August and September 2016
September 29, 2016I completely spaced putting together an August blog post, so here is a double.
I completely spaced putting together an August blog post, so here is a double.
Just two days before our deadline for a story on how homelessness affects students, we found a family. Carolyn Reitzer and her four children let me into their lives, after several weeks of working with shelters to find a family with school-age children willing to let the paper interview and photograph them.
Carolyn and her children were more than welcoming. I was able to photograph them three different times in less than 36 hours. And while I, personally, would have loved to have more time with them, I was very happy with how comfortable the family was with me around. You can see the full story and photo gallery here.
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April was full of stories about students, including vandalism, science and prom season.
I’ve been working this story of Chris and his mom for a couple of months now. The story, photos and video were published by the Statesman Journal today. Here it is.
October started as one of the hardest months I’ve ever worked through. The shooting at Umpqua Community College was horrific for so many reasons. The first night after covering the story in Roseburg, I called my parents in need of support after I couldn’t stop crying. Being at the vigil for the victims drained my energy both physically and emotionally. I was mentally exhausted while in Roseburg, but I’m glad I was able to be the one to cover the story for the Statesman Journal and USA Today. I hope to head back to southern Oregon in a few months to see how the school and community have tried to heal since losing nine people.
The rest of the month was pretty upbeat. I worked on lots of nice stories and fun videos associated with Halloween.
A few days later than I would like, but here is the inaugural month of 2015.
Throughout 2014 I’ve worked in two countries and three states. There were lots of adventures, but I am definitely looking forward to 2015 and settling in more here in Oregon. I’m excited to start more long term stories here as I learn more about Salem.
Apparently, I’m the worst at blogging, because I’ve been working full-time in Salem, at the Statesman Journal, for more than a month now, and still nothing. Sorry I suck at this.
But Oregon has been wonderful so far. It is a gorgeous state filled with caring and involved people. Mike and I are truly liking living here and making new friends here.
I can’t wait to become more invested in Salem and be able to tell more stories of awesome people.
Here’s a bit of what I have photographed in the last month and a half or so.