So, you've managed to find my blog. This means that either you randomly found this while searching for tips and tricks on photography, or you stumbled upon my site and are just poking around. In either case, welcome. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences as well as possibly chatting with you in the future.
As you've probably figured out by now, I have a strong background and passion for photography. So, I figure this first post ought to describe a little about my background in this field.
I served six years as a photojournalist and public relations specialist in the US Navy (the official title being a Mass Communication Specialist), where I deployed to the western pacific twice. During those years I've visited five different countries, and lost track of how many shots I'd taken or stories I'd written about aircraft, ships, other Sailors, and as many local happenings as I could whenever we hit port. The tail end of my Naval carrier, short as it was, was spent at Naval Air Station Brunswick (Maine) as I eventually became the only person running a public relations office to a base that was closing down (normally this was a job for around half dozen people or more, including a staff officer reporting directly to the base's commanding officer). These six years are what really built the foundation of my skills and instilled a desire to explore the world around me through one lens or another.
After leaving the fleet, I eventually went back to school where I ended up in a communications program through Washington State University. I honed my skills as best I could, all while sharing my knowledge with any who cared to share theirs with me in return. How else are we supposed to learn any new skills, or better the ones we have, right?
After a short while I ended up relocating, yet again to Fort Myers, Florida, and wound up with a gig at a local news station working the cameras in the studio and out in the field. I owe quite a lot of my more recent skill development to Waterman Broadcasting (Southwest Florida's ABC 7 and NBC 2 news station) where I delved into video work and editing rather than sticking with just still photography. It was with this company that I spent the better part of a year lugging around all sorts of equipment for shooting, editing, and broadcasting live in the field.
It was quite the shift from taking about a week to tell a firsthand story with photos and coming up with a bunch of words to tell a story, to having only a portion of a day to help reporters tell someone else's (often troubled) story using as many moving shots as I could. Thing is, that was just the regular assignments. Whenever breaking news occurred, and it broke often, we barely had enough time to set up a live shot to cover it for broadcast, though we would rehash it all within about 30-45 minutes for an update.
I have, unfortunately, parted ways with that team and am now somewhat of a freelancer. Great timing, what with COVID-19 rampaging everywhere (note the sarcasm), but I digress. I figured now was as good a time as any to start blogging about what I know and to see if I can help others dial in their skills too.
If you'd like to know more about photography in general, or perhaps have questions about my previous experiences, feel free to reach out to me (my contact info is on my bio page). In the meantime, I look forward writing and sharing more here.