When I chose to do the 32nd Annual Downtown Festival and Art Show as my audio and photo story, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never before been to the festival in my years as a student here, so I was stunned to see Main St. and it’s encompassing area transformed into a cultural hotspot for the weekend.

From unique forms of art to empowering live music to funnel cakes and corn dogs, I could never have expected what was in store for me downtown. I interviewed four amazing people, Jack Wicks, Nancy England and Cindy Warner, all seen in the story, and Sharon Bartz, a sculpture artist who I just didn’t have the time to fit. Each and everyone of them brightened my afternoon with stories of their inspiration and passion for art. England and Warner, in particular, were tremendously enthused about the festival, as mother and daughter have come for over 20 years.

All of the music associated with the story was recorded live, with artist permission, and I placed at least one or two photographs of each musical performance with each corresponding song. The irish infused jig, known as Drop the Stick, was a particularly fun listen, and I felt the music created by the cellists, harp player and violinist were all too beautiful to leave out.

Though I loved every minute of interviewing and photographing for the story, I struggled mightily in the editing process. Audacity erased my project as I was preparing to export, forcing me to start from scratch, before mysteriously dropping roughly 20 seconds of my final audio, something I didn’t notice until I was well on my way in iMovie. I had to re-edit my interview sound and insert it into the project again before I finally finished.

All in all, I truly enjoyed reporting in a whole new sense. Though I’ve reported in print, radio, and television before, I had never gone out to report a photo story. Though I did take multiple pictures earlier this semester for Photo Assignment 2, there was no real interviewing involved with the process, so this mix of both was simultaneously engaging and enjoyable. And I think I’ve fallen in love with my camera.