From a class to a family ... intro2pj a class like no other

It's hard for me to sit here and think what did I learn in photojournalism? What do I wish I learned?  How was it challenging? The reasons for all of these are because I feel as though I am still digesting everything that I took in while taking this class.

Photojournalism is a class that I expected to be tough, I knew there was a lot to learn regarding photojournalism. It's the things that I didn't expect that I found to be the things that stuck with me the most, the small simple things like take reference shots, take down names and make sure you'll remember who they are, minor editing, take less shots; quality over quantity.

Crop tight, I think this is something that no matter what I will hear in the back of my mind. I feel as though I look at my own photos in more detail now. I always check to make sure the subject is in focus, that I haven't cropped anything important or relevant out of my image. The other thing is captioning these images after editing, I realize that a good caption can make an image even better because then the story becomes clearer.

Blog, blog, blog ... I think I hear this in my sleep and as a person who absolutely dislikes blogging this is going to be the biggest challenge for me. Keeping up with a blog, deciding what direction I want my blog to go in. Do I want to stay on a sports path, I mean I am the sports editor for the Outlook. Do I want to just have a photography blog because I enjoy photographing more than just sports? I understand that blogging is vital and will get your name out there, it will also get your images out there along with how you write, but to sit and blog about things just seems so not my style. After taking photojournalism I believe this is and will be my biggest challenge.

I do wish I learned more about sports photography. I believe that I am my own worst critic and sports are my strength so that is something I have always wanted to stand out in. I know my pictures are good, I just believe they can get better in time. I feel as though we touched on sports and I was the one people kind of relied on for that help and I don't want to say I let them down, but in the same instance I don't feel as though I helped them as much as I should be able to. 

In the end I believe as a class, a newspaper staff and as a family we grew together. I believe that we all used each others strengths to help compensate for our own weakness. In the end we all knew who to go to to ask for help in certain areas. There was someone for everything and that is what I took away from this class, the relationships with everyone else. I know if I need help there is someone in that group I can ask whether it was writing, editing or photo related someone is always going to be stronger than me. I also feel as though I found my place in that group and I feel that because of that group I gained more confidence in my abilities.

We also had Lori King, someone who believed in us as a team. She believed that we have what it takes to be the best and pushed us. She guided us all to be the best in the areas of our choice. If you are a writer she pushed you just as hard as she pushed the photographers. If you wanted to do both she helped you do it to the best of your abilities. Lori is the person we all looked up to because she is a photojournalist, she is one of the best editors that I have ever worked with and she is just an amazing person.

So when I sit here thinking about the class, the challenges we faced and the things that we overcame it hit me. The biggest thing I took away from this class is that it doesn't matter who you are, where you are from or how far you have made it in this world your family is your family. Family is the people we chose to have in our lives because they are the ones that are there to pick you up when you're down, to help you get through the tough times and most importantly the ones to share in the happiness that success brings. I learned that you can walk into a room full of people and not know a single thing about them and come the end of the semester you realize that these are the people you will remember for the rest of your life.

We did it ladies and gentleman !! To an awesome semester where family was formed !!  I love you all and I look forward to our future as a team, a family ... as the Outlook staff.