BETACAM!?

If you have been keeping up with my post, you may have read that I got to look into the viewfinder of a BETACAM at the age of 6 or 7. Now, I got to actually operate on at the age of 17...on my own.

When I went into "the bureau"/Greg's apartment for the tour, he explained to me how he scheduled his day and how he got stories, etc... However, Greg was such a sport....he answered all the questions I had.

Let me pause for a moment and explain to you that I am a news junkie. I was and am fascinated with television news. It was fate that led me to Greg because he was also a televsion news junkie. We instantly clicked and bonded because we could talk for hours about tv news. We were able to discuss issues we could not discuss with someone else for fear of being labeled "weird" "dork", "stupid" "crazy"... we discussed things like tv news logos, theme music, favorite anchors.... I guess that is why he trusted me to handle expensive station equipment when I did not actually work for the station.

Anyway, as Greg showed me "the studio" in his apartment....I asked about what they shot on... He pulled out the camera. I was so excited to see it. It was a Sony DXC 437 docked to a BVV-5. He said, "Well, do you want to hold it?" I was even more excited to put the camera on my shoulder. Greg then told me about his assignment for the next day. It was in a small town about 30 minutes away at the county court house. I don't remember the details of that particular story, but I do remember that I was so excited the night before that once again, I could barely sleep. In fact, I did not even go to school. I skipped and went with Greg on this story.

Greg trained me on the basics....white balance, setting focus, framing shots and interviews, etc... He was very patient with me. I was in high school and shooting news which was something I always wanted to do. After going out with Greg on many stories, shooting these stories by myself....I was getting antsy about reaching my next goal: Executing a live shot.

To be continued........

Thanks for stopping by....I know that I am no "Lenslinger" when it comes to story telling and grammar. However, I enjoy telling my story of the journey through photojournalism. In case your wondering, I did make it to a fairly large market. But, I will get to that soon....

The Continuation

First, I want to apologize again for not posting sooner. I have to say that this is my busiest time of year.

Well, to continue with the story....Now where was I? Oh yeah! Mr. Loyd was giving me his answer about whether or not I could come and work with him. Mind you, I am only 17 years old. Greg Loyd said, "Sure, It would be great to have some help." Wow, I could not believe it. In fact, I could not sleep the night before I was to meet Greg and go out with him on a story.

I got out of school at noon and went to find the Newscenter 10 Valdosta Bureau. It took me forever to find it. I looked and looked. I thought I had the right address. I kept looking for a small strip mall with a glass door that had "Newscenter 10" on it, however I could not find it. I even began looking for building along the road that had some type of microwave tower. NOTHING. So, I called Greg. He laughed and told me to look for apartments. I found the apartments which were some how the somehow the same address that I had for the bureau. I pulled in an saw him standing on the second floor in front of an apartment door. I thought, "this can't be the bureau, maybe he is going to take me to it." I saw the "Newscenter 10" jeep parked there as well. I got out and met Greg. We went throught the formalities of a fist time introduction and he invited me in. Believe it or not, this was the bureau. He had a two bedroom apartment. One was his and the other was "the studio". We have had some great laughs about that ever since. "The studio" consisted of a folding table with a beta machine and a 3/4 inch machine, and edit controller and a sound mixer. He was also hooked into the newsroom computer system. Essentially, he would get his assignments from the main studio 90 miles away, go out and have to be back by 10:30 to write and edit his package and VO SOTs by 12:30pm. Not to beamed back by microwave, but to be couriered back! WHHEEWW! It was sometimes tough because he had 6 counties to cover by his self!

I promise I will post again soon! I will write about my first story that I ever went out on.

Thanks for stopping by, reading and posting comments! I enjoy your feedback.

My First Real TV Job

Well, I call it my first real tv job. It was my senior year in high school; my parents moved to a town called Valdosta, GA. The tv bug bite was still itching pretty bad. In fact, so bad that I somehow got brochures sent to me from Frontline Commuications about their live trucks and one, as well, from BAF which is another manufacturere of live trucks. I would look at them all the time. How weird is that?

Since it was all I could think about, I was determined to somehow become part of the tv news business. I figured that I would call around and see if they would take a high school intern. If I only knew then what I know now, I would have never made the call. However, the sucky part was that little ole Valdosta did not really have a tv station. BUT, two tv stations from different markets had bureaus in Valdosta so I grabbed a phone book and made calls. The first one I called was WCTV 6 which was based out of Talahasse, FL. The guy, Brian Shumans, said he would have to get back to me because he did not know station policy. I took that as a "get lost kid, I'm in tv and don't have time for you!" So I called the other tv station. It was WALB TV 10 based out of Albany, GA. I called the number listed in the phone book. The gentleman answered, "Newscenter 10 Valdosta Bureau." His name was Greg Loyd. He was the sole reporter based in Valdosta. I gave him my proposal of wanting to come and work with him learning to be a photog. Boy was I surprised at his answer.

To be continued.........

I Hate Bloggers Who Don't Post For A While

That includes me. I apologize for not posting lately. I know all three of you who read my blog have probably been upset and let down. Please forgive me. Since I am no longer in "the biz", I am very busy these days. I now work for a large non-profit that is a first responder when there is a disaster. (NOT the Red Cross!) So, as you can imagine, I have been very busy coordinating disaster work along with overseeing my regular employees. Let me just say that I am very pleased with the organization that I work with. We have put in MANY hours and have kept a good attitude, an attitude of compassion, that has allowed us to reach many people who are displaced physically and emotionally.

Now I am not gonna post without saying something about the media. I live in a very large market, DALLAS/FT. WORTH. I have to say; the photogs, for the most part seem pretty friendly. There were times when I was somewhere where there were live trucks and photogs and I had a bout of withdrawal. I wanted to be back apart of the media and covering a story. So, when I approached a photog and told them I used to be a fello photog, they did not brush me off and make me feel stupid, and I appreciated it. Thanks photogs in DFW! So, if a person comes up to you one day in the field and tells you that he is an "extvtog", please humor him and make him feel welcome.

I promise, I will get back to regular posting as soon as this disaster recovery wraps up in the DFW Metroplex area.

Middle Shool and High School...You Guessed....TV NEWS

Fast forward to middle school years. The tvnews bug's bite is still having an affect on me. When in middle school, I had to go to some event where 13 WMAZ TV was the sponsor. I believe it was a can drive for charity. The location I was at ended up being a live shot location at a grocery store.
Wow, was I amazed when the live truck showed up with the reporter and photographer. I, again, watched in awe and amazement as the photog set up the truck; rolling cables and tuning in his shot. I believe the reporter's name was Jennifer Hazelton, in fact. They did numerous cut-ins during the morning news show. Little did I know that years in the future from that day, that I would be doing the same exact thing in a much bigger market that Macon, GA.
After the cut-ins, I became a hero to Jennifer and her photog. When they were packing up the gear. The photog grabbed a grocery cart from the grocery store that he could put all his gear in and take it to the live truck. Of course I followed him out to the truck. He parked the cart to unlock the truck all the while busy flirting with the reporter. Well, the grocery cart took off across the parking lot loaded with a Betacam w/ wide angle adapter, tv monitor, mic, wireless ifb, cables, etc..... I risked my young 13 year old life to run out in the parking lot and stopped it just before it plowed into a concrete light base. I wheeled it back up as the photog thanked me for saving his &$$. I left that day feeling like I had done ad incredibly good deed. Sadly it I did not have this feeling of "good deedness" for working at a can drive for charity, but for saving a photogs gear...... and job.


Don't forget to stop back by because I have many more stories and I haven't even gotten to my days actually spent in the "biz" I believe I could write a book just on that! May I also encourage you other photogs to keep posting about your news adventures. I really enjoy reading them.

People who have influenced me.....

After my intial encounter with Karen Eisle (refer to one post down) It was quite some time before I would have another influential encounter. What continued this weird escalation toward an obsession with televsion news, especially my obsession with becoming a cameraman for news (what I would come to learn that it was photojournalist)? By 7,8,9 years old, as I look back, I would find myself doing strange things that no other kid would do (at least, not in my neighborhood). I would run to the televsion set at the first hint of the news open, not for the news of course, but for the enamor of the moment. I was fascinated with the news open and the camera angles and the "live" branding that was used in the early 80's. I was so enamored that I made my own microphone with a home made mic flag and a camera out of a small cardboard box and toilet paper tube and would run around the house trying to create my own news. I got into trouble once, because I cut a card board box open and taped it to my brothers telescope so I could have a camera with a "real lens" and viewfinder. AND it had a tripod! I thought that I was in business! Needless to say all of these strange behavioral patterns are leading up to my next career confirming moment with my local tv stations. (As Lenslinger once said "poor bastard)

My "first hit" of tv news that got me addicted!

I was inspired to write this after visiting BetaSP Boy's blog. Sadly, I can identify with him. This is my story:
I went with my parents to a special event being held at our local mall. The mall was so small that you could see the whole mall from any where you stood. The special event was held at the mall water fountain, the local news came to cover it. The local stations there were WMAZ-TV 13, WMGT-TV 41 and WGXA-TV 24. I really don't remember the names of the people from the t.v. stations except for the person who carved out the trail that I would take in my career path, Karen Eisle from WMAZ ch. 13. She was OMBing the story. She lugged that betacam around like a pro and I followed her like an apprentice watching his master. Please know that I was 6 years old at the time. I watched her set up her camera after getting some VO to shoot a tease for the six o'clock news. She positioned the camera and went and positioned herself in front of it; then she did her "3, 2, 1 . . . I'm Karen Eisle, Coming up next......" She got up, went to the camera and rewinded to watch and make sure that everything was correct. She must have noticed me standing there fascinated and in awe, so she did something that most reporters would not do especially to a kid following them around. What she did had a profound affect on my life. It gave me purpose and focus, clarity as to what I must do in life. Karen smiled at me and motioned me over to the camera. She said, "Go ahead,... look." as she pointed to the viewfinder. I stuck my boyish eye in front of that large betacam viewfinder cup as she pushed the play button. I was amazed at the tv magic she had created. From 6 years old, I was hooked!
This event would not be my first encounter as a child with a "news crew" that would influence my life's path although it may have been the most profound. Although you may not believe it, they are true and maybe a little embarrassing

What My Blog will be about

Although I am no longer in the news business, I am still fascinated by it. I was inspired to create this blog because of those photogs who write about their day. I love reading about what they were sent out to cover and what they felt about it. Lenslinger's blog has been the most inspiring.

I hope to blog about the news as I see it from differernt parts of the country. I try to stay current with what is going on in my old news markets as well as those thay I am interested in.

Hopefully my next entry will be about something more specific.

First Blog

Well, here is my first post! I don't know what I maybe talking about day to day, however I will try to make it interesting.