JRN 422: Job Shadow

For my job shadow I had the opportunity to work with J. Scott Park of the Jackson Citizen Patriot.  I was very excited and blessed being able to work for such a well recognized newspaper that has such a strong focus on photography.  The assignment I shadowed him on was the game of the week in the Jackson area which was Homer High School versus rival Concord High School. 

 

 It was an exciting game with many penalties and maybe even more injuries.  Homer won the contest 28-27 due to a blocked extra point and a quick touchdown tight after.  It was my first time shooting high school football and I was really excited to be able to do it.  I loved even more that it was a small town game because atmospheres like that are rare to come buy.  Everyone in the town was probably there that night and the price of admission was well worth it.  Luckily for me I got in for free.   Homer running back Chaz Hopkins stands at midfield awaiting the coin toss before Friday's game against rival Concord at Homer High School. Homer won the game 28-27. It was voted the game of the week in the Jackson area. Concord quarterback Jesse Brigham gets chased down by Homer's Chaz Hopkins Friday night in Jackson's game of the week. Homer won 28-27. Homer player Nick Hollenbaugh is tended to after taking a hard hit in the second quarter at Homer High School on Friday evening. He was taken to the hospital from the game. Homer won the game 28-27. A Homer football player is carried of the field during Friday nights football game at Homer High School. Homer won the game 28-27 in the Jackson game of the week. 

 

Jackson Citizen Patriot chief photographer J. Scott Park kneels down taking photos during the Homer versus Concord high school football game of the week in Jackson area.  He has worked at the Jackson Citizen Patriot for 15 years both as a photo editor and staff photographer.

 

My time there though short was most definitely a good experience.  Getting to be around someone who has already been through the experiences I'm about to go through and seeing that he hasn't gone crazy was a great relief.  This industry is nuts and knowing he has had a great job and at a great paper for almost 20 years showed that its possible to make it and not bounce around from job to job for my entire life hoping to land somewhere.

 

Being able to shadow a professional was great but unfortunately I wasn't around him a lot throughout the experience and with it being a Friday it was a slow day in Jackson.  So I can't say the experience changed me but I can say it got me thinking more of what I want for my future in photography.  Being there was awesome but it showed me that a photography job at a daily newspaper isn't something I personally want for my future.  I see it as maybe a starting off point and a place to help me grow and learn and help achieve my future goals. 

 

 As stated earlier the injuries in that game was the real story and the one above was the worst of them all.  The silence and emotions around was something no classroom can teach you about it's something you have to go out and experience while on the job.  Actually seeing that ambulance and cart come out was pretty intense.  I kept thinking "this kid might never walk again, and I saw it happen!" But thankfully I found out later that he was going to be okay.

I know with me, maybe not others, it's learn by doing and watching.  I am not a technical person or an audio learner I prefer to watch someone do it or just do it myself.  While on the job shadow that's exactly what I did.  I watched Scott take his photos and saw later how they turned out and by doing this I learned the specific angles he was at to get the shots I liked and lenses he had to do it with.  I'm not saying if someone told me how I wouldn't know how, I'm just saying I like to watch others do it.

 

So my time in Jackson was a memorable one, what I took away most from it was knowing its really important to do as much as you can before you settle down as a full time phoJo.  Internships, job shadows, photo stories, do it all and then do some more.  There's always more to learn and more ways to get better.