Life as a Dog

Can you imagine the world being your own personal toilet? I suppose it's not that personal when everyone else pisses on it too. Yes, folks, that's right. I've been dog walking again. The little puppy you see above, no, not one of the dogs I walk, but it is the pup of the dog I do walk. There are 3 more where it came from. It is cute, I'll admit. So, since the journalism/newspaper industry doesn't seem to want me right now, I'll go straight to the people (or mammals) that do, the dogs! Next week I pick up my regular clients for however long I don't have a real job, so I'm guessing a few months.

I'm walking this one dog, I believe it's a puppy, that is SO defiant! I just don't know what to do! She chews on my toes, scratches at me and when I walk one way, she tries to pull the other. Now, who's the boss here? I suppose this is all good training for me when I finally do get a dog of my own. I'm learning which types of dogs I do and do not like. Do: boxers, shepherd/collie mixes... I think that list stops there. Don't: Min pins, beagles, labs... the list goes on. (Now, it's not that I don't like min pins, it's just... they're REALLY small. Sweet yes, but way too small to wrestle with.)

There's my little update for the week. I've applied to 8 (real) jobs (7 newspaper) and so far I've gotten 3 rejections and haven't heard from the rest (Even with follow-ups!). I'll continue my search for the dream job, and in the mean time, I'll work on my tan, get paid to work out and get some puppy love in between.

A Quick Advertisement

My sister has a business, NadiaDaniel.com (as advertised above), which sells scarves, handbags and jewelry. Ever since her PC died back in like April, she has been unable to update her Web site, but, the products still exist and are still available for purchase. This is my way of helping her advertise her business. I photographed the handbags for the ad above and I have to say, these bags are really fun and colorful. They're silk with wooden handles and they're just roomy enough to fit your necessities and 5 of the 6 are small enough to take out on a Friday night. So if you're feeling like you need to spruce up your accessories wardrobe, you should check out her site.

Thanks!! More regular posts to come after the long weekend. Enjoy!

It's That Time Again

The internship is over. I shot the Gypsy Kings two Friday's ago to round out my summer. But, lucky for me, Wolf Trap is hiring me on to shoot four more shows before their summer season comes to a close, so Chris Isaak, here I come tomorrow night! Oh, and I got published again, though the review for the show wasn't so pretty...

So, now what? Now, I start looking for a real job. The quest begins all over again. I have found 5 job openings, basically for the same position, in various cities around the country. Today I applied for 4 of them. Though, one is a position to be a university photographer at Tufts. We'll see. Hopefully some more positions open up over the next few weeks. Until then, it's photographing plants time for me.

I just got back from a nice little vacation to Boston on Monday night. See picture above. It was nice to see my friend Julie. She came here to visit back in May, so it was a good way to bring the summer to an almost end. I watched more volleyball than I ever thought I would. And that includes the Olympics, too. Back to Boston.. In case you ever go, check out Mike's Pizza in Davis Square (make sure to get Sicilian style), Mike's Pastry in the North End (crazy good gelato), and Haymarket for some nice fresh produce. Other than that, Boston is like your typical east coast city. OLD. I suppose you could check out the Freedom Trail too if you're into Paul Revere and that sort of thing.

Ugh, I love the Olympics. That Usain Bolt is one crazy kid. I really want to know how quickly he could've finished that 100 meter dash, had he not given up 15 meters out to soak up all the glory. Someday I'll get to go to the Olympics as a photographer. That'll be damn sweet. Speaking of the Olympics, I gotta catch up on the stuff I DVR'd while I was gone. Peace!

Freaking Out... A Little

First thing's first. I got published in the Post, yet again. I'm starting to feel silly about being so excited every time i get published, but come on! It's a big deal!! It'll always be exciting. Even if I get a staff position there someday in life, I think it'll still be freaking awesome every time!

Next. My internship ends in about two weeks. What does that mean? It means I seriously have to find a job! I'm like back at square one and I really don't like it. I have my job with Finding Species but the contract ends at the end of August, so in the event they don't extend it, I'll be walking dogs full-time... if that's even an option! I have an interview tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I'm not trying to jinx myself here.

Moving on. I'm going to see Not The Messiah! tonight at Wolf Trap. Apparently it's like a dialogue with the NSO in the background. Not really sure. I've been conned into going by all the other interns. It's not enough that I'm here every other night of the week! But that's ok. It should be a good time, especially since the weather seems to have stopped freaking out for a bit.

Back in the Game

Last Saturday I shot my first freelance assignment for the Times Community papers of Northern Virginia. I covered a district little league championship game. Let me tell you something. I was SO rusty. I was out on the field, shooting the game. Trying to keep up with the action (I mean, it's not like it's fast, they're 11 years old), yet I still felt like I wasn't getting anything good. Lucky for me, I surprisingly caught the play of the game (not the photo above), and that's what ended up running. And, I got a phone call from the mother of the boy in the photo telling me the photo was "phenomenal" and that she wanted a copy. So, needless to say, I felt flattered.

Now I realize it's been almost a year since I did anything with any kind of journalistic edge and I miss it! I totally miss being out there, talking to people. Running after people trying to figure out who I need to talk to and where I need to be. It's becoming more and more evident to me that I need to get a job, and ASAP! If I stay in D.C. any longer, it might never happen, oddly enough. You would think that the nation's capital would need lots of coverage and what not, but apparently everyone's got a handle on it. I suppose that means I'll be leaving D.C. to find work elsewhere, though I make no promises.

On a side note, I got published in the Post again. I think I'm 3 for 5 now. 60%, not bad. And I met the former editor of National Geographic magazine today. That was a pretty cool moment I must say. Oh, and, I got to shoot Earth, Wind & Fire in their dressing room last night, though I'm not at liberty to make those photos public.

Just a Quickie

Happy 4th to everyone!!

On this glorious day, I found out, I got published in the Post again! This makes 2. Hopefully in the remaining weeks of my internship, I'll continue to have more opportunities. In the mean time, I'll continue trying my hardest and sending out photos wherever they are needed.

A side note to those of you in the DC area: I hear there are supposed to be close to 750,000 people on the Mall tonight to watch the fireworks. I also hear that the other side of the river in Rosslyn is usually less crowded.

Field Trips Aren't Just for Kids Anymore

Many of you know, I'm doing an internship program again this summer out here in the D.C. area. What many of you may not know, is that included in this internship program, are intern events, such as: field trips. So far, we've gone on two, and we're going on a third one this week. The first, was the to the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center is a performing arts venue with 6 different stages. What you might not know about it though, is, that it's also an art museum! I bet you would've never guessed. Also, the building was a tribute to the late President, and as American as he was, the building barely is. Almost everything in that venue was a gift from another country. Now, many of you might think, well that's very generous of all these countries to recognize one of our greatest (questionable...) presidents, but I on the other hand find it a little ironic that an American tribute to an American president doesn't contain many American materials. Next: We went to the Strathmore this week. This was a cool venue, though it is mainly devoted to classical music and music (for the most part) alone. Beautiful place, I recommend seeing a show there (though I have yet to do so myself). Apparently it has world-class acoustics. In any case, what I'm finding after having been to these two venues, is that, I really don't care about the place. I just want to see a good show in a comfortable place, whether that be on the lawn of some outdoor amphitheater or a box seat at the Met. I'm more into the entertainment than what goes into it, and maybe that's a bad thing, but hey, let me enjoy my fun! So, next time you're signing up for an internship, find out if you too get to go on field trips!

The Newseum: It's About News

Lucky me, my friend Danny came to town last weekend for a brief, yet enjoyable, visit. So, being the nerdy journalists we are, we invited Ethan down to the Newseum to check out what the fuss was all about. For those of you that have never been to DC before, let me tell you something: all the museums (with the exception of like 3 or 4, so mainly all the Smithsonian's...) are FREE. The Newseum, is not. Once again, lucky for me, Danny using his big brains, got us two free tickets. Where am I going with all this? Let me tell you. The Newseum typically costs $20 to get in. For an adult. It's 6 floors of pure journalism goodness, including a new exhibit on G-Men and Journalists featuring Ted Kazcynski's cabin and the DC Sniper's car. Well, those 6 floors took us about... maybe 4 hours to get through, which included an 8-minute orientation and a 4-D movie (water and wind included). But, unlike a FREE Smithsonian, I wasn't totally wiped out and dying from exhaustion when we finished. Let me tell you why: There's practically nothing inside that 6 story building. Yes there's lots of history and information about news and journalism, but it's not jam packed the way I expected it to be. So, needless to say, I was a little disappointed. But, to end on a good note, I'd still recommend for any journalism-geeks out there, to go check it out. I mean, there is a huge room with all of the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs dating back to 1945 in it. (For me that was probably the most exciting aspect of the whole place.) So go get educated and journalism-afy yourself.

Update: Didn't Get Published

So, I did get published, in the Washington Informer. But, this time no Post and no Eagle News. Here's why: Our communications department, where I'm interning, has trouble communicating. Funny, eh? Yes... not really. Since I spent a lot of time editing those photos and sending them to the proper places. On top of that, the people at the Post never even received the photos for whatever reason. Anyway, that's my lowly little update. And for that, I'm letting you see one of my favorite photos from the Anita Baker concert.

Got Published Again!

A quick post that I'll update in the next few days when I get the other two links to where I've been published, but, here's one. I shot Anita Baker Friday night for the Washington Post, the Washington Informer and the Eagle News. The ladder two I hadn't heard of until Friday night. But, hey, that's ok. Like they say in the celebrity world, any exposure is good exposure. More to come soon.