Day 9 (Fri., Sept. 9)

No photos today. That's because today I played the role of "light man".

First, I headed out w/ Judy Reich to an assignment across the street from the newspaper. We were shooting a portrait of a really cool musical theater guy. We ended up on the 12th floor of a luxurious apartment building. Man, the view he had was amazing. You can see the water way that boats take to get out to the ocean. You can see the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Such a beautiful sight. I was able to learn a little more about lighting from Judy. She worked hard and I helped w/ lighting the shoot. Once we were back in the office I was able to see what difference throwing some lighting onto a portrait does.

There was some good off time between that assignment and my next, so I did some research online. I am trying to come up w/ a good photo story to follow for a few weeks here.

The day ended w/ a trip to Hollywood, Florida. Yes, that's right: Hollywood. Not sure who's trying to copy who, but Hollywood, Florida? Hmmm. No walk of fame here, however. But a beautiful sunset on the beach made it hard to say which Hollywood is better.

I served as "light man" to Michael Laughlin during a business assignment at a local restaurant. The Greek restaurant was very loud as it had a cool DJ playing some good dance music. People were dancing on the tables. Dishes were being broken and paper napkins flew through the sky. This is a cool restaurant. I know I want to go there when not on assignment. I will show you photos then. Today I was focused on learning and not shooting.

Hanging out w/ Michael was cool. I had heard about him before coming here. He was the topic of some talk among students and professionals regarding covering assignments in places where there is social and political conflict. Michael was shot by a sniper gunman while covering conflicts in Haiti not too long ago. His story shows you how tough it is to go and shoot photos of history while being in the middle of all kinds of danger. It was good to work w/ him today. His story inspires me to go and make the world a better place by documenting history. Even if you have to do it under dangerous situations. But please, do me a favor, if you are reading this, don't tell my parents I am willing to cover history this way, they don't need to worry. It's a career choice. Some people become cops and firefighters. Others fly planes. I want to shoot history. Danger is relative.

I've been hanging out a Borders bookstore a lot lately. It's a cool place where I can do some research, I can work on the web site and respond to emails on my laptop. All while enjoying a sip of tea from the coffee/tea bar. As I finished the day at Borders I feel as this week was very productive. I got to meet some really cool people. These photographers do the type of job that I want to do some day. They have the courage of warriors and the wits necessary to get the job done. Hanging out w/ my professor, my bosses, my new co-workers was cool. Not a bad way to start the internship. Next week I do some orientation and system training as I get close to the day when I will go out and do the job on my own. I can't wait. But in the meantime, I am making the most of my learning opportunities.

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