Why I like photojournalism (and why I don't like it some days)

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time covering a large, three-day Christian concert held between Midland and Odessa called Rock the Desert. At first things started well, we had had a lunceon for all of us interns at the office earlier and I drove out to the concert site with my editor Mark to shoot photos of the event. All went well until it began to rain lighlty right as we were about to meet up to head back to the office. Of course the weather is part of the coverage, so we stayed a little longer. I ended up taking a shot that went on the front page as the weather had postponed some of festivities.


Image © Odessa American

These people were waiting in line to buy merchandise for one of the bands that had just gotten off stage as the storm clouds built up in the background.

After taking longer than we planned to, it was off to the office for Mark and I. By the time we got back it was 5:45 p.m., and I had a 6:30 assignment. That gave me 45 minutes to turn in my photos and get across town. I was late, but it wouldn't have mattered whether I was 15 minutes early either since the worship dance group I was supposed to photograph wasn't doing anything. They were beginning to plan for an upcoming show in October and had just finished up one show, so they didn't have any routines or costumes. I made the mistake of telling the reporter I didn't have much time and that I needed to leave in 10 minutes so I could get back out to Rock the Desert by 7:30 (why me God?!?!? is what I was thinking). So the reporter asks the group to perform an older routine for us, and despite the fact that I tried to stop them from doing so they got very excited and went about getting prepared. The reason I didn't want them to do this is because the photos from something like this are what I call "canned", in other words the event/shot/etc. was put on merely for my benefit and would not have happened if I had not been there. So I shot the photos, although I am going to talk to Mark about it and see if we can reshoot them. I just had a bad feeling in my gut about doing something like that. Now I have to include that the photos were basically posed for me in the cutline or I am dealing with an ethics issue. This is not aimed at this particular reporter, who is usually great to work with, but facts should be checked before writing up an assingment. It is frustrating to walk into somthing like this, especially with limited time.

So, after shooting the dance group I leave for the concert (late again I might add). I am supposed to be there to cover a "special guest" that ended up being a presidential impersonator that never even got to speak. Everything was going well until the rain started, this time very heavily. So sometime after 8:15 I find myself hudled in a tent with about 100 other people trying to stay dry and shooting everything I can. People praying, running in the rain, tents and stands being blown over, and families huddling together.


These people were trying to gather their belongings and get to shelter.


This girl is a part of a group called the Jesus Crew from Abilene (my hometown!). They are praying for the rain to stop.


Here this boy is praying out in the rain covered by just a blanket.

All the while water is getting all over my camera and lenses and even though I know the camera and my main lens are water-sealed I was worrying. Finallyaround 8:45 I decide I need to run back to my truck. I take off my button up shirt (good thing I had a t-shirt on underneath) and wrapped it around my camera leaving a little room around the lens in case I saw anything on the way and made a mad dash to my truck. I ended up waiting over and hour and 20 minutes just to get to the highway since I had wisely chosen to park in the sponsor are which was far, far from the road. I finally walk into the apartment cold, wet , tired and angry around 11:00. I told myself I had had a horrible day, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but disagree with myself. It had been a crazy day, but still a good one since I got to photograph the world around me. I guess there is a part of journalist that feeds on the challenges and obstacles that sometimes pop up in the field. So I really do like this job, even when I don't.

A new look...

I'm trying out a new look for the blog. I think I agree with Cheryl Bacon's comment on my last post about the white on black causing eye strain. (On a side note involving Cheryl and Cade White, my photojournalism advisor, it's really nice to have faculty actually read up on what a student is posting) I originally chose the black background because this blog was much more picture heavy and I thought they black made the photos stick out a little more, but as of late I haven't been posting as many photos as I have been describing my experiences here. I am also going to try and break up some of the longer posts into two or more different posts so that no one has to read such large chunks of text. I was going back over the past couple of posts and was amazed at how long they turned out. I think I may keep posting to this blog as I finish up school and start hunting for a job in the near future, so I need to make sure that I keep it looking nice and easily readable. I don't need to go off and forget all those design and visual presentation guidelines I learned at ole ACU as now, more than ever, a photojournalist has to have multiple skills under his or her belt.

I just realized that I actually have less than three weeks until I am done with my internship now, which makes me a little sad and a little happy since I will be back at home in Abilene for awhile. Mary had asked me about this the other day but it didn't really sink in to my brain how short a time that really is until now. I am ready to be back home and be a full-time husband and daddy again, but I will miss the job and all the friends I have made here. Today most of the reporters and three of us photographers went to lunch together (yup, there were lots of jokes about the biggest spot news of the year going down in that hour) and we had a great time. I really like the staff of the OA hope to see some of them down the road in the field or working with them somewhere. I am still unsure of whether I can make it in this business or not, but I am going to keep trying for now, I think once I get back home and have some time to go over what I have learned this summer I will be able to apply more of it to my work.
Today I had a wierd moment after I shot the aftermath of a church parsonage fire that happened very early this morning. I took some photos of the granddaughters of the church's pastor digging out her jewelry, and then some overall shots of the damage and some more of the family digging through the rubble. When I got back, the editor-in-chief, the managing editor, the editorial page editor (that's a mouthful) and the senior reporter crowded around my workstation to see the photos as that was the biggest news of the day. I felt awkward because although the photos were from a big story, I'm used to just talking about a shoot with Mark, my editor. Everyone had their input and in the end I think we picked out the best shots, but I have to admit that after everyone left I just had a wierd feeling about the whole thing. We had been invaded. Its not anything against the rest of the staff, but we are used to being an island, with only a few visitors a day and even then usually for only a small amount of time. Thats why they keep us photogs in a different room (the one where the air conditioner didn't work well most of the summer). We all work together at the paper, but in the photo room there is a different atmosphere. We are our own breed of newsman (or woman as it may be). At least thats how I have read the situation, and the "vibe", for lack of a better word, that I have gotten. I am not saying that anything outright wrong happened, just that it felt awkward. Maybe it was the feeling that Mark ought to be making the call on what looked good or didn't look good, or maybe just the fact that I felt crowded. Now I'm not complaining as it was nice to hear the editor-in-chief tell me I did a good job, and I liked getting input from multiple people. But it just felt more "normal" to hear Mark say "that photos ok, I guess we could use it as a secondary..." or "I guess that's the best we got..." as he looks at the photo everybody else got excited about. Mark doesn't hand out compliments, in fact I don't think "great" is in his vocabulary while on the job, and I don't expect to hear it. He is a tough editor but also very professional, he doesn't throw stuff around and call all your work crap like I have heard of or read about online. He just tells it like it is and lets you know that you could have done better. One of my personal goals early on was to make him get excited with a really great photo, but now I don't think that will happen whether or not I take a great photo, it's just not the way he works. The other day he told me several of the staff members liked a portrait I had taken, and I asked him if he liked it (mistake on my part) and he got a serious look and said "it was alright" and went back to work. Somehow an alright from Mark isn't too bad at all. At least he didn't sit me down and explain all the reasons why it didn't work well or why it didn't tell me much about he subject, although I would have listened to every word he said and taken mental notes if he did.

While I'm here...

Sometimes while on assignment I shoot photos that I am pretty sure won't make it for the paper or don't really go along with my assignment. I take these photos because I think they are good photos, regardless of whether they fit the assignment or are not what the paper was looking for. I don't spend too much time on them, I don't want to miss a shot for my assignment, but I do look for them. Most of these are at least a couple weeks old, but thought that my friends and family (and anyone else who stumbles upon this blog) might want to see something a little different.







These first three are from the Imperial Reservoir assignment some of you may remember from nearly a month ago. I wanted to take some scenics, and thought they might look interesting in black and white instead of color as you would normally see.








These are from a trip to a local bar/rodeo arena one Sunday afternoon for bullriding.






These last two are my kids, I haven't posted any photos of them here recently so I thought I would add them on here as a special treat for any family members of mine who check this blog in the next few days. I really miss being with my kids on a daily basis, it's one of the hardest things about this internship. My wife Maria can understand why I am gone, although I miss her very much as well and I know it has been very hard on her, but my little daughter doesn't really understand why "going to work" means I have to leave her for nearly a week at a time. Maria tells me that there are days she wanders around the house looking under closed doors calling out my name, and I often have to choke back tears when she tells me this. I know it affects my daughter because I have stopped recieving the endless flow of sloppy kisses that I used to get nearly every day we were together. Those kisses are what fuels a father, in a way, and I really hope that she will forget about my being gone so much when the internship ends.

Better late than never....

Here are a couple of images I took last Sunday and on the 4th. I stayed an extra day this week and took my 'weekend' a day later so I pretty much forgot about posting them here.
These first two are from the patriotic celebration one of the Baptist churches downtown held Sunday July 2. I will include the captions beneath them. (note: as always there may be errors in spelling in this version of the captions. I DO spellcheck when I turn the captions in to the copy desk before they go into the paper.)


A model of the Statue of Liberty took center stage at First Baptist Church Sunday evening for a patriotic celebration. The celebration included the choir, a barbershop quartet, an orchestra and members of the armed forces. Image © Odessa American


A mother holds her young boy as he waves a miniature flag during the Patriotic Celebration at First Baptist Church. The program honored those that have fought and died for our freedom as well as those who currently defend it. Image © Odessa American

Here I should add that I learned a lesson that should have been obvious to me: Don't use a photo if you don't know exactly who the people are or their relationship to one another. In the photo above, I don't know for a fact whether it is her son and I shouldn't have worded the caption so. I shouldn't have even used the photo at all. As Mark told, regardless of whether it is a good photo or not if you don't have the proper info don't use it. I could not get to them to get the info because they were in the center of the middle pew and had people packed in aroudn them. I wanted to wait, but I was already pushing my deadline for these photos and needed to get to a baseball game (that ended up not being used, ironically). I really liked this shot, and my infatuation with it blinded me to an obvious error on my part. Some lessons, even simple ones, are learned the hard way. This photo ran on the front page and earned me a scolding from both my editor and an email from the editor-in-chief. Needless to say, I am getting caption info now, no matter how hard it is to get to the subjects.

**I am currently having trouble with blogger so I will have to upload the last couple of photos later.**

Thanks...

I just want to thank the friends and family who actually read my post June 29th (the where I needed to vent a little bit)and took the time to visit with me about it or emailed me or posted a comment here. The encouragement really helped and I think I have gotten over most of what I felt, although I have been tempted to hang up my camera for good a couple more times. My Photo J professor, Cade White, has suggested I take up a side project to help me work out some of my problems and mental blocks. I think I will take him up on his advice. I have already found a person from an earlier assignment who I think would make a nice feature package. I posted a picture of his funny bike a week or so ago, but he has more interesting trinkets and inventions of his own. I went to his house for about an hour today and shot a few photographs, several of which I like. Like always though, I think if I go back I can do even better. I am going to try and pitch the idea to Mark on Monday, but even if he doesn't think it will work out I will probably continue shooting on it for myself. Also, Cade suggested that I take up something that will really help me connect with the humanity in my subjects, so I am keeping my eye out for the "little" stories that I can tell with my camera. Tonight I am going with a reporter to a house for the homeless and drug addicts for a prayer meeting of some sort. Another photographer did a feature on the place but I think I could find a lead to something else that is related but seperate there. I am going to keep my eyes and ears open tonight for something that could turn into a story.

A trip to the rodeo

Yesterday I went with one of the Sports writers, Lee Scheide, to the Rodeo in Pecos. Pecos claims to be the site of the first rodeo and this years was the 124th rodeo there. We got there a little early so I though I would shoot some feature stuff on the cowboys and just the general atmosphere until the event started. Things started and 8:00 with the grand procession, then the events started and about 8:20. I had a deadline of 9:30, and I needed to be at the hotel down the street around nine in order to download, process and send the files via FTP server. I didn't have much shooting time, but it wasn't too bad. I actually got the last file to the paper around 9:45 since the wireless connection wasn't exactly speedy and they asked for a couple more shots of a specific rider who wasn't in my initial batch. I thought I would go ahead and present a few of the photos I took before the rodeo and one from later on in the evening here. Feel free to let me know what you think, I can always use some good criticism.