when the wall street journal comes calling
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A couple of weeks ago, I was sidelined with the chickenpox. It was a difficult ten days or so because I was unable to go out and shoot my surroundings, something that I’ve grown accustomed to doing on almost a daily basis. To say I was depressed with the developments would be an understatement. That’s why I was extra excited when I got an email from a reporter from Wall Street Journal Online.
Last year during the Hurricane Rita scare in Houston, I drove around town to capture what the city looked like hours before the landfall of a major hurricane. It was desolate…as you can imagine. There were curiosity seekers here and there (most of them just like me…stuck in town because the traffic was too bad to get out), but for the most part – nothing. I took the above photo, Hurricane Rita [Boarded Up], during my drive around the Montrose neighborhood in town.
Okay, back to WSJonline. There I was…sidelined…with a contagious illness that most people get when they are nary a decade old. I was without the salve of my camera. I was bummed. Then, just like that, I received an email from a reporter at WSJonline asking to use my Hurricane Rita [Boarded Up] photo for a then upcoming interactive feature he was working on. He didn’t mention money, nor did I – ever. I knew that just the excitement of being published on such a well-known website would be enough for my doe-eyed photographic innocence. In addition, they would give me full credit, something that I consider valuable as I try to build my resume. Anyway, I gave them the big thumb’s up, and the above screen shot is of my Rita photo in “action” on WSJonline. I imagine that I won’t always be giving my photographs away, free of any compensation, but this time — this one time — I thought it was worth it.
This journal will chronicle my successes and my I’ll-chalk-this-up-as-a-learning-experience moments in my quest to become a professional photographer. I’ve been quite fortunate so far in building my resume, and I’ll surely share some of my resume “bullet points” with you as we make our way, but, more importantly, I’ll share with you the new “bullet points” as they present themselves. Fingers are crossed, but still firmly placed on the keyboard…at the ready.
