Up, Up, and Away!

On Saturday I woke up before the roosters to watch the balloons launch at the Vermont Balloon and Music Festival, one of the cool events that my buddy Steve Mease organizes for the Champlain Valley Exposition.

I spied Steve cruising around with a cup of coffee and after chatting for a moment he asked me if I wanted to take a ride on Piko, my favorite balloon. Yahoo! I know Piko well because I rode on him 2 years ago when I covered the festival for Vermont Magazine. Piko is from Quebec and his owners organize a giant balloon festival up north called the International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

I am so lucky to have a friend like Steve. :-) You can check out some of the awesome events Steve is involved with and see some of his great photography HERE!

Enjoy the photos from my beautiful balloon ride...

Preparing Piko for the flight...
Here's Steve!
Steve took these next 2 photos of me and he very generously let me take them for the blog...
Can you see me up there snapping away?



Captain Denis...

Isn't Piko adorable?
Packing up quickly in the rain...
spectators...
how cute is this little guy?
Part of the tradition of landing is to share some bubbly with the land owners (at right) and the balloon passengers. Don't worry...it's sparkling cider.
Marie is part of Piko's flight crew. She chases Piko around to rescue him from fields. Here she is with the post flight bubbly...
Thanks again Steve!

May Update

Spring is in full bloom here and I've been a busy bee!

I literally stepped off the plane from our trip to Disney World, threw some clothes in a bag and headed off to the yearly convention and competition with the Vermont Professional Photographers.

I was honored to win a Judge's Choice Award for a fox I photographed from my kitchen window this past winter! The special treat of the convention was the chance to hear Joe McNally, described by American Photo Magazine as "perhaps the most versatile photojournalist working today." He delighted us with many stories encountered when photographing for National Geographic, Life and Time magazines, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications, including also one of his most moving photo creations: Faces of Ground Zero--Giant Polaroid Collection.

A few days at home and I was off again to NYC to visit some fun photography pals (Robin and Barrie), meet two couples for engagement sessions, and have coffee with some potential clients (who we will be photographing a wedding for in September!) Yahoo! :-)

Okay, enough fun, I've got to get back to work!

p.s. I hope all of you fabulous moms out there had an extra special day on Sunday!
My kids gave me the sweetest hand-made cards, we ate yummy pancakes, I puttered in the garden, we saw Spider Man 3 and went out to dinner. The perfect day! :-)

My award winning image

Joe McNally

Robin and Sophie on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum


The sky was sooo blue and the trees were sooo green!

Barrie and Robin inside Barrie's boyfriend's art gallery on Madison Ave.

A tulip in the deep shade backlit by the sun.

Shopping on Madison Avenue with the girls. Isn't Robin looking so sassy?! Let's hang out again soon! xo

News flash!

The Burlington Free Press has been keeping me very busy lately. I thought it would be fun to share some highlights from recent assignments.

Let me know if you have a favorite!

The father-daughter Valentine’s Day Dance in South Burlington was too sweet for words!



A large group of folks with disabilities met up for an adaptive ski clinic at the Catamount Outdoor Family Center recently. Most of them had never cross-country skied before and everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge. Click here to read about it.

When I’m 88 years old I would like to be healthy enough to be teaching yoga classes. Carol is my hero! You can read about her here.




In Vermont we specialize in winter sports, so here is a small collection from various assignments from the Cochran’s Ski Area and Catamount Outdoor Family Center.





I was photographing the Williston recreation 3rd and 4th grader’s basketball league and they were so awesome. I kind of forgot how little they were until I captured the coach tying the shoes of one of his players. Bright red Converse high-tops nonetheless.

For the cover of the weekend section I was sent out to photograph some ice skaters. How cool it was to find a toddler with her dad and a few minutes later capture her skating on her own for the very first time.


The Essex children’s choir performed in the chapel at St. Michael’s College and their voices were so beautiful it gave me goose bumps.


Would you jump into 32 degree water for a good cause? Hundreds of crazy people in Burlington don costumes and swimsuits each year to participate in the Penguin Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics. It is an absolute blast to watch, but I was chilly enough laying on the ice snapping photographs without needing to experience that type of torture.





And finally, the funniest assignment I have ever covered...

A group of brave individuals went under the hypnotic spell of Marko the Magician in front of an auditorium packed with an appreciative audience. I wouldn’t have believed it to be true unless I witnessed it for myself. It was so funny that at times I couldn’t hold my camera still due to the giggles!
My neighbor, Kathy, thinks she is playing her favorite instrument for martians.
This woman thinks she is her favorite zoo animal. I'm guessing it's a monkey.

Soccer Camp

Our son, Baxter, just finished up a week of soccer camp at the University of Vermont. The awesome coaches, all UVM players, had those kids practicing drills and playing “World Cup” matches for 5 hours a day. Baxter was so enthusiastic all week long despite a couple of nasty blisters on his little feet. He made some friends and had tons of fun. On Friday the families were invited to cheer on the teams for the “World Cup” finals and, of course, I snapped some photos.

Baxter and his new Buddies...
Summer's hidden talent...
When Baxter saw this photo he said, "Wow mom, look at my muscles!"

Some "World Cup" action...

Recap

I would like to share a few of my favorite photographs from recent photo assignments from the Burlington Free Press. I have documented the joy of graduating high school seniors, the excitement of a big youth soccer tournament and head shots for each player on the Vermont Monsters baseball team. But by far the most inspiring assignment I covered were the Vermont National Guard soldiers returning from Iraq on Father’s Day. They had been away for 18 months from their families and friends living in the harshest and most stressful conditions. One of the most touching moments I captured was a father playing with his 10-month-old son that he had met only once since his birth. I love my job!!










Some of you may be wondering what happened with Elissa Roberts, the senior who wasn’t going to be able to graduate with her class…a bit of good news

We'll Miss You!

Our dear neighbors, the Gaspari family, are packing up and moving to Park City, Utah this week. Of course, we had to have some fun before they left! Swimming, fishing, and laughing were the main events, but we had a few Kumbaya moments too. Sniff sniff... The highlight of the evening was when each of us had to read a limerick that we had written in honor of our departing friends. Who knew how many words rhymed with Gaspari?? Thanks for the laughs everyone!! We will all really miss you, Gaspari clan!!

Let Her Walk

Yesterday I photographed the Division I high school baseball finals for the Burlington Free Press, the newspaper I freelance for on a regular basis. When I finished up with baseball, I sped off to a last minute assignment. The focus of my assignment was a high school senior, Elissa Roberts, who was upset that her school wasn’t going to let her graduate with her class because she was a few credits shy due to an extended illness. Her school was 40 minutes away and it was almost dark when I pulled up. I was very surprised to see a mass of kids standing out front with signs they had created in support of Elissa. Without wasting the precious few moments left of light, I snapped away. As I gathered caption information from her friends and family, I discovered Elissa’s amazing story. (click on the purple words for the story & photo)

So, keep your fingers crossed that Elissa will get to walk with her class this weekend!

Photographs & Politics

On Saturday I had the privilege of photographing St. Michael’s College reunion activities. I was particularly excited about the first event…U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (a ’61 St. Mike’s graduate) was presenting his exhibit of photographs at the college’s McCarthy Arts Center. The exhibit was entitled “World Leaders” and featured his insider perspective of famous faces, from presidents and politicians to rock stars. It was so intriguing to hear the stories behind the photographs. You can visit the exhibit until the 18th of June.

I have photographed the senator on numerous occasions for the newspaper and he is one of the most personable of all politicians I have met. But more than that, he is like a real-life super hero, sans the cape, fighting for justice everyday in Washington. To top it off he is a photographer! Oh, and his wife, Marcelle, is awesome too!

“Historians will write the chronicle of this century, but photography will help bring that chronicle to life for eons to come. No matter how many words are written about the Hindenberg, or the landing at Iwo Jima, or John Kennedy Jr., we remember the photographs.”

--Senator Patrick Leahy


Marcelle Leahy

Senator Leahy shows off a picture of him taking a picture(!) of President Clinton's inauguration.

New York Minute

I arrived in the city the afternoon before Rebecca and Greg’s wedding part 2, to check out the wedding location and skip around Manhattan a bit. Equipped with my camera and a wide angle zoom lens I snapped a few photos worth sharing.

After checking out the Public Library on 5th Avenue, I walked through beautiful Bryant Park and spotted a father photographing his two sons sporting their first suits. This young man was particularly dapper!

Further along in the park… I was spotted by “Olga” from Russia while the woman to her right napped in the afternoon sun.

On my way to Times Square…I am always fascinated by people’s reactions to life happenings. In this case, a tourist has a caricature done of herself while her friends and others watch the progress.

Of course, I had to stop in to the Toys R Us in Times Square to pick out a little something for the kids. Not only was it big enough to fit an entire ferris wheel, it was very colorful too.

The tyrannosaurus was so life-like I stood around to watch for a moment, but my real amusement came when the beast gave a mighty roar and made all the kids cry.


The Hare Krishna meet up every Saturday night in Times Square.

The Empire State building at night in a view from my hotel room window. NYC is beautiful!!