A "Bittersweet" ending to my Intro to Photojournalism class

My classmates Janelle Smith (left) and Janelle Phillips walk to the horse barn at Bittersweet Farms. (Camera settings: f/4.8, 1/8000, ISO-1600, 34mm.  All photos Aperture Priority w/ Auto WB)  (Photos: Diane Larson)

  It's fitting that my final project for this photojournalism class, is a group project at the wonderful Bittersweet Farms.
  This is bittersweet for me.   This class has been wonderful and fulfilling and more work than I anticipated but I've really loved every minute of it.
  It's reminded me how important it is to never stop learning.  It's helped me (finally) figure out how my camera works.  And I've met some wonderful people in this class who demonstrate such great spirit.  Many have full time jobs and are juggling full class schedules. Some are doing this with spouses, kids and work on the student newspaper The Owens Outlook.
  I admit that I am going to enjoy sleeping in when this semester is over.  It's a short turnaround from the 11 p.m. news to the 7 a.m. alarm to get up for class. Still,  I've loved it.  Now, back to our group project. 

The sign in the conference room. 

  We're putting together an online magazine of our day at Bittersweet Farms.  In case you don't know, Bittersweet is a lovely farm setting in Whitehouse, Ohio that serves the needs of people with autism.
  Each of us had an assignment: pictures, captions, story.  I wanted to take pictures.
  So that's what I did. 

  But I couldn't help being the reporter I am, so I did plenty of interviewing and maybe shortchanged myself on the pictures.  Our teacher, Blade photojournalist Lori King, says when she's on a photo shoot for the paper, she gets sort of antisocial. She is so focused on getting the pictures, she doesn't engage in conversation. Typically the reporter on the story is getting the facts which frees Lori to focus on photos.
  I tried to straddle the two worlds and in the end, I wish I'd gotten more pictures.  But I really loved meeting the people there and spending time getting to know their stories.
  We got to Bittersweet Farms just before 10 a.m. on a Wednesday as snow started to gently fall. First stop: the wood shop.  I found a number of men crafting marvelous things like a big scarecrow, birdhouses, picture frames and signs.
  I saw a man sanding a block of wood.  "It's 100 grit sandpaper," Phil Bartus tells me.  He's been at Bittersweet Farms for over 25  years.  He doesn't live there.  He commutes from his home in eastern Fulton county.  Phil's a ham radio operator who loves heavy metal music AND smooth jazz. 

Jens Svendsen shows one of the crafts they make in woodshop for use by
occupational therapists. (f/4.8, 1/90, ISO-800, 18mm)

  In the next room, I meet Jens Svendsen.  He's from Holland. His smooth Dutch accent gives that away. He tells me he came to the U.S. for good in 1988. 
  He seems to be the elder statesman among his fellow wood shop workers.
  Jens gives me a tour of the wood shop and the crafts they are making.  As he's doing this,  Robert Gelack comes in and announces it's his birthday as he hugs Jens.  I tell Robert "Happy Birthday" and Jens gently laughs and says "Everyday is his birthday."
  Jens shows me the crafts they are working on: nature villages made of wooden houses with pine cone seeds as the roof shingles.
  He says they also make gadgets to help with occupational therapy, like the device he shows me that helps people learn how to tie their shoes.
  Jens has been at Bittersweet on and off, he says, for 13 years.  He lives in Grand Rapids and drives to the farm every day.
  He seems kind and funny and as I take a flurry of pictures of him, he laughs and asks, "did I shave today?"  I tell him he looks good and show him the picture I just took.  "That is a good picture.  That's good," he confirms.
  Next stop for me was the animal barn.  Very low lighting and the horses were moving, as horses tend to do. That created photo challenges for me.  None of my pictures really came out except one with Dan Everett and the horse named Cheyenne.  I  like that photo because the horse's eye is in focus and Dan is out of focus in the background.
  After the barn, everybody asked me, "Have you gone to the arts and crafts building?  Beth keeps asking for you."
  The "Beth" in question, is Beth Meyer, an outgoing, talkative and delightful woman.  Beth tells me she's been at Bittersweet since day one which is more than 30 years ago. She's asking me lots of questions about what it's like to work on TV and I ask her lots of questions about what it's like to work at Bittersweet Farms.  "You seem to like it," I tell her. "Yes, I seem to like it is right," she answers. 
 We gathered to leave as the snow started falling harder. In in the copy for our final project, I wrote that it looked so pretty; like a holiday snow globe (I'll post a link to the final project when it's finished).  Most of the people you see below worked so much harder on the final project than I did, especially T.J. Barney, Katie Buzdor, Katie Schaffer and Sean Perry.
  Before we left, Lori took this picture of one of the last times we'd all be together. It epitomizes some of the reasons I really enjoy photography: a lasting memory and a moment captured for always. 

Our Intro to Photojournalism class at Bittersweet Farms.  From left: T.J. Barney, me, Katie Buzdor, Janelle Smith, Shannon Dane-Solt (Marketing/Development Coordinator for Bittersweet),  Sean Perry, Katie Schaffer, Lacie Hayek, Amanda Aylwin, Fabian Koder and Janelle Phillips.  (Photo: Lori King) 

 Dan Everett grooms Cheyenne the horse. (f/4.8, 1/20, ISO-3200, 42mm)

Wood shop workers make nature villages with pine cone seeds as the roof shingles. (f/4.8, 1/125, ISO-800, 27mm)

Phil Bartus in front of the 14-inch band saw they use in wood shop.(f/4.8, 1/250, ISO-1600, 20mm)

I asked him if he's nervous working with the saw. Phil said, "No. I'm pretty good.  I have all my fingers." (f/4.8, 1/180, ISO-1600, 18mm)

Beth Meyer works on stained glass ornaments that will go in holiday gift baskets. She's been a resident at Bittersweet Farms for over 30 years.  "I seem to like it," she says.(f/4.8, 1/180, ISO-1600, 34mm)