Some More Summer

Nothing says summer like Fourth of July sparklers and fireworks. This summer I also shot a fishing event with lots of children gathering to catch tons of (mostly small) fish.  Of course, sprinkled throughout were the regular selection of local artists, a group of late night turtle watchers, a few different golf tournaments and a mad scientists event at the Vero Beach Book Center.  The last slide here is a composite image I made to illustrate the shortcomings of an attempt to regulate an intersection in town.  This shot is made up of all 15 vehicles that, in a 30-minute period, ignored the new "no left turn" sign and decided to turn left anyway.  I lucked out that one car happened to have a dog sitting up in the front seat.

Two Years in Vero Beach

This month marks two years since I moved to Vero Beach and began shooting for the Vero Beach 32963 newspaper and it's sister site VeroNews.com. This slideshow starts out with a photo that turned out to be very expensive. Beach goers are trying to help a beached pygmy sperm whale while I'm behind the lens successfully ruining my camera (with help from an unexpected wave). This set of photos is just a sampling of what I've shot over the last month. The slideshow ends with some photos from Hurricane Irene's offshore passage at the end of August, which made for some great, nasty surf for  a few days. I've got a pretty serious backlog of photos so hopefully I'll post again soon.

Summertime Already?

I disappeared for a bit there. It's summer now. The sun is high, the surf is mostly flat (hurricane season is on its way), and the snow birds have all flown back north. Here's a little sample of what's been going on in Vero over the last couple of weeks. A roller blading banker, retirement community activities, high school graduations and a literary, rock collector; things keep chugging along here on the Treasure Coast.

More Vero Springtime shots

This post's got a little bit of everything: reptiles, a school musical, real estate photos, food shots, at least one dog, art galleries, a mascot boot camp at the Vero Beach Sports Village (formerly Dodgertown), and I threw in shot of the Cardinals' Albert Pujols, not because it's the greatest baseball shot ever, but because it's spring training time down here in Florida and the post just wouldn't be complete with out it. <<< just one sentence.

Season Happens

The sun is out, the days are warmer, and the beaches are filling back up. Spring draws near and I'm staying busy here in Vero Beach. Below are a bunch of photos from the last few months. Beach shots, food, sports, a car show, a sport clay shoot. The last two photos show the crowds that came out to the beach to try to catch a glimpse of the space shuttle Discovery's last lift-off. We love the shuttle around here. Unfortunately, there were some hazy clouds in the sky so the launch wasn't visible. It was still a nice day to be at the beach, though.

Flocks of Snowbirds

The year is coming to a close and the snowbirds have begun to migrate back to Vero to participate in the boat parades, Dr. Seuss Gardens, Tennis Tourney's and whatever else arises with the return of the SoFla busy season. In addition to the aforementioned events, this past month I've shot the regular bevy of artists, restaurant dishes, fitness groups, real estate layouts, and what looks like a painkiller advertisement (actually a full-page photo for the cover of our health section). Vero also held the 5th annual Mardy's Tennis and Jake's Music Fest which features homegrown celebs Mardy Fish and Jake Owen as they put on a fundraising tennis exhibition and country music show. It's one of the biggest events of the year around here, so it was kind of neat to shoot it for the second year in a row. A bit of good news: I've been named Director of Photography at Vero Beach Media. I'll still be doing the shooting for the Vero Beach 32963 paper, but I will now also be overseeing the visual side of our new northern Palm Beaches paper the Palm2Jupiter. So, 2011 should be a busy one. Happy New Year all.

Wedding News

I recently had the opportunity to shoot a wedding as part of a story for the paper. The couple, David Helseth and Maria Colontrelle, met through their jobs at Publix. After dating for two-and-a-half years, the two were married at St. Helen Catholic Church in front of their families, their Publix co-workers, and their friends from the Sun Up Center, where David, Maria and others in town with developmental delays go to meet their challenges head on. I even scored a little photo page to run alongside writer Michelle Genz's piece, which you can read here: Everything you dream of for your kids.

I spent a little bit of time with David and Maria in the days leading up to the wedding, but when I went to make the final photo selection I found that the images from the ceremony and reception, with Maria and David joined hand-in-hand throughout, told the story.