Intern Vs. Harborfest: How My First Weekend Played Out!

Hey there! My name is Triston Creekmore and I’m one of the newest additions to the amazing Jpixx team! I recently graduated from Johnson & Wales University in May, and found my home at Jpixx shortly thereafter. I’ll be spending my summer working and learning as the Marketing Intern where I’ll be managing our social media, managing other platforms such as our newsletter, and lending a hand as a PA just to name a few of my responsibilities. Here’s an inside look on how my first weekend with the gang went covering Harborfest!

Day 1

Being a Virginia Beach native, I am familiar with FestEvents annual Harborfest but never been to the event myself. Therefore, I was psyched about not only getting to experience the event firsthand, but being able to capture the many moments of enjoyment and awe through my lens during the entire weekend. Beginning in 1976, Harborfest has established itself as the nation’s largest and longest running maritime festival that is free to the public. Rooted in the traditions that Hampton Roads is built on, attendees can get a glimpse at the ships the first settlers in this area arrived on as well as immersing themselves in all of the cultural offerings our area provides.

Starting Friday morning, we got right into action by organizing and packing up all the gear we would need for the weekend. This was actually my first experience around a lot (almost all) of the equipment that we needed, so I was definitely in a whirlwind attempting to keep up with things such as the difference between a 16-35mm and a 70-200mm lens! Looking back, this process definitely helped with me putting names to what was being used, instead of the blank stare I had been using for my response up until this point.

Getting to our HQ office in Norfolk was great for the fact that I met almost the entire team by seeing them in action! I was paired with Caleb for the first half of Day 1, where we covered events inside Harborclub at Waterside and a children’s event at the Slover Library. Not known to many at the time, this was actually one of my very first experiences shooting photos in active environments such as this. While some would be daunted, I really enjoyed getting to learn in the moment and Caleb was AMAZING at putting things into simple terms for me understand and apply. Check out some of my first attempts at using the 5D Mark III!

In the afternoon, I moved to covering locations being featured in Norfolk’s “Epic Weekend,” which was centered around showcasing why Norfolk is a great place to live, work, and play. This proved to be quite a tasty undertaking as many of the restaurants we covered showered us with enough food to share with the entire team at HQ. La Brioche was the first location that showcased their corner of authentic French baking in Norfolk. Below are some pics of Yvan, one of the owners, in action making the namesake brioche.

Later that evening, Jessa and I were able to groove to some classic tunes at a Prince Birthday Bash/Celebration at the historic Granby Theatre. Little did I know, “The Purple One” still has a devout following in Hampton Roads and DJ Bee poured out hit after hit to the delight of the crowd.

Day 2

The beginning of Day 2 saw Matt and I capturing some of Norfolk’s premier living options and activities that house and keep its citizens occupied. Among these were the luxury Rockefeller (top) and Icon (bottom) apartment buildings, both with awesome amenities for an uptown style of living in the heart of Downtown Norfolk.

After this, we were lucky enough to take the USS Wisconsin tour at Nauticus, which included an indoor museum as well as a self-guided tour of a decommissioned WWII era battleship. Fun Fact: The ship, while being built in 1941, was kept in a state that if needed, could be reactivated in a national emergency to defend the waters surrounding Hampton Roads until 2009!

At night, the main musical act of the weekend took the stage as DJ Afishal brought down the house, and I got to use an awesome piece of equipment in the movi!

Day 3

Finally, Day 3 brought an end to this weekend full of Hampton Roads entertainment and culture. After capturing some moments from patrons of downtown’s MacArthur Mall, Jessa and I braved a HOT June afternoon to see teams sponsored by local organizations attempt to build and race two man canoes in the harbor. This event had one of the bigger turnouts throughout the entire weekend and was a great opportunity for us to capture the high stakes emotions of a race and its viewers.

Harborfest was an amazing experience, not only due to the festivities but also the fact that I learned the ropes of a completely new topic in an environment that gave me plenty of great moments to capture. After this insane weekend, a much needed wrap party served as a housewarming for Rodrigo’s new apartment! Nothing better than sitting back and toasting to a job well done. If you haven’t already, check out the culmination of the team’s hard work in our recap video here.

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Stay tuned for my next post!