Saturday, July 12, 2008

7 a.m. warm up at the Tri the Pee Dee Triathlon

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

As I was taking pics at the Florence vs. Bishopville American Legion game tonight, a huge storm came rolling in, blackening the sky.  Dozens of fans left, some for the night, some just to move their cars in closer.  I got some cool pictures of the storm as I was leaving the stadium.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Got this pic of the opposing team’s shortstop at the RedWolves game against the Wilmington Sharks at American Legion Field in Florence on Thursday, July 3, 2008.  Unfortunately the team doesn’t have numbers on the fronts of their jerseys so I don’t know his name!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Nershell Davis dances during the 8th annual Sankofa Festival held Saturday June 28, 2008 at Timrod Park in Florence. Sankofa, a Akan word from the African country of Ghana, meaning “go back and fetch it” celebrates the lessons of the past while planning for the future. 


Jasmine Hughs leads a team of dancers as the group performs at the 8th annual Sankofa Festival.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Last Friday, June 20, 2008, a friend of mine at the Fitness Forum brought to my attention that Joe Waters had passed away. In hearing that I didn’t immediately know who she was talking about. I knew of him from the Fitness Forum, where I am also a member, and Mr. Waters was for a long time. He made an impression on me at the Forum years ago. He always had a smile on his face and always had something nice to say. Many in the community might remember him as the guy who was commonly seen hitting golf balls on West Cherokee Road at the corner of South Franklin St. His obituary said, “Mr. Waters had many friends and never met a stranger.“ I sincerely believe that to be true. The full obituary can be found on http://www.scnow.com.



Flowers and a few golf balls sit in an open lot at the corner of West Cherokee Rd. and South Franklin Street on Friday, June 20, 2008. The flowers were put there as a memorial for Joe Waters, who died on Monday, June 16, 2008. Waters was known by many in the community but those that didn’t directly know him new of him if they ever drove down Cherokee Road. The empty lot was one of Waters’ favorite spots to hit golf balls and was seen there quite frequently by passersby.





A golf ball is inscribed as “Old Joe #1” in an open lot at the corner of West Cherokee Rd. and South Franklin St. on Friday, June 20, 2008, in rememberance of Florentine Joe Waters who died on June 16, 2008. Waters was known to frequent the lot to hit golf balls.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I got this shot during Florence’s game against Camden last night and they couldn’t use it in the paper, so I thought I would share it here! 

Florence second baseman Keith Branco (3), a senior at Wilson High School, maintains control of the ball and regains his balance after tagging out Camden’s Stephen Boneparte (3), from Lugoff-Elgin High School, during the South Carolina American Legion game at American Legion Field in Florence on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.

Ever since I moved to Florence in August last year I have driven past the farm on Cashua Drive with the funky twisted chimney. I have always wondered why the chimney had the strange twist in it. Yesterday, by chance I went to the farm for an upcoming story on owner George Harrington who was born in the front room of the house which once stood around the chimney. He said he wasn’t sure but thinks it was build this way to heat all four rooms of the house. Anybody out there know anything else about these twisted chimneys? It’s so interesting to me and I’d love to learn more.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

While taking pictures of Florence County Probate Judge W. Kenneth Eaton today, I loved the way the light filtered through the blinds so I took a couple of shots.  The color of the filtered light looks even better than it did in person.

Friday, June 13, 2008

As I was leaving the RedWolves game tonight, the sun was neon pink! I had to underexpose the photo a bit in order to share the beautiful colors with those of you who might have missed it!

Thursday was the day that the Florence County Elections Commission met to go over the provisional ballots from the primary the previous Tuesday. This was of much interest because both mayoral candidates, Stephen Wukela and incumbent Frank Willis, were seperated by one vote in the election. I was assigned to cover the event and the whole thing was an experience. I learned alot about voting and how certifying an election works. Here are two pictures I thought were interesting. Enjoy!





The 5 ballots, out of the 17 up for consideration, were deemed fit to be counted by the commission. The attorneys for both mayoral candidates watched intently as elections officials tallied the votes in secrecy behind glass. All the media that was there gathered around on the opposite of the glass hoping to catch a glimpse of the happenings. I thought it was ironic that the banner on the back wall read, “Every vote matters and every vote counts.“





When the day of the recount was over and it was announced that each candidate received one more vote Stephen Wukela was still ahead. Immediately after the announcement both candidates were wrangled for interviews. I thought it was kind of humorous that at exactly the same time both candidates were being interviewed by two different and competing television stations.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Supporters of Mayor Frank Willis Steve Powers, left, Douglas Wilson, Pam Osborne, his wife Marguerite Willis, and Karen Wingard crowd around George Jebaily as he records poll results from a phone call at Osborne’s on Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Official results have Stephen Wukela winning the mayoral race by one vote.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Thursday, along with everyone else on the photo staff, I had the task of getting pictures to represent the current heat wave. Every year I know at some point the photo staff will need to cover it. Everyone knows that it’s hot that’s for sure. A mentor of mine once said, “our job as photojouranlists is to make people experience the world around them in a different way.“ In other words anyone who lives in any community sees the same things, or just about, every day. Our job as photojournalists is to show those every day things in a different way through our pictures. With that in mind I set out for the day, about 3 hours to be exact, taking that challenge head on. For several years now I have been stalking this picture of the railroad tracks. I find it interesting that of all the places in the Pee Dee the tracks seem to have the best heat waves. I have known that there was a picture there to be made but hadn’t quite pulled it off to my liking. So after some experimenting with time of day, camera exposure and temperatures through the years it just seemed to have come together. I like how the heat waves make the background look almost like a painting. Is this a perfect heat wave picture? I’m not convinced of that but I feel that I got a little bit closer. Have a good summer, by the way it hasn’t officially started yet, and stay COOL!  John D. Russell/Morning News

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

A few photos from tonight’s Florence Mayoral Debate at FMU. Considering I am still kind of new here in Florence, it was quite an education for me.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

I love baseball, working or not. Last summer while I interned with The Salisbury Post in Salisbury N.C. I spent most of my summer nights working on the ball field. This week I was lucky enough to shoot 2 Redwolves games, a rare treat for me as I generally work day shift. I hope to have many more nights on the ball field this summer, working or not.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Here are some more pics of beautiful British Columbia.  We had lunch and then took a drive through some of coastal communities.

A couple sits in a big, blue chair on top of a huge rock at the edge of Gonzales Bay, a spot that overlooks the bay and the view of the mountains in Washington state’s Olympic National Park.



Another view from the bay.  We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather for our trip!



Dozens of driftwood logs bleached from the sun and riddled with worm holes were washed up on the beach.  I loved this view with the picnic table in the background.



Me and my sis in the car!