Funny how a beautiful day makes you appreciate the small things. Like never regretting a dramatic green wall.

Or that flowers are even better through a macro filter.

Or a belief that everyone should enjoy the flora.

Or that we should enjoy ourselves regardless of weather.

Also check out what I did with The Capital last week… photo story of 2nd annual Homeless Resource Day in Annapolis. The slideshow is here. I hope to be working more frequently with them in the near future, but everything is super-busy.

Also, I got an e-mail from a videographer I met in Photoshop last semester saying he needed a photographer for a wedding in May. I responded, hopefully not too enthusiastically, and we’ll soon find if the bride accepts.

BAD: My hours at the castle keep getting cut, which is interesting considering my manager will be out of town for at least part of the next several weeks and Im supposed to pick up her shifts… and still stay under the 37-hour threshold that will earn me health insurance. The Capital has no assignments for me lately, but it has nothing to do with me… winter is just a dry spell for people who basically live off of public events.

My parents are retiring in May and hopefully (for them) moving by December so I’ll need my own health insurance, car insurance, and phone soon enough. Considering I barely cover rent/food as it is, I’m having a minor(major) freak out.

HOPEFUL: I’ve updated my portfolio, put a public profile on Monster and LinkedIn, and an ad on the Resume/Job Wanted portion of Craigslist (that I’ve already lost the URL to). Sarah sent my resume to the recuiter who found her current job and to her manager, who is also a recruiter. I just need something reliable to earn me insurance while I freelance my way to what I need for personal fulfillment.

Free food aside, the panel was actually amazingly insightful. Those panelists didn’t give me enough time between revelations to get bored or to take stunning photos. The nerd in me even appreciated anecdotes from the video game producers and web developers of whose positions I understand little to nothing.

Most importantly, I learned that I have not screwed up my life yet. I learned that my existing degrees can only help me (a fact that seems obvious but I really do doubt it sometimes), my instinct to get out and shoot is completely correct, and that my internship will help me more than I know. I learned that all experience is good experience, and that the five years I spent at Medieval Times saying “taller in the back, shorter in the front, squeeze in real close…” like a robot has only helped me. Every time I get bored and try to take a stunning photograph of dirty dishes has only helped me. Every time I talked a guest out of calling customer service has only helped me.

I will say though, that the only panelist who mentioned income was Josh, and I’m very curious to know if these other artistic venues are extremely lucrative… Everyone mentioned that specialization was key, but how you need to be able to do everything, which really calls my attention (and fear) to how newspapers (and thus, photojournalism) are dying, thus lowering the possibility of me ever being able to do what I want and have a roof over my head. While game development and web design are exploding into the limelight, photojournalism is slowly fading away. Of course no one wanted to talk about that in an uplifting, you-can-do-this career panel.

Although, as most of the panelists mentioned, continuing education is highly important (which is what I’m already doing, right?). I just fear that for us journalists, our education is going to be learning how to juggle a video camera, still camera, notepad, and probably some other things that haven’t been invented yet at the same time and then editing it all into a story that is ready for web and press in just 60 seconds. Or something ridiculous like that. But at least I know I’m on the right path for that, or whatever it is that awaits me in photojournalism.

I just feel like… it took me so long to figure out what I want to do with my life, and then start to do it and realize yes, I was right, that the last thing I need is for my career field to disappear.

Don’t get me wrong, the career panel was highly motivating, very awesome, and thought provoking. Its just that the thoughts went in a more negative direction after the lights were turned off and assignments were turned in.

But I have this internship. One Sunday at a time.

Seriously though, the conflict with school is huge. I’m taking an internship (for credit) this semester with The Capital in Annapolis. this is amazingly cool on many levels: 1) I will seriously work as a photojournalist for a local paper 2) I prefer small/local papers to larger ones 3) Their office is close to school and the travel from there won’t be much 4) My brother used to work for The Capital, not that it actually matters, but will be a fun fact if we are ever super-famous.

Now its off to pay the bills, hit the elliptical, finish written homework, fix lunch, and prepare for SEVEN straight hours of class. Am I a real adult, a young adult, a working professional, a student, all, or none of the above?

Anything new? I have a promotion around the corner from The Picture People, probably right around the time spring semester ends. In June I photograph two weddings, and in July Matt and I will hit our three years. So things are looking up, it seems. I may have graduated from Susquehanna a year ago and still be struggling, but very shortly, my hard work/dedication (but not my education/degrees) will have paid off.

I’ve updated my portfolio here, and you can see the ridiculousness I created for my online class here, here, and here.

But back to classes. Photo II focuses on color correction on the enlarger and playing with color filters on the camera and the enlarger rather than Photo I where we pretty much just explored depth of field and contrast with different techniques. Lighting seems like its going to a free-for-all where Kneessi sets up lights, explains what the lights are doing today, and then the class forces someone to model and paparazzi-ies them to death. We’re allowed to shot film or digital for either class, but I figure I’ll learn more shooting film, especially since I only bought the required filters for my 50mm lens. I’ll be forcing myself to do a lot more work for the same effects, and that should making shooting digital even more of a breeze when I go back to journalism-y things.

I’m also taking the online version of Media Materials and Processes in which we do three presentations: one each with PowerPoint, iMovie, and Flash. My hidden agenda is that next semester I’ll be able to take QuarkXpress, thus making it one step further toward industry-standard journalism skills.

Let me try and expand on my last entry, which was entirely too long ago. Working 2.5 jobs (Picture People, Medieval Times, violin teacher) on top of taking 12 credits (Photoshop, Photography, Color, Journalism) is a tad bit beyond hectic, mainly because I spend so much time in my car trying to get from place to place. Nothing I do is stressful persey, and for the most part I’m paid to sit around do what I love. Things will theoretically calm down next semester, when I’m down to 1.5 jobs and living a tad closer to work & school.

Sarah and I are (one again, theoretically) moving into a house by the end of the month. The place just needs a good coat of paint and internet access before becoming perfectly cosy. We have lofty decorating plans including making our own curtains, stripping the carpet, and refinishing the basement, but what else are boyfriends (in addition to being handy ourselves) for? Please believe there will be bountiful before/after photos of our work once we get to it.

As for updates around the domain(s) here, I know that they’ve been few and far between. What with the working, the schooling, and the trying to (and for the most part succeeding in) maintain a social life, this is the first time I’ve been able to sit down with the internet outside of Photoshop class. All is neither lost nor forgotten. There will be more.