Finding My Way in Photography - The Photojournalism Edition

Any of you who are reading this probably know me pretty well and have been inundated with my photography for years! And as you are fully aware, for the most part, my photography genres have been almost exclusively landscape, sports and children (well my children!).

In the past 2 weeks though, my photography journey has strayed from the norm. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, last week I got the opportunity to snap photos at a small high school prom, which exposed weaknesses with my working knowledge of off camera flash (and on camera for that matter!). And just this morning I was asked to snap photos at a gun violence vigil (once again for my sister, who had a role there). Now where the prom was far outside my comfort zone, I’ve always had and interest in photojournalism, and I was thrilled to take my sister up on her offer.

So this morning I got up early and drove over an hour from home up to Concord, NH. Like everything I do, I was there super early, so I just kicked it in the car and watched the small crowd start to fill in. Once I found my sister, I ventured out and started to meet a few folks. Like last week, I had brought FAR too much gear, and I am pretty sure the couple of newspaper photographers that were covering the event thought I was insane! The problem was, the vigil was to begin at a bookstore, and I genuinely thought it started INSIDE the bookstore (maybe I secretly HOPED it started inside the bookstore?) so I brought extra gear to deal with lighting issues that might arise. Naturally, the entire event was outside, beginning with some of the local officials speaking in front of the bookstore (off topic, but the bookstore was named Gibsons, and if you are ever in Concord, stop in there. That place was my ultimate dream of owning and running a bookstore, in real life!), and then folks marched to the Capitol building. Once there, a few people (including my sister) read off the names of some of the recent victims of mass shootings that have occurred. It was peaceful, but powerful as onlookers were clapping and cheering the marchers on as they walked down Main Street.

During the course of about an hour and a half, I took over 1200 photos! And for the first time in a very long time, I felt like I had an idea of what I wanted to capture for the event, understood the gear and settings I needed in order to capture the event, and while snapping, felt like I was getting what I was hoping to get. Was I perfect? Not a chance. Were the photos acceptable and will they get used by some of the parties who were there today? It appears so, and that to me, is such a fantastic feeling!

Obviously I can’t quit my day job anytime soon (kids are damn expensive!), but if I can continue to provide people with value from my photography, maybe long term I can open a bookstore with a photography studio in the back!

Some of the photos from yesterday can be found here: https://www.mf3photo.com/NHPD-Gun-Violence-Vigil-6422/