Day one in the Real World

As I approached my first day as a photojournalism intern at a metropolitan newspaper, The Houston Chronicle, I racked my brain with questions because I know that I will only be shadowing for a few days. After that the hand-holding ends -I'll be out on my own.

Day One Synapsis:

Although the day wasn't off to the greatest start as I pulled into downtown Houston - blind of where I was going to park, it turned around quite quickly. Despite driving around in circles for literally 45 minutes, I was at the newsroom just in time for my very first meeting. Houston Chronicle Photo Director Steve Gonzales walked me through the newsroom and introduced me to several editors and photographers. I sat in on the editors' meeting, saw the process of how photos are assigned, and learned that there are three sets of elevators throughout the building - 3 in the front, 2 on the side, 1 in the back.

I took in as much information as possible - both listening and writing things down. I learned which photographers to talk to about multimedia - speed versus creative, how to run remotes, working with people, photographing sports, and the list goes on.

I spent the rest of the day shadowing Nick de la Torre, a well respected photojournalist who has been at the Chronicle over three years. He's been in the business for around 17 though and has experience all over the country. We started our day with lunch across the street from the beach in Galveston, TX - 45 minutes away from Houston.

After lunch, it was time to photograph a press conference about two awards that were given to Coast Guards and their families who helped save the lives of many people when a ship was capsized in June of 2008.

After taking photos of the award ceremony, de la Torre shot video of interviews. We loaded up the gear, headed to a Starbucks and started plugging away. He edited his take, wrote captions for five photos, uploaded the video, edited the video, imported the still photos and had everything ready for production in 50 minutes. I was impressed. However, he had hoped to be done in 35. Click here to see how it turned out.

Specific advice given to me:

Every photographer has his or her own niche. Ask them what they're good at and listen to what they have to say.

• Never show a photo editor something he has previously told you he did not like.
• Keep your portfolio fresh.
• Ask for everyone's name. Ask them for spelling. Double check it.
• Be flexible.
• Shoot for the cover. Everytime. Even if it's a meeting.
• Set a deadline for yourself and try to meet it.
• Multimedia has lots of do's and lots of don'ts - but it's all on a case by case basis. Figure it out and use it.
• Don't ever complain about an assignment.
• Always come back with something. Don't make excuses.
• Figure things out on your own.
• Ask questions - but try and find the answers too.