family... and I eventually want a family."

Hey, I devoted all the other posts to the good parts, so I'm allowed to indulge in just one paragraph of the darker side.

And this is what I did yesterday.

Long Night

2010-11-04T02:02:00.002-04:00

Above photo by Chion Wolf.

Below photos by me!

Lyman Hall v. Sheehan soccer

2010-10-05T16:52:00.001-04:00

More boxing!

2010-08-11T23:13:00.001-04:00

You can't win them all.

2010-08-11T21:06:00.002-04:00

I shot an American Legion baseball team from East Longmeadow, Mass. for the Springfield Republican last week. These guys made it all the way to the finals to lose to Branford, 2-1. Nonetheless, they were one of the most sportsmanlike teams I've seen in my day.

Live Mural Art!

2010-08-11T19:47:00.003-04:00

Matt Lolli, a good friend of mine who also happens to have made a cameo appearance in my portfolio for my portrait of his bike-crazed self in his apartment, and his buddy Adam Wallenta did some live mural art at Eli Cannon's in Middletown the other day.

Dirt Bike Jumps!

2010-08-11T15:51:00.001-04:00

motocross

2010-07-09T20:01:00.002-04:00

-30-

2010-07-02T21:36:00.004-04:00

July 13 will mark the end of my time as a photojournalist at the Republican-American. Though I'm leaving the paper, I am not leaving the state, and with this decision, I will free up more time to work as a freelancer.

This marks the end of one of the most interesting chapters of ANYONE'S life I know, and I will look back on it with lots of "How the HELL did I do that??!?!"s... in a good way, of course. As much as I wanted to delay it, this day had to come, and I thank everyone, (especially my photo brethren Jamison Bazinet, Jim Shannon, Darlene Douty, Steve Raggie, Steve Valenti and yes, even Jonathan Wilcox) from the bottom of my heart who mentored me through these five years.

Terryville softball

2010-06-22T01:52:00.001-04:00

Crosby High School Class of 2010

2010-06-15T17:27:00.003-04:00

Crosby is probably my most favorite graduation to shoot. The kids are happy, the parents are happy, even the administrators are happy. They don't yell at the kids for standing up and cheering, as I've seen at several other schools.

Young & Old

2010-06-09T16:10:00.001-04:00

Pictures from senior mentor program at an elementary school in Seymour. I was delighted to find that "senior" meant senior citizens, and not senior high schoolers.

Two firsts: Boxing, Casino

2010-05-24T17:54:00.003-04:00

A local guy had his pro debut at Mohegan Sun the other night. As far as I and anyone else knew, the one fight I was there to shoot was going to be at the beginning of the entire match, which began at 7:30.

It didn't begin until 10 minutes to midnight. I spent almost six entire hours ringside at the first boxing match I had ever been to, in the first casino I had ever been to. It was like a weird Alice in Wonderland kind of dream, with my mentor being the boxing commission doctor next to me who had better one-liners than even Mr. Jamison Bazinet, and was very kind to explain to me how boxing is scored. After the first round of the first fight, I felt somehow morally wrong for watching two met beat the crap out of each other. Fast forward six hours and I was ready for a confessional. I'm really pleased with the shots I came back with though, and I couldn't help but feel really happy for Ron Scott, Jr., the local guy, who won the fight.

I took pictures of other matches too though, so stay tuned for those!

More LAX!

2010-05-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

Thriller

2010-05-20T12:23:00.001-04:00

LAX! (not the airport)

2010-04-28T20:53:00.001-04:00

Little things that make me happy

2010-04-27T18:42:00.002-04:00

lilacs

Army Wedding

2010-04-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

U. S. Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Kelly and Kathlene Lopez-Martin, both of Waterbury, dance on the Wolcott Green to the gazebo during their wedding ceremony on Sunday. The couple originally scheduled their wedding for June 2011 but changed plans when Kelly was called to active duty in Iraq. Kelly will leave May 2.

Opening Day of Trout Fishing 2010

2010-04-17T14:07:00.001-04:00

Long Jump

2010-04-13T23:22:00.001-04:00

Gilbert's Casey Ramthun competes in the long jump during Tuesday's track and field meet with Lewis Mills and Wamogo

Baseball season is upon us!

2010-04-10T18:01:00.000-04:00

As far as hearing loss goes, heavy machinery has nothing on 10 year old girl screams

2010-04-10T17:55:00.000-04:00

American Idol contestant and Middlebury native Katie Stevens makes it to another round. Fans gathered at the Middlebury Firehouse to watch the show.

Linus

2010-04-05T23:19:00.001-04:00

Good Friday

2010-04-03T15:15:00.002-04:00

As I shot the first procession, I noticed a very familiar looking building on East Main Street.

When I got back to my laptop I looked through old photos of Marie and I recognized the building. It was where Marie grew up.

Early Spring

2010-03-27T15:39:00.001-04:00

High School Hockey

2010-03-27T15:32:00.000-04:00

Her name is Lola

2010-03-27T15:03:00.003-04:00

One thing that I do a LOT while on the job is DRIVE. And when you drive as a newspaper photographer you're looking around for things out of the ordinary. The other day I was driving around Naugatuck looking for pot holes (glamorous, I know) and I noticed a little beagle sniffing its way up the street. I figured someone was with the dog and I found a pot hole, so I pulled over to shoot that, and I drove up the road to see if the dog was alone, and sure enough she ran out in front of my car. So I picked her up, and for the 10 minutes that she kept me company as I went to her vet's office (which was closed), and then to a cop car, we became friends. The next day I checked to see if she made it home and she did. =)

High School Weightlifting

2010-03-10T00:03:00.001-05:00

Factories are beautiful

2010-03-04T22:10:00.002-05:00

I may have lost some of my hearing on this assignment, but getting to shoot in such a visually overwhelming place was worth it.

High School Wrestling

2010-02-15T17:45:00.003-05:00

You never see photos of high school wrestling. All the glory goes to basketball, football, and baseball, and sometimes soccer. This was just the second time I've shot high school wrestling, and it was actually pretty fun to shoot.

Ballet Auditions

2010-02-04T00:08:00.002-05:00

I never realized how truly beautiful it was watching ballet until I shot this assignment. I even stayed a little longer than I needed to.

Parents

2010-01-28T18:07:00.000-05:00

My friend Roxie the Romanian

2010-01-21T19:22:00.001-05:00

This is worse than Err99

2010-01-19T20:22:00.002-05:00

My camera is in the hospital. This is why you should always have a spare camera body nearby!

Baby teeth

2010-01-08T18:04:00.002-05:00

I would much rather cover something like this rather than stories like this.

Making it happen

2009-12-19T14:00:00.001-05:00

Winter amnesia

2009-12-15T15:17:00.003-05:00

With the first big snow come all the things you forced yourself to forget since last winter, like how you should really bring an extra two set of gloves, at least, because snow is wet. Or how you know you have those hand warmers but you have no idea where you put them. Or how, at the right angle, all the melted snow running down the back of your "water resistant" jacket will drip right down the back of your pants. (Luckily my gear belt prevented that from happening, but I saw others who weren't so lucky.)

Now it's on to basketball season.

Memories

2009-12-09T16:21:00.004-05:00

With each of these pictures comes a flood of memories for me. I can remember what the weather was like, what happened before or after the shot, sometimes I can even remember what I was wearing (especially if I didn't dress warm enough.) I remember with the first photo at the steroids hearings, I was shooting for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and I should have been right in front of McGwire at the beginning of the hearing but instead I was at the complete opposite end of the panel, with José Canseco right in front of me, with his bloodshot eyes and his lawyer that he must have met in the gym because they were both unnaturally muscular. And I remember as I was waiting in the hallway outside the room to be let in, (we were waiting for a LONG time and we would get yelled at if we sat on the floor, but there was a nice woman photographer who offered me apple slices that she had brought) who walks right past me but Shaun, a friend of mine from HIGH SCHOOL, who was a huge baseball fan and was trying to sneak a peak at his favorite baseball stars. And I remember I was wearing a blue sweater, but I only remember that because I saw myself countless times on TV whenever CNN aired their footage of the hearings. And of course I remember McGwire's line that he must have repeated several times, "I'm not here to talk about the past...."

And I don't even have to look at the caption information of the casket photo to tell you that the family was from Londonderry, NH, and that the woman who's crying at the casket was 5 or 6 when her father disappeared during the Vietnam war. I remember the BBC reporter who was there too, who wanted one of my pictures afterwards and I had no idea what to charge him so I called Prof. Southwick in a half-panic. I remember before the funeral service talking to members of Rolling Thunder, one of them had his 5 year old daughter with him, and she was wearing a tiny little leather vest made just for her. I remember a Marine was in the parking lot with us with a horse, and the little girl went up to it and the Marine said the horse had blond hair and blue eyes just like her.

I don't remember all this just because it was at Arlington cemetery or it was the steroids hearings. I remember almost every circumstance under which I shot a photo.. I remember if I was in a hurry, if the subject was nice, if it was awkward, if there were any complaints about the photo, if there was a long wait, even if it was hard to tone.

All this means only one thing: I'll make a great star witness one day....

Top 9 things no photojournalist EVER wants to hear

2009-12-02T10:22:00.006-05:00

The other day I had an assignment to shoot Eugene Driscoll and Jodie Mozdzer, who work for the Valley Independent Sentinel in Ansonia. This was weird because a) they were another news organization and b) I know both of them pretty well... I'm accustomed to shooting strangers. Anyway, upon hearing that I was assigned to it, Eugene, who's wife Autumn is a good friend of mine and a photographer for the Connecticut Post, sent me this message, as a joke, which brought back memories of the most difficult photo assignments I've ever had to shoot:

1. I trust you'll be e-mailing the photos immediately after we shoot?
2. I want the photo of me taken in front of my computer, over my shoulder, as I look at the computer screen, because the story involves computers.
3. I trust I will have final say over what photo you use
4. ...You have 5 minutes to shoot -- as I am a big deal and extremely busy.
5. All wrinkles, skin blemishes will be either be Photoshopped out -- or I trust you'll be using a soft lens, such as the one usually reserved for Cybil Sheppard.
6. I have about 15 people I want included in the photo. We will stand together, shoulder to shoulder.
7. You'll have to figure out how to marry demands 2 and 6.
8. Breaking news will not, I repeat, not interrupt or cancel my photo shoot.

IDEA: Ribbon-cutting/ground breaking WITH a fake check presentation.

-------

I guess I just like shooting artists

2009-12-01T17:03:00.002-05:00

Louise King, with her dog Toad at her Washington home where she builds her mud ponies and soot monoprints, will have her work on view at the Gunn Memorial Library in Washington beginning Dec. 12.

Star Party!!

2009-11-21T01:42:00.002-05:00

Nov. 20, 2009: Stargazers take turns looking at stars through a telescope during Friday's Star Party at White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, hosted by the Friends of the Morris Public Library, in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.
Josalee Thrift Republican-American

zombies, weddings, and field hockey

2009-11-20T12:36:00.002-05:00

What do those three have in common?

I shot them.

Zombie Party:

Sarah & Tara get married:

Semi-final field hockey game goes into TRIPLE overtime:

Rocky Votolato

2009-11-13T17:05:00.002-05:00

I shot pictures of one of my favorite musicians at a living room show in Burlington the other night, which was hosted by a girl I had actually photographed for the paper about two years ago. You can see a light I set up right next to him. I set up another light about five feet to my left, and I put a tube around it (made of cereal boxes covered with gaffer tape) to give it a spotlight effect. Afterwards I had a wonderful conversation with Rocky and his wife April.

It's November ALREADY.

2009-11-03T14:06:00.002-05:00

In recent weeks, with only one or two night photographers working at a daily newspaper that covers almost 50 towns, I'm regularly shooting two sports games a night, plus other news assignments. It's crazy. Anyway, I just was able to catch my breath and thought I'd share this:

New Milford's goalie Jack Holub punches the ball away from the goal as his teammate Zane Swanson jumps for the ball along with Pomperaug's #14 Connor Kennedy, #12 Matt Ruston and #19 Kyle Molnar during Monday's game at Pomperaug. New Milford won, 2-0.

This coming up weekend is my four day weekend (a perk that comes with rotating schedules). I'm really looking forward to it since MAE the band is coming through and I'll be seeing them in NYC, and then I have a zombie party I'm going to as well, which should all make for great photos.

Chuck Connelly

2009-10-13T23:02:00.004-04:00

Every day of working opens my world just a little more.

The other day I got a photo assignment to shoot some portraits of artist Chuck Connelly, the subject of an Emmy winning HBO documentary called "The Art of Failure," released last year.

I thought, "Cool, let me look this guy up."

I found this.

I thought, "Holy jeez what am I walking in to?!??!"

Then I thought, "Okay, whatever, I'll just pretend I didn't see it and I'll treat him like everyone else."

I had about 30 minutes at the art gallery in Litchfield before Chuck arrived with his assistant, Mark.

Now, I know I'm supposed to be an unbiased journalist, but come on, I'm also an artist, (in the most primitive sense of the word, I think) and his work was absolutely amazing, and in that short span of time I developed such a nervous excitement to meet the artist who's hands were responsible for all the stunning work that surrounded me.

And guess what?

We got along just fine.

The last shot, a painting of Chuck's studio, is my favorite piece from the exhibit. It reminded me of my favorite children's book when I was a kid, "Hey, Al."

Go to New Arts Gallery in Litchfield between now and Nov. 22 if you want to take a look for yourself.

Funeral for Army Capt. Benjamin Sklaver

2009-10-07T23:29:00.001-04:00

It's sports season!

2009-09-21T21:11:00.003-04:00

Happy September! The first photo is proof that I can make even the meanest looking high school football player smile. The second is from the first football game I shot this season. (Actually, it's the second game I shot. The first game lasted only 10 minutes until the electricity went out and it was canceled.)

The third shot was the first time I've ever seen a high school soccer game get really close to fisticuffs. And wouldn't you know the next day I shot a game where the SAME THING happened. The shot with the goalie is actually the play that angered the two players in the background into pushing each other and earning themselves a yellow card.

The last shot I just had come across when I was driving between assignments. I was driving down Route 8 when suddenly the light traffic that was on the road slowed down and I noticed a line of cars were pulled over on the side of the road, but I didn't see any police lights. The people who had pulled over were standing on the side of the road looking at something in between the two lanes, and when I drove by them I saw that it was some sort of feline. It turned out to be a bobcat, something I had never seen before. What I didn't mention in the caption is that the guy who dragged the bobcat out of the road also said he was an avid hunter and usually has a gun in the car with him, and he said he wished he did that day to put the poor animal out of its misery. I don't think I could have stayed for that. In fact, I left before any state troopers came by partly because I had to go to my next assignment and partly because I didn't want to be there to see it happen. Well, I probably wouldn't have been there anyway because the troopers would have yelled at me like they do so well.

on grief.

2009-09-03T20:23:00.007-04:00

I remember when I was a kid, about 8 years old, being amazed that I only saw one tear fall from my father's eye when his father died. I was fascinated that he wasn't bawling in absolute grief like I imagined I would if I was in the same situation.

But now I know that when you're a grown-up, it's not as easy to let your emotions take over you like when you were a kid. That no matter what happens, the sun will still rise, the earth still turns, the day wears on, and life continues. People depend on you to get up out of bed and march on. Your already previously scheduled activities don't allow time for grief or contemplation.

I've thought about that a lot since Marie died. I wrote a remembrance article that published the same day as her obituary, and writing it came so easily that I didn't even shed a tear. But the next day, when I read the article in print, next to the picture of her sitting in Lake Iroquois, titled with a headline that read something like "Days after celebrating life, cancer victim loses battle," it suddenly became real. I had just about five minutes to pause and stare at the paper until I had to be on my way to an assignment.

Even though reading the article in the paper makes me cry, I find so much solace in it.. but I still wrestle with accepting the reality. And I find that the most emotional times come at the most unpredictable. I can't even count how many times I've cried in a company car on Route 8 now. But little by little I'm finding the time.

If anyone is wondering if I took any photos since her death, of the family mourning, of any of the pleasantries that come with burial, I haven't. The death was sudden, out of state, the family is scattered, her body was cremated, and the story wasn't even about her death anyway. It's about her life. She lived it until the very end.

Here is the article:

Three and a half years after being diagnosed with lung cancer and told she had just six months to live, Marie Tyrrell celebrated her 63rd birthday Monday on the shores of Rhode Island, later telling her two daughters, Tracie Marcil and Marcie Keller, that it was the best day of her life.

On Wednesday, in the company of close relatives, and after years of beating the odds against her cancer, Marie Tyrrell died at Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island.

Tyrrell was the subject of two articles and photo documentaries in the Republican-American for her resilience and optimism in the face of her terminal illness. The former activities director for the Oxford Senior Center, Tyrrell, who always said, "Life is what happens when you're making plans," planned for everything once she was diagnosed, believing that if she just kept striving to meet her plans, she would buy more time to survive. Tyrrell planned ahead of time so well that just after her death, when her relatives searched her belongings for a pink velour jumpsuit she wished to be cremated in, they found it in the bag that she took with her for the weekend visit to Rhode Island.

Tyrrell's spirited enthusiasm also inspired other cancer survivors, many of whom she became friends with over conversations during chemotherapy treatments.

"My mom was given cancer for a reason, so she would become my best friend and inspire people. Truly, she inspired people. I think this was her purpose in life. She lived her life to the fullest and I know she left with no regrets," said Marcil.

Besides her daughters, Tyrrell leaves her husband of 26 years, Paul Tyrrell, and granddaughter Mysti Keller.

A memorial service in celebration of Marie Tyrrell's life will be held on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. at St. George's Church in Middlebury.

Josie goes to a mosque

2009-08-28T12:42:00.001-04:00

2009-08-19T09:19:00.001-04:00

Marie died today.

Civil War Reenactment: Battle for the Shenandoah Valley

2009-08-19T00:06:00.003-04:00

I got a little taste of my home state of Virginia the other day, during the Civil War Reenactment in Woodbury. It was WICKED hot.

I forgot to mention in my last post that at the Litchfield Jazz Festival I had noticed a couple in their 50s or 60s that looked SO in love. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, and I kind of had to hold myself back from approaching them just to tell them how cute they were. Luckily though, I had a chance to talk to the woman, who I had previously taken a photo of at a social gathering just before the festival.

It turns out this woman, Lucy Anne Hurston, was the niece and biographer of Zora Neale Hurston, the author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," a book I absolutely LOVED and was assigned to read by my high school AP English teacher, Mrs. Robison, an AWESOME teacher who I found out about a year ago had passed away after a battle to breast cancer. I smiled a little when I thought of her, because it was proof that she still lived on.

So, every once in a while I'm able to have a mind-blowing conversation with complete strangers. It's a rare treat that Lucy unsuspectingly brought to me. I got to hear about the love story of her and her husband, a little about Zora and the book, and about Lucy's sociological research about this country's prison system, and our culture's relationship with the idea of redemption.

And even though afterwards I had to walk through the mud and driving rain to my car, it was a great day. I live for days like that.

moving.

2009-08-12T22:59:00.003-04:00

So in the past few weeks I've moved from Waterbury to Southington, and since the actual move I've been working on painting the walls and getting stuff in order. And by "stuff in order" I mean filling up the three entire power strips underneath my desk.

In the meantime, this is what I've been up to at work:

Way to go, tough guy.

2009-07-24T00:47:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, when people ask me how my job is, I tell them you see the best in people and you see the worst in people, but usually it's the best.

Today was unusual.

It never ceases to amaze me how some of the most "highfalutin'" people (as my grandpa would have said) have the most barbaric ways of dealing with people.

I saw a man, who at one point was voted to the level of state legislature, (who, by the way, resigned from that position after getting ARRESTED on a charge of THREATENING, to which he pled GUILTY) point his finger in a reporter's face as he was screaming at her like he was a baseball coach spitting tobacco juice in the face of an equally volatile umpire. And even though the reporter handled it extremely well and was polite about it, I knew exactly how she felt, because who can ever feel good after being completely disrespected like that?

It just absolutely disgusts me at how some people find pleasure in putting other people down like that.

I spoke with the reporter afterwards, and she kept her cool pretty well, but I know that the damage isn't even really made during the personal attack to yourself, but mostly at the blow to your optimism about people in general. For someone who was able to convince so many people to trust him enough to vote him into office to act like a complete baby, short of stomping his feet and banging his fists, as if it's perfectly acceptable behavior.....that just blows my mind.

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

2009-07-23T10:52:00.003-04:00

Did you know that the above is the ACTUAL name of the smallest state in the country?

And here are some random photos I shot in a past few weeks:

Hmmm, what to do when the zombie apocalypse comes..

2009-07-10T13:33:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went to a farmer's market in Thomaston where I ran into some people from a farm whose owner I had made a deal with last year: When the zombie apocalypse comes, and all infrastructure fails, I will ride my bicycle the 20 miles or so to his farm, where shelter and food will be aplenty.

The first year I worked at the Republican-American I did a photo story on a couple different CSA farms. (Community Supported Agriculture.. NOT Confederate States of America) It was a good excuse to be outside and enjoy the earth.

I'm on a boat!

2009-07-09T02:02:00.002-04:00

Today I was assigned to shoot a triathlon sprint. Getting there was a pain, as I was directed to park in a place where another person told me I couldn't be and then he wouldn't let me turn around and then another person let me turn around and then two other people helped direct me through some obstacles and one of them angrily yelled "YOU'RE WELCOME" as he walked away. (I of course stopped my vehicle and yelled "I SAID THANK YOU!") By the time I got to the beach where the triathlon was to begin, I had about 10 minutes before start time and no good vantage point.

Then along comes one of the organizers, who I knew from local high school swimming. I waved to him, and he says, "You want a boat?" as he's pulling a plastic kayak to the beach.

"Sure!" I say, and before I know it I'm in the kayak with my gear and only as he's pushing me out to the lake does he say, "You know how to do this, right?"

I've never kayaked before. But I've spent many hours canoeing at Camp Skimino and at Newport News Park, so I nodded my head yes. And if I hadn't known I would have learned pretty quick since I was already on the water and was about five minutes away from being surrounded by swimmers.

Marie revisited

2009-07-08T12:52:00.002-04:00

Since I had a couple separate slide shows of the story, I thought it would make more sense to combine them in one. I also added some newer photos from the past few months. The audio was taken back in 2007, but still applies for the most part.

Marie's not doing so well. She just signed up for hospice, so she has a nurse visiting her down in Killingworth a few times a week to help her out. Marie said that when she feels it's time, she'll move back down to the house in Middlebury (which still hasn't sold, and Marie now sees that it wasn't such a bad thing after all), put a hospital bed in it, and die there, among friends and family.

Jolene's wedding

2009-06-29T23:40:00.003-04:00

I came down to VA this weekend to go to an old friend's wedding. The wedding and reception were at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond. Even back in high school I always really liked Jolene's style, so I was really excited to see what she had in store for us. I think the detail I was most impressed with was the all-vegetarian buffet.

Mess with the bull, get the horns

2009-06-22T16:07:00.002-04:00

I'm going to lose my hearing.

2009-05-24T21:32:00.007-04:00

About two months ago, maybe a little more, I met another Josie through a mutual friend. The craziest thing is that she's just like me, too! At least, just like me when I was her age.... which is 19. Apparently she didn't think I was TOO old, as she invited me to go to some local rock shows, which brought back a LOT of old memories from back in Virginia.

Those shows, mixed together with my previous visit with my friends MAE (see 3/1 post) made me want to go out and listen to some more live music.

Luckily, one of my most favorite bands ever, Alkaline Trio, came to Toad's in New Haven, and I decided to actually bring my Mark II.... to a concert in which I knew it was very likely to turn to fisticuffs. But then I convinced myself that a Mark II with a wide angle lens on it is much more potent than a fist. Luckily, it didn't go down like that and I came out with some images that I may just blow up poster-size and hang in my room:

I also saw a band that I had never heard of but was suggested by a friend, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and the photos were funny to me, because the setting was an American Legion:

poof!

2009-05-18T20:06:00.004-04:00

Hi.

I changed servers. In doing so, I lost most of the photos I had uploaded onto this blog. Sorry. I could go back, but that would be time wasted on the past. Let's focus on the present!

The following are some videos I did about a local prep school. I learned more about rowing than I'd ever thought I'd learn. The first video is the team practicing for the upcoming regatta, and the second video is of the actual regatta, which I edited at around 2:30am... after drowning my 28-70mm lens in Lake Waramaug, and after shooting and editing another video.

http://www.rep-am.com/videos/043009-JT/

http://www.rep-am.com/videos/050309-JT2/

Recently I feel like I've been getting a pretty annoying case of bad karma. But then I think instead that perhaps it's just the fact that the more risk you take, the more of these little annoyances will happen. And when I say risk, I mean like, walking outside. Anything can happen. Especially on the steep and slippery bank of a river in the rain while trying to shoot both stills and video for the same assignment.

Thank God for insurance.

Update on Marie

2009-03-29T00:08:00.005-04:00

A little more than two weeks ago, Tracie called me to tell me Marie had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but it was minor and she was okay. Then, about a week ago, Marie had suffered a stroke, and she has been in the hospital ever since then.

I visited her at the hospital tonight, and I felt like I was in a fog. I didn't know why until I later realized that this time I wasn't there primarily to take pictures, but rather for the sake of visiting. When I got there her husband Paul was there along with her granddaughter Mysti and Mysti's boyfriend Matt. Also there was one of Marie's close friends she made at chemo, Ron. Since there were now 7 of us in all, we moved everyone to the floor's "lounge room," and just chatted for a few hours.

At one point Marie went around and asked everyone what they wanted to do before they die.

I saw the cancer on her x-ray. I saw the effect of chemo when she shaved her head. But it wasn't until today that this all became very, very real.

To see how I've covered Marie's story for the past two years, go here:
http://www.rep-am.com/slideshows/mariemm/

rockstardom

2009-03-01T23:08:00.007-05:00

The other night one of my best friends from back home came to town while on tour with the band Mae, who he plays bass for. They're a fairly well-known band, and because they're from my hometown of course I have a sense of pride in them as well, not to mention how awesome it is that they're donating a lot of the money they're making to Habitat for Humanity to help a woman in Newport News. Check them out.

So since I had the day off I got to hang out with them before and after the show. I forgot how much I liked shooting musical performances... especially when there's no bouncer glaring at me and no chance of getting hit in the face by a flying shoe and/or crowd surfer.

2008-12-13T00:16:00.002-05:00

recent additions

I've been playing around with the new web features on PhotoShelter.

In the meantime, I have been having several conversations with fellow newspaper people about the fate of our industry. You never realize how passionate you or your colleagues are until you have these conversations. I read something that predicted that by 2010, about a year from now, most towns won't have local newspapers. That frightens me. What frightens me even more is that it seems the only people that care about this are people that work in papers, when the people who should be most concerned are citizens! I revel in having a right to information. Information is free! Library cards are free! That (and the interstate system of defense highways) is what I LOVE about this country! Sadly, it's so often overlooked and taken for granted...

I know, there's the web. Everything will go to the web. And I must sound like a broken record to my friends, but NOT EVERYONE HAS THE INTERNET! People who have the internet are NOT the only people who are important! And yes, libraries have internet, and they're public and free. Well, libraries are not conveniently located at every corner. What about people living in rural areas? Newspapers give you the opportunity to page through news that you normally wouldn't come across. The Internet customizes what you see with every click, narrowing your breadth of information each time. It's like radio now-- you only hear what the big bucks want you to listen to.

.. And I dearly love my job. I can't think of any other job where you (and thousands of other people) can so quickly see the product of your work. I don't want my occupation to turn into the stuff of folklore, like cowboys and shoe repairmen... but, if it does, I'll at least have (paper) evidence of it.

sneak peak

2008-11-22T00:13:00.002-05:00

Christmas Eve 2007: Marie, undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy for stage four lung cancer, looks at herself in the mirror after her daughter Tracie shaved her head.

PHOTOS!

2008-10-24T22:23:00.003-04:00

COMPLETE GERMANY PICTURE ALBUMS

Hallo from Deutschland!

2008-09-15T10:19:00.004-04:00

So I am in Germany visiting my brother and his family. This weekend we were at the annual medieval festival in Dreieichenhain. Above is a performer practicing between some tents before he went on stage.

This vendor sold honey wine and was VERY nice once he realized I didn't understand German. I bought one huge glass bottle and two smaller ones to take with me to the States.

My brother and I. Yes, we really are related. Here is a very similar picture of us:

More photos from the festival:

This is my 12-year-old niece. She is taller than me.

My brother, my niece, and my sister-in-law. I love the houses.

We rented an RV to stay in for two nights.

I have TONS of photos of various scenes, from my first authentic German meal to my brother eating the Oreos I brought over since they don't have any in Germany, to my sister-in-law's Prussian father. When my brother introduced me to him, instead of the usual polite introduction, my brother says, "THIS. is a PRUSSIAN! Take a good long look. There aren't too many left anymore." Which is entirely true, and extremely interesting to me. Klaus the Prussian fled his home when he was 6 years old with his parents to escape the Russians. The German government finally assigned him to live in the town they live in now, called Breitenbrunn.

what's josie been up to?

2008-09-05T00:31:00.004-04:00

Well, there was the sidewalk festival in Kent:

I saw the walking fruit first as I was driving by. I did a double take in my rear view mirror and that's when I made an illegal U-turn, drove past them again, in the direction of where they were walking, found a parking spot, ran out of my car with my gear and waited. Yes, I was hunting fruit. Apparently they were doing promotions for a nearby IGA grocery store.

The seemingly sadistic man who's burning another man, albeit tiny, glass, and soul-less, was someone who I only saw because I walked past some people who were looking at him from across the street. This is Max the Glass Blower. He was in the shade of a tree, and if it wasn't for the flame I wouldn't have even noticed him. The purple glasses I thought were a fashion statement, but are really there to help him see what he's doing through the flame. He had a few extra pairs and he let me wear one, and I put a purple lens over the lens of my camera, and this is the effect.

I think these two dudes go to the same hair stylist.

This is Jason, the owner of a new restaurant downtown called the Country Club. If you go there, he will write your NAME on your plate!!! Anywho, I like this because it's not every day I get to take my time with portraits and use the tools that I made with my very own gaffer tape and cereal box. (A snoot.)

---
One of my friends from freshman year at Boston is in a band, (The Appreciation Post) and every so often they'll come through the area on tour. (We actually reunited randomly when they came through and played with some Waterbury bands a few months ago... THAT was a blast from the past!) So I met up with them at the American Legion in Naugatuck, only I missed their set but we hung out a little bit:

Then we went outside to get away from feeling like the oldest people there and that is when Roger (Who's like, 7 feet tall) Looked up at the sky and said, "Um, guys?"

Five minutes and two miles later:

I wasn't on the clock, but MAN was it cool when I ran to my car and Roger and Nam (the ROCKstars) yell, "Go, photojournalist, go! Go shoot that fire!" in front of a bunch of teenagers.

In the meantime I'm looking forward to going to Germany for two weeks on the 9th. This will be the first time my brother and I will get to hang out without Dad yelling at us for things like playing laser tag at 3am or drinking in public. Also, I get to see my niece who is 13, I think, and from what I hear, she sounds exactly like me when I was 13... so.. this should be fun. =)

VIDEOS!!!

2008-09-03T17:38:00.003-04:00

Thomas the Tank Engine

This was my first REAL video. (I did one a few weeks earlier with a small point and shoot camera.) I was stoked. Nidia, the mom in the video, called me at the office the next day and we became friends pretty fast and talked a couple times. She also shares a name with one of my favorite Panamanian aunts, and was more than happy to have me practice speaking Spanish with her.

Flying in a B-17 Bomber

Last year around this time I rode in the same B-17, with the same pilot even. That was before I knew a thing about shooting video so I did an audio slideshow on it that apparently has garnered over 6,000 hits on YouTube, which I only found out about after I spoke to the pilot during the latest assignment. It's always cool to come back to an annual event where people remember not only you but your work.

Germany in ONE WEEK!

long summer nights= long blog posts

2008-07-04T12:32:00.006-04:00

This is my third summer in New England, and with each summer I realize just how precious these long, warm days are. And what I love more than the long warm days are the hot, hazy nights, which just brings me back to my summers as a teenager back home.

We at the Rep-Am but a lot of emphasis on the importance of exercise to morale, teamwork, and personal health.

Now I know what I must look like to the chipmunks that run away as I fly by on the Middlebury Green Way. The guy to the right is Jamison, who witnessed my very first tire blow-out. Not just the tube, I blew out the TIRE. And furthermore we were about five miles from our cars. After two weeks, four tubes, a newly learned proficiency at changing bike tubes, and throwing a near temper-tantrum at the Bike Rack (my safety had been at serious risk), I think the problem is fixed.

The paper put on a "Flag Day Coloring Contest" where kids drew a picture that incorporated an image of the American Flag, and the winners would have their pictures published on July 4, and receive some prizes. The first winner who came in was Hannah, and I was so excited at how festively she was dressed! She was wearing a red and white striped shirt, blue jean shorts, and I didn't notice her nails until I was shooting her holding her picture. So just for fun, I got this photo.

The same day I had an assignment in Wallingford to shoot Dan Mazzaferro, a local who competed in the Olympic trials. I introduced myself to him, and mentioned how I remembered taking his photo when he was a senior at Cheshire. I also noticed this HUGE ring he was wearing, which was an NCAA Championship ring from last year for Auburn University, where he attends now. I said, "Last year? What year are you now?"

Dan: "I'm going to be a junior."

Me: "Seriously?!? So I must have taken your picture YEARS ago!"

Dan: "Yeah, I'm old."

"YOU'RE old??!" I thought to myself. Time FLIES!!!

Anyway, here's a photo of him showing off his skillz.

For graduation season, which ended just a few weeks ago, we held a photo competition for three categories: Best Overall Photo, Best Gallery, and Best Emotion. What was at stake, you ask? Three trophies hand-made by our very own Steven Valenti. I received Best Overall Photo for a photo I shot at the very first graduation I shot:

Rachael Dioses is comforted by her stepfather and mother Dominic and Maria Cavaiuolo of Cheshire after Dioses received the diploma for her brother Timothy Dioses, who died last month, during commencement ceremonies on Thursday at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury.

And if anyone has ever wondered if I ever tear up at sad events? The answer is YES. I almost started bawling at the Crosby graduation when the cousin of a would-be graduate who had drowned the week before was singing a song in his honor. It KILLED me.

TJ won Best Photo Gallery with his coverage of Torrington's graduation.
Jim won Best Emotion with a photo that I will post up here later...

So after I "accepted" my award, I celebrated by going to Señor Panchos in Prospect, sitting the trophy on the seat next to me, and having a photo shoot with it afterwards. (The actual circumstances? I met up with Johnathon Henninger from the Record-Journal to pick up my sunglasses that I had accidentally left with him when we had met up with Chion Wolf from NPR in West Hartford. Though we have no photos from that event, it was certainly memorable because John had successfully finished his very first beer: a PINT of Newcastle Brown Ale. The man is 30 years old.)

rainbow hunting

2008-06-01T00:30:00.006-04:00

Today I attended the Small-Paper Summit, put on by the Society for News Design and hosted by the Rep-Am. I learned a lot more than I was honestly expecting, and though it's so easy to be pessimistic about the newspaper industry, many things that speakers Darren Sanefski, Charles Apple, and Bill Ostendorf said were pretty gutsy in that they WERE optimistic. I also received an extremely constructive portfolio review, so keep your eyes open as I should tweak up my website soon. It definitely refreshed my batteries, and just in time for my weekend!

After the conference ended a wicked thunderstorm came through, and afterwards a rainbow popped up behind my house, and then a second, fainter one:

Then I rode around on my NEW BIKE looking for better vantage points but the rainbow soon dissolved.

Ah, my bike. I had been looking for a bike for a while but I'm short, and I have short legs, thus finding a bike that I could comfortably ride was a tinge difficult. It happens. We live in a heightist world.

A few weeks ago my co-worker Jamison, who's a bike FREAK, called to tell me he found a bike that looked like it would fit me.

"Where did you find it?" I asked.

"Bike Rack, in Waterbury," he said.

"Wait... where??"

"Bike Rack!"

"Well, if you found it on a bike rack, doesn't it BELONG to someone????" I ask in astonishment of Jamison's intention of stealing a private citizen's property.

"THE. BIKE. RACK. It's a STORE!"

Once that was settled, we went over to THE Bike Rack one day and lo and behold, the bike FIT!

So I bought it, and it wasn't until after I bought it (here in Waterbury, CT) that I noticed this sticker:

Oceanfront Bicycles, VA Beach, VA.

Someone could have ridden this SAME bike right past me when I lived in Virginia Beach 20 YEARS AGO. This bike is MEANT for me.

Now, like any good vessel of travel, it needs a name. Any suggestions?

Of Bikes and Men.

2008-05-26T12:02:00.004-04:00

I'm becoming more and more inspired by portraits I see on strobist, and I decided, what better way to practice portraits than with friends?

My first willing experiment is my friend Matt Lolli, who's obviously really into bikes and making art inspired by cycling, as is illustrated by Ghostship Clothing. We started out just doing portraits of him, and the focus quickly turned into a t-shirt campaign.

I'm pretty excited with how they came out, and I can't wait to shoot more of these as I add items to my ~~rifle case~~ light kit bag.

In the meantime, I'm deep in the bowels of editing HOURS upon HOURS of audio down to less than 5 minutes for Marie Tyrrell's follow-up that we're aiming to finish next month. She's doing well.. she just came back from a dude ranch with her daughter Tracie and granddaughter Mysti. Last month I went with Marie to her cataracts surgery. I was starting to feel a bit queasy as I watched the surgery until one of the women there told me exactly what was happening, which I thought would for sure make me vomit, but I was surprisingly comfortable with the details.

And last week we at the Rep-Am bid farewell to Ben Conery, who was one of the first good friends I made when I moved to Waterbury (which will be THREE years ago next month). He's going to greener pastures, at the Washington Times.

Good luck, Buck.

kitties!

2008-03-22T20:00:00.003-04:00

There seems to be a feline theme in some of my photographs lately. If you saw my portfolio, you would have noticed this new one:

One of the reporters said she has never seen so much emotion on a CAT before. Oh, yeah, and the cat had gone back INTO the burning building, and was later rescued:

And sometime last month there was a huge snow storm and no one was out except for this little guy:

IN OTHER NEWS, I received a Publick Occurrences Award for Photojournalism from the New England Newspaper Association last Friday for the story I did on Marie.. who is doing quite well, by the way.

"mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho!"

2008-03-16T00:37:00.004-04:00

In recent weeks, I feel like I have been the grim reaper of tractor-trailers. It all started with my boss calling me at 7am one day for this:

The driver behind the wheel of this tractor-trailer carrying compressed hydrogen fell asleep. I wasn't very good in Chemistry class, so I didn't know what the big deal was when people were making dramatic gasps whenever I said "compressed hydrogen," and the reactions were so lively it could well have been the magic word on Pee Wee's Playhouse when everything goes bonkers. Anyway, for those of you like me, compressed hydrogen is what they use to make bombs. Now that I think about it, I wonder where this tractor-trailer was headed. Anyway, the important thing here is no one was hurt, AND riding in the baby plane was pretty cool--I was even on the driver's side!

And wouldn't you know it, the NEXT DAY, in roughly the same area on the same highway, I was called to this:

Apparently the trailer had somehow come OFF the truck. Scary.

NINE DAYS LATER....a storm came through, on my shift of course, (somehow fate just has it so that the Southerner, who has NO experience driving in snow, always shoots the snow storms..) and eventually they closed the west-bound lanes and all lanes on 84 were going east:

After this I was just so fed up with these accidents that I went on vacation, to escape it all ya know? And on my first day back, I was sent to this accident, ALSO on I-84:

Be careful out there, fellow drivers.

Erin go brea!

2008-03-05T00:09:00.004-05:00

After weeks and weeks of rehearsing, I, along with my fellow staff photographers, (minus TJ, who was too busy with his OWN Irish dance troupe...) performed an Irish dance recital under the direction of our web guy, Curtis. I personally think we did pretty well considering the costume constraints, which, needless to say, the dudes had a HUGE problem with. After all this though, I really want to host a dance-off with the photog staffs of the other CT papers.

Happy St. Paddy's Day from your friends: Steve, Josie, Bob, Baz, and Jim.

Homeward Bound

2007-10-12T06:22:00.000-04:00

It's 622 and I am at Bradley Airport embarking on my journey to Virginia to 1- shoot UConn v.UVA and 2- visit Ma and Pa Thrift. I can't even remember the last time I spent more than 24 consecutive hours in my hometown.

Did you know that in REM's song "It's the end of the world as we know it," Michael Stipe sings "no fear cavalier," a verse thought to be inspired by the Wahoos?! Though I've only been in Charlottesville a handful of times, it will always hold a special place in my heart, especially when I think of the time I went as a junior in high school and convinced some freshman that I was in my second year at Mr. Jefferson's University. I learned fast.

AND did you know that the creator of "Cavemen" first wanted to set the show in Newport News, Virginia but couldn't because there was no way anyone, not even the best magician in the WORLD, could make Los Angeles, where the show is filmed, look like the News.

Anyway, it feels like it's going to be a weird trip already. Considering: a) I got absolutely no sleep last night so things seem weird anyway, b) a red "something is wrong" light switched on on my car's dashboard on my ride to the airport and totally stressed me out to the point where I was very close to sticking gaffer tape over it, c) they moved me from connecting in Cleveland to connecting in Philadelphia which is precisely what I was trying to avoid as I'd only have 1 hour to switch flights in the chaotic mess that is the Philadelphia airport and d) I was randomly selected to have my carry-on bags thoroughly searched! When the TSA guy asked if I had any electronics I had to laugh because every piece of camera gear I'll need on the field is in my carry-on.

Wish me luck!

stories.

2007-08-08T01:00:00.000-04:00

Last month I completed an audio slideshow of a woman who I had been following around since March. Although the story is by no means "done," we had enough to publish so we decided to go ahead and do that. If I waited any longer it would have been a bit overwhelming trying to fit everything in one issue.

Here is a link: http://www.rep-am.com/slideshows/marie

Remember to turn on your speakers! In the meantime I'm still following Marie, although I haven't seen her in about 3 weeks which I think is the longest I've gone without seeing her. This weekend though I am going to Vermont with her family, so hopefully I'll get to make up for all that lost time.

Marie's story kind of fell into my lap after I had met her three times in one week from having so many assignments at the Oxford Town Hall, which is also where the town's library is as well as the Oxford Senior Center, which is where Marie works as the activities director. She told me about her cancer, and the gears in my head started clicking, so I asked her if she would mind me sticking around and visiting for the next months. In about a week, she had become so comfortable with me that, though she was happy to have the company, she would forget I was there in the way you forget your pet is in the room. It's a comforting presence but nothing that you feel you have to dress up for or live up to, because your pet likes you just the way you are.

Anyway, I'm glad I have this website to update the story as I follow it. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I've been trying to make better audio slideshows on shorter time allowances, like the Ponte Club Festa di San Donato here in Waterbury.

Apparently this has been a preoccupation considering last night I had a dream that all the staff photographers were at work for some reason and I was like "Hey guys! We should do an audio slideshow on OURSELVES!" I think in my dream I meant slideshows in which the photographers narrate how they got the shot.

I often have dreams that something of significant historical importance is happening right in front of me and I'm overglassed. What an awful feeling.

iTunes withdrawal.

2007-06-10T18:14:00.001-04:00

My second replacement iPod (my third since its original purchase in April 2005) died a few days ago, and its demise was exactly the same as the last two! And of course, this time, the warranty has run out even though this iPod is only six months old. Apparently they only count from the original purchase.

Anyway, the death of the iPod came just a day after I sent away my iBook G4 to the iBook hospital to get a SuperDrive installed on it so I can burn DVDs of my raw files.

I depended on my iPod for music on the road, and my laptop for music at home. I figured I would be okay sending away the laptop since I have my iPod, of whose imminent death I was unaware of.

Now I am music-less. . . . and on hold for the fifth time with Apple. But I must say their technical support is surprisingly pleasant. I just always feel like they're on my side. Personally I think its due to a feeling of guilt they have from the decreasing quality of their product. My first iPod lasted for 12 months, the second for 8, and this one for 6.

=(

new and improved!

2007-05-28T22:31:00.001-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because there were some complications with my domain name. See, about two years ago when I lived in DC for a brief period, I happened to randomly meet a very nice gentleman who happened to own a server, and I just happened to need a domain. Being the nice gentleman that he was, he went ahead and set up the domain name josalee.com for me, which was great. . .

Until two years later when it was time to renew and the nice gentleman was off being nice and educational somewhere in Afghanistan, teaching villagers about computers.

So instead of waiting to see if my domain was going to be renewed and if I would still have access to it (yes it was renewed, and no I don't have access) I went ahead and bought josaleethrift.com.

I must admit that I will miss that feeling I get from impressing people when I tell them that yes, I have my very own domain name that only consists of my first name. It's like I'm ALMOST in the same category with people like Cher, Madonna, Aaliyah, and Tupac. Perhaps that will be the case in another two years. In the meantime I shall join the ranks of the two-named.

Anyway, there was an actual point to this blog: I did not learn until very recently that looking through a slightly unsteady long lens (800mm) for a long time will make you sick. And by "sick" I mean the kind of sick you get when you play Wolfenstein for too long. The doubly bad thing about this is that usually, when you are looking through a very long lens, you're shooting a pretty important event.

In my case, I was fighting the urge to vomit while I was in a CEMETERY. I finally put down the camera when my knees were about to give out. At first I thought it was the heat that was making me sick, so I drank an entire bottle of water all at once, which just made me sicker. I finally hopped off the riser and stumbled into a wooded corner of the cemetery so I wouldn't disrespect anyone's grave.

Fortunately, I didn't vomit, but as I left, the TV guy Jeff was nice enough to carry my step stool, and a very nice firefighter from Meriden carried my lens (like a baby, as another photographer said) to my car. I would like to point out that had I not been sick, I would have been able to carry all those things by myself. And though the previous sentence should be obvious, I feel I have to vindicate a statement made earlier in the day by an older gentleman who saw my lens and said, "Wow! That's a big lens! Especially for a little girl like you!"

Lesson: Bring a tripod.

Beware the Ides of March.

2007-03-16T01:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Pi day. In high school, as a member of Mu Alpha Theta, I was part of a very overzealous group of fellow pi celebrants. In honor of Pi Day this year, I ate a fried apple pie from the wheel of nutrition at work. Also, the symbol for Pi (∏) kind of looks like my initials. I could almost say it's a spiritual bond...

Pi Day is also Ides of March Eve. Last year on this day I remember meeting a man named Caesar and being totally floored by the coincidence.

This year on the Ides of March I almost got arrested, but thanks to a powerful combination of education in media law and irresistable charm, I was not arrested.

Actually, I lie; those two things had nothing to do with me not being arrested... okay, well, maybe just a little bit... but it had everything to do with a misunderstanding of jurisdiction. And I will leave it at that.

Until next time, I leave you all with a picture of the cutest couple to ever grace this earth:

Ma and Pa Thrift. Married March 16, 28 years today.

Northern Short Course 2007 -Warwick, RI

2007-03-13T01:33:00.000-04:00

This was the first short course I had ever been to, and I learned so much and I really can't wait to use what I learned on the field. And after the workshops there was the "Suite Life Party," thrown by John Harrington of DC. I personally thought it was one of the coolest parties I have ever been to, but when I explained to my friends about the set-up with the studio lights, printer, computer, slideshow, and mini Aqua Teen Boston bombs hung around the place, they told me it sounded more like a geek fest.

Try 1. I blinked. I also blinked when the guy who gave the workshop on location lighting, David Hobby, took a "portrait" of me during the workshop as an example. This is why I work BEHIND the camera.

Try 2.

perfecto.

the monkey

2007-03-12T11:33:00.000-04:00

I've been busy editing the photos (that I shot on film...what's that?) from Panama, but in the meantime I thought I would share these pictures. This endangered squirrel monkey was hanging out with his owner, an indigenous street vendor in the Casco Viejo section of Panama City, when I decided to take some photos of the owner with the monkey on his shoulder. I got closer and closer with every frame I shot, until the monkey decided he liked MY shoulder better.

I felt kind of bad after I later found out the monkey was endangered. There's only one park in Panama where they're protected. All their other habitats, especially in the Darien jungle, are being quickly destroyed, or the monkeys themselves are being taken by well-meaning street vendors to help sell their merchandise. I think these monkeys can only be found in Panama and/or Costa Rica.

Stay tuned for more photos from Panama... AND from the Northern Short Course in Warwick, RI.

inaugural state of the blog address

2007-02-14T18:29:00.001-05:00

I feel like I should take a bottle of champagne and break it over my laptop just to celebrate these first moments of this blog's life. But, for obvious reasons, I won't.

Have you ever noticed, on those sporadic occasions where you see photographs of other photographers, usually lined up at a sporting event, completely oblivious that anyone is taking THEIR photo, that either all or almost all the photographers are men?

I actually didn't, at least it wasn't an observation that I clearly noted in my head, until last night before shooting the UConn women's basketball game against Louisville at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, when another female photographer brought it to my attention, along with two other female photographers present. The topic actually came up once we all sat down and realized, "Hey, we outnumber the guys! This is a sporting event! Impossible!"

...And then we brushed eachother's hair and talked about everybody's outfits at the Grammys!!!

Joking.

We talked about the upcoming Women in Photojournalism Conference in August in Austin, TX. We talked about the little annoyances that we experience as women that none of our male colleagues would understand, just as I'm sure our male colleagues have annoying experiences that we as women would never understand. Anyway, it was a good time. A very rare occasion, but a good time.

When we went back to our desks, an old man approached one of the male photographers, looked at all the women photographers' pretty faces, and said to the male photographer, "They just keep getting younger, and you keep getting older."