Womanless Beauty Pageant
I went to the Orange County Fair the other day to shoot a feature on the annual womanless beauty pageant. Rednecks country boys in drag, essentially. It was pretty funny, the guys were good sports but the light was terrible. And because it was 1000 degrees with 110% humidity I wanted to travel light, so I just slung two cameras with two zooms over my shoulders and was off. Stupidly, I left the strobe in the car and instead of going to get it, I tried to make do with the D300′s ISO capability. It wasn’t too bad, if you don’t mind a little digital noise.
Caroline County Agricultural Fair
Cadence Ferguson, 6, gets a hand from her mother Tiffany Satterwhite, of Beaverdam, as she covers herself in a bin of corn at the Caroline County Agricultural Fair in Ruther Glen, VA on July 2, 2010. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
From left, Erica Glines, 11, Rose Sargent, 10, Millie Sargent, 12 and Melissa Trent watch ducklings at the Caroline County Agricultural Fair in Ruther Glen, VA on July 2, 2010. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Skydive Orange
Kane Crisler or Arlington, Va was one of several skydivers at Skydive Orange to take advantage of the warm weather and clear skies over Orange County on February 21, 2010. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Shot this on the way back from an assignment at Montpelier in Orange County. It likely will not run in tomorrow’s paper due to the hole available was something like 1 column. If it did run, the skydiver would look like an ink smudge. Oh well – it was nice to sit around and chat with the people at Skydive Orange for a while!
Quick pic from the General Assembly
I’m sitting in the basement of the General Assembly building in Richmond, killing time between the opening session this afternoon and tonight’s last State of the Commonwealth speech by Governor Kaine. Below, a nice slice of life amid a morning of procedural matters.
Delegate Bobby Orrock introduces Speaker Bill Howell to his granddaughter Abigail Orrock at the Capitol in Richmond, Va on January 13, 2010. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
First Assignment of 2010: New Year’s Baby
Emily Alejandra Hernandez was born at 1:05am to Silvia Hernandez Berrera and Emilio Vega at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Va on Jan. 1, 2010. Emily is the first baby born in the Fredericksburg area in the new year.
Walking in the Woods
Jason Applegate, a natural resources specialist at Fort A.P. Hill, stands amid a grove of bald cypress trees near a live-fire range on the installation on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009. Several of the trees are estimated to date from the early- to mid-nineteenth century. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
I started out the day at Fort A.P. Hill working on a story about environmental stewardship on the base. Jason Applegate, who I discovered is a fellow Penn Stater, took me to a few spots on post including a grove of bald cypress, apparently the farthest inland grove in Virginia, an eagle nest, a low impact parking lot as well a couple other spots. It was nice to start the day outdoors and try and light a tree with two strobes. It’s no National Geographic action, but it works. Here’s a few more:
A bald cypress stands in a grove near a live-fire range at Fort A.P. Hill. The installation was given the DoD's Eagle Award in recognition of environmental stewardship efforts at the installation. The tree is estimated to be over 150 years old. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
One of the environmental efforts underway at A.P. Hill is a Low Impact Development parking lot that reduces run-off by using permeable materials rather than a pad of asphalt. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Looking down a tube that protects seedlings from hungry deer.
Some recent work
I haven’t had many positive things to say and I’m trying to minimize my griping about the newspaper business. I guess I should address that soon though as it has a bearing on my work. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from recent assignments including the Redskins/Ravens preseason game, a balloon festival, the start of high school football practice, the area’s sole remaining cannery and a portrait of a young man heading to college.
Samantha Schuldt, 10, of Fredericksburg, holds onto line attached to a 1/4-scale balloon while pilots waiting for fog to dissipate at the Annual Balloon Festival at The Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealeton, Va. on Saturday, August 15, 2009. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Children stand inside of Richmond resident Bubba Winslow's balloon at the Annual Balloon Festival at The Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealeton, Va. on Saturday, August 15, 2009. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Washington Redskins punter Hunter Smith punts the ball from deep in Redskins territory. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis fumbles the ball in the second quarter of the first preseason game in Baltimore, Md. on August 13, 2009. Davis recovered the ball on the play. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Caroline County High School graduate Marcel Anderson is heading to Norfolk State to start college on Saturday. photographed at his Doswell home on August 12, 2009. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Andrew Lucas, a football player at Fredericksburg Christian School, take a water break during the first day of practice on August 10, 2009. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
John Brown pulls a basket of tomatoes from a steamer at the Caroline County Cannery near Bowling Green on August 6, 2009. The Cannery nearly closed but will remain opne for at least another year. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Mini Michael Jackson
Saw young Michael Covington as I wandered around the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair looking for a feature. I’ve been incredibly deep in the weeds lately and haven’t had much motivation to write about it. Maybe this weekend…
Daily Grind: Spring-time, pigs and Kung-Fu
Players from SASA Stafford Strikers and the Loudon 96 Black congratulate each other following a game at Dixon Street Park in Fredericksburg on March 22, 2009. Soccer players from Virginia and Maryland converged on fields around Stafford and Fredericksburg on the first weekend of spring. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Craig Willits runs Spotsylvania Black Belt Academy. Pictured with his daughter-in-law Samantha, and sons Steven (center) and David (right). (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Betsey Lukens, a P-1 teacher at Hartwood Elementary school, leans in to kiss Daisy the pig. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
Kaicelia Goodwin, a P1 student at Hartwood, screams as one of Hartwood's teachers kisses Daisy the pig during an assembly on March 19, 2009. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star)
The last couple weeks have been kind of busy with the VNPA annual conference last weekend, the All-Area sportrait series and a handful of regular, grind assignments in there, including first days of spring, a business portrait of a matial arts school owner and a perennial favorite among organs of community journalism, a pig-kissing event at a school to promote reading. I sat through 40 minutes of pig-kissing. The funny thing is that for the students, especially the girl pictured above, it never got old.
