Courant Photography Department Blog | Category Archives: Patrick Raycraft

Frito Fire

May 6, 2013 by Patrick Raycraft

Seventh-graders Caroline Heavens, 12, (from left) of Woodbury Middle School and Caroline St. Pierre, 12, of the Middle School of Plainville ignite a Frito corn chip during a science experiment to determine the caloric output of the popular snack at the Girls and STEM Expo at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford. The annual gathering of female middle school students is sponsored by St. Joseph’s together with the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund. Interactive workshops facilitated by St. Joseph faculty and students range from DNA extraction and oil slick simulation to the analysis of fuel capabilities in food. The goal is to inspire young women’s interest in science at an early age and to potentially spark the pursuit of a career in the sciences – allowing them to explore the fields of biology, chemistry, environmental science, and physics in a fun-filled and relaxed environment infused with experimentation and collaboration.

Crosstown Rivalry Anything But Frozen

April 28, 2013 by Patrick Raycraft

Andrew Miller scores in overtime for Yale against UMass-Lowell goalie Connor Hellebuyck to advance the Bulldogs to the Frozen Four final game against Quinnipiac at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

The 2013 men’s NCAA Division I Frozen Four, the holy grail of college hockey, featured two Connecticut teams that brought molten action to the Steel City. Throughout the series, crosstown rivals Yale and Quinnipiac lit up the Consol Energy Center, the state-of-the-art home ice of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the first semifinal game, Yale captain Andrew Miller (above) breaks a 2-2 tie in overtime against UMass-Lowell goalie Connor Hellebuyck to advance the Bulldogs to the Frozen Four championship game. Miller would later add another crucial goal in the championship game.

Quinnipiac goalie Eric Hartzell and his defensive teammates including Kevin Bui (9), at left, shut down Brooks Bertsch (21) and the St. Cloud State offense 4-1 in the Frozen Four semifinal game at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Quinnipiac would face Yale in the national championship game.

In the second semifinal game of the night, Quinnipiac goalie Eric Hartzell and his defensive teammates including Kevin Bui (9), at left, shut down Brooks Bertsch (21) and the St. Cloud State offense 4-1 in the Frozen Four semifinal game at the Consol Energy Center. Quinnipiac would face Yale in the national championship game.

Quinnipiac goalie and Hobey Baker finalist Eric Hartzell joins his coach and family at the awards ceremony in Pittsburgh. From left is Quinnipiac head hockey coach Rand Pecknold, Hartzell and his mom Mary Beth, his dad Kevin Hartzell and at right is Hartzell's aunt, Michelle Matthews.

On the eve of the national championship showdown between the two Connecticut teams, Quinnipiac goalie Eric Hartzell joins his coach and family at the Hobey Baker Awards ceremony in Pittsburgh. From left is Quinnipiac head hockey coach Rand Pecknold, Hartzell and his mom Mary Beth, his dad Kevin Hartzell and at right is Hartzell’s aunt, Michelle Matthews.

Yale head hockey coach Keith Allain leads his team into the Frozen Four championship venue at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on April 13.

Yale players Clinton Bourbonais (15) and Charles Orzetti (27) celebrate after they go ahead 1-0 at the end of the second period against Quinnipiac.

Yale goes up 2-0 on Quinnipiac at 16:25 in the third period.

Yale captain Andrew Miller strikes again to make it 3-0 against Eric Hartzell and Quinnipiac in the third period of the Frozen Four championship game.

Yale captain Andrew Miller strikes again to make it 3-0 against Eric Hartzell and the Bobcats in the third period of the Frozen Four championship game.

Yale fans begin to celebrate (with Yale captain Andrew Miller's likeness) in the third period as Yale's Miller opened up a 3-0 lead over Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four championship game at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Yale fans celebrate (with Yale captain Andrew Miller’s likeness) late in the third period after Miller opened up a 3-0 lead over Quinnipiac on a breakaway goal.

Yale celebrates it stunning 4-0 win over Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four championship game

Yale players rush to embrace their goalie, Jeff Malcolm, after a stunning 4-0 shutout of top-ranked Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four championship game.

Malcolm gets his chance to hoist the NCAA championship trophy after a week in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center.

“What They Did That Day”

November 8, 2012 by Patrick Raycraft

During World War II, George Mendonsa served as a quartermaster in the South Pacific aboard the USS The Sullivans, a Navy destroyer named after the five Sullivan brothers who perished together when their ship, the USS Juneau, was hit by a Japanese torpedo in Guadalcanal. Mendonsa, 89, holds one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century at his Middletown, Rhode Island home. He is widely believed to be the sailor kissing an unsuspecting nurse on V-E Day in Times Square in 1945. The photograph was taken by Life Magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt.

Mendonsa describes sailors breaking showcase windows in Times Square, reaching in and taking fur coats for their dates. He was in New York City on his first date with his future wife and scheduled to fly back to his ship in San Francisco that night. They were watching the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall when it was announced that the Japanese had surrendered. The couple headed to the streets and eventually to Childs Bar.

Stepping back from the celebration, Mendosa describes a Japanese airstrike five months earlier in which hundreds of sailors aboard a ship in his fleet, the USS Bunker Hill, were injured or killed. “They jumped off by the hundreds and we loaded our ship up with men that we pulled out of the water. Later in the day we met with the hospital ship the Solace and we transferred the wounded. I always remember that. I saw (what) those nurses did that day… and I saw that nurse in Times Square so I grabbed her and I kissed her. I honestly believe that if that girl did not have a nurses’ uniform on that day I never would have done that.”

Making That Commitment

July 16, 2012 by Patrick Raycraft

Javier Soto, 35, (at left) with his Little Brother Alex, 14, at the Fairway Batting Cages in South Windsor.

I am continually reminded of the incredible people I encounter with my camera. A Cornell graduate and Pratt & Whitney economist, Javier Soto likes to hit the batting cages this time of year with his Little Brother, Alex. “One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most is going out for batting practice with Alex. Something very simple, right?” While his Ivy education and job title speak for themselves, they don’t paint a full picture of Javier. Exceptional mentor. Yankees fan. Maybe a Red Sox fan? Car show aficionado. “It’s about spending quality time together,” Javier tells me in our interview. “And that’s how things change, right?”

Paczki & Ashes

February 27, 2012 by Patrick Raycraft

At Larose's Bakery on Broad Street in New Britain, Paul Krancicki, 43, deep fries paczki, a popular Polish pastry that resembles a donut or bagel. The traditional pastry is savored on Fat Tuesday before the beginning of Lent.

On Fat Tuesday in New Britain it’s the succulent Polish paczki at Larose’s Bakery. On Ash Wednesday in Hartford, it’s a Portuguese mass at Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Fátima.

Father Antonio Jorge Tchingui blesses Zachary Gacome, 2, on the forehead with ashes during a noontime Ash Wednesday mass at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Hartford. Fr. Tchingui is the Portuguese-speaking pastor of Our Lady of Fatima.