Tag Archives: Idaho

Day 16

Today started in a way that I wasn’t expecting. We heard on the scanner about some sort of accident down on the reservation, police were going down a ravine by a bridge and we thought that would make a pretty good story so myself and a reporter went down to check it out. When we finally got out there we saw the police parked by the bridge and so we started walking down the middle portion of the bridge that separates north bound and south bound traffic. When we got a little way down I saw a few firemen and policemen down by the river, and then one of the tribal police officers told us to get back to the road. It appeared to be a suicide and we don’t report on those.

After getting back to the Press, Shawn went off to cover a couple stories and I drove around looking for stand alone photos. During my driving around I got a call asking me to look out for guys with food trucks and to get a photo if I could. It turned out that just before I got the call I passed a guy waving a sign for his food truck and so I went back up the street and got the photo I needed. I still hadn’t gotten a stand alone photo that I liked though, so I drove around a little more and I saw an older lady walking with a broken umbrella and I thought that would be perfect, I parked shot the photo and got her name so we could use it it was just the image I was hoping to get too! I took another image like it as well, just of a different person and when I got back to the press, she had emailed and revoked her permission for me to use her photo, that had never happened before… but she sounded like she was in a bad mood when I talked to her so maybe she was just having a bad day.

After I got the call from Shawn about the lady and her photo, I was asked by a reporter if I could take a photo for another In Person story, and that he would be there any minute. I was a little on the spot but I made due and it didn’t look too shabby. Over all, today was a good day.

Day 15

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At the end of the day yesterday Shawn asked me if I could cover basketball today and of course I said yes, I want to improve everyday so any chance I get to do so I’m going to take. Basketball games happen late and so since I was covering the game I also came in late which was nice; sleeping in doesn’t happen much but when it does it’s wonderful!

When I got to the Press however there was a lot noise next door from the construction guys so I went over to check it out. They had a huge gravel truck and the whole thing was on a remote control! I’m sure it’s not that new of a thing, but I’d never seen anything like that before, I felt myself having little kid envy wanting to drive the giant RC car! Sadly that didn’t happen. So I went about my business snapping photos. The worker in the blue hard hat came up to me afterwords and he asked me if I had to “develop” all those. I then told him that it was all digital so it was pretty easy. He then told me that his wife worked in circulation at the Press and that I should print one of him and give it to her so she could have it at her cubicle. I thought that was a pretty funny idea so I made her a draft print and delivered it.

Next, some hours later came the basketball game. This was the first round of the 5A district 1 Tournament and it was between Lake City and Post Falls High Schools. To be completely honest, basketball after the Fight for the Fish game just isn’t the same… no one dresses up, there is hardly any noise, there’s way less people. But it wasn’t so bad I guess. There were a lot of pretty good falls and I almost got hit by the ball and players a few times and that was pretty fun! Now, it time for another nice weekend.

Day 14

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Today got me started at a nice pace! I got a call from Tess around 9 am, she had an appointment at 10 in Rathdrum that she wasn’t going to be able to make because she was off to Bayview to get some photos of police investigating some found human remains. So this was one more photo assignment than yesterday! Emma came along too because I had to go straight there, it was nice to give her a little taste of what I get to do most days.

The assignment was for a story going in the North Idaho Business Journal on a company called Heater Craft. The company was commissioned by the USA Center of Military History Museum Division to build a bunch of aluminum storage cases to aid in the preservation of Revolutionary War era memorabilia, but they do a crazy amount of stuff there, it was really fun to go see.

I got back to the press around 11 and after Shawn got out of a meeting he came in and let me know that the construction guys next door were pouring concrete with a huge pump truck and he wanted me to grab some photos and a little video of that. Shooting the construction is fun especially since I am pretty much the only one who has done it so far; I feel like I get to have more of a connection to this assignment than the normal day to day. It’s nice.

Lastly I finished out my day with another check passer. Today was an answer to a prayer. I love staying busy because it gives me more of an opportunity to improve.

Day 13

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Today was probably one of the slowest days at the press. I went out to look for stand alone photos just to pass the time and there wasn’t anything to use for the paper. I got a shot of some guys from the parks and rec. office planning out the pruning of the trees around the city library. And that was pretty much it.

Day 12

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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.

Day 11

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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.

Day 10

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I started out today with the fourth and fifth-graders of Bryan Elementary. It was really fun! The school put on a Seahawks themed lunch for the kids and they were encouraged to wear their favorite sports team jersey and hat. We wanted to get some photos of the event in anticipation of the super bowl and show some Seahawks pride, and those kids were loving the chance to show their pride.

The next assignment that I had the chance to go to was for a story on an up and coming LGBT and alternative wedding chapel. This one was particularly difficult for me in particular because of my beliefs toward marriage. I believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that is the way it should be; just because the world’s standards are changing, doesn’t invalidate the things that God has said. I in no way shape or form feel like people of a different sexual orientation are less than human or should be treated as such, but my beliefs on the matter are with what God has said about the subject. I’ll leave it at that. As was my assignment however, I got the photos I needed for the story and we left. Feeling like a minority but proud to be so.

Day 9

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Much like yesterday, today had a slow start. There were no photo assignments until late and so we went out to look again for stand-alones and Seahawks fans, none of which I found… however I did get the idea to ask a few hair cutting places if they had given any hair “tattoos” for Seahawks fans. I didn’t get anything right away but there was a salon in Post Falls that did one a few days ago and she will be sending us a photo.

The first thing we did was to hook up the video equipment and go over to the construction site next door and take some more photos but introduce video this time. We’re slowly building a pretty good collection of photos for that feature.

After a little time went by, one of the reporters hurries over to our cubicle and tells us in an excited voice, he just heard over the scanner that someone was walking around City Park with an assault rifle. Shawn sent Tess and I to check it out making sure we kept our distance, Mike (the boss) even wanted to come and make sure everyone would be ok. Turns out we didn’t find who was described, but we did find the person that might have been mistaken as one carrying an assault rifle. She, by that time was looking innocently through a spotting scope on her tripod, down the beach at some seagulls. We figured that’s probably what was mistaken at a distance for the weapon.

When we got back to the press, Shawn asked if I was ready for some wrestling, I of course said sure! So he sent me off to photograph the match between Coeur d’Alene and Lake City High Schools. This was the first time that I had photographed wrestling and it was pretty fun! It hurt the knees just like basketball, but it is a little slower so it’s easier to compose and plan out shots, at least in theory. And that was my day, again, filled with prayer and learning; this is a great experience.

Day 8

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Today was so slow, there weren’t any photo requests until later in the day, so my mentor and I split up and went looking for stand alone photos. There was one request that came in for people showing their Seahawks pride, so on our search for stand alones we also looked for that. After a few hours there was nothing to be found… on the bright side though, my wife Emma came with me to Coeur d’Alene today to do some work remotely for her job and we were able to eat lunch together and that was awesome!

later on, we were notified on the police scanner about a pipe bomb found in a motel, and since I was the only one in the office they sent me to go check it out. It was pretty much a non-event… about the size of a sparkler bomb, but we ran the story because it was something. I got a photo of some missionaries taking advantage of the situation, it made me smile to see that.

Day 7

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You know, one of the best things about doing my internship as a photojournalist is that I get to go out each day and take photos of all sorts of things, I love it! Today the first assignment was pretty simple, today is a foggy day, go out and find people doing things in the fog. The editor was doing a story about the abnormally warm weather in contrast with the East Coast currently, they wanted a shot of the fog and also the sun later in the day. So that’s what I did, and it was really fun! I love walking around in the fog so that made it all the better.

Later, the basketball team from North Idaho College was going to the Boys and Girls Club to play with the kids, and so we went to that and got some shots of the kids interacting with the team; it was like a war-zone in there.

Today was also a big answer to an on-going prayer. Each day I have been praying to see an improvement in my photography, to be a little better than the day before. That’s what this internship is all about for me, sure it’s to learn the details of how a paper works and how to be a photojournalist for a daily paper, but it is also to bring my technique and my skill up to the next level. Today I took a shot of a couple yogi’s enjoying the foggy morning and I thought it was good, but didn’t really pay too much attention to it. Fast forward to around 4pm, Mike (the boss) was in the photojournalist’s cubicle and he spied the photo on my screen. It caught his eye and he was very vocal about how much he liked it, and that spread like fire. My mentor Shawn also was really vocal about it, saying how blown away he was and then a few more people came in to check it out and congratulate me on the shot! I was shocked. It felt really good to have all those people like my photo but most of all it was wonderful to have my mentor notice my improvement. God hears and answers prayers.

Day 6

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Today my mentor came back to work! Also, the other press photographer had recovered from her 24 hour bug and she was back too! Today was a low key day, nothing too crazy happened. I started out the day taking a photo of a “check passer,” this is what we call it when one group or individual donates money to an organization or business in the community. The next assignment was a feature story about a high school senior who was just named Youth of the Year at the boys and girls club of Kootenai County. And that was pretty much it for today… except for when I forgot one of my lenses at the check passing and didn’t realized I’d left it there until I was on my way to the second shoot 3 hours later… it was still there thank goodness.

Day 5

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I really have to stop saying that the day was a trial by fire because there seems to be more that can happen to throw me into the photojournalism world head first. Not only was my mentor still sick today but the other press photographer came in, set up her computer, and not two minutes later was packing up her computer again and left, complaining that she felt like she was going to throw up! I wasn’t expecting this when I woke up this morning… but the CDA Press is a daily paper and I was the only photographer they had left, I had to get the shots that they needed and so the silent prayers commenced!

The first assignment of the day was a special U.S. Navy sponsored marine building program for students called SeaPerch, in this case middle school. During the program they built PVC pipe underwater remote operated vehicles that the kids will be able to control and use for class. This was really cool to see!

My next assignment was going to be college basketball, but the sports guys didn’t need shots for the game, so I was off the hook for that one. But the final shoot was pretty important for the city of Post Falls, the citizen of the year award along with other community awards at the chamber of commerce annual banquet.

Tonight was a late night, but that happens sometimes at the newspaper. I just hope someone gets better soon!

Day 4

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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.

Day 3

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I was mistaken in thinking that yesterday was a trial by fire… when I got to the Press today I got an email from my mentor saying that he was having flu-like symptoms and that he wouldn’t be coming in today! I slightly panicked. But looking at the schedule I relaxed a little because there was no photo requests yet. The other photographer that works at the Press came in not too long after me which was good because I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask her. First was, what do we do on a day where there aren’t any photo requests; she then reminded me about what they call at the paper “stand-alone” photos. She then told me about a great place to look for stand alone-shots, on the CDA Press website there is a calendar of events going on in the city and the surrounding areas. So we started looking there.

I found a few events that I wanted to go to and see if I could get some shots there, one was an event at the city library called Tales for Two’s and Three’s where there would be stories read to children and activities for them to do. Once I was done there I went next door to the news room where there is construction being done on a new building for everyone. The boss wanted us photographers to get some photos and video to document the construction because when it is all done and they move in he wants to run a special about it.

Next I went to another event that I found on the calendar of events, a senior hula dancing class. Yes, I admit, there are a lot of assignments that aren’t very glamorous but I’ve got to tell you, these ladies were a riot! When I finished at the luau, I discovered that I had missed a text from the other photographer on staff asking me to go to an interview for a feature story with one of the reporters at 2pm, it was 1:59pm…Oi. So I rushed back to the news room to figure out where all of this was happening and thankfully it was just down the street. I didn’t get there too late so I didn’t need to worry, unlike most photo ops, feature stories usually just have a single portrait of the interviewee (at least in this paper). So that concluded my busy day. A great learning experience and also like yesterday and everyday full of prayers.

PS: Today was the day that the North Idaho Business Journal was published! This is another one of the many publications that the Coeur d’Alene Press operates and about two weeks ago I second shot with my mentor on a story about the Litehouse Foods company. That was my first big publish.

Day 2

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Today was my first day on my own at an event, and I was a little nervous. After the fight for The Fish game Shawn, my mentor, said that he thought he was going to cut me loose on Monday (today) to get the feel for what it’s like to be a photojournalist working for a daily paper. Today at the Human Rights Education Institute they were having an event to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and so it was my assignment to cover the event.

I wasn’t nervous because of my lack of confidence in myself as a photographer, but because of my lack of experience as a photojournalist, and with that style of photography. I shot on my own for the paper a week or so ago but that wasn’t for an event. This was a great learning experience! Trials by fire are pretty effective, and the best thing was, I’m starting to notice an improvement in my abilities; I’m not even close to the level of my mentor, but the fact that I’m seeing an improvement is a relief to me. There are many more experiences like this to come and as long as I see an improvement each time I’ll be happy with that and prayer will play a big role.