Prom at William Penn Charter

The end of the school year is an exciting time for teens about to embark on a new adventure. Many schools have different methods of keeping the students safe before and after prom. At William Penn Charter, students assemble in front of the school for pictures before a group of trolleys whisks them away to prom. I covered this event for Newsworks last weekend at the East Falls school. Here are some images :



A group of parents hold up their cameras to take photos of students from William Penn Charter before they head off to prom.


(from left) Kevin Ukaegbu, 18, Nicole Thomas, 17, Aleesha Powell, 18, and Andrew Davis, 16, pose for a photo outside of William Penn Charter High School before the prom on Saturday May 21.
Ali Rosen, 18, greets a group of friends as they gather in front of William Penn Charter High School before the prom. When asked if she is excited about the prom, Rosen exclaims "Oh my God, it's my favorite thing ever" before jumping into a photo with a large group of girls.

Caitlin Daly, (right)18, and Kate Higgins, 18, pose for a photo in front of William Penn Charter High School before the prom on Saturday May 21. Both girls purchased their gowns online for the occasion.
Students and parents gathered in front of William Penn Charter on Saturday May 21 for photos before a group of trolleys arrived to take the teenagers to the prom which was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Society Hill.

Bioluminescence

While wondering around in Mt. Airy one day I noticed that there are a lot of beautiful murals and other pieces of art in the Northwest pocket of the city. One mural in particular stood out, it was a mural set about 20 feet above ground on the corner of Mt. Airy Avenue and Germantown Avenue. The colors were so vibrant and the image, while abstract, drew me in. I had to learn more. So I dug a little deeper and tracked down the artist so I could put together a soundslide for Newsworks. The mural was the work of Sara Steele, a local artist who had collaborated with the Mural Arts Program in 2005 to create the first mural in Northwest Philly. I'll let Sara explain :

Good News!

I just found out that my story Moms Interrupted has received Honorable Mention for the category of Investigative Reporting for the 2011 Pennsylvania Newspaper Association's Keystone Press Awards! I could not be happier that this story about women in prison is receiving the recognition it deserves! I am so grateful to Christine Wearry and Antoinette Leak and each of their families, for sharing so much of their lives with me, they really are amazing women. Thank you to the wonderful people from MOMobile and the Philadelphia Prison Systems for allowing me the access I needed to get this project done, and of course my fabulous editor John Scanlon, who was so incredibly patient for over a year as I schlepped back and forth from the prison each week and who's guidance during the editing process ultimately led to a great piece.


Thank you everyone for your encouraging support!

js.

Over the last couple of weeks

Sister Kathleen Touey smiles as students sing for her during a ceremony to commemorate her 25 years as principal of St. Matthew School on Friday April 29.
Captain Neil Calore (right) shakes hands with Deputy of Community Operations Ernest Hargett after docking in front of the Independence Seaport Museum on Wednesday April 27. Calore is rowing from Washington D.C. to New York to raise autism awareness.
Frank O'Donnell holds his hand to his heart as the bugler plays "Taps" at the conclusion of the plaque dedication in honor of his grandfather, Vincent O'Donnell, a police officer who was killed on September 26, 1929 in the line of duty. The plaque was dedicated outside of the 39th Police District on Thursday April 28.
Hunter Trubisky, 6, proudly displays his Student of the Month award. His father, Nicky, a single parent, sits behind his son with a proud smile.
An auction was held at Kristy's Diner on Torresdale Avenue on Wednesday April 27. The winning bid went for $121K.

The Unseen

Here are some images from the last week that did not make the print version of the Northeast Times. It's kind of a bummer when that happens, but hey, that's what a blog is for, right?

Jeremy Boukey, 5, slides down the slide at Pelbano Playground on Thursday April 14.

Philadelphia University / Archbishop Ryan Alumn Kevin McGovern throws a fastball clocked at 92 miles per hour.

Kevin Montague takes video of a dance group at Stearne Elementary School. The school hosted a Father Figure Day on Wednesday April 13 to honor fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other important male role models.

City Council candidate Bobby Henon stands next to Darren Daulton as the ex-Phillies catcher signs autographs for fans at the candidate's headquarters on April 12.

Jeanette Jablonski, 3, laughs as Helena Edwards gives her a push on the swings at Pelbano Playground.

Cherry Blossom Festival at Morris Arboretum

Last weekend I shot a cherry blossom festival at Morris Arboretum for WHYY's Newsworks. I've been to Morris before and was really excited to go back while cherry blossoms (one of my favorite trees) were in full bloom and also to see the various Japanese cultural events that were planned. I showed up early on Saturday to find bare branches but large crowds and beautiful weather. I was a little disappointed at first but decided to take another angle. Instead of solely focusing on photography, I thought this would be a great opportunity to test out my new audio equipment. I interviewed several subjects to get their take on the day and shot a lot of photos of the Japanese celebrations which continued despite the lack of cherry blossoms.
Here is the result :

Brennan & Associates

I interviewed Sean Brennan for a business story I was working on for WHYY. Sean was a great source and mentioned that he wanted to update the photos on the website for his business, Brennan & Associates. After the story ran Sean quickly reached out to me about shooting for him, here are a few images :

Portrait session with my Alien Bees light

It's been a while since my last post, I feel like I'm neglecting my poor blog. I have been working a lot, writing mostly, but also working on a short-term story on veterans. Anyway, here are a few preliminary photos, "sketches" maybe, that will be used on a website for the band In Grenada...

Josh

Jesse

Chris

Samuel Fels High School boy's swim team

It's been a while since I have posted anything, and not because I haven't been busy. I have a few projects in the works and hope to start posting in the coming weeks.
But for now, here are some photos I took of Samuel Fels HS boy's swim team. We were working on a general story about the team which is in its debut season. Their coach informed me that many of the boys had little experience in the water nine weeks ago. These were shot on Friday Feb. 4 during their last meet against George Washington HS.

Moms Interrupted

After nearly a year of research, interviews, and photographing women in prison and their families as well as countless social workers who advocate on their behalf, my story is finally being published in the Northeast Times! I'm so excited to see this in print, although it feels a little surreal at the moment considering the amount of work that went into it and the countless hours I spent on it. I'm so thankful that the Philadelphia Prison System worked with me as well as the wonderful people at MOMobile, not to mention the women who shared their stories with me and their families. Here is the finished product :

Black Friday Shopping

I spent a large portion of my Black Friday hunting for shoppers, not deals. I had gotten a call from an editor at WHYY's Newsworks blog saying that they wanted to do a story on the busy shopping day. We quickly realized that while some neighborhoods felt the holiday rush, in other areas, this was not so much the case. We were hearing a lot of comments from people that they would be going to the mall or they knew people who were at the mall rather than a shopping district in Chestnut Hill, Roxborough, Germantown or Manyunk. It was a fun day though and I got some interesting images. Here are a few.

A young woman glances at the shoe selection in Rainbow on Chelten Ave. in Germantown.

Shoppers walking down Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill.

Gael Alvarez, 3, attempts to make a convincing argument for a toy car set to his mother Rachel in O'Doodles in Chestnut Hill.

Chrissy DiPaolo looks at her reflection in a nearby mirror in Nicole Miller in Manyunk. The designer store held a White Friday sale with some gowns in the low 100s.

Holiday shoppers crowd the aisles and check-out lines of Kohl's in Roxborough.

Kristy Tomlinson

Here is a photo of Kristy Tomlinson, a senior short-stop and third baseman at Franklin Towne Charter who recently signed a letter of intent with Holy Family University. Unfortunately we didn't have any file photos of Kristy in action from last season so we needed a posed shot. Luckily I absolutely love shooting sports portraits, especially outdoors and I had a few ideas for how I was going to shoot Kristy. Don't get me wrong, shooting a live game is a lot of fun and I love the energy you feel in a packed stadium, field or gym. But I love the chance to have more control over movement and play with lighting. By the way, Kristy was a great sport, as not all athletes are completely willing to run around and perform actions in super-slow motion while I shine a bright light in their face. I don't use anything too fancy; just a strobe, umbrella and a SC-28 cord. Anyway I was pretty excited with the results and I particularly love the blue hues in the photos.