New photog in the house!

     My son Zach, 16, has taken up photography and is the staff photographer for the school's publications. I am so proud of the kid for taking the time to learn photography and try to take it to a high level. His photos are good and getting better......way to go Zach!

Half of a year!

     Thursday of this week marked the six-month anniversary of self-employment. What have I learned?
      I am pretty much shooting the same kind of things in my freelance world that I shot for the Eagle except I do not have to write captions, just invoices. Speaking of accounting, thank you Mrs. T and Dee for the help with all of that. I am shooting sports, portraits, agency work, weddings and even a couple of cool photo essays for an awesome client that runs my photos very well. I no longer get paid for holidays, but I do not have to work them either. I get to start my day (and spend most of it at times) in my pajamas in my awesome office in our home, the Eagle did not like me showing up to work in pajamas and I did not have an office. My work load is about the same, a bit busier at times, but certainly MUCH less stress and more profitable.
     What I do not miss? Meetings of doom and gloom in the newsroom, hated them and I quit attending them after only a few of them. The writing was on the wall about our newspaper business, but to have to hear about it sucked. I do not miss walking into a building that has been destroyed by the economy and decline of the biz. I miss the "full" newsroom that the Eagle used to have, great folks putting out a great product. I do not miss lay-offs, furloughs, pay cuts, pay freezes and buyouts, all terms I hope I never have to hear again.
     What I miss? Large snow storms and the itch to go shoot snow features for the next day's issue, I was like a caged animal on those days this winter. My brain said it was time to go shoot, too many years of thinking that way. I miss walking into the building and seeing the same folks each day, great people. I miss my boss, he was totally cool to work under, we now just share beer together and that is good too, maybe even better. I miss representing the newspaper and shooting a photograph of someone and trying to get to know them in our short time and make the best photo of them I could. I new that they were excited to have me there and I wanted to let them know that I would take care of them and represent my newspaper in a very positive way.

     I guess I will always be a newspaper man. Photojournalism has been an excellent way to train as a photographer. Making chocolate cake out of dog poopy is how we roll. That training has not only helped my photography, as I am very comfortable and confident behind the camera, but I have been trained to get people to trust me for 1/60th of a second. I take those skills and use them each day in my new freelance world......life is good, my stomach no longer aches and I am very happy. Cheers to another great and exciting six months. It was a great decision to go to work at the Eagle and a great decision to leave, change is good, new challenges and everything that goes along with that. Hell, I am the president of a company, with a staff of one, heck yeah!  Again, life is good. Peace.
 

Photo Workshops

     Over the last several years I have had the opportunity to teach photography to students. I have a couple of local workshops I do in Wichita that are basic photography classes, but I also teach a publications workshop to schools. It is a great way for the students to get an idea of what they might face shooting for the their yearbooks and newspapers during the school year. Whether it is a workshop for shooting a particular sport or just a "get the year started right" kind of thing, it helps teachers make sure that the photographers know what to look for, how to shoot and deliver a quality story-telling photograph to their editors.
     Various journalism workshops are offered all over the country and are certainly worth going to, but time and money can prohibit a student or school from attending those kind of camps. I am finding that it is just easier to come to the school and do the workshop there. The students are comfortable and are in the environment that they will be shooting in, their school.
     The workshops will cover everything from sports, portraits, shooting in the classroom and school events, caption writing and some basic photo editing skills. We move fast and have a lot of fun in these camps.
     The workshops are designed and tailored to each school. The cost is a set cost and not a per student cost and is figured on a per school basis, what they need, time, travel, etc. Some schools join together and have me out to save money, this is great as students get a chance to meet others who face the same problems that they are facing with their school publication photography. The most popular camps are the August and September.  Two of those weeks in September are already booked, but there are plenty of dates open. Those months are popular, but I do these camps during most of the school year too.

     I would love to hear from you and chat about your needs. My workshops work, my kids know how and when to make a good photograph after they attend one of my workshops. Please call, 316-706-8529, Jeff.