first night burlington

I had the pleasure of covering the New Year's celebration in downtown Burlington for the Free Press: First Night. A 25-year tradition, First Night rings in the new year with music, dance, art and song with a variety of performances and showcases highlighting all the creative goodness Burlington has to offer. I lucked out with a not-so-nippy night and even ran into a few old friends and also some new ones including fellow photog and Free Press freelancer Daria Bishop. Here's a selection of some of my favorite photos and moments I captured before I tipped my pint to 2008!



This was awesome. The Dragons and Drums Parade was zooming down Church Street and I hopped into the winding dragon for some sweet shots. This kid was gracious enough to let me flash my camera numerous times until I was happy with what I got. This was a sort of "Hail Mary" approach as I was running backwards and sideways during the entire shot.



Out of the fray I snapped this shot of a group of kids waiting to wind their way through Burlington in the Dragon parade.



I captured this moment of a girl simply radiating at the bar talking with someone I can only assume she was really happy to be with.



My first shot. I knew tonight was going to be great as soon as I walked by Muddy Waters and saw this little guy waving to me. After playing some games through the glass I of course couldn't leave without snapping a few frames. You can see his proud parents watching this cute moment in the background - this little guys 15 minutes came much sooner than most!



The lighting of the snow torch-chili pepper-thing. No idea but I'm always a fan of anything creative....lighting snow on fire? Check.



Church Street was lined with cut-outs of famous paintings that people could poke their heads through. Captured some funny moments but I just loved this girl peering through with her huge ski gloves on.

Keep tuning in!

awwwww.

I had to include this one. How sweet is this kid? This is another shot from a Free Press assignment - this time I was covering the Halloween Festival and Parade down Church St. and looks like this little one couldn't keep up with the festivities. I wish I could nap like that.

Diwali

The Burlington Free Press sends me out on quite a variety of photo assignments (sports, human interest, portraits, news) which is what I love about what I do. I get to peek into someone else's life for a few hours and sample a bit of culture I didn't already know.

My latest assignment was to go to the UVM Davis Center for the Indian Diwali celebration. Now, I've never heard of this, but it was a really cool event. The Indian population at UVM and within Burlington gathered last Saturday to celebrate the Festival of Lights and it was gorgeous. Everyone was dressed in beautiful saris, dancing to the music and eating what I can only imagine was incredibly delicious food. Some of the performances were new to me also. This one guy made me blush a bit as his dance performance was certainly more provocative than most what with his gyrating hips and limber moves - whoa! You don't see that too often here in the US....unless Britney Spears is on stage. Oooo, celebrity jab.

So, enjoy the photos as I thought they were a neat little peek into a culture that is just entirely more colorful and vivid than our own. Oh, and if you want to check out the rest of the spread go to the Free Press website.



A group of UVM graduate students dance, dance, dance to some of the live music performances.



I loved this shot. This guy kicked off these awesome shoes so he could dance and feel the music through his feet. Love it!



Of course, the cute kid. I just love the dresses these two are wearing. Notice the contrast between these women and the dude seated on the right with the Red Sox hat. Oh Americans, we lack this awesome color! If everyone started dressing like this, it would make my job so much easier! Come on! haha.