The 18th Street Singers begin a concert warm up with massages.

I was asked to shoot photos of the 18th Street Singers in DC before their latest concert. I went to a rehearsal and the warm up before the concert. They were especially interested in facial expressions.

The 18th Street Singers as seen from the balcony of the First Trinity Lutheran Church in Washington, DC.

A pitch pipe rests on sheet music.

More photos here.

Back in October, Wolf Trap asked me to shoot a meeting of the Imagination Conversation, a project of the Lincoln Center Institute. The project aims to address problems in America’s educational system to make American graduates more competitive in the marketplace. I’ve had quite a few teacher friends over the years. As an undergrad, I finally saw how hard my teacher friends worked to create lesson plans for their students. I realized I had taken teachers for granted for a long time. Since then, I have come to agree with what one of the panelists said: we have undervalued education, especially in the last decade. I believe this is a shame and I truly hope initiatives like the Imagination Conversation can show people why education must be a priority for a society.

Back to the videos. They were shot in October. This is not to say that it has taken me this long to edit them. After shooting the meeting, I was asked to first create some videos for the Board at Wolf Trap. Those were intended just for the Board. A few months later, I was asked to create shorter versions that Wolf Trap could post on Youtube. I also created the accompanying graphics.

Two more videos after the break.

My latest video for the EU Delegation to the US through Momenta Creative. Opening graphic by Femath Media.

The Washington, DC chapter of Zonta, an international women’s service organization, asked me to shoot a video at their scholarship recipients dinner and then create a short piece that gave an overview of Zonta’s involvement in the educational community.

Back on November 28, the Eu and US ambassadors held a joint press brief after Pres. Obama met with EU leaders about the European economic situation. The video is 20 minutes long, so feel free to skip around.

This is a video I shot on November 17 in which EU Ambassador Vale de Almeida spoke about an upcoming EU-US economic summit.

Back in September, I edited a series of videos for the National Park Foundation through Blue Land Media. I edited most of the primary footage in the field segments, with the park rangers and the students. The Saguaro National Park electronic field trip premiered on October 21, 2011. Since I’m not clear as to how or if I can post video samples, I got a screen grab that showed my editing credit.

A video I produced in September 2011 for the EU Delegation to the US through Momenta Creative.

Elizabeth Maurer hugs Nathaniel Hancock before classes while Hannah, center, and Herold Hancock, right, look on at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011.

Students filed into Fairfax County Public Schools once again on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I went to Carl Sandburg Middle School and Fort Hunt Elementary School for a gallery for the Fort Hunt Patch. As the principal at Fort Hunt pointed out, sometimes the first day of school is harder for the parents than the kids.

Elizabeth Vargas, left, and brother Matthew Vargas wait for their bus to Mt. Vernon High School on the morning of September 6, 2011. Elizabeth was worried when the bus was "already 15 minutes late on the first day of school."

I found these students near Carl Sandburg. I’d be worried too if my bus was 15 minutes late on the first day.

Science teacher Dale Witt prepares his classroom at Carl Sandburg Middle School for the first day of school on September 6, 2011

Work essentially started last week for teachers, so there wasn’t much for them to do while waiting for the doors to open.

Students unload from buses at Carl Sandburg Middle School on September 6, 2011.

Mari Frost watches as a father waves to his child on the first day of classes at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011. Frost is a student safety patrol.

More photos after the break.

Science teacher Cheryl Fulghum, left, and Principal Terrence Yarborough walk the empty halls of Carl Sandburg Middle School on September 6, 2011. Students would begin arriving in 20 minutes for the first day of school.

English teacher LaMonica Brevard affixes alphabet stickers to desks at Carl Sandburg Middle School before students arrive on September 6, 2011.

A teacher waits for students to cross before waving on cars in front of Carl Sandburg Middle School on the morning of September 6, 2011.

Teachers Cheryl Fulghum and Dale Witt direct students to their first-period classrooms at Carl Sandburg Middle School on September 6, 2011.

Students proceed to classrooms on the second floor of Carl Sandburg Middle School on September 6, 2011.

Students, parents and administrators recite the Pledge of Allegiance at Carl Sandburg Middle School on September 6, 2011.

Parents and school buses drop off children at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011.

Parents take photos of students on the first day of school at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011.

Erin Swart, left, speaks with Ann Marie Parsons about opportunities with the parent-teacher association during a breakfast meeting at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011.

As school administrators introduce themselves to parents, library books await to be organized at Fort Hunt Elementary School on September 6, 2011.

This is my final major piece for Wolf Trap. I shoot the footage throughout the summer at a variety of concerts and then produced this story about patron experiences.

My supervisor Graham liked the video so much, he decided to make an entire blog post about it and asked me to write some accompanying text, with insights into how I found these patrons, why I used these particular stories, and other tidbits. I want to make this clear: “All the people I interviewed were real patrons… no actors, no scripts, just candid conversations.”

Here’s the text from the post.

A few weeks ago, we had an intern “show-and-tell.” It was much like the show-and-tell sessions from when we were in kindergarten, except no one would’ve allowed me near a giant TV back then. I showed three videos that day: one about this year’s Annual Swamp Romp, one about the Theatre-in-the-Woods program, and the Wolf Trap Patrons: June At-A-Glancevideo. Afterwards, one of my fellow interns said one of the best things a video producer can hear. He said that before coming to work at Wolf Trap he had heard much about the “Wolf Trap experience,” but he didn’t actually know what it meant. He felt that after seeing those videos, he felt he understood it perfectly. If someone knows and understands something about Wolf Trap a little more after viewing my work than before, then I’ve done my job. While I’ve shot a lot of concert video this summer, the videos about Swamp Romp, Theatre-in-the-Woods and the Wolf Trap Patrons: (“Beyond the Lawn Rush”) are my favorites. I am a visual storyteller and those videos were produced as stories. All three featured great interactions with patrons, performers and other Wolf Trap visitors. Some were quirky, some were more straightforward, but each was an important part of the story and represented a piece of history here at Wolf Trap.

I come from a journalism background and I approached most of my projects at Wolf Trap as I would if I were still at a news organization. While the videos here are a bit more promotional than they would for a news outlet, I still want them to be authentic. I believe dishonesty undermines the story. All the people I interviewed were real patrons… no actors, no scripts, just candid conversations.

I start off by spending five to ten minutes reading the crowd, getting a feel for the more outgoing and engaging people. While we welcome thousands of new patrons to Wolf Trap each season, you’ll notice that the people in the videos are largely repeat patrons. These people tend to have more history and more stories to share about their time here. When I asked people what kept bringing them out, I noticed there were some common ties: the ability to bring food and drink, the sound quality, the connection with nature and the camaraderie. Those responses make up the main sections of the patron video. I interviewed quite a few people over the summer and they said very similar things. One of my main goals with the videos was to feature those who had the most engaging responses. I hope the videos stayed true to the spirit of the patrons and the park itself. It was wonderful to see that the “Wolf Trap experience” had such a universal impact.