Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Junior Olympics and Reader of the Week

Today I photographed the Lake County Junior Olympics and a reader of the week portrait.  I spent the better part of the morning shooting field events then photographed a few track events afterwards.  Most of the kids there have ran before or shown interest in track but some kids never even ran before the event.  After the Junior Olympics, I photographed the reader of the week for next week.  She is a pastor who used to be a nurse in the Army and a working nurse in Ohio.  She decided after that work she wanted to devote her time to faith and became a pastor of the North Mentor Centenary United Methodist Church.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Jaclyn Riedthaler 9 from Wickliffe competes in the Girls age 9-10 Running Long Jump at the Junior Olympics Wednesday and jumped over 10 feet.


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Andy Hinton from Perry competes in the Boys 11-12 year old High Jump at the Lake County Junior Olympics Wednesday.


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Wickliffe Coach Todd Calic, right, talks to Sebron Govdwyn 11 from Wickliffe during the 800 Meter Boys age 11-12 Wednesday at the Lake County Junior Olympics.  Coach Todd was helping Sebron get through his last lap and to finish strong at the end of the race.  


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Isabe Neloso, left and Tatiana Alston run side by side in the 50 Meter Dash Girls Age 7-8 at the Lake County Junior Olympics on Wednesday.


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Pastor Lenore Robinson of the North Mentor Centenary United Methodist Church has a positive effect on the church and community.  She was a former nurse for the Army and now is dedicated to ministry full-time.  

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Inside the News Herald

I walked into work today and Duncan (my editor) said, “Guys, we have one photo assignment for four photographers.”  My first suggestion was send all four photographers so we can get 4 different angles, as a joke of course.  But anyways, I offered to help archive and clean up the office a bit today since it was a slow day.  I started with some online errands I had to do with my now broken LaCie brand new paperweight hard drive.  After I finished up dealing with that ordeal, I started cleaning the back photo room.

While cleaning I thought about my story I need to complete for this summer and how I want to complete it.  In regards to the story, I have some ideas but nothing solid yet, still working on that part.  In regards to actually telling the story, I have decided I want make a multimedia experience for the News-Herald audience.  Since my video class with Jay Capers this past spring, I really value the experience video adds to telling a story.  One of the NH photographers, Michael, explained his interest in video to me and his lack of interest in picture stories.  He mentioned to me picture stories are usually explained through a paragraph or so of text or the photographer explains the situation.  A picture story should speak for itself through the images, not through a talking photographer.  I agree with this statement, I find just photographing isn't enough.  I want to mix other mediums into my work like video and audio to immerse the viewer into a deeper personal connection with the story.  I respect the picture story but when I graduate from RIT, most of my work will consist of video or audio with the pictures.  This is the only way I can walk away from a story and feel satisfied.  I also enjoy viewing multimedia projects more than the simple picture story with just images.

In my story for the News-Herald, I am interested in using video, audio, images, and text together to create a full package for the viewer.  I plan on writing the article, shooting the pictures, and filming the video of important moments.  I think the biggest challenge that I need to overcome with this approach is figuring out what medium is best for telling what part of the story.  This will take practice and time to figure out how I want to tell stories but it is something I am interested in.

Since I didn’t photograph today outside of the office, I photographed some of the things I saw today in the office.......

Here is the area I cleaned up today.  This is storage, archives, and a studio all wrapped up in one room.  


While going through the newspapers, I came across this special issue of the NH a year after 9/11.  


Inside this special issue, Northeast Ohio readers speak about what they did the day of 9/11 and how it affected their lives.  A very interesting look back on such a big event that recently happened.  


For anyone interested, this is the photo room where I live while at the NH.  You can see my spot I made in the corner.  


Here is my desk or table?  Either or it is my place.  

Monday, June 28, 2010

Naval Academy

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Jordan Tropt will be leaving on Wednesday for the Unitied States Naval Academy for summer bootcamp training.  Jordan was nominated by Ohio Congressman Steven C. LaTourette to attend the Naval Academy this fall.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Week 4: Select Images

1. 6/22/10 Cherry Picking in Perry
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Shelley Spies and Hayden Spies, 2 from Pepper Pike came to West Orchard in Perry to pick early seasoned tart cherries from the trees.  Hayden helped his mom pick over fourteen pounds of cherries on Tuesday.  

2. 6/24/10 Perry Library Book Buddies
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Andrew Cervelli 11, on the left and Louie Pearson 6, work on a word search puzzle before the "Book Buddies" weekly summer program on Thursday at the Perry Public Library.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Convey of Hope and Dream House Grand Opening!

Convey of Hope Setup
My day started off with a story about setting up for the Convey of Hope going on tomorrow in Lake County for people in need of aid.  The Convey of Hope is an organization that teams up with local area churches and provides food, physical care, medical care, and other necessities people might need taken care of all in one day.  This is open to the public and anyone can come in.  Tomorrow's event is estimated to bring in over 3000 people with some estimates reaching 7000.  Christian Assembly of God churches in the area volunteer their support to work at this regional event.  I plan on going tomorrow and photographing the actual event.  It would be neat to experience such a big care event for local people in need.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
6th graders from the Ohio Ministries Network of Assembly of God "Missions Extreme" volunteered their time in moving food products for the Lake County Convey of Hope tomorrow at the Lake County Fairgrounds.  "Missions Extreme" has a total of 91 volunteers helping out tomorrow at the fairgrounds.


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Chris Dombrowski, National Volunteer of Convey of Hope from Lockport, NY in the middle explains to Debbie Wilden, left and Susan Bell their layout for the Health Services and First Aid tent at the Lake County Convey of Hope at the Lake County Fairgrounds.  The Convey of Hope is expecting more than 3000 people in need of services tomorrow at the fairgrounds.  


Dream House Grand Opening
Last weekend I photographed the Dream House being finished and today I photographed the open house for the house.  I followed two people the reporter was writing the story on, so the pictures would match the story.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Diane Lucarelli from Chester Township, left and Robin Argenti from Wickliffe, stand in awe in the Grand Room at the grand opening of the 2010 YMCA Dream House.   

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Book Buddies

This morning I photographed a weekly summer reading program for children in Grades 1-3 in Elementary School.  The weekly program pairs the "Little Buddies", who are the Elementary students, with the "Big Buddies", who are teenagers that volunteer their time and read with the younger kids at Perry's Public Library.  In this assignment, I was focusing on the relationship these "buddies" have together while they are reading and hanging out.  I also learned about Silly Bands which are arm bracelets that form a shape when not being worn but stretch and become a bracelet when worn.

Published:
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Megan Mennair 11, left and Maeve Tannish 6, read a story about a beaver and his den.  Megan is a volunteer at the Perry Public Library's "Book Buddies" program where early elementary students are paired up with "Big Buddies" who are teenage volunteers that read and play with the younger children.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Noah Bixil 6, puts a bead on the end of his bookmark he made Thursday at the Perry Public Library "Book Buddies" weekly summer program.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Andrew Cervelli 11, on the left and Louie Pearson 6, work on a word search puzzle before the "Book Buddies" weekly summer program on Thursday at the Perry Public Library.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

IED Training

Today I got to role play for a bit.  Lake and Geauga County had an exercise today to train for possible situations dealing with harmful unknown explosive devices.  The whole crew went into the scene without knowing what was happening or what will happen, so it was a surprise the whole time.  When I heard about this assignment, I thought I was going to see some cars get blown up.  Sadly, I did not.  I did get to act like the media though, that was my role in this exercise.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Deputy Matisk and K-9 Marko investigate the scene outside of Burton Elementary School during an Improvised Explosive Device Exercise on Wednesday.  Marko has training in sniffing out explosives and Deputy Matisk was using Marko to check the perimeter of the school and nearby cars.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
A Deputy Sheriff interviews the pretend protestors Wednesday during an Improvised Explosive Device Excerise outside of Burton Elementary School.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Cherry Picking

Cherry Picking
My first assignment today was to photograph cherry picking at a local farmer in Lake County.  I arrived on the location and found no one was picking cherries so I made pictures of the trees and the market.  A mother and son came in the back and I had my subjects to photograph.  The little boy was really cute and was running around with an umbrella and eating cherries.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Shelley Spies and Hayden Spies, 2 from Pepper Pike came to West Orchard in Perry to pick early seasoned tart cherries from the trees.  Hayden helped his mom pick over fourteen pounds of cherries on Tuesday.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Tart cherries came in early this season at West Orchard in Perry Township.  The usual season starts around July 4th.

Extras:

Monday, June 21, 2010

House Explosion

Today I photographed the aftermath of a house explosion in Concord Township yesterday.  The half million dollar home exploded outward sending debris all over the neighborhood and a loud blast that shook houses in wide radius.  I have never seen such devastation like I saw today.  A house once stood there and now is in pieces.  Thankfully no one was hurt in this accident and the family was on vacation when it happened.  The cause is still unknown at this moment, but I am sure something will pop up soon.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Federal ATF agents review the scene of the Concord residential home that exploded yesterday.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Boards go up on the neighboring house North of the home that exploded yesterday.  The house next to the explosion had considerable damage.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
General view of scene (unpublished)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Week 3: Select Images

I present you my select images from Week 3.  All of these images were not published.

1. 6/17/10 - 50th Annual Kirtland Strawberry Festival's Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Forest Davis, left and Mike Debeljak, right go head to head in a tie-breaker after eating the same amount of strawberry shortcake at the Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest at the 50th annual Kirtland Strawberry Festival.

2. 6/16/10 - Rescue Village Pet Camp
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Kathryn Holleran gasps after Rescue Village's Veterinarian Megan Volpe shows the kids the worm warble taken from a dog this past week.

3. 6/14/10 - Geauga YMCA Tapes Press Conference
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Mayfield Heights Fire Chief and Fire Lieutenant listen to the press conference about Dan Serge at the Geauga County Sheriff's Office.  Dan Serge worked 24 years with the Mayfield Heights Fire Department.  

Saturday, June 19, 2010

A tale of two fire departments...

Lake County Firefighters vs. Lake County Police
The 2nd annual Guns n' Hoses baseball game against the Lake County Police and Firefighters happened today at Classic Park.  I have come to notice, firefighters play really excellent softball against the Lake County Police Department.  The Firefighters had a constant lead against the Police the whole time.  The game ended at the 10th inning 9-3.  Firefighters won.  My assignment was to photograph this part of the event and the part after the event.  Fire trucks, cop cars, bomb squads, and Metropark horse posse all showed up to meet people before the Captains game at 7 later that night.  Unfortunately, I couldn't photograph this part of the event because a breaking news event came to my attention through the Willoughby fire department.  A gas tanker spilled in Geauga county and the News Herald was covering it. I explain my situation down below after the pictures.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Justin Meister, #13 on the Lake County Firefighters team, slides into home during the 7th inning.  Lake County Firefighters beat the Lake County Police, 9-3, at the 2nd Annual Guns n' Hoses Baseball game.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Members from the Lake County Fire Department and Police Department shake hands at the end of the 2nd annual Guns n' Hoses baseball game.  Firefighters beat the Police 9-3.  


Gas Tanker Accident
This accident taught me one thing.  Access is key to getting good pictures.  And it also taught me Geauga County's Fire Departments are very hard to work with.  The beginning started with rushing to this scene tonight with a gas tanker rolled over and was spewing gasoline everywhere.  I and the News Herald thought this was a pretty big story since Punderson Lake, a state park, was nearby and could be majorly affected by this gas spill.  I arrive on the scene, eager to get out and shoot.  I heard in advance Geauga is a bit hard to work with and does not have the media's priority of telling the whole story at hand but I had my doubts.  So I get on site and get yelled at to stay far away and shoot with a telephoto lens.  Alright that is fine and I shot some images of people standing around and firetrucks, not really exciting.  Then I started to think to myself, hey, this is just a gasoline spill.  What is dangerous about it?  No one is wearing gas masks or haz-mat suits.  Just the smell of gasoline right?  My interest to get closer kept itching in me and I did just that, get closer.  As I was walking closer, I got yelled at by 3 random firefighters from Concord.  Guess I don't understand the meaning of staying back and how dangerous the situation is.  Long story short, I gave up and wasn't going to fight a losing battle.  I wasn't satisfied with my images so I thought of going into Punderson Lake and photographing the fire trucks in the background with the lake in the foreground.  Try to relate the whole situation to Punderson, since the accident happened so close to Punderson Lake and could affect it.  I went to the campsites first because I thought I could get close enough but couldn't get a nice shot (that shot is listed below).  My next spot was going to be a beach a tad bit closer to the scene so I could get in tighter.  I drive around to the other side of the park and came across police lines and an evacuated area.  To my surprise, I was greeted with the same opposing force I was greeted with back on I-44 where the tanker spilled.  I gave up after that and cut my losses.

My lesson learned today.  Access is a huge part of what makes great photographs.  When I photograph in Lake County, I am greeted with open arms by Fire and Police.  Lake County is more accepting of media presence on scene and I really appreciate that now.  I hope over time I can learn my way with Geauga and talk to people at the fire stations to gain access.  I think they overreacted a bit tonight but no one told me the whole situation, so I could be uneducated.  It wasn't a pleasant experience and I hope I do not have to deal with this same situation again this summer.

Enough ranting.  Here are my images I got for today.  I think the story could have been really important and the images, if I could get closer, would be awesome.  A tanker spewing gasoline into nearby woods and rivers towards Punderson Lake seems like an important image and story to tell to our viewers.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
The scene from I-44 in Chardon where a gas tanker tipped over and gas is spilling into the road and the surrounding area.  The nearby state park Punderson evacuated it's cabin area near the spill shortly after the accident.  Firefighters are trying to contain the spill before it runs into nearby creeks and Punderson Lake.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
The view from inside Punderson Lake State Park.


Friday, June 18, 2010

Dream House and Strawberries

Dream House
For my Friday, I photographed a YMCA sponsored "Dream Home" being finished up this weekend.  This house is built each year by volunteers who donate their time and materials to build a new home for a needy family.  This is essentially a local "Extreme Home Makeover" in Northeast, OH.  Today, the house was being furnished and the designers were putting the final touches up in the house.  The house is being completed this weekend will have an open house next week.  At the end of the summer, the house will go to a lucky needy person with the key to the front door.

Published:
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Diana Hudson Kresnye, left, holding the coffee table, works with other volunteers from the 2010 YMCA Dream House project to rearrange the great room before the entertainment system was installed.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Designer Molly Hill from Tiffany's Design Studio cleans the mirror in the guest bedroom of the Dream House.  

Extras:
Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Karen Krauss, right, laughs at Diane Mulcaky's, middle, joke about her hair.  All of the designers continue to volunteer their time on this project every year because of the friendship and atmosphere they build during the duration of the Dream House.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
The Dream House.


Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest
This wasn't assigned to me but I decided I really wanted to go out and make some pictures anyways of the event.  As the title says, people gather and eat a ton of strawberry shortcake in two minutes.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Erika Hare pauses in between eating strawberries at the Kirtland's 50th Annual Strawberry Festival Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest.  Erika ate one bowl of shortcake in two minutes.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Forest Davis, left and Mike Debeljak, right go head to head in a tie-breaker after eating the same amount of strawberry shortcake at the Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest at the 50th annual Kirtland Strawberry Festival.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Green Living

For todays assignment, I went out and photographed a new green home being developed in South Euclid near Cleveland.  This home has been redesigned and retrofitted with green, more energy efficient technology.  The designers of the home gave Shannon and I a tour of the home and explained its key features to us.  The house is currently finished and up for sale.  This house was redesigned through a city grant offered for redevelopment of foreclosed homes.  After this house sells, the project will continue to develop greener, more efficient homes for the Greater Cleveland area.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Pam Pierce, Green Advantage Trainer of LEED AP, explains the ventilation system in the Green 4182 Wilimington Rd. home on Thursday.  This new ventilation system is 95% better at heating and cooling the homes than traditional systems.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
The first green bungalow located at 4182 Wilmington Rd. retrofitted by the City of South Euclid under the Green Neighborhoods Initiative.  This green house has a storm water recycling system, efficient heating and cooling, and new spacious designs inside the house.  

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Rescue Village Pet Camp and My First Surgery!

Rescue Village Pet Camp
Today was eventful.  I slept in an extra hour today and photographed something local to me.  This morning, I had the chance to photograph a day camp being held weekly at the Geauga Rescue Village.  Today, the kids became doctors and checked up on the two dogs, Luna and Zoey.  I photographed the vet explaining to the kids different parts of the dogs body and then the kids practicing on the dogs.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Megan Volpe examines Luna's eyes during the Rescue Village's Pet Camp Wednesday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Maya Cohen, age 11 from Orange, listens to Zoey's heart beat during the Rescue Village's Pet Camp Wednesday.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Kids from the Rescue Village Pet Camp gasp after Megan Volpe shows the kids the worm warble taken from a dog this past week.

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
A cute pup :)


One - Incision Surgery
My next assignment was to photograph a surgery at the Lake West Medical Center located in Willoughby, OH.  As exciting as a surgery sounds, I was bit nervous about this assignment and eager not to faint while photographing such a surgery.  Dr. Daniel Bolson removed a gallbladder from a patient today using laproscopic technology.  Laproscopy is a way for doctors to use video streams from a camera to see inside of the person so doctors do not have to cut more incisions or have the risk for complications in the future.  Laproscopy heals quicker than the usual open surgery and patients have less pain after surgery.  I thought going into the surgery, I would be a tad woozy and probably faint.  But alas, I held my ground and actually enjoyed seeing the surgery being performed near the end.  Some times were slightly graphic and made me quiver but it was all good.  The doctor was really nice and even showed me some cool stuff while inside the body, like the beating heart!  I also got to ask any questions I wanted and they were more than happy to deal with me!  Definitely respect the work doctors and surgeons perform everyday and it was a great opportunity to photograph a surgery.  Hope I get to do more in the future.    



DISCLAIMER:
The images below are SAFE from blood, gore, and anything that will make you woozy or even faint!


Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Me after the surgery.  All geared up.  You can call me Dr. Chris Langer from now on. 

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Dr. Daniel Borison inspects the gallbladder using laproscopic surgery at Lake West Medical Center Wednesday.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Dr. Daniel Borison inspects the gallbladder using laproscopic surgery at Lake West Medical Center Wednesday.  

Chris Langer/CLanger@News-Herald.com
Dr. Daniel Borison closes the incision after gallbladder surgery at Lake West Medical Center Wednesday.