Fourth of July...Powwow!

here in Farmington, they have "Freedom Days," an array of events leading up to the Fourth of July parade. these first couple of photos are from the contest Powwow at Farmington High School on Saturday the 4th — a big part of Freedom Days that started in the 80's. actually got to see the parade as a spectator (Rebecca shot it), and later went to the roof of the newsroom to watch the fireworks all around the city. great view, but it made me miss the fireworks they shoot off at Isotopes stadium in Albuquerque after baseball games— we used to live right down the street.

here's a few photos from the first week of July (except the horse-racing photo, which ran the first week in July).

enjoy!

i was flying solo, but we are fully staffed now (two of us)

here's some from the month of June...we're gearing up for a busy season of sports here — National High School Rodeo Finals, then Connie Mack World Series a week after that ends. i'm feeling lucky it's not like last year, back to back.

hope you like the photos

some recent stuff from Farmington

i recently covered the San Juan Water Fair at McGee Park — that's what they call the parking lot behind SunRay Track and Casino... i still want to go to the track for fun sometime. i think i just want to say 'i'm at the track.' anyway, that's where the first photo is from.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Ten-year-old Erin Mitchell, a fifth grader at Sacred Heart Catholic School, points out a particularly large bubble to friends while classmate Joel Sutherland, 11, reaches out to pop it during the 11th Annual San Juan Basin Water Fair on Monday at McGee Park. Fair director Shaun Bishop, with the San Juan Water Commission, said the goal of the event is to teach fifth graders water safety and conservation.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

A collection of “Twilight” items in Vicki Ulibarri’s shrine dedicated to the series.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Woody Benally, an attendee Thursday at the National Day of Prayer observance in front of the Civic Center, raises his hands during a prayer.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Pete Emery, 52, plans on competing in the XTERRA triathlon in June.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Cheryl Cadrain hugs her son, 18-year-old Vista Nueva graduate Micah Szumlinski, after the class graduation ceremony at the Aztec Boys and Girls Club on Saturday.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

A rooster walks around Reyes Marin’s property Friday, looking for a way in. The Food and Drug Administration will euthanize all of the birds on the property Monday.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Rena Zelinksi shows an empty property neighboring hers on County Road 6255 in Kirtland on Monday. The doors are missing or open, broken glass covers the floor and the roof recently blew off one side of the trailer.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Kids from during Central Consolidated School District’s preschool program play at a water-table station at the ninth annual preschool...

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Christie DeWeese with the World Harvest Center becomes impassioned, asking God to guide marriage legislation, during a prayer Thursday outside the Civic Center.

Xavier Mascareñas/The Daily Times

Eleven-year-old Brian Lee of Sanostee, N.M., runs across a bridge over the Animas River on Thursday during the Just Move It Farmington stop at Berg Park. Roberta Diswood, recreation specialist with the Diné Health Service, said the event is a way to let people know that any kind of exercise helps fight diabetes and heart disease.

UPDATE (link to article below); did a freelance job recently for a NY paper...

can't wait till it runs! * and it did! here: ARTICLE IN NY DAILY NEWS * here's some of the shots. it's for an article on Mine that Bird ( the horse that ran the Derby and won with 50-1 or so odds).

not a whole lot more going on when i was there, unfortunately, but i hope i made the best of it. at the very least, it's something  i definitely would not have had a chance to shoot if not working in Farmington.

kentucky

just remembered the Eddie Adams Workshop deadline is coming up

if you never heard of the workshop, also called Barnstorm, here's the page: eddieadamsworkshop.com/

 i really need to go through some more recent work, and try to pick out what best represents my goal in my work/style/ focus. in a weird way, that involves changing gears form the way i usually look at work for the paper. by the way, open to suggestions, criticisms and advice for a repeat applicant.

here's some photos for April.i found out some bad news earlier this month...

...Lindsay Pierce, my co-worker,  is leaving next month! sad stuff, considering she really added to my excitement for coming to work here  (well, that and the obvious 'i need a job' part).

so, hopefully that means a job will open up here for someone new, and i'll get to work with yet another talented photojournalist. after all, it's generally staffed as a two-photographer paper (with third person — an intern — in the summer).

well, here are some photos from April. i'm keeping pretty busy, shooting several things a day and having fun doing it. 

photos from March

here's a few more to add to my last photo post. 

video from

here's some fun video from an opening ceremony at a local baseball game, where little kids ran all over the field (in an orderly fashion — actually, single file). a bit long, and i might cut a lot of the continuation of the high fives out sometime. other than that, it was a fun video, but lots of tape logged. i never shot baseball before, either, and was happy i got some decent game action.
enjoy

TEA party (no, not the kind with little teacups Ana ; ), with catch-up photos to come

well, just wanted to check if my Brightcove login for my Daily Times account works *UPDATE: it does. now the video is linked from my Vimeo account*.

looks like it does. kind of nice to have a good-looking player now. now i just need to get a new video camera. umhmm.

i'll be updating some photos here soon, and throw up some recent stuff from Fmtn. 

about the video camera: once again, i am surprised by the ability of it to record usable (for internet video) audio in WINDY, New Mexico weather. probably not going to win an Emmy, but usable nonetheless.

bye

KILLER TURKEYS LOOSE IN FARMINGTON...

...as it would seem to one little boy, at least.

i know i shouldn't laugh, but come on, this is too cute. 

one of our reporters, Steve Lynn, was bombarded today with calls from community members concerned that a family of wild turkeys that roam their neighborhood would be rounded up and killed by the Dept. of Fish and Game. long story short, the Dept. said they would not kill the animals, but that they pose a risk to the neighborhood. and i guess they gave an example of the birds chasing a kid on a bike...and what were the odds! 

i went by earlier today to see if i could find the birds, but they were nowhere in sight. i gave it another go this afternoon, and lo and behold, there they were. then a family stops by to look at them for the first time. 

hijinks ensued.

i suggested the second photo as the action one to run. the boy has THE expression in the first one here, but personally, i feel it's almost sensationalistic (does it matter, if it really happened?). anyway, the second one does the same job, and it's a better looking photo, too. but by all means, let me know what you think.

'five by five'

here's  some favorites for the week. five photos from five days. it's really good to be working right now, and am excited about our new apartment. also kind of sad to be moving...the apartment we lived in across from UNM was the longest i've lived anywhere — since i was born! i'll miss being able to look out my back window and seeing people and activity. you guessed it...farmington is not the most urban of cities.

now, a public announcement spurred on by a recent incident-

"Please, when moving household items to a new residence, be acutely aware of any sharp (or even un-dull) items, and the proximity of said items to your head. Ignoring the inherent dangers of such items can cause blindness, brain damage, death or a really, really bad lump. Thank you for your time, and please enjoy your move responsibly." 

UNMH Southeast Heights Clinic project is opening April 3rd

this is Gerardo Dulzides-Ojeda — a man who was sought personally by Fidel Castro for his involvement in anti-communist actions in Cuba in the 60's. to summarize a quote, he told me he'd be fighting Castro right now if he was physically able, and that if given another life after this one, he'd still fight for democracy in Cuba. powerful stuff.

Gerardo was the third-to-last photo i'll be doing for the project, which will total around 21 images when all is said and (mostly) done. i will be working in Farmington when April 3rd comes around, but i really want to try and make it down for the clinic's grand opening. it ought to be a nice community event, and i'd love to see how the photos end up looking on the walls at the new Southeast Hts. clinic on Central Ave. and Texas St.