As I mentioned in the Welcome Post I consider myself a “recovering” photojournalist. Officially educated in the less than prestigious photography program at Middle Tennessee State University my degree is actually in Mass Communications with an emphasis in photography. I learned most of what I know on the job starting while I was still a student. I got my first job in photography at a small home town newspaper shooting everything from athletics to zydeco. A near endless supply of film and a publisher that was willing to let me go out on my own was my first real classroom. Thanks Ron. Sure, I learned which end of the camera to look through from my professors, but nothing can substitute for the lessons learned by screwing up on deadline.
As valuable as that experience was, driving a hour to and from work after classes became more than I could handle and still get my schoolwork done. I then took a job at the university photo lab. Even better than learning from your own mistakes was learning from other people’s mistakes. The price of other’s mistakes is much easier to bare on a lab tech’s salary. I spent most of my time helping other photography students figure out what they were doing wrong, how to achieve the vision they had in mind, and put that down on paper. When the lab closed I would stay in the darkroom working on my own projects, often until the sun was coming up. It was a lot more fun than it sounds.
I soon landed a job with a daily as a staffer. I worked no beat in particular for a couple of years covering mostly afternoon and night assignments. There was the occasional excitement of celebrities, crime, and catastrophe, but for the most part it was the typical daily assignment grind. Then, the Oilers/Titans moved to Tennessee and took up residency in Nashville at Vanderbilt University’s Dudley Field. They became my first beat assignment. I followed them for seven years. A highlight of my time shooting the Titans was the 1999 season that included both the ‘Music City Miracle’ and a trip to the Atlanta Super Bowl where the Titans missed taking the Rams into overtime by “one yard” on the final play of the game. Watch the replay and maybe you can spot me at the three yard line.
Now-a-days I am shooting as a Digital Imaging Specialist for Middle Tennessee State University. It is a small staff of two and we handle photographic documentation and marketing for MTSU. That encompasses everything from athletics and portraits to campus scenes and architecture. As a digital imaging specialist I was hired primarily to helped facilitate the transition from film to digital, and travel shooting athletics. It is not as glamorous as being a photojournalist, but I no longer get calls in the middle of the night either.
That brings us to the present. I still handle the occasional freelance gigs. You may contact me for rates. I do not do weddings. Please don’t ask. Photography is a fun career and an excellent hobby. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel across the United States on assignment, and meet interesting people. I have truly enjoyed my journey so far.
