The Button Pusher

Down by the River

2012-01-17T18:24:00.003-05:00

A pic from today's search of Lower Little River for Roy Haddock, 69, of the 7800 block of Shortbranch Drive, who had last been seen about 8:30 a.m. Monday. The intensive search for a him ended Tuesday afternoon when a dive team found his body along the Lower Little River off McCormick Bridge Road.

Monday when he went out to look for and try to take in a stray cat he had seen in the area, according to his family. Deputies say his death appears to be accidental.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T16:05:00.013-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone.

Homecoming for the Last of the Fort Bragg Soliders in Iraq

2011-12-29T15:58:00.018-05:00

On Thursday, December 22, 2011, the last of the Fort Bragg soldiers serving in Iraq came home and were welcomed by friends and family.

Wake Boarding

2011-12-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

Fort Bragg Polar Bear Plunge

2011-12-27T15:24:00.007-05:00

82nd Airborne Div. Exercise

2011-12-26T15:13:00.000-05:00

Obama at Fort Bragg

2011-12-21T13:21:00.000-05:00

Vientiane Boat Racing Festival (Boun Xuang Heua)

2011-12-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

A few pics from the boat racing festival in Vientiane. As you will notice there are no pics of the actual boat races, I shot a few of them but didn't really like the pics.

The last night of the festival was probably the most memorable part of the trip and I would have probably have taken more photographs if I hadn't gotten so hammered. It is hard to know how much you have been drinking in Laos since you drink out of a glass instead of a bottle. And the glasses are always magically full.

At Victory Gate in Vientiane, Laos.

2011-11-15T10:17:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from my trip to Laos.
Here are a few pics from the Victory Gate when a few of the photographers from LangKorng: The Lao Photographers Society took me photo hunting in Vientiane, Laos.

The Story Behind the Photograph

2011-10-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

Just recently my newspaper did a follow up story on the Jenkins family that was featured in the photograph above in 2006. Read the story below.

Story by Drew Brooks
On a visit to Fayetteville in March 2009, first lady Michelle Obama was given a photograph of a Fort Bragg soldier who was going to war.
The photograph, titled "Tearful Departure" by Fayetteville Observer photographer Andrew Craft, shows the Iraq-bound soldier grasping the hand of his soldier wife from the inside of a bus as their daughter cries.
To many, the photograph was the embodiment of the type of sacrifice that has become commonplace on Fort Bragg since Sept. 11, 2001 - family members going to war while others stay behind, hoping their loved ones come home safely.
By the time Obama received the photograph, the two soldiers pictured had been separated for more than three years.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Claude Jenkins is the soldier seen reaching from the bus.
His ex-wife, now Maj. Shelia Jenkins, is the woman clutching a tearful Khadyajah, who was 7 at the time.
The Jenkinses said they had no idea they were being photographed on Aug. 23, 2006.
The photo was taken outside Funk Physical Fitness Center on Fort Bragg, where family members said goodbye before soldiers were bused to the flights that would take them overseas.
Claude Jenkins was headed to Iraq with with other members of the 82nd Sustainment Brigade.
"It was a surprise to me," he said of the photograph. "There was a lot of emotion there."
The deployment was Claude Jenkins' first. Until then, he had spent his more than 15-year Army career at military posts around the world but never at war.
His wife had been deployed one time before, to the Philippines in 2003.
He said his daughter was taking his deployment particularly hard.
The deployment marked the beginning of the end for the couple's marriage, he said.
Shelia Jenkins said she deployed to Korea months after her husband left, leaving the children stateside with a nanny.
"It was difficult to be in three different countries at once," she said. "That's stressful for both parents and kids."
Court records show that when Jenkins' wife filed for divorce in February 2008, she listed Aug. 24, 2006, as the date of separation.
"I guess you could say I won the battle against terrorism but lost the battle on the home front," said Claude Jenkins, who is now stationed at Fort Belvoir, Va.
With two children at home, the stress and strain of military life were too much for the couple's relationship, Claude Jenkins said. The two began discussing divorce while both were deployed and filed after the 15-month deployment was over.
"We decided that divorce would be a course of action we both would agree with," Claude Jenkins said. "We tried to hang in there. We gave it all we could."
The two wed in October 1990 after meeting while stationed in Germany. The romance was quick and, just over nine months later, their first child, Olajuwon, was born. Khadyajah was born in 1998.
With two children, the couple said they found it difficult to balance their obligations to family and the military.
The marriage began to fall apart in the post 9/11 world, Claude Jenkins said.
"It makes a marriage much more difficult when both parents are on the opposite side of the world," he said. "While the other is away, you develop a system to keep the household functioning. When you return, reintegrating takes time. All the while, birthdays and holidays are being missed."
The couple said it was difficult for them to readjust after these periods of separation.
"It caused a strain," he said. "We were really challenged just to get back on par. The way things were going, (divorce) was the best course of action. Such is life."
"Some families figured out a way to stick with it. We didn't."
"You get the best and sometimes the worst," Shelia Jenkins added. "It can be worth it. But you have to work very hard."
Now several years removed from the divorce, Claude Jenkins said the couple get along just fine.
Shelia Jenkins is getting ready for a new assignment in Honduras.
Claude Jenkins said his Army career - now at 22 years - is drawing to a close soon.
"I'm ready to pursue another career," he said. "I'm talking with my daughter about opening a frozen yogurt store."
Khadyajah, now 12, is excited about that, Claude Jenkins said.
His son, 20-year-old Olajuwon, is considering a military career, something both parents are encouraging.
After his deployment to Iraq, Claude Jenkins said, he thought little about the photograph.
That is until March 2009, when friends on Fort Bragg spotted the photo at the Obama visit and recognized it.
At the time, he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. His ex-wife and children were in Korea.
Claude Jenkins said he went online and confirmed the story.
"I saw the picture of myself, my ex-wife and my daughter, sitting off to the side," he said. "It was one of those momentous moments."

Move Along

2011-09-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had an assignment to photograph rapper J. Cole signing albums on Fort Bragg. Of course it was in a dungeon of a location, luckily I was able to set up a remote strobe to light it up. At the end of it I only made one pic I was happy with, which was one of him telling a lingering fan to move along.

Gone Fishing

2011-09-20T17:37:00.001-05:00

Soccer Portrait

2011-09-15T20:53:00.000-05:00

10 Years of Work

2011-09-13T20:05:00.001-05:00

Today as I was updating my website I realized last month was my ten year anniversary of working for newspapers full-time. I remember arriving at my first internship in Freeport, Illinois and thinking "how the hell am I going to make interesting pictures five days a week." I was use to just shooting stories in college and not really dealing with day to day work. On top of that I was an extremely lazy photographer in college. I managed to do it, not always perfect or that interesting, and I'm still doing it day in and day out.

Click on the photo below to take a look at the month by month galleries of my ten years as a newspaper photographer.

Assumption of Command Ceremony

2011-09-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

Monkeys, Monkeys and More Monkeys

2011-09-11T20:09:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures of the long-tailed macaques in the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali.

Headshot

2011-08-31T21:16:00.002-05:00

100th Anniversary of the Colt 1911

2011-08-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Dog Tag Chandelier

2011-07-29T13:59:00.004-05:00

A shot of the dog tag chandelier in the visitor's center at Veterans Park in Fayetteville, N.C. The unique chandelier is forged out of 33,500 dog tags.

Army Medical Command's Best Warrior Competition

2011-07-06T14:26:00.001-05:00

2 Guns, 1 Hand

2011-07-05T14:10:00.002-05:00

Ricky Kimberlin hangs up rifles in a display at a new exhibit, titled "A Legacy of Army Service: Tar Heels 1940 to Present, at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum.

A Few Portraits

2011-07-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

Civil War Nap

2011-05-27T16:02:00.001-05:00

Aerials of the Tornado Damage

2011-04-24T19:28:00.001-05:00

Triple Threat: Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and Martha Stewart

2011-04-13T16:30:00.001-05:00

Today I was out at a Camp Lejeune to photograph First Lady Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and Martha Stewart. Obama and Biden were there to talk about Joining Forces, an initiative to urge civilians and businesses to support military families.

Home

2011-04-07T13:58:00.003-05:00

Baseball and the Sun

2011-04-04T14:42:00.002-05:00

All-American Fencing

2011-03-15T08:36:00.003-05:00

Blind Talent

2011-03-14T18:04:00.000-05:00

Looking for a Prom Dress

2011-03-12T18:00:00.001-05:00

Brush Fire and a Kid

2011-03-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

Cops Milling About

2011-03-08T17:55:00.002-05:00

Home Brew

2011-03-06T17:52:00.005-05:00

Dam Work

2011-03-04T17:52:00.000-05:00

Belmont Abbey Monastery

2011-02-03T15:02:00.002-05:00

The Cooking Dance

2011-02-01T09:54:00.003-05:00

I had no idea what the cooking dance was until our intern, Michael Conti, told me about it. Here is the Fayetteville State mens basketball team cooking it up before a game last night. If you want to see what the cooking dance is all about, click here to see some videos.

My 10 Favorite for 2010

2010-12-31T15:32:00.001-05:00

I'm so thankful this is the last day of 2010. This had to be, hands down, the worst shooting year I've had since I started working at newspapers in 2001. I blame myself, but the abundance of lame assignments this year hasn't helped. I just couldn't get into any kind of groove. I'm going to try to shake this funk and start 2011 with a fresh eye and push myself and above all remember to enjoy shooting. So here is to next year.

Virtual Reality

2010-12-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

Merry Xmas and All That.

2010-12-25T08:00:00.014-05:00

I'm thankful Christmas is finally here because I'm tired of shooting pictures of Santa and shoppers.

Sniper Competition

2010-12-24T13:36:00.000-05:00

A Few from October

2010-11-14T13:45:00.001-05:00

A Final Salute

2010-11-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

The Ava Gardner Museum

2010-11-14T13:11:00.000-05:00

Football Again

2010-11-14T13:01:00.001-05:00

Fall Dinner in the Garden

2010-10-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

Leftovers from September

2010-10-22T09:12:00.002-05:00

On the Driving Range

2010-10-22T08:15:00.000-05:00

More Football

2010-10-22T08:11:00.000-05:00

Michael Steele and the Fire Pelosi Bus

2010-09-28T07:49:00.001-05:00

Michael Steele, chair of the National Republican Committee, came riding into town last week on the "Fire Pelosi" bus to speak to a small group of Republican voters.
I don't quite get politicians. They come into town with these catchy slogans but when they speak they don't really have anything to say beyond that catchy slogan. They like to point out what the other party is doing wrong but never state what they would do. Do they really think voters are that stupid? Maybe we are.

Painting and Climbing

2010-09-28T07:34:00.000-05:00

ODU vs. Campbell Football for The Virginian-Pilot

2010-09-28T07:30:00.000-05:00

Religion Makes Kids Sleepy

2010-09-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

No matter what religion it is, it will put a kid to sleep.

82nd Airborne Homecoming

2010-09-27T19:26:00.000-05:00

Jamming on the Accordion

2010-09-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight's assignment was to shoot a full body shot of Eugene Kobisky for a preview story for this weekend's Folk Festival. They wanted a full body shot of Kobisky so they could use it as a cutout. Cutout is probably one of my least favorite words as a photographer, because it means I need to blast the lights on a white seamless for an easy cutout. That doesn't really lend itself to much of a creative portrait.

But I was happy to be photographing Kobisky. I have photographed him numerous times at various festivals and fairs during my five years at the paper. He's just a great guy with a wonderful attitude and a solid sense of humor. Before stepping in front of the camera he warmed up on the accordion, which attracted a number of people from the newsroom to stick their heads into the studio and listen. Once he was warmed up he got in front of the seamless and went to town playing a variety of songs.

The session really only needed to last a couple of minutes, since it was for a cutout, but I let it go on much longer. I shot a few for myself while he played. Before he started playing he asked me if I wanted him to play happy or sad music. I said "lets go with happy, we get enough sad in the newsroom these days."

Friday Night Football

2010-09-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

It always seems difficult to get back into the swing of high school football. Maybe because there is such a big break every year from it or I'm just getting bored of it. But here are a few pics from my first game of the year.

Portrait of a Widow

2010-09-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

Sky Dive

2010-09-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

The Still Life

2010-09-14T19:22:00.002-05:00

I'm not a big fan of doing still lives. Maybe it is because I have total control of everything in the picture and if it comes out like total shit I only have myself to blame.

A Dog and Pony Show

2010-09-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

Why is that newspapers still feel the need to cover ribbon cuttings? I feel they are just used by politicians and big wigs to get in the paper. A couple weeks ago I shot three in one week and just scratched my head the whole time wondering why I was covering this. Papers should not do stories on the ribbon cutting events but instead do stories about maybe what this new plant or school brings to the community. And have the photographer go to the place on a different day and get pics of the people working in the facility, school, of whatever. A picture and a story of a ribbon cutting does nothing for the reader, and the story ends up reading like a press release.

Kids Being Kids

2010-09-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

The child on the right was crying a bit until he got to the Play-Doh table, then he just went crazy on squeezing the Play-Doh. I guess Play-Doh is his stress reliever.

The Honey Hole

2010-09-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

A few pics from a swimming hole on the Lumber River, known by the locals as "The Honey Hole".

Marching

2010-09-13T13:36:00.000-05:00

Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division marching in formation during a change of command ceremony on Fort Bragg.

All By Myself

2010-09-09T19:39:00.000-05:00

Pictures from the past month of people all by themselves in the frame of the photograph.

Lawn Bowling in Pinehurst

2010-09-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

I have been slacking at updating this blog for the last nine months or so. So for the next week or two I'm going to play catch up and post a couple a day. And then try to stay on top of it.

Shag Dancing

2010-09-08T17:04:00.001-05:00

On the Coast

2010-09-08T16:55:00.000-05:00

New Flags

2010-09-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

2010 High School Football Posters

2010-08-20T11:41:00.000-05:00

Sad Furniture

2010-07-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Last Humvee TV

2010-06-21T10:45:00.002-05:00

On every trip I have made to Iraq and Afghanistan, I would shoot pictures through the window of a Humvee and I called the series Humvee TV. With every trip though Humvee rides become less and less frequent as they are replaced by other vehicles, such as the MRAP. So this past trip I only had the opportunity to ride in a Humvee once and that was while getting around FOB Thunder/Lighting in Gardez. So chances are next time I make a trip to Iraq or Afghanistan I won't be riding in a Humvee. So here is a few from that ride. If you want to see some of the pictures from the other trips go to humveetv.com.

More Horses

2010-04-06T19:53:00.002-05:00

Yes more horses. As I said in my previous post they love to give me the horse assignments.

Southern Pines Horse Trials II

2010-04-02T11:45:00.002-05:00

For some odd reason I seem to get all the horse assignments at my paper, which isn't fun for me since I'm allergic to horses. Here are a few photos from the Southern Pines Horse Trials II that I shot a couple of weekends ago. Tomorrow I have another horse related assignment.

Neuro Rehab

2010-03-30T09:03:00.001-05:00

2009 North Carolina Photographer of the Year

2010-03-24T07:33:00.001-05:00

I was named the 2009 North Carolina Photographer of the Year by the North Carolina Press Photographers Association, for the third year in a row. The winning portfolio is below.

82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Homecoming

2010-03-21T08:03:00.002-05:00

Crop Mob

2010-03-21T07:52:00.002-05:00

Just a Portrait

2010-03-10T10:54:00.002-05:00

I really haven't shot anything worthwhile the past couple of months and I felt like I needed to put something new up here. So here is a portrait from a couple months ago.

Moore County Fox Hunt

2010-01-19T21:49:00.002-05:00

18th Airborne Corps Assumption of Command

2009-12-30T11:01:00.002-05:00

This and That from October

2009-12-29T08:27:00.002-05:00

I have been slacking in posting stuff to this blog, so I'm playing catch up. So here is a few images from October. Hopefully I will catch up and start posting some recent work.

Flying

2009-12-25T15:57:00.002-05:00

In Front of the Bus

2009-12-20T07:46:00.002-05:00

Recently Sarah Palin made a visit to the Fort Bragg PX for her "Going Rogue" book signing tour. I shot some pics of her inside signing books and meeting people but I felt like it was the same shot over and over, so I strolled outside to the bus and started taking pictures of people getting their picture taken in front of the bus, which I found much more interesting.

My Cat

2009-12-16T08:35:00.002-05:00

I don't normally dress my cat but the paper needed me to shoot a cat wearing this outfit for a story on pampering your pet. I really don't see it as pampering your pet it was more like torture for my cat. It took quite a while to get a usable shot.

Football Portrait

2009-12-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

Just one of the many football portraits I shot this season.

Rambo and his Cake

2009-11-24T11:52:00.002-05:00

I haven't had to shoot many portraits of animals in the studio, and I'm glad I haven't because it is difficult to get them to stay in place and on task. Here is one of the frames I liked, of Rambo the dog.

HS Football

2009-11-23T20:32:00.003-05:00

I'm off the night shift, so I'm done with football for the year. So here are a few photos from this years season.

Pulling For Tourism

2009-10-01T11:58:00.002-05:00

Harold Collins pulls a semi-truck through downtown St. Pauls as part of the Unity Pull to promote tourism in Robeson County. Collins will be pulling the semi-truck through eight towns in five days.

Friday Night Band

2009-09-29T18:32:00.004-05:00

Leftovers From August

2009-09-27T15:44:00.003-05:00

Growing Veins, Skin and Ears in the Lab

2009-09-26T14:19:00.004-05:00

Last month I got to spend a couple hours at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where they are working on growing various tissues and organs.

Lake Rim Paddling Challenge

2009-09-24T20:22:00.002-05:00

Early Morning Deployment

2009-09-24T20:11:00.003-05:00

Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team prepare to deploy to Afghanistan.

A Couple Spot News Pics

2009-09-07T09:07:00.002-05:00

The first couple pics are from a murder, where a man was stabbed in the heart after an argument with his roommate. The third picture, from the same night, is of a damaged patrol car that struck and killed a man.

High School Football Posters

2009-08-21T10:30:00.002-05:00

Last week I had to come up with an idea for the annual high school football posters that the paper does and shoot it. I ended up doing a HDR panoramic of each of the ten county high schools football fields, shoot a player from each team in the studio and combined the two. I was pretty happy with the results. So check them out below.

Rock Climbing above the Cape Fear River

2009-08-17T14:53:00.001-05:00

A Few from the Cumberland County Football Jamboree

2009-08-16T17:12:00.002-05:00

My Standard Football Portrait

2009-08-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Pope Box Derby

2009-08-13T12:55:00.003-05:00

Staff Sgt. Chris Maher, Sr. Airmen James Ryan and Sr. Airmen Anthony Willams, of the 2nd Airlift Squadron, push their soap box car to the starting line during the 6th annual Pope Box Derby on Pope Air Force Base.

Training for the World Police & Fire Games

2009-08-05T17:11:00.000-05:00

Law enforcement officer Randy Smith bench presses 350 pounds Friday morning at Gold's Gym on Hope Mills Road. He is training to compete in the World Police and Fire Games in Vancover, B.C.

Cicada Photo Shoot

2009-08-05T17:05:00.003-05:00

The other day one of the editors brought in this cicada to shoot for a story on the bug. The bug was pretty easy to work with, I thought he would try and fly away when I lifted up the jar containing him but he just sat there. He even let me move him around with no troubles. He must have been a model in a past life.