Tag: Burlington

Categories
Landscape

Champ Spotted!

Champ is taking advantage of the high water in the lake to make the rounds to businesses he can’t normally reach. Here he is outside the Vermont Lake Monsters front office down at the King St. ferry dock in Burlington.

Champ, Lake Champlain's lake monster, is back in his element.

He’s not very bashful right now and hung around for a few portraits while I was walking around the waterfront.

For those of you that haven’t made it down to Perkins Pier to see the flooding, here are a few shots of what it looks like now. According to NOAA, the lake is at 100.7′. I’ve heard reports that it is supposed to crest 101′ and with 80″ of snow remaining on Mt. Mansfield I have little doubt that we’ll get there.

Normally, these benches are a nice place to watch the sun set and be safe from waves. Today, you’d be hard pressed to get out there without hip waders.

For comparison, here’s what it looked like last March. The dark line on the water is the Burlington breakwater which is completely submerged right now.

An early March sun sets behind the Adirondack mountains and Lake Champlain.

Categories
Event Photography Sports

Unplugged Half Marathon

Note – all of these photos and many, many more are available on SkiPix.com. If you ran, you should hop over and check it out. There are prints, posters, magnets, and even digital downloads if you want to use these on Facebook.

This past Saturday, Run Vermont organized the 5th Annual Unplugged Half Marathon along the Burlington, VT waterfront of Lake Champlain. 600 runners pre-registered for what can be a questionable day by the lake. Some years, we get freezing temperatures, cold winds, and even snow. This year, it was in the mid to upper 30’s at the start and it got downright warm once the race was under way. Even standing at my first location, I was able to take off my jacket, roll up my sleeves, and enjoy the sunshine.

The course is the same every year, as far as I’m aware. It starts in Colchester, just over the Burlington line (aka the Winooski River) where it makes a quick loop through some neighborhoods before joining up with the Burlington Bike Path and heading due south along the lake shore. This is the third year I’ve photographed this event and I try not to shoot the same location twice in a row. This year, I was drawn back to the bridge over the Winooski where the curved lines make for interesting framing and the sun really highlights what a beautiful day we had.

Most of the events I photograph are filled with a relaxed crowd, out to have a good time, but this one seems exceptional. Some people will run through the “photo trap” with arms around their running partners,

some smile & chat

make a point to wave hello and / or thank me for being out there (it really is my pleasure)

or suggest that world peace is the answer (at least, I think she was saying that and not whirled peas.)

When I moved to Oakledge Park to take some photos by the lake with Burlington in the background, I came across this group of fans cheering for someone’s mom if I remember correctly.

They certainly caught the runners’ attention as they came through the park!

Near the end of the race, they really encourage you to finish strong.

No, seriously, the truck drivers that go through there did an amazing job navigating the fans, runners, and cones. And the runners knew the trucks didn’t really want to run them over.

Thanks for putting on another great race, Joe!  I’ll see you next year.

Categories
Family Photograph Portraits

Happy Babies

I was going through some photos recently and came across these pictures of a friend’s baby. He is one of the happiest, most adorable, easy going babies you’ll ever meet. Tawny & I went over for dinner not long after he was born and decided to throw the cameras in the car. I don’t photograph a lot of babies, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. He was pretty cooperative, though, smiling every time we asked.

I love the way this first photo shows the connection between father and son.

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

His parents think this look is his “time to take over the world” look, but I think he just looks overjoyed to have his photo taken. 🙂

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Vermont Family and Baby Photography

Categories
Music Photograph

Hug Your Farmer: A Night of Music to Benefit Pete’s Greens

On January 12th, Pete’s Greens of Craftsbury, Vermont suffered a devastating fire. They lost their barn, equipment, crops & more. The community has rallied by collecting donations and holding auctions. On Thursday, Love Tomorrow Today and Select Design put on a benefit concert at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont to help Pete’s Greens rebuild. The show featured Page McConnell and Jon Fishman of Phish, Clint Bierman and Peter Day of the Grift, Dave Grippo, Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski, Rich Price, Jer Coons, Will Evans, Matt Hagen, Mike Clifford, Joshua Panda, Brian McCarthy and more. The concert raised $26,000, all of which will go directly to Pete’s Greens.

The all-star cast of musicians played for about two hours, interrupted briefly by Peter Shumlin, the Governor of Vermont, who spoke about local food & renewable energy. I was impressed that he hung around for the rest of the show. As I was working through the crowd, I nearly bumped into him dancing up a storm in the middle of the room!

And for a quick reminder about why we were all there.  (Yes, that’s a carrot in his hand.)

While the fire is a real tragedy, I’m impressed at how it has galvanized our community and sparked a lot of great conversations about CSA’s, local & organic food, and what it means to live in Vermont. I can’t imagine living anyplace else.

Categories
Music Photograph Portraits

Music Photography

Just before Thanksgiving, I was contacted by the Vermont band Shakedown to take some new photos for their website.  They had just experienced a shakeup and had some new members.  Normally, I connect up with bands in the spring, summer, and early fall and take outdoor photos around Burlington. This time, we met in a dance studio to set up the white background, a few lights, and take some indoor photos.

One of the benefits to traveling light is that setup and teardown is quick.  In about an hour and a half, we had set up everything, taken all the shots, and packed everything back into my car. (It helped that all of the band members showed up on time.) In that time, we took three or four group shots and a combination of full length, 3/4, and head shot photos of each band member.

I haven’t heard them play live yet, but I’m looking forward to it.  If you’re looking for a wedding band, I’d feel comfortable recommending them based on what I’ve seen so far. They’re prompt and professional when needed, but also fun people that can let loose and have a good time.