For a Salute Yet to Come
Well, I’m officially a photojournalist. Not a paid one, but I guess that doesn’t matter so much. I’m in it for the experience, and a photo credit or two wouldn’t be a bad thing.
My father-in-law is a reporter with a couple of papers in the area, and I asked about opportunities to cover some things if they were looking for a cheap/free photographer with questionable-but-improving skills. He said he ask around, and a couple of jobs came up, but they were mid-week gigs and I just couldn’t break away from work to do them.
Fortunately, some weekend events popped up and I jumped at the chance to work on them. The first of these was a Memorial Day event honoring veterans at a little cemetery. The ceremony was touching. There were lots of opportunities for people shots, with some set-pieces to consider around the periphery, and the pageantry you’d expect from such a thing – presentation of colors, Taps, Two Bells, 3-musket salutes. I got a few human interest things, including conversation shots of two vets in their 80s who fought in the same Pacific island battles and now lived near each other but, until that day, had never met. That will turn into the lead for the feature story.
I can’t say I produced my best work, but I was new to the milieu. I ran around with two bodies – 5D and the old 30D – and tried to get everything I could without being in the way. I forget sometimes how big an obstacle I can be until I’m really blocking things up. The organizers appreciated my being there, and so far the newspaper editor seems happy.
I’ll post an update after publication.
