Today we're gonna go on a journey to one of my favorite jobs I've ever had!
This was August, 28 2018 in downtown Knoxville at the Knox Asian Festival. I was working as a photojournalist for the online newspaper KnoxTN Today. This was my first gig!
I was scared... I was beyond excited! Photojournalism had been my favorite photo class is college and now someone was actually going to pay me to do it!
I think what thrilled me so much about photojournalism is that it pushed me out of my comfort zone. Not only do you need to be one hell of a photographer, but you've gotta be a people person too! Don't get me wrong, all photographers need to have a great personality to make their subjects feel comfortable. But a photojournalist has to approach dozens, maybe hundreds of strangers a day and ask them for a photo, for their name, or maybe a quote for the article. It's a big job to put on someone's shoulders who's fresh out of college. But I was ready!
First of all, photos used in the news need to be accurate, which means there is very little editing allowed to be done on them. So the person taking the picture better get it right. They don't have the idea of fixing any mistakes later in post to fall back on.
Secondly, you have to get the name of almost every person you photograph. You can do some group shots, but as they say the devil is in the details. You need those one on one shots and those quotes to add to your story. You need to walk out in the middle of the crowd while the person is giving the speech or be in the front of the picket line during the protest.
So you're taking pictures and trying to get your settings right. You're jotting down names and trying to get everybody's name right your tiny notebook you keep in your pocket. It's one big cluster of madness! And I honestly loved every minute of it :)
You can view all the photos and the article on KnoxTNToday's website below!
http://www.knoxtntoday.com/16365-2/