So it was my first time back in a few days… and I’ve been loving the little break. My day started out with a stand alone nightmare! I went to a middle school activity where I took photo of a 3D printer demonstration. The nightmare was that in checking the names to see who could be published, almost none of them were able to be published! That was a new experience. Next I went to a staff vs. staff basketball game from a couple of the local middle schools; it was so funny.
There was another long drive first thing this morning, out to a place called Careywood. Careywood is in danger of loosing their Post Office because it is such a tiny town. We were doing a feature story on that. Then, on the way back we went into Hayden and took a photo for a NIBJ story about a man who went from being a volunteer employee at a boat dealer to being their business manager.
Then there was a stand alone opportunity with a non-profit called Wings of Rescue where animal shelter dogs are flown here from California to be cared for by other non-profits, however after being there for about 15 minutes still waiting for the plane to get there I was called out to a 50 acre grass fire in Athol and that took first priority. It was also pretty fun being with the fire fighters, they were all cool with me being there. That was today, pretty exciting!
This morning I had a long drive ahead of me for a fun photo opp at a Rathdrum elementary school. Mr. X a math magician did an assembly for students to bring the wonder back to math. Next there was a chance to go out and photograph a couple hotels in the area that have recently changed hands for a NIBJ story. Then, later on in the evening, Jeff, the reporter that was working on the fireplace regulations story, set up a tour for me to go to a wood stove manufacturer so I could get a better photo than just the wood pile! Thank goodness.
Today was another low key Saturday. My day started off with a feature story about a therapeutic ranch that rescues and trains horses, it was a challenging experience because it was new however it was really fun and a great change in scenery. The kids that I was working with in these photos were a hoot, totally okay with the camera and really fun to work with. I’ve found that I really like working with kids because they are usually less camera shy than adults especially when they have their friends around; and when they hear you are from the paper all they want is to be in that photo. Maybe it’s just my inner kid feeling at home. Maureen wanted me to get 5 shots to go with the story since it would be running Monday and that is usually a pretty thin paper.
Next, and still in Hayden, there was a Girl Scout’s automotive 101 class that we were doing a story about. It was less about the class and more about the girls in the scout troop… these were all older girls, high school juniors and seniors who had been in this troop since kindergarten and elementary school.
Lastly, there was a GOP Lincoln day dinner going on at the resort. This was fun, but it ended up being a waiting game because our information was wrong. I was told that the keynote speaker was going to be going on at 6pm, when in reality the dinner started at 6 and the keynote speaker didn’t get up to speak until 9:15pm… it was kind of a fun party though. There was a lot of auction items and raffle items, mainly a gun raffle, I thought that was a little stereotypical of them, but it made me laugh anyway.
Shawn was off today and so I had a long day ahead of me. There was a keynote speaker that I needed to get at the resort but first, Emma has had me printing out photos of the cities that we’ve lived in or visited that I’d taken; so I went up on top of the parking structure at the resort and got some shots of the city for the set that I’m printing. After the keynote speaker I went on a tour with one of our reporters to Titan Spring. Some students with the STEM after school program took a tour to see the facility and get information about possible jobs and internships. They needed a couple for daily and then a couple for the NIBJ. And yet again, there was basketball.
Today was the first day that Shawn would be out of town in Boise for state basketball… I was the lone photographer. It started out with an interesting assignment though, Maureen got a call from a gentleman who just sold some of his property to a developer but on the property was an old stage coach station and an old post office, like 1800s old. So a reporter and I drove out to Hayden and got some info and photos, sadly both buildings would be torn down and so we were trying to document the area before that happened.
Next, the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center was filming a public service announcement about domestic violence that will go hand in hand with the ads that aired during the super bowl. The lighting was such a treat! And the last assignment for the day was a teen dental party in which teens can go and get dental screenings and sealants for free which would normally cost $400 a person. It was a good day today. Lots of prayers today and I was feeling it.
Today was a late start for me at the press due to some errands I had to run in the morning, but when I finally got there I was given an assignment to go back to Hayden and shoot some photos of a kids tennis workshop given by former French Open winner Luke Jensen. That was a lot of fun but also a little challenging. There weren’t too many kids and the few that there were, were all over the place and so it took a little bit for me to get my bearings so I could get some shots of them interacting with Jensen and good layering of the kids. Eventually I got it, however I need to get better at anticipating the shots I want…I guess that comes with experience.
We got in new gear today! When I got to the press I got my workstation set up like normal, it was a slow start today. Shawn comes in and after he sets up his computer he says to me, “ok dude, are you ready?” Then he left… I was a little confused, but in a few seconds he came back with a massive box full of camera gear! I’m just the intern, so I don’t get to use it which is alright, but it was like working at the camera store again! Today we got in two more Canon 1Dx bodies, two small bags, two wireless intervelometers, a few UV filters, extra batteries, extra memory cards, and tomorrow we should be getting in two printers and paper to go with them. That was a fun start to my day.
I’m also beginning to see that sometimes it takes a little time for the reporters to get us the photo requests for their stories ahead of time, sometimes until things get going in the day stand-alone photos are the only option. Looking for stand alone photos today I found a couple of workers from the Coeur d’Alene Resort while they were taking down Christmas lights on Sherman Ave. (main street).
Later on, I was back to an elementary school to cover some after school activities that were going on in Hayden. I’m beginning to realize that the elementary school kids are some of my favorite people to photograph, they are just so good at having fun. On my way back from the school, Shawn called me up and let me know that they just heard about a four-car accident at an intersection in Hayden where I was still at and he wanted me to head over to get some photos of the accident. This was a first for me, thankfully only one person out of the four cars involved was transported to the hospital.
It seems like my mentor will never get well! Today I tagged along with the other press photographer on staff and we went to a few different places to get some shots.
First was another stand alone, Hayden Meadows Elementary School was having a special square dancing lesson for the fourth and fifth grade students. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization made the lessons possible through a grant giving the money necessary to purchase four lessons from the Coeurly Q Square Dance Club, two for each grade. The kids loved it! There was of course the awkward beginning where random kids are paired together and they have to hold each other’s hands… it was funny to watch how they handled it. Eventually though they all got the hang of it and they had so much fun.
Next we went to North Idaho College where the city of Coeur d’Alene was felling some fairly large trees that were messing up a large stretch of road. This art was for a story by one of our reporters. And finally, our Post Falls reporter was working on one of his pretty consistent stories about the city transit and he needed a photo for one of his follow up articles; so we drove to Post Falls in hopes of getting a city owned street during rush hour preferably with a pedestrian… well, we got the pedestrian but we were only able to get the start of the rush hour traffic before needing to head back to the news room. And that was day 4.