Off My Chest

I had one of those days, the kind of day that it will take a while to bounce back from. While working, I finally figured out the worst thing you can do to a photographer. It's not call him a videographer (that's for Wilson), nor is it going to countless press conferences or meetings, those are boring, yet you are generally inside and don't have to work all that hard. It's not chasing spot news across the area, it is stressful, but your day will probably go faster. The worst thing you can do is take away the hope of a good story.

Today I shot a story about a church organ, it's one of the largest in the state and I really wanted to knock this story out of the park. I was shooting everything possible, we even went up and got the guys tuning the thing. I was even creative with interviews going low angle and putting crap in the foreground. As we finished I realized I shot over 60 minutes of video. To give perspective on this, I average 20 minutes on a crappy story and a good story will be around 35 minutes. I went over board to say the least.

I guess no one realized the President was going to speak tonight so they put our story on hold. Normally this may not sound as bad as I am making it, but there is a history here. When I shoot a story and we save it for later I HAVE NEVER EDITED THE STORY! In the year in three months I've always dished the story off and it never looks the way I want. The person editing doesn't want to weed through my hour of video, they will find something quick and slap it together. It's not their fault, they just don't have the time to find the really good stuff.

This put me in an awful mood, this is the second time in a month I've worked on a story like this and had it pulled from underneath me. The last one never made air, it just went away. All I look forward to is that one story that will allow me to show off my skill and make me want to continue shooting. Every time this happens it gets harder and harder to want to shoot. I had three people reassure me that I will edit this story, I will believe it when it happens... or should I say believe it when I edit it and I see it on air. I need a drink.