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.