solid rock pix

guardian angels

2011-12-28T15:18:00.017-05:00

Webster’s defines Guardian Angel as an angel believed to have special care of a particular individual.

I believe I have several guardian angels. You see, the last couple of years, money and gift cards have mysteriously shown up on my door step, both figuratively and literally. I am so blessed to have people looking out for my wellbeing. I just really can’t explain how thankful I am for the wonderful people who have blessed me both by their prayers and financially.

This Christmas we had several guardian angels looking out for us. I hope you are reading this right now and that you know how sincere my gratitude is. One gift was hand delivered on behalf of an anonymous giver. Thank you so much! Another gift I found on the way out the door on Christmas morning. This very generous financial gift was surrounded by a bunch of nuts and candy. I have to say, this was quite a surprise and extremely generous. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I think my guardian angels have been watching for quite a while. A couple of years ago, I racked up a very large medical bill at a local hospital, that I as very worried about how I was going to pay. At first, when the bills stopped coming, I thought the hospital had made a mistake. But, after thinking about it, I think there was an angel who may have paid my bill on my behalf. I don’t know this for sure, but hospitals rarely make mistakes in favor of the patients. So, if you are out there and read this, please know how thankful I am for your help!

After thinking about it, I guess I am a somewhat proud person who doesn’t like to ask for help. When I got laid off from the newspaper in May 2009, it took me a couple of months to start collecting unemployment, partially because I didn’t fully understand the process, but also because I felt like it would be a handout, which I wasn’t interested in. I feel differently now, I understand that in the 25 years I worked previous to that, I earned the right to collect unemployment. I also understand that without it the last two years, my family would not have been able to fully pay bills.

I have been blessed to be able to do a fair amount of freelance photography the last couple of years, which has financially helped out a lot, but still not enough to pay all the bills. I recently just started a part-time job with about 20 hours a week, which will help, but with my unemployment running out in the next couple of weeks, I will be back to square one again, needing a full-time job.

There have been numerous angels who have given us gift cards as well. I even found one under my windshield wiper one year. I don’t know who you angels are, but thank you so much for looking after me and my family. Please know that we are very blessed to be on the receiving end of your generosity.

I wish I had the ability to be able to bless others financially the way I have been blessed. Hopefully one day we will be back in the position to be a guardian angel for someone else, but in the meantime, I know there are many of you out there who are looking after us. Thank you!

big ron hunter

2011-06-08T19:42:00.000-04:00

I love this mans voice. This is Big Ron Hunter, whom I had the privilege to photograph during the Warehouse Blues Concert Series last summer. Cool thing is, he will be back for a performance again this summer. You can check him out in Durham Central Park on Friday, July 29, from 6-8pm.

kelley and the cowboys

2011-06-06T02:52:00.000-04:00

As the Warehouse Blues concert series approaches, I wanted to get up some pictures from last years shows that are long overdue. Kelley and the Cowboys, fronted by Kelley Breiding, performed on October 3, 2010 to close out the four Sunday concert series. These pictures are from that show. Big Ron Hunter also performed, and hopefully I will get those pictures up in the next couple of days.

This summer's Warehouse Blues concert series, the 8th annual, moves to Friday nights from 6-8pm in Durham Central Park. The summer schedule is as follows:

July 22 - John Dee Holeman and Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen
July 29 - Captain Luke, Big Ron Hunter, Whistlin Britches and Ironing Board Sam
August 5 - Alabama Slim and Boo Hanks
August 12 - Cool John Ferguson

periodical cicadas

2011-05-17T01:39:00.004-04:00

Recently the periodical cicadas, Brood XIX, started arriving in my backyard. They have arrived by the thousands, maybe more. I am not the only lucky one to have been inundated with these strange little creatures. They seem to be quite plentiful in northern Durham. I last photographed cicadas back in 1998 when I was working at The Herald-Sun. You see, periodical cicadas only arrive once every 13 years around here. I became fascinated with these red-eyed creatures when I started researching caption information back in '98. OK, I say I last photographed them in '98, but there is actually a photo on this blog from June of last year of a cicada messing with the exit hole of its exit tunnel. I'm not sure if that one was a year early and decided to go back underground or if it was one of the annual cicadas that sometimes frequent the area (it did not have the characteristic red eyes).

This year, my wife noticed a couple of exoskeletons on one of her ferns in the front yard. The next night I happened to notice several white newly emerged cicadas dangling from a maple tree around midnight when I let the dog out for a late night pee. I frantically rummaged through the garage looking for my tripod. I ended up making most of the pictures on this post around 1am that night, using a flashlight as my light source. The camera was mounted on the tripod and I used a two second exposure for all the night pictures, with the flashlight as the only light.

I touched base with my former editor at The Herald-Sun, and pitched the idea for running my photos and daringly pitched the idea for me to write a story to go along with the photos. I say daringly because I don't particularly enjoy writing and have a bad habit of procrastinating until the last minute when writing. The paper accepted the pitch and gave me several days to produce a story. I have read a ton about these crazy bugs over the years, and already had quite a bit of knowledge and background for a story. I had a blast writing the story, and enjoyed talking to a couple of experts/entomologists about the subject. Interesting side note is that one entomologist told me I had told him a couple of new things about cicadas that he did not know.

The day after I did the initial photos, the idea passed through my brain to figure out how to do a time lapse of an emerging cicada. After some research, I figured out that I had the needed equipment, I just needed a photogenic subject. After about an hour of setting up and finding the right cicada in the right place, I started what would end up as a total of 2700 pictures taken over a period of seven and a half hours. A picture was taken once every ten seconds until just after 6am. I was able to use something called a Pocket Wizard, a device that allows you to trigger a camera or flash remotely. One of the settings on the remote allows you to set how many times you want the camera fired and how much time in between each picture. I didn't want to freak out my neighbors with a flash going off in my backyard 2700 times, so I used a light from the top of one of my aquariums as the light source. For those of you that care, I used a shutter speed of 1/50 of a second at f/4.5 with a 100mm macro lens on a Canon Mark II body at 400 ISO. I unexpectedly had to recompose a couple of times when the cicada dropped down too far and its wings were cut off in the pictures. Other than that, the whole process went pretty smoothly. I slept on the sofa for the night, with an alarm waking me to check on things every 60-90 minutes.

I used Quicktime Pro to convert all the pictures to a video format. I ended up editing the pictures down to around 1500 since there were several periods where the cicada really didn't move or change. Plus there was a little bit of wind at one point and the branch moved up and down quite a bit and made it look really jumpy, so I cut some of that out as well. I recorded some audio of the males singing and looking for mates to use as background music for the video.

All in all, I haven't had this much fun photographing bugs in years, something that I really enjoy. Here is a link to the story that ran in The Herald-Sun.

sweater man

2011-03-31T01:29:00.000-04:00

I don't think I have ever seen Duke Women's Basketball Assistant Coach Al Brown NOT wearing a sweater during one of their games. I am impressed. I'm not sure how he stores them, but the man must have a huge closet. I first noticed his smart fashion sense last year, but didn't really come up with the idea to photograph the wide array of colorful knitted genius until several games into the season this year (so I missed a couple). I did however have the chance to capture 18 different sweaters by seasons end. That's a different sweater for each game... wow. Even more impressive is the fact that Brown can wear a sweater inside Cameron Indoor Stadium and make it through the game with the sweater still on. If you have ever witnessed a game in Cameron, you know it gets quite hot in there. My guess is that his laid back demeanor allows him to keep his cool. I just have to say, Mr. Brown, I like your style!

sunset

2010-10-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

I have been shooting a lot of high school sports lately. This vivid sunset presented itself during a matchup as NCSSM visited Carrboro for a game that decided the conference champion. NCSSM won the game 1-0, but I think the sunset was the real winner of the evening.

pat "mother blues" cohen

2010-09-28T00:25:00.000-04:00

More from the second show of the Warehouse Blues Series at the Durham Farmer's Market in Durham Central Park last weekend. Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen has an incredible voice and personality. She put on a great show and totally entertained the crowd. Her bright blue hair definitely matches her bubbly personality and wit, which she obviously does not try to hide.

proffitt and sandidge

2010-09-24T10:42:00.000-04:00

From the second show of the Warehouse Blues Series at the Durham Farmer's Market in Durham Central Park this past Sunday night. Proffitt and Sandidge are great, what an awesome combination of vocals and and instruments between these two guys. The close-up pictures are of the diddley bow that Proffitt was playing for a couple of songs, a very cool one string guitar with a unique sound. I hate that I will miss this Sunday's show (Sept. 26) with Drink Small and Hubby Jenkins, but if you get a chance go check them out at 5pm.

syatp

2010-09-22T14:09:00.000-04:00

See You at the Pole (SYATP) is an annual prayer gathering of Christian students of all ages at the flagpole in front of their local school. The American SYATP events occur on every fourth Wednesday of September. Riverside High School students gathered at their school at 7a.m.

(click on the symbol in the lower right hand corner of the player to view full screen)

morning light

2010-09-18T21:08:00.000-04:00

A little over a week ago, I passed by this scene after dropping off my daughter at school. The light this early in the morning is truly beautiful. Construction crews have been clearing trees and undergrowth making way for new roads and a new neighborhood off a road near my house. They have really been taking down a bunch of trees. They were filling a huge tub grinder with debris using two excavators. I have seen a family of wild turkeys grazing in a field where they are clearing trees for the last couple of years. I wonder where they will go now.

cool john ferguson

2010-09-16T01:07:00.032-04:00

I had the pleasure of hanging out and absorbing the most excellent guitar playing of Cool John Ferguson during the opening night of the Warehouse Blues Series held on the grounds of the Durham Farmer's Market in Durham Central Park this past Sunday evening. Ferguson was joined on stage by bass player Alan Wilson and drummer Bubba Norwood. Norwood toured with Ike and Tina Turner in the 60's, and while Wilson was on bass for this gig, he is also a notable guitar player as well. The show was quite good, and the crowd really seemed to be into the music, including Ralph McCall, who even got up out of his motorized scooter chair to dance to one of the songs (below). The Warehouse Blues Series continues for the next three Sunday evenings from 5-7pm, through Oct. 3.

This is a pretty good video of Cool John Ferguson, where you can get a pretty good idea of what his playing is like, click here. For more information on the Warehouse Blues Series and to see the lineup of artists, click here.

deer mouse

2010-08-31T02:10:00.000-04:00

Back in June, I brought a couple of boxes in from the garage for Pam to go through. We were doing some cleaning and looking for things for a yard sale or to throw out that we just weren't using anymore. I noticed some droppings on the top of one of the boxes and remember jokingly commenting to Pam that she should check the box for mice. While she was going through the box, she was almost to the bottom, and low and behold hiding underneath the muffin tray she was pulling out was this cute little beady eyed deer mouse. Needless to say, it scared the mess out of Pam, not to mention the mouse when she dropped the pan back on top of it. I think they must get their name from their cute big brown eyes.

I contemplated what to do with the mouse. At first I decided, I would take it to a field about a mile away and let it go. Then I remembered that they were looking for critters to display in the nature area of the scout camp that Ian worked at this summer. I contacted the nature director and he said they could use the little guy if I wanted to bring him to camp. I figured that would be a good place for him, although I started wondering if he would be in a cage by himself or would he be in a cage with one of the resident snakes on display. I started feeling a little guilty about the idea that he may be lunch for the garter snake I had dropped off at camp the week before. Well, I put him in a small cage and gave him some food and water and put the cage in the garage for safe keeping until I was to make the drive to camp in a couple of days. I guess the little guy read my mind about the snake food idea and he escaped overnight from the cage. Apparently, when I put the food and water in the cage I did not secure the cage top because he was gone when I checked on him the next morning.

Occoneechee Mountain

2010-08-21T01:33:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to hike around the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area in Hillsborough, NC, for a couple of hours about a week ago. I have always wanted to take the time to hike the mountain, but have never had the chance. Although the Summit Trail was somewhat disappointing, the view from the Overlook Trail was pretty nice. I found a half dozen white-tailed deer, that I apparently missed on the way up the summit trail, but noticed them on the way down. They were all laying down about 30 yards off the trail. Once they noticed I had seen them, they decided to put a little distance between me and them. There are several miles of trails around the mountain, including the 2.5 mile Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail. Picture possibilities were abundant, but unfortunately I didn't have my macro lens with me. I am looking forward to going back and exploring a little more.

new baby on the way

2010-07-23T01:49:00.000-04:00

I had the privilege of recently photographing a couple of friends of mine that are expecting their first baby. As a matter of fact baby Addison was due yesterday (July 22nd). I had a blast photographing Justin and Carter as they indulged my requests for various poses. I can't wait to meet baby Addison and take her picture as well. Here are a couple of my favorites from the shoot.

happy birthday

2010-06-29T16:04:00.000-04:00

Today my friend David Turner would have turned 27. He lost his battle with lymphoma just before his 26th birthday, just over a year ago. David’s brother Andrew celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday with his wife Ashlee who just happened to give birth to twins, on HIS birthday, the day before David’s birthday. Yes, that’s a bunch of birthdays in a two day period. David would have been excited to be a uncle and I know he would have been proud of his big brother. The photo at right is one that I did at David's request as a Mother's Day present. I am so blessed to have been a part of David's life, even if it was only a brief time. Happy Birthday Andrew and babies, Jordan David Turner and Nicole Lynn Turner!

yellow jackets

2010-06-26T22:07:00.000-04:00

Oh, the carnage! All the dead bodies! Ok, so I have already mentioned that I love bugs. I usually go out of my way to NOT kill bugs. So while I was mowing the front yard today I got stung by a yellow jacket. It pretty much didn't phase me, until I got hit a second time. I figured out where the little buggers were coming from and hunted them down with a can of bug spray. After it was all said and done I took out 31 of the little yellow and black biters.

little birdie

2010-06-25T16:05:00.000-04:00

While I was on my way home late last night from hangin' out with some buddies, I ended up running over a baby Robin. Well, not exactly running it over, but running my car OVER the bird without hitting it. I went back to see if it was ok, and it was laying on its back. I took it home and boxed it up for the night. Pam took the cute little birdie to Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic while I was shooting an assignment. They checked out the bird and gave it some fluids and said it was fine to return to the wild where I found it. I took it back, and within a couple of minutes it flew about fifteen feet and landed in a tree where it hung out for a while (pictured). The wildlife folks said that more than likely if it was already flying, that its momma had probably already taught it how to hunt its own food. The bird was much happier and more vocal after getting the fluids and getting back to nature. Pretty amazing that a baby bird like that can survive without any scratches, bruises or broken bones after an encounter underneath a moving car.

bugs

2010-06-24T00:09:00.000-04:00

I LOVE BUGS!!! I have been photographing bugs for a very long time. I don't get to photograph them too often any more, but I found these two the other day about three feet apart. The setting sun was too harsh, so I enlisted my daughter to hold a piece of poster board up to block the direct sun shinning through the trees. The cicada nymph was pretty interesting to watch. It kept running around in circles around the edges of its hole. It looked like it was smoothing out the soil and cleaning up around the entrance to the hole. I had to leave before I could see if it ended up back down the hole or not. The ladybug was sitting on the leaf of a plant on my back porch.

grayson highlands • part 2

2010-06-17T11:15:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are a few more pictures from my backpack trip to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. These are from my second day, the hike down the mountain. The weather was nice, albeit a bit hot, but at least he sun was out and blue skies were present. I hung out with the wild ponies for a few minutes at the trail head before hitting the trail. These are the same ponies that came to visit my tent the night before. I guess they figured if it was a good enough place for me to spend the night, that they would too. I took a different trail on the hike down. The scenery was just as beautiful, but I didn't take near as many pictures.

grayson highlands • part 1

2010-06-16T00:30:00.000-04:00

Grayson Highlands State Park is probably one of my most favorite places in the world. This really cool place is adjacent to Mt. Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia. The hiking trails at Grayson are some of the most heavily traveled by both day hikers and backpackers, not to mention folks on horseback. There are many options and opportunities for hikers of any skill level. My first exposure to Grayson was in college, when my buddy Jason Franks took myself and Scott Cole on our first backpacking trek. I didn't return until 20 years later.

This is the place where I first took my son, Ian, backpacking. Oddly, my most recent trip (last week) to Grayson was much like the trip that Ian and I made there several years ago. The first day hiking, the mountains were enshrouded by clouds, enough that you could not see the mountains around you, just the terrain immediately in front of you. There was a threat of rain, but thankfully the rain never came. It was quite windy this first day, fascinating to watch the clouds move across the trail. Other than the quickly changing weather, one of the things that Grayson is known for is the wild ponies that graze and wander the beautiful grassy meadows mixed in amongst the rocky tundra. On this trip I did not see any ponies until around 9pm. I was cleaning up after dinner, and heard a couple of odd noises. My headlamp only reaches 15-20 feet, but it was able to pick up the glowing eyes of several ponies grazing nearby. Once they noticed me, they came right up to my campsite for a short visit before moving on. I saw the same group of 10 ponies, three babies and 7 adults, at 6am the next morning when I ventured out of my tent to answer natures calling. My next post will contain photos from my second day of hiking at Grayson.

low gap • part 2

2010-06-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more pictures from Low Gap, NC. The owner of the house pictured below was very nice, even though he did not want to be in a picture. When I knocked on the door to ask permission to photograph his house and cool bird house, he invited me in without even seeing who was at the door. Apparently the bird house was built with leftover wood from a deck project behind the house. While photographing the house, apparently the man's wife let the puppy out to come see what I was up to. The flowers were on the side of the highway about a block from the house. Anybody know what kind of flowers these are? Let me know if you do!

low gap • part 1 • green

2010-06-12T17:54:00.001-04:00

Wow, it has been a super long time since I updated this blog. I think its about time to get back into the swing of things, don't you? This page will be for pictures that I like or recent things that I have photographed. Don't expect a lot of words, it will mostly be pictures.

So, I just got back from backpacking at Grayson Highlands in SW Virginia (more on that to come). On my way to VA, I stopped in Low Gap, NC and hung out for a little while. This cool little place is just before you get to VA on NC 89. Not much there, but I found a couple of things to take pictures of.

flying shovel

2007-01-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

I absolutely hate groundbreakings. They rarely make for decent photos. Most of the time its the standard guy at the microphone and then all the dignitaries grab gold painted shovels and act like they are digging the foundation for blah blah blah building. It is a huge challenge to try to come up with something different. Today was one of those days. Groundbreaking for a new aquatics center in Chapel Hill. It was cold out and the main speaker was late. I tried a couple of different angles, but didn't have much to speak of until this photo happened. Of course my creativity isn't what makes this an interesting photo. In my 20 years as a photojournalist, I have never seen this happen before. Nice end to a pretty boring assignment. (Photo by Mark Dolejs / The Herald-Sun)

big win

2007-01-16T00:55:00.000-05:00

Having photographed the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in Boston last April, I was excited to get the chance to shoot the rematch in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The outcome of this game was quite different (above) than the championship game. Duke lost to Maryland in the championship (below), but handily beat Maryland 81-62 for their first meeting this season. It should be interesting to see what happens when they travel to Maryland next month. (Both photos by Mark Dolejs / The Herald-Sun)

the beginning

2007-01-10T03:43:00.000-05:00

This lone tree didn't want to give in to the excavator as it tried to push it over. The NC School of Science and Math was taking out several trees to make way for a new soccer stadium on campus. The excavator took out three huge pine trees in a matter of minutes, but this hardwood stood its ground. It looked like the excavator had to dig down more than 10 feet around the base of the tree to get to its roots, before it finally gave in and came down like the other trees before it. (Photo by Mark Dolejs / The Herald-Sun)