Energy Lessons from Juneau

One of the two stories that Lori and I worked on while we were in Juneau a couple of weeks ago.

"What are you doing to conserve?"

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2 Your Health Tuesdays...

...with Lori J. Tipton and yours sincerely.

Hope you all enjoy...

 

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Sweeps II

In a continuation of my "Sweeps" post the other day, here is another story I have recently been a part of.

This was shot while I was in Southeast Alaska a couple of weeks ago. The story is about Juneau residents turning to wood to heat their homes during a time of expensive traditional forms of heat. There are a couple of hitches with using wood, though...

Lori Tipton is the reporter.

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This other story I was the editor for. Lori Tipton is the reporter and Zac Gooch is the photographer. This story is about Mat-Su Valley residents turning to coal as an alternate source of heat this winter.

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This last story is a natpack I produced over the summer for one of our franchise pieces called "Day Trippin'". I stumbled across it the other day and thought it might be a good share. I titled it "A Recreational Asset". 

 

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Temperature update: 23 degrees and light snow in Anchorage. 41 degrees and cloudy in Whitman.

Sunrise/set update: 9:36a/4:00p in Anchorage. 6:47a/4:15p in Whitman.

"Gobblegate"??? Come ON...

Yes. The sarcasm in the title of this post speaks directly to my opinion about to be posted.

For those of you who do not know:

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The controversy surrounding this video and the individuals involved is RIDICULOUS and BULL SHIT.

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The better and more controversial topics of discussion I have been advised NOT to write about. 

I am muted.

Sweeps

Sweeps is television's rating period. It is a 30-or-so day period where the advertising rates are established based upon viewership. The more viewers a station has, the more it can potentially charge their advertisers.

This month has been a sweeps period. It's almost over now, but I wanted to share with you a couple of the stories that I have been the photographer for. 

For Sweeps stories, the news management allows the reporters and photographers an extended amount of time to work on the story, very rarely having a same day turn. Depending on how wisely the reporter and photographer plan out their shoots and time management, the pieces can turn out pretty well.

These two stories I shot were with Reporter Lori Tipton in the town of Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan is located in Southeast Alaska. 

map credit

"Knik Arm Ferry Construction"

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"Nothing to Nowhere"

 

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I like the second story better than the first. These were not my best shot stories ever, but they were fun nonetheless.  I wish we had more time to commit to both stories but they were just so rushed because of daylight and the timeframe we had there.

I plan to be better at posting the stories that I shoot more often, especially now that I am committing myself to getting the digital files of the stories onto a hard drive.  I've been putting everything to tape up to this point. And when I get time, I plan to get the stories that I have on tape, to a hard drive as well.

And a last few...

...pictures.

From my time visiting in New Hampshire (in September) with Karrie and Adam, and their cute-as-a-button daughter, Parker!!

Sisterly Loving

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted these pictures until I was going through my album and thinking about the remarkable nine months that I have had.

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I love Alyssa's hair in this photo:

Home to Shadows

Finally Home.

This feels really good. I am still very tired and recovering from the six week trip to Washington D.C. to cover U.S. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' corruption trial. But the hangover won't last for long and I will be back to my usual routine.

The shadows are long here now. The sun has visibly dipped lower on the horizon as it makes it's daily path across the sky. Soon enough we'll have just about four hours of sunlight. It makes for a cozy faeeling in my apartment. I have candles burning and it feels like it is time for the holidays. I don't know why. It's just the feeling given by the low light. I really like it.

I returned to Alaska three Wednesdays ago and have finally caught up on the miscellaneous things in life such as laundry, cleaning, bills, etc. The groceries are not up to speed, but when have they ever in my life?

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I feel more seasoned now that I have had a little bit of time to reflect on my D.C. trip. I feel a little more confident in my abilities and of what I am capable of.  I know that I still have much to learn and even more to experience before I feel comfortably seasoned. Every day I am gaining more belief in myself and my capabilities. 

Working from the 3rd Street sidewalk everyday gave me an education. I learned how the network photographers operate. What is expected of them and their approach to the work day. I met some really interesting and fascinating characters. Dan, Rick, John, Jocco, Hank, Chris, Christian, Dave and countless others.

Working from NBC Newschannel every day was somewhat stressful at times. Entering into a new workplace with no sense of the workflow or understanding of the operations, and not having any of it explained to you when asked, was frustrating. The looks of "wow, you're stupid" were numerous at times and stressful. Poor communications in an industry meant to communicate to the public; go figure. Overall there were some really nice people there who were great to work with. Mike, Julie, Ray, Bob, Chris. Professionals who know how to get their shit done, quickly, and with a generally positive attitude. Very cool.

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While I was in D.C., there was time for me to make a trip home:

I was fortunate enough to be able to surprise my parents with my arrival. Thank you to Marianne for coordinating my pick up and drop off with the train station and airport. I kept my trip pretty low profile so that I wouldn't feel stressed or more tired than necessary running around to see so many people. I spent time with my parents, Marianne and Craig, the Millie's crew (of course), Paul, Mike, Tom, Jenna, Kate and Suzy, Tracy, Sean, Ryan, et al. 

Also while I was in D.C., I was able to have lunch with my cousin, Lisa. That is the first time I have met up with her outside of the South Shore (I believe...).  We went out for a casual supper and had a really nice time together. I wish I brought my camera to take pictures of the two of us. The last time I saw her was at Alyssa's wedding, and before that, yeesh, who knows... Often we'll go years without seeing each other. At any rate, it was great to see her again.

One of the last weekends I was in Washington I met up with Jay and Emily. They live in Raleigh, NC, so we met halfway between: Richmond, VA. We spent the whole day together just moseying around the city and taking lunch. It was really nice to see them again, as it had been just about a year since our last encounter. We always have a nice visit and there is always something to talk about - especially with the Red Sox being in the postseason at the time of our get together.

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Here are some of the pictures that I took when I had some time off during D.C. This was mostly on the weekends, because my reporter and I were working, on average, 15 hour days.

Overall my D.C. experience is one that I am grateful for. However by week four, I was well on my way to being ready to head home. I think it was really important for me to have these experiences among the network folks and of working on assignment for so long. I learned much, and that is what is most important to me...oh yah, and making slot.

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Now that I am done traveling for awhile (to the best of my knowledge), I can focus more closely on life here. This includes keeping correspondence with people back home, developing relationships with friends and co-workers, spending time with my boyfriend and seeing where our relationship heads, and of course, the never-ending journey of honing my skills as a photojournalist.

Temperature update: 27 degrees and cloudy in Anchorage. 59 degrees and cloudy in Whitman.

Sunrise/set update: Anchorage - 9:08a/4:20p ... Whitman - 6:34a/4:22p

Long enough!!

I started my first blog, since returning to Alaska, two Thursday's ago sometime...

Since my attempt two Thursdays ago, and with still no "real" new post I have been traveling in Southeast Alaska for more work.  

The post that I started two weeks ago has pictures and anecdotes, I swear. At the time present, i don't know when I'll get to finish it. Hopefully this weekend sometime. I have a three day weekend coming up for me, since I've worked 12 days straight, after coming back from a 6-week assignment in D.C. 

Because my Mom sounds disappointed/concerned, I've decided to put up this little blurb of mine to let the world know that, yes, I am gratefully alive and as well as can be. Suzy, I got your message, thank you for the phone call! I'll call you this weekend. Jay, thank you for the text message! I owe you a phone call as well. [This list goes on quite in this fashion.]

I NEED some time off from work and feel my temper as being short and not quite myself since my leave for D.C. 

That's a long time for not feeling quite right. I'm hoping my three day weekend will suit me well. It will be good to have some alone time and to spend some quality time with a significant other. And to once again feel settled. 

Until I have time to write about my travels to the East Coast, here are just a couple of pictures of my time in Southeast. Not many, and nothing great. I am hoping that Lori (my friend and reporter whom I was with on the trip) will allow me to publish the pictures she took from our travels. She took a great deal a many pictures that I did not have time to.

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Juneau:

Mendenhall Glacier:

Juneau:

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Ketchikan:

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Temperature update: 37 degrees and light rain in Juneau, AK. 48 degrees and light rain in Ketchikan, AK.  30 degrees and cloudy in Anchorage. 37 degrees and partly cloudy in Whitman, MA.