I've officially been at the Chronicle a year and in no way, shape or form could I have expected such the incredible ride that it's been.
Through every large sporting event or breaking news event that I've had the opportunity to be a part of this year, I've been super fortunate to find a way to mold my passions together. Be it picture editing and multimedia, or education and storytelling, I've somehow found a way to do it all this year.
There is no real way to sum up what this year has been in words, so I will resort to images and links. Please take a minute and click through the links. It's been such an important year in news, and I am so honored to have been a part of it.
Here's to the next year... may it bring more curve balls and in depth stories that will not only grow me as a person, but as a storyteller.
World Series
During Game one and two, Mike Kepka and I set out to AT&T Park to see what we could see in moving pictures. This was our first collaborative piece and the start of something truly incredible. On the print side of things, Pete Kiehart and I got to work the desk with our D.O.P. Judy Walgren the night of the final game of the World Series. It was pretty incredible to go from the police scanner to calling photographers and letting them know where things were going down, to editing special sections and books on deadline.
We Are Giants: https://vimeo.com/52138556
Giants World Series Parade (which went on to win a POYi award for sports multimedia): https://vimeo.com/52598480
Newtown
I had the honor to fly to Connecticut to represent the Hearst Corporation as a visiting picture editor at the Connecticut Post. It was my first time picture editing for print without a safety net of other editors over my shoulder. Not only did I feel a huge responsibility to the community to do my best to choose images that not only captured the tragedy but the strength of a small town, I also felt a responsibility to the corporation who took a chance on me.
49ers Super Bowl
I've been a huge sports fan my entire life, so this was truly a dream come true. New Orleans is such a beautiful city with a captivating vibe that makes creating images and video almost easy. I had such an amazing team of photographers with me that spent the days before the game covering everything from the NFL experience to setting up remote cameras in the cat walks.
Then game day happened and it was the biggest rush I've ever had as a picture editor. Five photographers positioned around the field with a card runner making sure the images got back to me on time so I could in return process them all and get them back to the desk for our print deadline. And a big thanks to Beyonce for the power outage that added an entirely unplanned level of difficulty and urgency to the entire experience.
Sure the experience of being in the dome and the rush that comes with picture editing on a tight sports deadline was awesome, but I think my favorite part was sending multiple photos to my brother and cousins bragging about the fact that while they were working on Wall Street and enhancing people's lives in med school and the classroom, I was living every teenage boys dream on the football field!
Oh right, did I mention Kepka and I made a multimedia piece too.
Football is America: https://vimeo.com/58866833
Too Young
Kepka and I joined forces with San Francisco Chronicle photographer Lacy Atkins who had been working on a story in Oakland about teen homicides. She spent a year running on almost every police scanner call that involved a teenage death. Lacy is such an amazing person and beautifully sensitive photographer. Being with her on the streets to film for the multimedia piece was like walking with an untouchable. The amount of respect she was able to gain on some of the most dangerous streets of Oakland was humbling.
Lamont DeShawn Price: https://vimeo.com/60608114
Sfgate Feature: http://www.sfgate.com/tooyoung/
Prop 8 and DOMA
So in between big projects and daily editing/producing shifts I was waking up at 7am to check the SCOTUS blog and see if a decision on Prop 8 and DOMA had been made. The entire staff was on call. We all had our spots to head to once the decision was made. Kepka and I had been working on a multimedia piece about a couple and their daughter that ran the week before the decisions, so we knew on that morning we wanted to be with them. After updating the multimedia piece, Kepka and I headed into the Castro. I was working on a daily video and he was out to find a city exposed. We even got to high five our summer intern Ian Bates who was making features! (he also likes to make funny faces)
Marriage Equality Elana and Marlene (1st place NPPA Multimedia): https://vimeo.com/68893184
Castro Celebrates (2nd place NPPA Multimedia): https://vimeo.com/69214380
Even Odds
After working with Lacy on Too Young, I jumped at the opportunity to work with her again on a continued story in Oakland. Lacy had been working on three different chapters of a story that visualized a statistic that stated, being male and black in Oakland means being about as likely to be killed as to graduate high school college ready.
This project had a lot of first. It was the first time the Chronicle created a campaign page for a story that lead with visual presence and centered around distinct chapters that would release by day to coexist with the print display. It was also the first time that Kepka and I had devoted extended time to an in depth multimedia piece that required multiple interviews. We spent in total six months documenting life and education in Oakland. For this use-to-be teacher that still has a huge heart for inner city education, it was such a joy to get to know the students and teachers who are setting out to beat the odds.
Even Odds campaign page: SFchronicle Even Odds
100 Black Men of the Bay Area Community SChool: https://vimeo.com/72860470
Oakland High School Manhood Development: https://vimeo.com/71470459
Crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214
Literally the day before the crash a photo editor friend of mine had called and joked that he didn't think anything else monumental could happen in my first year of picture editing. The next day he text me to say he was wrong. I was working the desk on a Saturday morning when we got the call that a plane had crashed. Our D.O.P. took over on the photography side and I was able to focus on making a gallery of the important images that were coming out of our staff that day. There is such a responsibility with breaking news to be accurate and efficient. People from all over the world were looking at the Chronicle to see what was happening in our home town.
Photo Gallery: http://www.sfchronicle.com/multimedia
Outsourcing a Life
One of our picture editors Nicole Frugé had the opportunity to go to India with a family from the Bay Area that were on a long journey to having a baby. While in India, Nicole gathered video along with BEAUTIFUL stills that wound up in the first special section the Chronicle has done in many years. Kepka and I stepped in to help produce the multimedia piece. Along with Nicole's footage, Kepka and I interviewed the family and got to spend time with them and their baby Kyle.
Outsourcing a Life campaign page: SFChronicle Outsourcing
Outsourcing a Life: https://vimeo.com/75419717