So I had a pretty cool weekend.

So I had a really cool weekend.

 

Some newspaper staff and I went to the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Fort Worth at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It was awesome! I’d love to share what we did and what I learned.

On Thursday evening, we went out to eat with all of the other students and conference faculty. The restaurant, Ol South Pancake House, is a 24-hour tradition in Ft. Worth. In case you’re wondering, I had an omelet. Don’t worry though, Seth got a HUGE plate of chocolate chip pancakes, and I assisted him. ;) After we ate, they separated us into the groups for Friday’s practicum. I got my camera to use (it was a $3,000 camera… I pretty much signed my life away that night) and fell asleep directly upon our return to the Seminary.

My group (the newbies) headed to the Ft. Worth Stockyards the next morning for our assignment. I had never been! In case you’re not familiar with the stockyards, they were a place where cattle drivers headed up the Chisholm trail stopped for rest and supplies. Today it’s a national historic district and tourist destination.

I held on to that camera for dear life and took pictures of lots of cool stuff. We stopped for lunch, which was followed by delicious creamy praline fudge. Yeah, I ate a whole square.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a workshop with the professionals serving as our instructors. We went through the photos we took and received feedback and suggestions. Dr. V. and I were able to select five photos to turn in for the competition! I will add them to the bottom of the blog entry J That evening, the UMHB staff and our advisor went out for Mexican! Ole!

Saturday was a crazy day! We began at 8 a.m. and ended at 10 p.m. Throughout the day, different professionals from the industry presented. My two favorites were Greg Thompson, the Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at Chick-fil-A and James Gregg from the San Diego Union Tribune. Each presented different aspects of photojournalism. I was especially attentive to Mr. Thompson because I want to do his job someday (not at Chick-fil-A in particular, but corporate communication).

I’m kind of a foodie, so I can’t leave out all the yummy food they fed us! On Friday night during the “refreshment break”, I ate a delicious lemon bar. I love lemon bars. Chick-fil-A provided Saturday’s lunch, and I refrained from the fried chicken sandwich. Still gotta wear that swimsuit come June! ;) Barbecue was for supper. I skipped the cornbread and had a piece of pie. No regrets.

Don’t worry Ray, I’m back on track today with my healthy eating and workouts! Sometimes, life is too short to say no to a piece of chocolate pie. That’s a good life lesson right there.

These are my favorite quotes from the conference that I think we can all gain from:

“Every great photographer starts off as a lousy photographer.” (Amen)

“There is no solution because there is no problem.”

“If you want to have a fun day, be a fun person.”

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

“Every life has a story.”

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can only spend it once.”

I’m looking forward to my ZOption intern training on Friday and flying back to good old Iowa on Saturday!

That’s all for now!

Below are the photos I took at the stockyards! P.S. I didn't take the first one, so photo credit to my boyfriend for that :)