change is good.

Today the new, revamped and user-friendly Burlington Free Press website launched and the response couldn't be better! Those of us in the photo department are especially excited about the new site because it better highlights our photo galleries and slideshow projects. The changes at work got me thinking about this blog of mine and I created a link list of most of my multimedia projects that I've completed so far at the Free Press. So click there to keep current.

Today was a pretty slow day with most of the morning spent in court shooting a rape trial and then it was off to shoot a murder trial. Very lighthearted way to spend my morning. After finishing some web work in the newsroom it was off to Vermont National Country Club to shoot a golf game. Exhilarating. :) But hey, it was a gorgeous afternoon spent on a nice, quiet piece of So. Burlington...and I got to tear around on a golf cart for the afternoon which is fantastic.

And I leave you with a photo I shot last weekend. I had forgotten about it until a proud parent called the news desk this afternoon to tell me how much they loved the shot. I love it when people go out of their way to be nice, really makes my day.

wise guy.

No big story behind this photo but I wanted to post it anyway since I really like it. I just love the expression on this kid's face, so stoic and serious. But check out his older brother in the background - what a little monkey! I shot this last week when temperatures in Burlington reached the upper 70's and it was a slow news day so off I went to the various parks and beaches in Burlington (I know...what a chore! ha) to scavenge for some weather features. These two dudes were certainly my favorite.

the good doc

Everyday I get to take a peek into somebody else's world and experience something unknown to me through a different perspective. As you've seen so far, most of my projects have been lighthearted as I ease my way into the world of the Free Press but this story took a different turn. Reporter Terri Hallenbeck and I met with a pediatric oncologist, Dr. Giselle Sholler, several weeks ago at Fletcher Allen Health Care here in Burlington. Dr. Sholler is developing a new treatment for neuroblastoma patients - generally children - with a drug generally used for parasitic infection. Besides being in complete and total awe upon meeting this woman, I was completely blown away with the way she nurtures these children.

Terri and I interviewed six-year-old Jack Brown from London who barely muttered a word as he was hooked up intravenously to his chemotherapy treatment. As I snapped away and collected audio, both Terri and I and Jack's father tried to nurse a few words from him - no such luck. The moment Dr. Sholler stepped into the room, Jack's eyes drifted from his Thomas the Tank Engine DVD and deadlocked on her. Smiles and giggles, stories and show-and-tell, Jack was illuminated.

Soon thereafter in rolls Dustin. Standing on the wheels of his chemo cart, Dustin rolls into Jack's treatment room to hang out. Kids constantly surprise me, but Dustin was a true gem. Dustin's a dry-whitted nine-year-old Southern boy from Atlanta with a drawl that'll melt any Yankee heart. When the nurse asked for his lunch order he mulled over the cafeteria choices and "settled" on a flank stank, hold the corn relish, cooked medium with a side of mash. Oh, and a beer, too. What a little firecracker.

These two boys were incredible and nobody can ignore their strength and will as they deal with this terrible disease. I'm lucky to have met them and hope they continue to touch the lives of others. Click below to watch the audio slideshow for some great commentary.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/040808neuroblastoma/index.html

Dustin with his coy smile.

Little Jack perks right up with Dustin and Dr. Sholler by his side.

A tender moment between father and son.

Tickle torture to pass the time.

Dr. Sholler's got the magic touch.

loose moose

Last week there was a yearling moose on the loose in Burlington! I got to chase this "little" guy down and snap some shots - he was a tough one to find! I was a bit nervous about walking into the woods alone knowing there was a massive and unpredictable animal waiting for me in there. Tip-toeing around and scanning the woods squinty-eyed, I thought I must have missed him until I turned back and sure enough he stood up and there he was, not even a 100 feet from me. Too close for comfort even if all he was doing was nibbling on tree bark. I double backed and made good use of my 200mm lens. No sense finding out what happens to a photographer shooting photos of a moose with a wide angle lens.

Soon enough I had a little crowd surrounding me and felt pretty good that some people in the group were wearing sandals and most definitely were going to be running much slower than I should we have to flee.

Apparently the moose couldn't get enough of me as later that night I was out having some burgers and beers with friends on Main St. downtown and there he was walking right through City Hall Park down Main St. and then down lower Church! He really created quite a buzz downtown that evening and everyone felt a little moose magic.

Tickling the Ivories

I had the pleasure of meeting a truly remarkable woman last week. Terry Carpenter is an 85-year-old woman who suffered a stroke several years ago. Before her stroke, she was an accomplished pianist and was incredibly passionate about music. Doctors told Terry she would never play again since the stroke affected her left arm leaving it unable to move. Terry persevered. Starting from scratch, Terry taught herself to play with her beginning piano books and strengthened her left hand to play again. When Mariana (reporter for the story) and I met with her at home last week we were treated to an amazing duet concert between Terry and her daughter, Karen. What an incredible bond for a mother and daughter to share.

Having grown up playing the piano, I was particularly interested in this assignment and felt a great connection with Terry. She reminded me of my own grandmother who has always impressed me with her gracious piano playing, but she is now dealing with arthritis and finds playing very difficult. I hope this story can be of inspiration to others or just give you that warm fuzzy feeling that we felt while watching it in the newsroom.

Click the link below for the audio slideshow!
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/040908piano/index.html

birthday bash

One of Burlington's premier music venues, Higher Ground, rang in it's 10th birthday with a huge bash featuring many of Vermont's greatest musical talents. I went to the birthday party to collect audio while Jordan Silverman shot most of the photos. Of course, I couldn't resist bringing my camera as I love taking stage shots since the lighting is always so dramatic. My favorites are posted below. The party was great. DJ A-Dog and Russell kept the lounge moving while the main stage featured Dave Grippo and his funk band with two high-energy sets to warm up the crowd. Local celebrities were abound as I ran into Mike Gordon of Phish (that dude is everywhere) and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's. I couldn't stay the entire night, but word is Mike Gordon hopped on stage with the Higher Ground All-Stars, Grace Potter jumped up too with The Nocturnals and one guest I did catch was the great Fatty B throwing down with Grippo. Great night, great music...great assignment.

next in line

I had the pleasure of going to the Founders School in Essex the other day to shoot a mock Ellis Island scenario that the teachers and parents had created for the fifth grade class. I bumped into one of my good friends from high school since she is the class teacher - so that was cool. I do love how much I run into old faces and acquaintances around here - that was certainly something I never experienced when I was shooting in Boston. Some of my old subjects even remember me and will come up and say hi, thank me for the story or just ask "what's new?" I ran into the subject of my identity theft story that ran several weeks ago and she was very happy with the coverage and with my web project as well as it allowed her to communicate with people out in California which is certainly out of the Free Press circulation. :)

But back to immigration. These kids went all out for this project! The costumes, the passports, the accents and even some back stories as well - they never stepped out of character and that goes for the parent volunteers, too. I was busy shooting photos for this of course but also keeping an ear open for good audio. The multimedia work we do certainly makes the average shoot more hectic and you really have to juggle it all but I really love it. The most mundane, run-of-the-mill story can take on so much life with a great audio selection. Luckily, for this assignment, the photos were strong enough on their own so the audio was just the cherry on the sundae.

Click the link below to watch the multimedia project and as always....enjoy!
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/041608immigration/index.html

just reLAX

Last week on one of the first truly nice and sunny days here in Burlington I got out the big boy, the 300mm and headed up to UVM's lacrosse turf. I love taking in a good game of lacrosse. I played lacrosse in high school and to this day think it's the biggest thing I miss from my high school days - I hold many fond memories of my time spent on the field. So, to score an assignment taking in a women's lacrosse game between UVM and UNH was pretty sweet. The wind was whipping like mad and tossing my big lens around, so I got low and on my belly to shoot this one. I love this shot below. This girl was killer and showed great skill and what a shot! Nutmeg - right through the defense.

playin' in the dirt

Last week I started one of my work days down at one of my most favorite places: The Intervale. For those of you not from Burlington, the Intervale is a community gardening space with several organic CSA farms, a composting center and a bunch of walking/biking trails that Bear and I like to run on. I visited with the Open Heart Farm owners Josh May and Rachel Daly and their adorable baby, Ciaran. As much as my job keeps me busy and running around outside, I still envy people that really get their hands dirty to produce a product. On Thursday Josh was busy transplanting cabbage plants for their next growth phase and their veggies looked great and got me really excited for summer. Having just secured a plot at my neighborhood's community garden I got all the more antsy to get out there and prep the soil. Maybe I'll check in with these guys for some pointers.

As always, I produced a web show to accompany the story to click the link below to view that!
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/041108openheart/index.html

the painted word

On a recent evening I was sent to the Fleming Museum on UVM's campus in Burlington. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid when they had the mummy exhibit which drove me absolutely wild. I always loved ancient Egyptian stuff...but back to the point. I was on assignment to shoot a poetry reading so I knew I really needed to dig to find quirky or emotive moments since the event in itself is, well, uneventful. Poetry has always been a bit of a mystery to me as the way they're read and written seems more like a story than a "traditional" poem to me. But of course, this is coming from a girl who adores Dr. Seuss.

My editor and I decided that collecting audio would be a good idea so that I could construct an audio slideshow for the web. While the poets read their poetry I tried my best to quietly and calmly snap some shots of people's reactions. I think I snagged some nice moments as moods quickly changed from poem to poem as the poets picked up pace or mellowed out to tell their tales. Enjoy the photos, and as always, click the link below to watch the audio slideshow on the Burlington Free Press website.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/040108poetry/index.html

s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g BEE

These are the moments that crack me up. We've all seen the documentary "Spellbound" (and if you haven't seen it my god please go see it) so I was hoping, hoping, hoping I'd be able to capture a moment of pure random hilarity when I shot the Vermont State Spelling Bee a couple weeks ago. Enter: Brennan Smith. This little guy had a ton of stage sass and made these faces to his mom in the audience while his competitors spelled. When his turn came he was poised and collected. These kids are serious so it's great to see their childish sides peek out every so often. Thanks Brennan, I owe you one for giving me A1.

to be Irish...

A bit belated but better than never. I can honestly state that I spent my St. Patrick's Day at the bars all day, and the kicker is: I was on the clock! The Free Press sent me to the Irish bars in Burlington to snap some photos and collect as much semi-drunken audio to capture the aura of our most favorite of Irish holidays: St. Patrick's Day. I had a ton of fun, the editing session afterwards however was a bit difficult. Sorting through tons of audio tracks is a daunting task to begin with but when you add slurred speech and nonsensical stories to the mix - wow. I've spent the last several St. Patrick's Days in the heart of Irish territory - Boston - but I found that Burlington can party just as hard. My favorite moment was running into the Governor's press secretary (picture below) pouring a beer down his shamrock-painted friend's throat. Where else would you find that AND be allowed to photograph it AND publish it. God I love this place.

Click the link below to watch my audio slideshow and enjoy the photos posted here!

www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/031708patrick/index.html

breaking me in

I really think this blog may become a journal of my adventures and misadventures on the job as I've run into some truly unique and sometimes scary experiences so far at the paper. My first full week on the job I was sent out on a 6 a.m. milking way up in Hardwick, VT which for those of you who don't know Vermont, is 1.5 hours from Burlington (where I live). Rise and shine, Emily! I follow my Mapquest directions and they take me so very close to where I need to be, but also so very far, far away. My little car is traversing a narrow, gullied and winding mountain road with a thick snowpack. It's getting narrower....and narrower and I'm stuck. Here I am wedged into a mountain road at 6 a.m. in the middle of nowhere. Sh*#. The cherry on this sundae was that there was no cell service for miles, my car was running on fumes, and I can't remember the last time I saw a house or a person really.

Do I leave the car and snowshoe through the woods firing my two flash bodies as a flashlight and hope I catch somebody before sun up? Yes. I packed my backpack with food I had stored in the car and a couple bottles of water. I walked through the woods slipping through ice and snow back to a sugar house I had remembered seeing. All the while I'm praying I'm not the doofus that ends up on A1 tomorrow morning - "why did she leave her car?!" Maybe somebody will be there, it is sugaring season. My guess it was at least a mile back. As much as a I wanted to feel like a MacGuyver survivalist, I was freaking out. Never in my life had a felt like such a city slicker...and I grew up here for pete's sake!

I spotted a lit floodlight and went for it. I found someone and thank god they had a snowcat and a full tractor to get me back to my car and pull me out. Turns out Mapquest really messed up this time and had mapped a road that was really a homemade sugaring road and yours truly took the bait. Live and learn.

The good news is I was totally buzzed to take great pictures to make this misadventure worth it - so check them out below and click on the link, too, for the audio slideshow I put together.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/legacy/slideshows/031208meyer/index.html