Lunar Halo

Lunar Halo
The steeples of the Belmont Abbey Basilica point towards the moon surrounded by a 22 degree halo, an optical phenomena caused when light from the sun or moon refracts through hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, the early hours of Sunday October 24, 2010.

Goble Street Fire

Goble Street Fire
A firefighter lifts a burning trash can from the remains of an unoccupied house on Goble Street that burned to the ground around midnight on Saturday October 23, 2010.

Crane vs House

Crane vs House
A firefighter walks past the wreckage of a 70-ton construction crane that fell onto a house at 1212 Oakwood Avenue on Thursday October 21, 2010. Crews contracted through Denton's Tree Service were using the 140 foot boom to remove a large tree on the side of the home when the crane tipped over and fell onto the house.



Crane vs House
EMS personnel take a worker from Denton's Tree Service to an ambulance after the crane collapsed. The worker was reportedly a tree climber working to cut sections of a large tree that were being removed by the crane, and when the crane began to collapse in his direction he jumped or slid down the tree sustaining non life threatening injuries.

Orchid Cactus

Orchid Cactus Flower
A flower of the 'Epiphyllum oxypetalum,' commonly known by names such as orchid cactus, dutchman's pipe, or Night Queen, at the home of Hilda Olive on Saturday October 16, 2010. The species of cactus native to Sri Lanka commonly grows in trees and rarely blooms, and only at night, with flowers wilting before dawn.

Prep Soccer Action

Save
Forestview goalkeeper Anderson Gibbons dives to make a save as teammate Justin Henry, center, attempts to defend Ashbrook's Marc Del Castillo, during the match at Ashbrook on Wednesday October 20, 2010. 
Soccer Celebration
Ashbrook's Carlos Loazia, left, celebrates with teammate Juan Villa after scoring a goal against Forestview.

Abbey Volleyball

Belmont Abbey Volleyball
Belmont Abbey's Jennifer Angelich, above, makes a kill during a match against Mount Olive on Saturday October 2, 2010 in the Wheeler Center.

Belmont Abbey Volleyball
Belmont Abbey's Jamie O'Connell, from right, stands ready to make a dig as Lydia Schellenberg and Angela Jubb jump to block.

One thing I miss about working at the Rocky Mount Telegram is the diversity of sports we covered there. This is one of only two volleyball matches I've shot this year (and I'm the evening shift photographer), where I had been shooting 1-3 games a week this time of year in Rocky Mount.

The two papers have about the same size sports section, but The Gazette has NASCAR, Panthers and Bobcats to take up a lot of that space. I guess it all balances out, though. We didn't have any pro sports to shoot in Rocky Mount.

Sunday Stroll

Sunday Stroll
Yakotus Speller, 9, from left, Makala Goodman, 13, Kayla Kinney, 12, and Dave Nunez, 13, walk on the Avon / Catawba Creek Greenway near Lineberger Park on Sunday October 3, 2010.

Million Dollar Smile

Million Dollar Smile
Gaston County Animal Shelter employee Boyd Best takes a picture of a kitten given up to the shelter on Monday Sept. 20, 2010. A picture of each pet brought into the shelter is placed on the shelter's website to help reunite lost pets with their owners and get adoptable pets homes.

G-Town Car Show

Car Show
Ingrid Ramos, left, and husband Noe Ramos look in the window of a heavily customized Mercury hot rod on display at the car show on Main Avenue in Gastonia on Saturday Sept. 25, 2010.

Fatal Fire

Fatal fire family

Emergency responders tend to Alicia Addie Ledford, 24, and two of her children Brianna Marie Reyman, 6, left, and Kaylie Ann Reyman, 1, outside their home on Millon Street in Gastonia on Thursday Sept. 16, 2010.

A fast-spreading fire engulfed the family's home, killing the children's 73-year-old grandmother and sending the remaining six members of the family to the hospital. Grandfather Bernard Cornelius Reyman, 75, and a third child Quentin Alexander Reyman, 4, below, were listed in critical condition at the University of North Carolina Hospital's burn center in Chapel Hill.

Fatal fire 2

Fair Time

Another one from the fair

He didn't snap it. Sure tried hard though.

Emotional Send Off

LC send off - Coach

Ashbrook High School cross country coach Al Hess, left, greets guidance counselor and athletic trainer Larry Carpenter in front of the school during a send off event for Carpenter on Sunday August 15, 2010. Over 150 friends, family members and coworkers gathered to give Carpenter support as he left for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center to receive a bone marrow transplant to treat an incurable form of cancer he was diagnosed with in February.

Below: Larry Carpenter's family, including niece Ashley Terry, clockwise from top left, daughter Elizabeth Carpenter, 6, Daughter Lauren Carpenter, 11, and niece Anna Barvinek, 7, weep during the send off.

LC send off - Family

LC send off - handshake

Red Raider Fan

Raiders Fan