Categories
Music

Stressed out? Swing into Burlington for the Discover Jazz Festival

The work day came to a close and on the way home I tried to figure out what I wanted to do tonight.  Initially it was just going to be a simple dinner and maybe a movie at home.  I turned on some music (Rich Price, Sweet Remains, Peter Day, and a few others) and turned up the volume.  As I drove home, I started thinking about the chatter from all the #BTV folks on Twitter and remembered that Jazz Fest was in town.  It’s Friday night, no where to be tomorrow, and good tunes on the radio really got me in the mood to go downtown for some eats, a beer or two, and some more good music.

After walking the dog and a very quick snack (we figured the wait was going to be over an hour no matter where we went) we headed downtown.  Church Street was slammed as we made our way down from the top of the block.  With no real destination in mind, we ended up at the Farm House Tap & Grill.  While they didn’t have live music, they were close enough to Church St. that we could hear some spill over and still have a conversation.

The Farm House Tap & Grill; a new gastropub in Burlington with a great beer selection.

After dinner, we walked around the corner and watched the stage in front of Ken’s Pizza for a while.  From our Southerly location, we couldn’t see much of the stage, but the music was solid with exceptionally tight drumming.  As we rounded the corner of the stage, we discovered why: Russ Lawton was on drums.  If you haven’t seen him play, check out anything he’s listed on.  I haven’t seen him around lately, but he’s in town a lot this week and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him!

Russ Lawton drumming on the Church Street Marketplace for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

Live Music on the Church Street Marketplace for the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

Of course, Dux The Balloon Man was out twisting flowers, swords, wands, and (of course ducks!) If you haven’t stopped to get a balloon, I recommend it.  He’s a fun guy, great with kids, and I’m always entertained just watching him effortlessly craft his work.  I hear he’s going to have something special lined up for the Independence Day festivities down on the Burlington Waterfront.

Dux The Balloon Man twisting his creations on Church St at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

It was a B&W night, but he screams for color!

Dux The Balloon Man twisting his creations on Church St at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

Dux The Balloon Man twisting his creations on Church St at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival

And finally at the top of the block, a good crowd was gathered for some funk. I didn’t catch the name of the act, but we enjoyed a few songs as we checked out the crowd and statue of Big Joe Burrell, well crafted and placed outside of Halvorson’s as a perfect tribute to the man.

Live Music on the big stage at the top of Church Street. The Discover Jazz Festival is in full swing in Burlington, Vermont!

Seeing Big Joe’s image while walking around Church St. during Jazz Fest really brought back some great memories of past years’ events with my Dad.  It’s a really great time of year in Burlington. There’s something new going on behind every door and on every block. Occasionally you’re surprised with something fantastic, but you’re guaranteed to at least hear something good and the atmosphere, with smiling faces all around, can’t be beat. We haven’t made it down much for the last few festivals, but I hope we make a few more events this week. See you down there?

Categories
Engagement Portraits

A Burlington Engagement Session with Peter & Emily

I had the great honor of taking some engagement photos (I guess all the cool kids are calling them E-Sessions now) for a wonderful couple and some good friends of mine, Peter & Emily. We tromped around Burlington shooting in a couple of alleys on our way down to One Main St. and the Lake Champlain waterfront to enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Peter is a musician and he’s a frequent guest in front of my camera, but most of the time that I’m taking photos of him, Emily is in the audience listening to his melodies. Not this time!  We had a great time laughing with each other while we made these photos.  Near the end of the night, Peter said, “This is great! How often do I get to spend a few hours focused on being in love with Emily?” I can’t wait for their wedding this fall!

Peter & Emily's Burlington Vermont Engagement (E-Session) photos
Peter & Emily's Burlington Vermont Engagement (E-Session) photos: Brick wall with glass reflection

Peter & Emily's Burlington Vermont Engagement (E-Session) photos: Silhouette at Sunset

Here’s a slideshow with some more photos from the day:

Music: “Emily” by Peter Day

You can find this song on iTunes and more songs like it on The Grift’s website. A huge thank you to Clint Bierman for providing acoustic version!

Categories
Event Photography Sports

Roller derby poised to take over as Burlington’s official sport

The Green Mountain Derby Dames have certainly made a splash in the Burlington area over the last two years.  They have gone from competing for a minimal crowd in one of the smaller rooms at the Champlain Valley Expo to presenting a double-header bout in the large room.  The Black Ice Brawlers made their debut this past Saturday, skating against the Ithaca BlueStockings. Following this bout, the GMDD’s Grade A Fancy team skated against the Providence Killah Bees. Both teams skated well, but ultimately it was not GMDD’s night.

I highly encourage you to come to the next bout which looks to be a family feud on June 12th.

GMDD does a great job at mixing up the halftime shows by inviting in local teams, acts, or charities to perform or involve the crowd in activities.  We’ve had dodgeball and Zumba, but this week the Urban Dance Complex performed a hip-hip dance.

The Black Ice Brawlers returned from halftime an inspired team.  They stepped up their game skating hard and closing the gap on the scoreboard. Nice work, ladies!

With a quick intermission between bouts, GMDD’s Grade A Fancy came out for their warm-ups. It did not go unnoticed that many of the women skating in the second bout were helping make the first bout happen, and vice-versa. This stretch always impresses me; I have enough trouble doing this with street shoes on, and here’s The Silencer casually doing it with roller-skates on like it’s no big deal.

Categories
Event Photography

Race Vermont Half Marathon in Shelburne

This weekend, Vermont threw all sorts of weather at us.  Saturday morning I awoke to drizzle and rain, so I packed up my car with extra rain gear and headed to Shelburne to photograph the Race Vermont Half Marathon for SkiPix.com.  Rayne, the race coordinator, assured all of the volunteers that he had put in for no rain, so we should stay dry.  Well, it didn’t pour all day, but it definitely rained hard at times and I was glad to have a good rain jacket and umbrella.

Runners didn’t seem deterred at the registration table. There was steady traffic both inside when people were picking up their packets, and outside where runners were warming up.

Spirits seemed high during the pre-race pep-talk.  Apparently there were multiple events going on in Shelburne this weekend, including Lacrosse games and school open houses, all within a half mile from the Field House in Shelburne, making for a lot of extra people in the area. As usual, Rayne stressed safety over everything else encouraging runners to run without their iPods because of all the added traffic.  I would get bored, but I can see the reasoning behind the advice.

I set up shop near at Shelburne Farms, near mile marker 9 I think, just as people were exiting the grounds.  It was raining as I set up my camera and other gear, but when the first runners came through it had stopped and it looked like we were in for a few hours without precipitation.

It was interesting that some people were running past in tights, long sleeves, and some wearing gloves/hats/jackets, while others were in the bare minimum, coping with the cold, rainy, Vermont weather quite well.

As usual, there are always a few who are willing to pose creatively for the camera or at least give a friendly smile and a wave.

And then the skies opened up again, drenching runners.  This guy was running with his wife for their anniversary.  I can’t recall how many years, but I think it’s a great way to celebrate!

His wife was lucky; Vermont decided to stop raining by the time she got to me.

There are some stretches where it must be pretty lonely in the rain.

While the runners at least stay warm, if not dry, through the race, the volunteers get pretty chilly when the temperatures drop and the rain kicks up.  Race Vermont has a lot of volunteers at every race I’ve been to; the event couldn’t happen without them.  Many of the runners make a point to thank each and every volunteer they pass, which is a nice touch I think.


Even in the cold, the volunteers are cheering on competitors and generally having a good time.

As the last runners passed me, I packed up my photo gear and headed towards the finish to see if I could catch some expressions as people completed their race and were able to get out of the rain. Some people were happy, some were relieved, and others broke down in tears as they successfully finished their first half marathon.  Congratulations!

As is evident by the photo above, I wasn’t the only photographer at the event, but I bet I took the most photos!  You can see all of the Race Vermont Half Marathon Photos at SkiPix.com.

Categories
Music

Jer Coons at Higher Ground

Jer Coons played to a nearly sold out Higher Ground Showcase Lounge, in Burlington, VT, with Taylor Carson opening up the show.. We’re lucky to have a lot of big acts come through the area (Jakob Dylan played with Neko Case just this weekend) but I tend to prefer the local musicians, or at least the ones with local connections. Jer’s about as local as they get growing up in Middlebury. Below is a slideshow with a few of my favorites from the evening. The full gallery is available if you’d like to see more or buy a print.


Artist: Jer Coons
Album: Speak
Song: Speak

You can buy the album straight from Jer or via iTunes.