2008 National MS Walk: Hackettstown, NJ
Chris and I attended the MS Walk like we do every year. I photographed the events at the Hackettstown location. To my disappointment, it seemed like there were less people in attendance than last year. All ages participated and it was a great day despite the cold weather we had! There were only two companies there Mary Kay (who was there last year) as well as Betaseron representatives. Betaseron is a drug that helps prevent your immune system from attacking your nervous system.
In looking at Chris’ post, I realized we captured very similar images. My images were shot with the Rebel XT and XTI. Enjoy the photos!
2008 National MS Walk: Roxbury NJ
Yesterday, Loretta and I headed out and covered two locations for the 2008 National MS Walk. She attended the walk in Hackettstown NJ while I headed over to Roxbury NJ. Unfortunately, the beautiful 70-degree weather we had on Saturday didn’t carry through as it was cloudy, cold and windy all day Sunday. Regardless, we dressed in layers and started shooting away.
As I arrived on site in Roxbury, it was nice to see lots of the same faces from last year … and to see even more new ones this year. All told, they had about 600-700 people in attendance.
Prior to the start of the walk, I moved around and captured some shots of the sponsors and volunteers that were already hard at work. I also watched as the Roxbury Fire Department readied their ladder truck with an American flag onto the end of the bucket. Once things were set, they raised it up and held the flag over the center of the event. Unfortunately, with the wind the way it was, I couldn’t get the exact shot that I wanted … but this was close enough for me …
As more walkers arrived, an instructor from a local business called Jazzercise helped keep everyone warm with a brief workout. As I watched the crowd around her, these two ladies stuck out as they were the most animated and tried to follow each move the instructor did …
As the morning progressed, one of the things that I had to do was take team pictures for everyone. As I waited for this one team to fully assemble, I noticed that (like a lot of other people there) they had their dog with them. I couldn’t resist the shot as it was the only one that helped “support the team”!
Once the ribbon was cut and the five mile walk started, I grabbed a few additional shots of the activities around the event including the band, a local radio station, the fire and police departments of Roxbury as well as the many other sponsors of the event. As the front of the walk started to come around on the first lap, I headed over to a little side road to capture them coming down the road. Here was a cute one of a little walker getting a lift for part of the distance …
Overall, it was a great day. It was nice to see the size of the turnout … though I think it would have been better had Saturday’s weather held out. Hopefully next year will be even better!
Teaming Up With The National MS Society
The National MS Society is a collective of passionate individuals who want to do something about MS now—to move together toward a world free of multiple sclerosis. MS stops people from moving and they exist to make sure it doesn’t.
The Society helps people affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services that help people with MS and their families move their lives forward.This Sunday, April 13th, the National MS Society will hold six hundred walks across the United States to help raise awareness and money to help people affected with MS. Since the entire Wanamaker Media family believes in giving back or helping out great causes, we have donated the services of Wanamaker Photography for two of their walk locations in New Jersey.
We’ll be onsite during the events to capture team and sponsor images as well as shots of the individuals as they make their way around the designated track. Please take a moment to visit the National MS Society website to see how you might be able to help such a great organization. To find a walk location near you, be sure to check out the “Get Involved” section of their website.
CupCake Tower
On April 5th, Bri from Just Add Sugar Cafe asked me to go with her to the Walpack Inn to set up a wedding cupcake display tower. I agreed as this was my first time seeing a full cupcake tower assembled from start to finish.
We arrived at the Walpack Inn that afternoon and began setting up. I never realized how much work went into making it perfect. I saw the opportunity for pictures and brought the camera. I did snap a couple of shots for her upcoming website. The lighting was perfect because the room we were in was like a sun room with the sun shining brightly through the ceiling.
This was taken with the Canon Mark III and the 70-200mm lens F/2.8.
A Shout-Out To TubeTape.Com
I have to take a moment to give a nice big shout-out (and some link love) to TubeTape.Com. Based in El Dorado Hills California, they are a great resource for video and photo backgrounds, software and equipment. Here is why I need to show them some love …
Now, I know that I am posting this a little late … but I’ve been extremely busy with things around the office … so I haven’t had much time to blog. Earlier in the evening, we had been contacted to do a (last minute)Â photo session that required a green screen. Not wanting to pass up a great opportunity, we accepted. That’s when I realized that we didn’t have a green screen to shoot against. I began searching the net and came across Tube Tape.
When I clicked into their website and began browsing around, I found that they had some of the best prices I had seen. With that, I decided to give them a call … even though it was 5:15 PST. I was expecting an answering machine … but was immediately greeted by one of their representatives. I had a bunch of questions that he helped me out with and not once did he sound like he just wanted to be over and done with the call. After bombarding him for a bit, I decided that I would continue looking around …
The next day, after not having much luck, I contacted Tube Tape and ordered our green screen. I explained our situation and that I needed it as soon as possible. I was told that they would get it into my hands ASAP! So I pulled out the credit card, paid and went on with my day.
Monday morning rolls around and guess what?! My green screen setup has arrived! ASAP was an understatement! I really don’t think that the service could have gotten any better than that!
So … Thank you very much Tube Tape! Excellent service and incredible employees will keep me a customer and will definitely generate referrals!