Downtown Chi-town

So, Tuesday night I was sitting in my room watching TV when Scottie and Tool walk in.
They can't sleep either and they're afraid of wasting the night watching TV (which would've been fine by me).

I jokingly say that I've always wanted my picture taken by the Sears Tower in Chicago, and they both think it's a great idea.
So at 2am, we jump in The Beast and head for Chi-Town.

We get there around 7:30am, and after finally finding a place to park, we find the Sears Tower.

Scottie takes my picture and I videotape Scottie riding his unicycle down the sidewalk. Tool stands off to the side and doesn't want to be associated with us.
After about an hour of fun, we realize that we all have commitments that afternoon, and a five hour drive home ahead of us, so we head back to The Beast and take off.

Chicago is so cool. I can't wait to go back there someday.

About the biz...

I've been thinking a lot about the media business lately, especially with my promotion and such.

My role model and predecessor, Brad, is very upset about his experience thus far.
He started at WOI when he was in college. He chose WOI out of all the other stations that offered him a job because he thought he would move up faster and he could be a reporter.

He worked his butt off here for more than three years now, and never got a job as a reporter like he had imagined.
Now he is going to another station.
Brad feels like he has wasted the past three years.
He wonders what it would have been like if he had taken a job at a different station.

I was offered a couple jobs when I was first looking to break into the journalism world, and chose WOI because they offered me more money.
If you're in high school looking for an internship, don't pick somebody just because they'll pay you. Think about where you'll get the best experience.
Fortunately for me, I believe WOI was the best decision, because (for now) I'm doing what I love to do. I've put in my time and moved through the ranks, and now I'm a full-time photographer.
I just can't help but worry that after photography gets boring and I want to be a reporter, I'll be stuck.

The solution, as I see it, is not to let photography get boring.
I really like telling stories through pictures.
Unfortunately, many producers view a photographers job as showing something while the reporter tells the story.

THIS IS GARBAGE.

Producers will argue that people at home never pay attention to photography, and as long as the video matches what the reporter is saying, viewers won't notice any difference.
This is only partially true.
Although Joe Viewer can't watch a story and say "That was a nice use of the shutter" or "That NAT sequence really made me feel like the action was happening around me," they WOULD rather watch a story with good photography than bad photography. In essence, a photographers job is much the same as a reporters.
We need to bring the story to the viewer, help the viewer understand whats happening and, when appropriate, evoke a certain level of emotion.
When done correctly, the viewer won't even notice.

To conclude, I don't really know what I'm doing, what I want to do in two years, or how I got to this point, but I love being a photojournalist!

Dream Job

I finally did it.
Monday, my boss officially offered me a contract to become a full time photographer.
I'll get to do more of what I love to do, and get a boat load of money to do it.

I'm so excited.

I'll get the weekends off to work on school.

Now, I'll be here until January 2007.
That's longer than I've ever had a job.
That's longer than I've ever had a girl friend.

I'll have spent more time in the newsroom than I did in high school.
It's overwhelming, but VERY exciting.

I can't wait to get started next month.