Bluedog Photog: April 2006

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Digital Uplinking

I was summoned to get on the road again today. This time it was east to Durham. I'm sure you all know by now there's a little case going on there that involves a certain university associated with satanic rituals.... OK, so maybe the humor is misplaced. I was refering to the Blue Devil nickname.

Prestige. Law. Coach K. Just a few of the things synonomous with Duke University. Lately, however, you can add rape, race, politics. No matter where you stand on the issue I don't see any way this one is going to be pretty. Some are saying the DA is using this case to springboard himself to an election win making the arrest on the two Duke lacrosse players. Others say he didn't act quickly enough.

We acted quickly when it was learned the two turned themselves in this morning. That's why yours truly saddled up the sat truck and headed east to the home of the Durham Bulls. Caron Myers and Tim Bateson were already stalking the Duke campus as I rolled into downtown to stake out a spot near the justice center. This is what I found as I turned the corner. After bribing a parking lot attendant across the street I had a spot of my own.

I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pics of the news hounds hangin' out waiting for their respective noon live shots.

Out the side window.

A closer look reveals how prepared some are compared to others.

When coming to a week-long, or more, stakeout in the Carolina sun, bring a tent.

And lots of cables.

And don't forget where you parked your sat truck.... that would be ours, behind that tree. Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Sat Truck Duties

It seems lately I've been trading in most of my camera duties to fill in on the satellite truck. As a backup operator I haven't been on the old truck much because we've been training another photog to help out when Danny and I are out. But on Friday, I got the call to roll to Rockingham County to meet up with the truck on the scene of a reported home invasion and murder.

Brent and I rolled out of the bureau and were on the scene in less than an hour and met up with Chris Weaver, who'd been there since early that morning. Chris had already bagged an interview and was getting ready for another when we rolled up. I took the keys to the sat truck as our Operations Manager took my car back to High Point. I'd have to pick it up when I returned the sat truck to her parking spot.

We scrambled to get things set up in time for a noon live shot, but with three news veterans with over 30 years between them, it really wasn't much of a scramble.

After lunch we headed to the Sheriff's department for a press conference on what might have happened to the poor lady who was murdered early that morning. As we walked in we were greeted with a couple of cameras pointed at a wall of glass, the booking area. Of course, instinct took over for both Chris and myself and as he shouldered his camera, I knew I had time to get mine on the sticks since he had it covered. It turns out we both had plenty of time as the deputies who escorted the accused killer were in no hurry to fingerprint this guy. So, who was he? The lady's grandson. Sheriff Sam Page tells us he made up the home invasion story and actually killed his grandmother himself.

He wasn't too happy to see us lined up behind the glass either. Flipping us a couple of birds and more than a few expletives, we had bagged some of the best video in months. But it wasn't until he saw his cousin that he really went into a rage.... these two stills I caught as he was hurling loogies in our direction. Luckily the glass took the brunt of his barrage.