J537 Post 1- Biography

My whole life I've been quiet. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just that I never know just how to put into words what I think and feel. Even on the odd chance that I can accurately say what I mean to say, I'm spoken over or too soft spoken. However, growing up as a shy and quiet kid in Charleston, SC has made me the photographer that I am today. I'm a great observer of situations and a very resourceful person as well.
This past summer, I completed a photography internship at the Post and Courier in Charleston, SC. I was very excited to intern at such a well established paper that my family had grown up reading. This experience really solidified that my choice to pursue photojournalism was the right thing for me. The paper was one photographer understaffed, so after my first week of riding along with the staff photographers, I was pretty much on my own for solo assignments. It was a great learning experience to get out in the field and get sweaty, dirty, lost, seasick, and rained on again and again. I learned a lot from the staff at the paper- from shooting, workflow and editing tips, to the value of keeping everything in the trunk of your car that you might possibly need. The work was hard, but it was very fulfilling to be able to see my photos on the front page of a real newspaper and to know that I was capable of doing the job that I hope to pursue after college.
I use a Canon Rebel XSi. This is my first SLR and it's been a pretty reliable camera to learn to shoot manually on. My dream camera though is the Canon 5D, which I was lucky enough to use a few times during my summer internship. I've mostly used Photoshop to edit my pictures, but I've recently been working with Gimp (a free photo editing software very similar to Photoshop that was designed originally for Linux).
Where will I be after this year? It's really up in the air. It's a sobering fact to think that this time next year I'll be on a mad hunt for a real world job. I'd love to work for a daily paper similar to the Post and Courier doing photography and videography.