This past thursday I was honored to hold the RDU Baton again! On my birthday in May, I held the baton for the first time and after meeting the lovely, Susannah Brinkley, at UNC's journalism camp this summer, she asked me to hold it again! I had such a blast with it on my first go-round, I took her up on the challenge! For those new to this, the RDU Baton is a collaborative Instagram project started by Susannah Brinkley & Brittany Iery that showcases the people, lives, and unique spots around North Carolina's Triangle! This day was a very busy one but came out awesome!

Sorry for the late morning post! I’m so honored to hold the baton for a 2nd time! Today is freshman orientation at Northern High School in The Bull City, where I teach photography & it’s been a crazy morning! Although I have lived in Chapel Hill for almost 6 years & am a proud Tar Heel myself, Durham is quickly finding a place in my heart! This is a picture of our school giraffe, Geoffrey! Stolen from an old putt-putt place as a senior prank, NHS bought Geoffrey and made his home the school courtyard. Art club paints him different every year so they went surreal with a Salvador Dalí mustache & zebra stripes. Photo by @viedfinder #durham #school

I stopped today to pick up film from my recent trip to London & Ireland at my favorite camera shop, Southeastern. Tucked away by the farmer’s market in Carrboro, Southeastern is a “dinosaur” store that still offers a large variety of film, photo paper, vintage (and digital!) cameras, and they do specialty developing. The manager, Chris, runs a fantastic shop where photographers, beginning and professional, from all over the Triangle flock to for supplies. I started coming here in undergrad and still go today because of the friendly service, quick turnaround, and for the sake of supporting local businesses! #buylocal #carrboro #camera @SEC_Carrboro photo by @viedfinder

My favorite coffee shop in the triangle is Cocoa Cinnamon in downtown Durham. Their coffee is delectable, their hot chocolate decadent, & their menu offers a huge array of hot and cold coffees! They also partner up with local bakeries to get the best sweet treats, like this chocolate lavender cheesecake! My brand new food & art blog, @treatswelovenc, was born here with the lovely @katiehatfield. Be on the lookout for some new upcoming posts, which have been postponed because of travel! @cocoacinnamon #coffee #durham photo by @viedfinder

I recently took up the JV and assistant competition cheerleading coaching job & I love it! Our team is full of strong, beautiful, and intelligent young ladies & we are pumped for the 2013 football season. Catch us at our next home game next Friday at the Durham County Stadium! #goknights #northerncheer #durham photo by @viedfinder

A student of mine introduced me to Pelican’s Sno-Cones last week on Roxboro Road, and so naturally, today’s hot weather just *forced* me to go grab a kiddie cone. My favorite flavor is the sugar-free sweet cherry (I know, I know, I’m one on those no-sugar-when-I-can-help-it people) but they have a huge menu of flavors! Some of which they claim to be “as dreamy as Zach Efron!” Haha, oh, Durham, you’re great! #durham photo by @viedfinder

I figured I’d give y’all a preview of my scanned film. Its the first time in a while I’ve shot color film & the magic is still there. I chose a shameless selfie for this one but at least it has a shallow depth-of-field and pretty bokeh right?! If y’all want to see the rest you’ll have to check out my blog, viedfinder.com, to see the rest of this photographic adventure in England & Ireland! #shameless #selfie #chapelhill. Photo by @viedfinder

Usually my evenings & weekends are the only time I have to work on my photography business. I recently finished a personal project, which was a short documentary about a dance camp for underprivileged Hispanic girls. Currently, I’m working on scanning film and editing digital photos from my recent trip to Ireland. And then at a certain point, my dog, Eloise, whines enough for me to go cuddle her to sleep. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures of @jtmoore3! Peace, y’all! #adventuresofeloise #chapelhill photo by @viedfinder

I hope you enjoyed my day! If you want, RDU Baton is always looking for people to hold the account! Go sign up here!

Last summer, my awesome sister-in-law held her 2nd Hearts for Dance workshop. This dance camp invited disadvantaged hispanic girls from around Wayne County to come and finally learn how to be a ballerina. These girls are the most grateful and excited dancers ever. They sleep in their tutus, they've mastered the perfect ballet bun, and dance truly encompasses their hearts. As Tess and her crew at Dance for Christ live by, let us "praise His name through dance!" (Psalm 149:3). [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/72153079 w=500&h=281]

I took this on as a personal project after graduation. And a year later, due to (thankfully!) getting a job & a crazy first-year of marriage (loved it!), I finally have it finished! Personal projects are something that feeds your soul, and this project definitely brought me back to my photojournalism roots. I've dabbled quite a bit in fine art photography & design this past year, but it's good to know that my lovely professors pounded photojournalism, multimedia, and all the ethics to boot into my noggin! I'm so blessed to have been given a great education & even more blessed to get to use it on a daily basis at my job and as my stress reliever!

Finishing this project has been amazing. I find video to be a challenge, a puzzle, if you must. The tedious editing, the countless command+z's, and the final product are so very rewarding. I suppose it's because it's not as instant as digital photography, despite the fact that it's digital video. It's something you must work for and something you will cherish, more like film photography when you do it all yourself in the darkroom. It has to have an idea that is deeply conceived, than overly brainstormed, then creatively shot, then painstakingly edited & lastly, eagerly awaited to be uploaded to the internet. What a world we live in these days. This project has taught me to breathe. To take time for myself, and to remember my roots. It's something that I'm going to work more towards this year, becoming an all-around healthier person. I'm going to take the time to edit those old photos on my hard drive, I'm going to search for some new story to work on, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it because it's something I love to do! If you have thoughts on personal projects, or would like to continue the personal project conversation, leave me a comment & we'll talk!