Crazy Night

Yesterday was a crazy day! I had a boring shooting day but it picked up at the baseball game when the game was stopped for a rain delay. To make the time go by faster the stadium played music. So the Cupid Shuffle came on and we started dancing in the press box and people started dancing in the aisles. It was funny and then these guys tried to call me down the stairs for me to come and dance with them. I didn’t go but the guy  did come up and ask me for phone number. The game was going to start about twenty minutes later so I left to go back to the paper. I see some police men I know with a new electric sort of golf buggy and I ask to take it for a spin. They said yes, so i jumped in and did about five donuts with it until the flash light flew out the side. So I jumped out and picked up and took off again. It was fun and put the stamp on a crazy night.

Plankton, Rooster in a bag and Guilty

Today, Good Morning America Weekend Edition traveled to Kinston, NC to feature the Historic Grainger baseball stadium. The team which I have covered for almost 5 years now is the Cleveland Indians farm team. Players from across the state and the Caribbean travel to Kinston every year but I have never seen so much excitement for the fan friendly stadium until today. I arrive at work at 11a.m to see a photo assignment for science camp at the nature center.

The newsroom is quiet and lifeless, so I quickly head out to my first assigement. I drive 2.5 miles to the Nature Center . I find the person in charge and introduce myself and begin taking photos. To my surprise a young boy takes out his point and shoot and asks to take my picture! I laughed and kept shooting the children as they watched plankton swirl underneath their microscopes. It’s was sort of boring, so I made the best of it and headed out. 12:00 p.m. I head over to Mama Kornegay’s is houses some the Kinston Indians. She invited me over to eat with her and the players while the Good Morning America crew was there filming the feature on Kinston. She was so excited and I was happy for her. This 70 some year old woman has more energy than thirty 16 year  olds. She is so full of life. “have you ever had rooster in a bag”, asks Mama, as she talks to the GMA crew. Collard greens, corn, chicken and rice where throughout the kitchen and dining room as she others prepared food. She even put to me to work and told me to heat up the collard greens. Laughter was heard throughout the room as the crew setup lights and crammed into the room to film her. As I talked to one of the crew members I told him about Plurk and the blogger bash in Raleigh and he said he’d check it out.

Everyone was really nice as more people began to fill the already crowded room. Time is ticking away and I get a call that the jury is about to give the verdict on a rape trial. I say my goodbyes and head out. Back at the newsroom, the place is starting to look like people being productive at work. I download my images and begin to prep them, when I get a text that it’s time to go to the courthouse. I grab my things and take off. After going through security I make up to the superior court room, where I wave to the judge. He gives me a friendly smile and calls me up to the bench while the jury is deliberating. He said he passed by Teachey, which is wear I’m orignally from, last week. I went back to my seat and within minutes the jury was back and out comes the suspect. I begin shooting and my shutter breaks the silence of the courtroom. I’m there for another 30 minutes, then it’s back to the newsroom. I check in with my boss, and now I’m home checking on my cute little poodle Coco. I’ll be heading back to work soon to shoot  to finsih up then I’m to a 7 pm Indians game.

The beginning

My name is Janet Sutton, I’m a photojournalist at a newspaper in Kinston, NC. I’ve started this blog to write about my journeys and the strange stories I come across at work. My day is spent shooting news, features photos and spot news. Recently I have responded to murders, bicyclist crashing into cars and scenes of summer . Tomorrow I start my first entry.