As I’ve said many times before, some assignments in the life of a photojournalist can be really boring. REALLY boring. But the worst of the worst are worth it for the best. I walked into work one August morning and checked my assignment bin. I did a double take when I read that I was going to a local high school to watch different police organizations do active shooter training. First, I didn’t really know what this meant. Second, police […]
I grew up riding a BMX bike. VERY poorly. I had the benefit of living only a few miles from one of the nations premiere BMX tracks, EP Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, KY. I rode with my friends through middle and high school. Never once did I consider myself even remotely good at the sport. A few weeks ago, I was assigned to photograph the ABA BMX Midwest Nationals at Searls Park in Rockford. Only then did it […]
Photojournalists usually have a favorite part of the job. Some love shooting sports. Others enjoy shooting concerts and similar lifestyle events. For me, it’s the thrill of chasing spot news. Spot news differs from regular “news” photos in the fact that it isn’t planned or scheduled. It is a spontaneous event, be it a fire, shooting, car accident or the like. Many elements come into play when making a spot news photo. I think it is safe to say in […]
Sometimes, assignments just seem goofy. For example, how about a charity dog wash held at a car dealership? You can imagine what I went home smelling like. But the soggy dogs made for some cute and funny pictures. This one dog got a little attitude and stuck his tongue out at me.
When I got the assignment to go make some pictures at a library in a nearby town of patrons, workers and the building itself, I thought that it would be a quick in-and-out assignment. Boy was I wrong. When I got to the library in Pecatonica, Ill., the only people there were workers. I got to shooting right away, following around a reluctant employee. And then another reluctant employee. I was getting useable images. But if I settle for useable, […]