The best part of my job is the people I get to meet and listening to their stories.  A highlight of last week was meeting Mr. Roland Taylor, a 94 year old resident at the Fountains of Albemarle, and one heck of a trumpet player. Mr. Taylor shared tales of coming of age in the Great Depression and WWII, a hardworking  childhood on the farm that led to a lifelong love affair with the trumpet.  He was introduced to the instrument at 15, and has never stopped playing.  His love of Big Band music was obvious as his eyes lit up while listing his favorite tunes to play.  He asked if I had any requests, and I eagerly asked to hear one of my favorite songs from that era, 'You'll Never Know'.  He played several verses and then paused. "The don't make love songs like these anymore," he said with a sigh, and I had to agree.

This picture is from the New Years Day baby, Kenneth Smith, the first baby of 2012 in Nash General Hospital on Sunday.  He was born at 12:55 am.  A beautiful baby boy with the most wrinkled little fingers I'd ever seen.

On Christmas day we ran a story about veterans reflecting on the war in Iraq ending, their experiences, and their happiness at being home for the holidays.  I had several favorite photographs from this story, several of which didn't end up making into the print edition, so I will share them with you here!  

Sergeant Brian Taylor's family has a tradition of celebrating Christmas on the 23rd, due to the fact that they used to visit relatives on the 24th and 25th.  The tradition has stayed alive and well and his family let me sit in on their gift exchange.  What I love about this photo is the layering.  Brian, second from right, has a large family, plenty of brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and I felt the wonderful chaos that is Christmas with a large family was captured in this frame.

We met with Lance Corporal Jamahl Freeman at his home the week before Christmas.  The family was enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon, all the holiday shopping and decorating complete.  I stayed with the family for several hours, trying to get something to capture the idea of being home for the holidays, surrounded by family but still settling into the routine of being home after recently completing a tour in Afghanistan.  At one point, Jamahl got his tablet from his room and showed Darla, the reporter, and I several photos of his tour in Afghanistan.  I loved the reflection of his face along with the Christmas light in the background.  The second shot is of Jamahl playing the piano, his mother loves listening to him play.  As I walked into the living room with the piano I noticed his dress blues hanging on the coat rack in the entrance way, and grabbed this shot.

Another veteran we talked to was George Bailey, who served towards the beginning of the war with an Army Reserves unit in Iraq.  He and his wife both agree he has become more emotional since his return.  Throughout the interview, George would mention his granddaughter Bevin, born several years after his tour, and his face simply lit up.  All the sadness that caused his voice to break while describing his experiences during his tour would disappear as he speak of the child. I felt that George's story should be one of remembrance and healing.  I went back to the house the day after we interviewed him to photograph him, his wife Lois, and his granddaughter doing some Christmas baking.  While Lois and Bevin baked, he sat back and watched his granddaughter quietly, a bit withdrawn. At one point he turned to me and said that there were so many men and women who wouldn't know the joy of having this experience.   A quiet moment hoping to capture that feeling of contemplation. 

This past weekend was the Rocky Mount annual Christmas parade downtown.  Having just come back from a visit up north, my mindset was layers, layers, and more layers.  I walked out the door of my apartment in sweater, coat, scarf, and gloves, and promptly broke into a sweat. I still marvel at the wonders of southern weather!  Photographing a Christmas parade in a light sweater was a pleasure in itself, but what was really wonderful was seeing the huge turnout.  It's always wonderful to see community events supported by the community, and it seemed that at the Christmas parade, a good time was had by all.

We have been following Lee Winstead's progress since a freak accident on the baseball field left him with traumatic head injuries on September 28, 2011.  It has been incredible to see the speed of his recovery and the strength of this boy, only eleven years old and dealing with very grown up problems.  We were invited to his homecoming celebration on October 21, he has been in residency at Pitt County Memorial Hospital since the accident.  It was so wonderful to see the huge group of friends and family there to welcome him home.  While Lee has a long road to recovery ahead, it truly did feel like a happy ending on Friday, as he has already progressed so much faster than expected.  Clicking on the photo below will take you to Lee's Homecoming gallery.

We recently covered the whirlwind trial of Antwan Pittman in Bertie County.  He was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, whose body was found on March 7, 2009.  This was an incredibly emotional trial for everyone involved, family members of both the victim and the suspect were present throughout the trial, along with supporters for both sides.  Edgecombe County Sheriff James L. Knight and other officials have suggested her death may be related to at least 10 other deaths whose bodies were found in the past several years in rural Edgecombe County. Though Pittman has not been implicated in any of the other deaths, members of those victims families also attended the trial.

On top of the emotional aspect of trial photography, is the judge.  Judge Cy Grant didn't want the distraction of a still photographer in the courtroom.  The TV crews used a technique called 'pooling' where they all feed off one camera in the courtroom.  Our equipment is not able to do this, and Judge Grant was kind enough to allow me to shoot video off of my DSLR.  As a result, all images that we ran from the trial are actually video stills.  Not an ideal situation, as quality is compromised, but we appreciated Judge Grant's cooperation.

Once the verdict was announced and the trial was ended, Brie Handgraaf, our reporter for the trial, and I interviewed Diana Nicholson, the victim's mother, along several family members of the other young ladies whom had been killed but no official charges had been filed, and Antwan Pittman's aunt.  This is an emotional and overwhelming moment, and we appreciate their kindness in taking the time to talk with us.  When family members open up to us, it gives us the opportunity to connect the readers to the story on an emotional level.  We know it is a difficult time, and talking to the media isn't always on their list of things they'd like to do. Sometimes people get over aggressive when 'big news' is breaking, and get caught up in 'getting the shot', and loose sight of the fact that the people we are talking to/photographing are, in fact, people.  I hope we were able to handle ourselves in a respectable manner, and a great thanks to those who took the time to talk with us.

The school year kicked off recently and we did our annual back to school coverage. This year I wanted to add a video element to the story and with a great deal of help from Princeville Montessori School, I was able to do a video on Ms. Kemora Dupree's first day of kindergarten. A special thanks to Princeville staff and Kemora's parents for allowing me to spend the morning at the school!

A note to parents-every year the school system hands out permission forms for parents to return giving us permission to photograph your child if we happen to go to a school event. Please make sure you turn in these forms so we can feature your children-whether they are participating in a field day, a performance, or a unique school activity- we want to be able to include as many children as possible. Thank you!

On Sunday we ran a story about the extreme couponing craze.  Melody Page, founder of extremewaystosave.com, was kind enough to let me tag along for a recent shopping trip to Harris Teeter for the story.  I like to prepare most of my meals from scratch, and I am the first to admit that I always figured coupons were mostly for junk food, or prepackaged meals.  Melody was amazing.  She filled her cart with healthy options for her and her husband (plus a couple of fun foods for the grandchildren), and headed to the check out line.  Her purchase initially rang up at $54.62, and with coupons and her MVP card, she brought her total down to $12.75!  I really don't know anyone who isn't on a tight budget these days, and especially with the rise in food costs, I'd like to highlight a few tips Melody gave me (as a now beginning couponer, yep, I've been converted):

1.  Generally speaking, everything goes on sale every 8-10 weeks.  Know to stock up when it's on sale, and to save the coupons for when items are on sale.  She is against hoarding-only stock up on what you really need.  Let's be honest, there is no need for 100 tubes of toothpaste to be in your bathroom closet.

2.  Be organized.  She has a fantastic binder with baseball card sleeves that keep her coupons sorted by section to make sure she doesn't miss a deal.

3.  Share the deals.  If she can get something for cheap or free, she will, and donate the spare.  A fantastic idea and a great way to give back to the community.

4. Don't limit yourself to just food, there are big savings to be had on cleaning supplies, shampoos, electronics, you name it!  Do a little bit of research and the savings add up big time.

5. It doesn't have to dominate your life.  Now that she has a flow, Melody says she spends no more than 3 hours a week couponing, and saves an average of 60-75% off retail price.  Time is money, and that's not a bad trade off in my opinion.

6. Be courteous!  Treat your cashier with respect, realize that manufacturers don't have to give you coupons, and that it adds time at checkout with a line behind you.  Be sure to thank your cashier ahead of time and explain that you have a lot of coupons, but it's all organized and ready to go.

7.  Be prepared before you step in line.  Melody will stop in a slow aisle (she suggests the cat food aisle in Harris Teeter) and make sure she has all of her coupons ready to go and matched up to the correct products.  This prevents confusion and a hold up at the checkout making the process go smoothly for everyone involved.

8. Enjoy you savings!!!

Thank you Melody for sharing your time and your tips!

Today was rather enjoyable adventure at the Braswell Memorial Library.  Ron Cromer brought his program, 'Snakes Alive', to the library and the presentation was fantastic.  I've always been fascinated by snakes (granted I have never run into one in the wild in unfavorable circumstances), and always begged for a lizard or turtle growing up.  Alas, no reptiles entered my home and so I loved from afar.  Today was a chance to get up close and personal. The kids loved most of the animals, granted the iguana garnered a few screams, and by the time the kids got to pet the snakes their was a rush to the front to be the first.  Gotta say the box turtle was my favorite.  Hope you enjoy!

Due to limited space, we usually use overall shots in print. Most of the time the detail shot won't run and only sometimes does it end up online.  Details are a very useful storytelling tool, when done right they give you an insight into someone's personality.  On July 3rd, we ran a story about Teresa Howard who was killed when her estranged husband, James Henry Radford, allegedly used a 22 caliber rifle to shoot his wife and her best friend Martha Worrells in Worrells' kitchen on May 21st.  I accompanied Brie Handgraaf, the reporter, on one of her visits with Martha.  Martha took us through the house, describing the altercation, showing us Teresa's room, where her belongings still lay in boxes, as she was in the process of moving in with Martha to escape Radford at the time of her death.  She showed us photos of the two of them, the journey of their friendship throughout the years.  As we came back to the kitchen, where the murder took place, Brie and I noticed a sign hanging on the kitchen door.  Martha explained that she and Teresa had picked up the sign on their last vacation together and it's been hanging on the door ever since.  Generally, I don't take pictures of signs.  But this sign stopped both Brie and I cold.  Sometimes showing an item that someone holds dear can sum up the relationship of two people and speaks volumes  about those people.

"Hey Jeff, got a tip that they are moving Shanks plane out of the woods today with a backhoe, on my way to check it out."  Me to my editor one July morning.  Moving planes with backhoes?  Why not.  The best part of working in a newsroom is the diversity of assignments.

On June 23rd, Von Roger Shanks was in a single-engine plane crash trying to take off from his private air strip on the 10000 block of NC 43.  Thankfully, he was released from the hospital within two weeks and is on his way to making a full recovery.  His plane, on the other hand, was still stuck in the trees waiting to be rescued.  On July 6th, Brie Handgraaf and I went to the site to see the plane moved back home.  First, a backhoe  carved a path through the trees to get to the plane.  The plane was then suspended from a series of chains and moved onto a trailer to be taken to its final destination.

This was an unusual experience for everyone involved, and as a photographer there is nothing we like more than an out of the ordinary assignment.  Brie and I stayed on site for over an hour watching as they inched the plane out of the woods.  The team, a mixture of Shanks' friends and S.A.C Enterprise Inc., remained in good spirits through the experience, even through the sudden rainstorm that occurred halfway through the extraction.

Things were starting to get moving as a light rain came down. They had gotten the rigging to their satisfaction and were ready to make the big lift out of the trees.  The shot I'm looking for is the plane in midair and at this point it seemed only moments away. My rain gear was in the trunk of my car, which would require leaving the scene.  Would've taken no more than ten minutes, it's true.  I normally keep a camera rainsleeve in my bag at all times, but for some reason did not at that moment.  But hey, the rain was light and this was sure to move faster now that they were ready to move the plane.  As it turns out, not so much.  Slowly and surely they inched their way to the waiting trailer bed.  I was still waiting for the plane to get to into the clearing in the woods and a visible separation between the ground and plane.  The rain began to fall harder and I ducked into the tree line hoping for some shelter while continuing to shoot.  Long story short, it was pouring right as they got the plane out in the open and onto the trailer and within minutes I was drenched head to toe and trying to protect my camera while longing thinking of the raincoat and camera rainsleeve, in the trunk of my car.  Did I get the shots I wanted? Yes.  If I had left and come back would I still have gotten the shots? Can't say for certain.  Was I asked repeatedly if I had climbed out of a swimming pool upon arriving back in the newsroom? You bet.