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.