day 6

today is day SIX at the news & observer. last week, the week of welcomes and first assignments, feels like a long, long time ago. i've learned so much and really feel like my time here is valuable, though a bit slow.

the thing is, you have to WAIT for news to happen. and if its not happening, you go out and follow your nose until you find something. thats 95% of what i've been doing. mornings i come in and read the news, see if my picture is in the paper, check to see what they did to the caption, and then check my email, look at some quality photos/multimedia online, get some lunch, and then maybe an hour or two before i leave, i'll get a photo.

thats a typical day. today i'm in the office, blogging. i figured i should update the masses on what i've been doing so far.

i was surprised to come in last thursday and see my first picture published on 3B. since then, i feel like 3B has become "my" spot. i've been published 3 times since then, so 4 of my images have made it into the paper all together. since the papers have already come out, i think i'm allowed to post them. these are original edits, but once i turned them in, editors altered them...

and here are some outtakes:

they refer to these as "slice of life" photos... just whats up, whats going on around town, what people are doing, where the moments are.

going out and making pictures is the highlight of my day, and the reason i am here this summer. but inbetween these, i have conversations with the people that work here day and day out, some of them for 25+ years. i have a mentor and he tells me the nitty gritty of the industry, but also encourages me to try new things, to use my nose, to look for good stories and dig to make them better. i tell him my ideas and he says they're great and ambitious and encourages me to go after them.

its nice to have a coach, cheerleader, and teacher all in one.