After A Brief Hiatus

After a brief hiatus I have returned. I don't know if I'm much wiser than when I left, but at least I can say I'm back. Things with work just caught up to me, and I didn't have time to get batteries for the camera, so my adventures went un-blogged.

It's a shame really. I do enjoy doing this. I don't know if anyone out there is reading, but at least it's something I can look at and see what I was doing and thinking on a particular day. It may not get as many reads as other Photog Blogs out there, Viewfinder BLUES being one, but I can't say I'm doing it for the reads. If you read it, I'm proud. If not, no biggie.

So let's start off talking about my adventure today. I had a 10:30am with the Mayor following him around as he helped Meals On Wheels deliver food to those who can't cook it for themselves. We went to a residency inn for the elderly. It was good publicity for him, and it was nice to see the look on the peoples faces. I think they were expecting their regular "joe" to arrive with the food, only to see the Mayor with meal-in-hand on their front stoop. We were the only media to cover it, and I think that it's a good thing.

After that had about an hour to kill so my reporter and I sat down to a nice subway lunch. It's not too often one actually gets to sit down like a normal person and grab a bite to eat, so we took advantage of the situation. It was enjoyable. I found myself staring at the walls of subway reading the maps of the tunnels on the wall. At one point my colleague caught me staring and asked what was wrong. Sometimes I get this look on my face like I'm deep in thought. I was to be honest. I was dreaming of NYC. How I'd like to visit there sometime. Perhaps that will be a vacation I shall take someday.

Then it was off to a Middle School that was awarded one of the ten best schools in the state. The kids actually seemed to care at the little pep rally that was held. I figured I'd see kids sleeping, bored, or just talking amongst themselves, but they actually seemed to give a darn. I can't say I would have done the same back in my middle school days. I guess that's what made these kids so special. That's why they were being rewarded. Either that, or they just really wanted out of class. I'm going with the former rather than latter.

Monday, March 13th

This post is a little late. I've been caught up with some things at work which prevented me posting it sooner. I appologize for the delay.

Monday was a pretty busy day. You could say it was a not a typical monday, but in my line of work I don't believe anything day is typical.

Started off like a normal day. Assignments are laid out on my desk, and then we get to work. My first was a 12:00 luncheon for a local service club. Around 11:10 the assignment editor told my reporter and I that we should head to a tractor trailer accident on U.S. 30. It was rather windy, and we both just figured the trailer rolled over because of the wind.

Apprently the wind picked up the back of the empty trailer and lifted it off the highway, so when the driver went to correct sent her off the side of the road. Unfortunately police say she didn't have her seat belt fastened, and was ejected from the cab.

When we got there they already had the white sheet up and were asking us not to take photos until the body was removed. Not a big deal. The media outlets just set up shop on the side of the road and chatted until the scene was clear.

Apprently the deputy handling the scene thought we were disappointed at thier request not to shoot til things were clear. He couldn't be more wrong. What amazes me is how he thinks the press just wants the bad pictures, the bloody images. I'm sure there are people out there who want to see this, however having worked in the field for some time you kind of get tired of it. I don't know, maybe I'm just a guy who has a heart.

On the way back decided to stop for a slushie at a local dairy stand. It was a nice day for March, with temps in the mid-60s. Lucky for me the person who prepared it didn't attach the lid properly, and without my notice my first attempt to take a drink the car resulted in failure. the lid popped off and spilled most of the ice down the front of my station windbreaker. The circles - thats the damage. As you can tell this is already becoming one of the worst days of the week, and the week is just starting.

My next assignment is at 2:00pm. It's an interview with the Sheriff. Everything was going smoothly until I went to hit record and my tape wasn't rolling. I ejected the carriage, and tried to remove the dvc-pro doomsday device with no avail. So luckily we had another crew just upstairs in the courthouse who came down to shoot the interview. I had to take the camera to the engineers who solved the problem so quickly I felt silly.

I guess you'll have days like this, I just hope I don't get too many of them in a week.

Friday, Saturday, And The Death of a Weekend

I was going to post on friday night, but had to work a double shift shooting some High School Boys Tournament basketball. I can't complain. It was actually a good game. I didn't think the final would be so lopsided, and actually thought the opposite team would win. Guess that's a surprise for all.

When you go and shoot a game at the particular arena I was at, you don't have much room. So they decided for the top-side shooter they would build a crows nest, which is basicly an area that is attached to the wall at the very top of the nose-bleed section. The one I was at apparently didn't like the wall idea, and decided to suspend it from the ceiling using 4 metal rods and four corner supports. So I was suspended about 8 feet above the very highest row in a box made out of plywood. I felt quite safe, to say the least.

On Saturday our city's annual Irish Day Parade kicked off at 11:30am. I'm usually not one to go to parades, but our staff was very limited, and I felt like I could at least go and get some neat shots, or just wave to people. I ended up handing out candy to the town's youth, then after we ran out of gum about 3/4 through the route, just did my presidential wave impression to the crowd. I even got the weather guy snap off a picture for the blog.

Didn't really do much after the parade. I am currently trying to rest up for the upcoming work week, but I know that I'll still feel tired and worn out no matter how much rest I get.

I think it comes with the job. I know a lot of other photogs that seem like their life is a complete rush. I used to get enjoyment from the rush, and even though I get tired, it does keep me busy. I like the spontaneity of the job.

However when I was talking about driving to Mansfield a earlier this week, I realized something I really hadn't thought of. So allow me to wax philosophic right now, and explain some ideas.

I was running late getting out of the game, and had to rush back an 1 hour 20 min. drive to get the video on the air, and that was with only about a 10 minute margin of error. I realized all the times I had been in the situation before. How I'm usually the one the people can count on in these situations. And all the times I've spent rushing to get to a deadline and wishing time would speed up or slow down I was basicly wasting my life.

I'll never get those 40 minutes of that car ride back where all I did was stare at the tailights in front of me. The time I spent rushing is time I'll never get back. However it's my job, and I can't just mess around when deadlines and assignments are like clockwork.

I'm sure many other photogs have felt the same way. It's just the way it is, so enjoy life when working, because you'll never get those hours back.

Horses And Some Personal Hygiene

Today started off like any other Thursday - me fighting myself to get out of bed on only 2.5 hours of sleep. Since I had band practice the night before, it makes it a lot harder to get into the swing of things the next day.

After arriving at work I noticed the coffee mug I had taken from the break room cabinet had some writing on it.

"I'm appreciated."

This made me smile, so I took a picture of it. If you've read the previous post about yesterday you'd know why. It's just a silly little thing about praise, then I draw this mug. Irony?!?!?

It was time for my first assignment of the day. Time to head to a small Ohio farm town and talk with a husband and wife who just returned from a five-year term as missonaries in Brazil. The husband is an aircraft mechanic and he helps a local flying agency by fixing their planes. The agency then in turn uses those planes to deliver medical supplies to the vast reaching villages throughout Brazil. An interesting story indeed. And the video turned out to me more available than I initially thought it would be.

While driving around this small town after our story my reporter noticed a statue of a horse outside a gas station. Quite the interesting little thing. I decided I would try and talk to him, however the horse was speechless. I guess he didn't have much to say.




After work I decided to repay my "Super Bowl Debt" to my reporter and go get the manicure I promised if the Seattle Seahawks didn't win the game. Felt kind of outnumbered as I was not only the only guy there, but apparently the only guy they've had come in for a manicure in a long time. My nails do seem much more comfortable now, and it's quite relaxing. Wasn't too expensive either, since it was covered by our monthly allowance.

My reporter wants me to get a pedicure next, we'll have to see what time and the future holds.

Engineers, Spoons, & Happy Daz

Now That I've got your attention with the title of this post, let's get started. I didn't have my digital camera with me today, so I had to use some "stock" internet images. I'll try to carry it with me tomorrow.

I bet you're wondering what it is exactly that those three things have in common, and why I spelled days with a "z".

Started off my day with an Engineering Seminar to help celebrate National Engineers' Week a little late I guess. High School and College kids from the area were brought in to learn more about the different types of engineering they could do. From Civil, Mechanical, Auto, and more these kids were having fun. Each "Workstation" had a different hands on activity for them to take part in. Whether it be building an electric race car, to construction of a mini-bridge and testing it's weight limitations. It was good to see kids having a good time with something so "Technical". Hopefully there were a few junior engineers in my presence this morning.

After the morning assignment, went back to the shop to edit some basic VOs and VO/SOTs. For those of you that don't know, Vo=Voice Over. That is when you are watching the news and the Anchor reads over a piece of video, whether it be a car accident or church service. A SOT=Sound On Tape. That is business jargon for an interview. So when you see video with the anchor reading then a talking head appears on screen and you hear that person, you are watching a VO/SOT. Both VOs and SOTs can exist without the other, you don't need a SOT to have a VO, or vice versa. However to have a VO/SOT you need both.I don't know why I spent all this time explaining these things, but hopefully you have learned something from this. Consider it your insider tip for the day.

After doing some editing, I had to grab a reporter and head on over to a local nursing home. One of it's patients had his 94th birthday today. It didn't seem special to me at first, until I realized his special talent.




Spoons!

This guy was a had been playing the spoons for ages. He had even gained the popular nickname Mr. Spoons around the city.

All the nursing home staff had to do was turn on the Dementia Unit's Radio to big band and off he was. I had never seen a person play the spoons in person, and it was quite amazing to see.

Our interview with him didn't turn out too hot. He was hard to understand and only gave out one word answers that sometimes didn't even make any sense. But at the end, as we were going to leave, he shook our hands and said two words: "Thank You".

In this line of work it's not too often you get praised with those two words, or often praised at all. It seemed like we made his day by being there and just helping him celebrate his birthday, and we probably did. Hopefully it was one he will never forget.

After that assignment my reporter and I stopped by a local burger joint called "Happy Daz" to grab some Three O'Clock lunch. It's a great place to stop and grab some grub, so if you're ever in my part of the country, I recommend it.

I nearly forgot to mention. I had something else happen to me at the nursing home that usually doesn't happen.

I was shooting a wide shot of the table with the cake on it and and old lady flicked me the bird. Luckily my reaction time was quick, and we weren't live.

Maybe it was just her way of saying "Thank You!"

Terrific Tuesday

Today was like any other day. Started off at the same time, ended about the same time. It's amazing how it feels like the work week should be halfway over, when in reality tomorrow is only hump day.

Started off by going to a police training session at the police department. They used a laser gun and really big video screen to play scenarios for the officers to run through. It was really dark so they could easily see the screen, and even though my Gain was on Full and Iris completely open, the video still turned out dark. I would gotten some good photos had this not been the case. We boosted the video back at the station, and all is well.

Next was a 2:30 Awards Press Conference. (The Picture Above). Eight local winners of the Jefferson Awards were announced. It's an award for outstanding volunteer effort to enhance the community. I was pleased with the list. Most of these people put in a lot of time and effort to help better our area, and it's great that they are recognized

Next it was time to put in some extra hours. It's Girl's High School Basketball tournament time, and with game being played at nuetral sites, that means some travel is involved. For the most part it's not too bad, but one of the few girls teams we had left was playing tonight in Ontario, Ohio...just outside of Mansfield.

That's what was thought to be a two hour drive for us. No one on nightside was available to shoot it, since most of them have to be back by the beginning of the newscast for prep work. Working days I realized this would be my chance to help out the sports department, and get away for a little bit. So I volunteered. I had just planned on making it back for the 11, not the 10, but somehow after getting lost on the way there I managed to get my highlites and get out, just making it back at 10:01. Put a few plays down on tape, wrote up a quick shot sheet, and Presto! They made the 10 and 11. Sometimes it's worth the extra effort I think to show people you do care. Maybe sports can scratch my back sometime in the near future, who knows.

On a sad note the local team lost 38-36 on two foul shots late in the game. Congrats to them on a fine season and tournament run. I have a feeling they'll be back there again this time next year.

Well that's all for now. Until Next Time, So Long!

Monday, Monday

Today was a busy day. We started off with a visit from a state school official to Lima. After that It was back to the usual. Talked to some health officials about childhood obesity and diabetes. Same ole, same ole, kids need to eat better.

That's kind of a reoccuring trend with today's youth. But I think the problem reaches farther than that. I think that the problem is also with adults.

We now live a completely different lifestyle than we did 30 years ago. Now there is less physical activity now compared to then. I might be speaking for myself, but I my physical activity level is not where I would like it to be. I get too caught up in work and other things. It's my fault completely, I'm not trying to pass blame.

Today there was also a bomb threat at a nearby school. Luckily it was near the end of the school day so most the kids just went home. Still no word on whether or not they found anything. Oh well, Tune In Tonight at 10.