THE THRILL OF BEING PUBLISHED
Antonio McDyess. Photo © Rachel van Rossum
It is a thrill for a photographer to be published.
It was a huge thrill for me the very first time the Yukon Review (a bi-weekly newspaper in Oklahoma) published one of my photos of a local high school football game. After that first photo, I looked forward to the arrival of the paper on Saturday morning to see if the sports editor had picked one or more of my photos for the sports page.
It is also a big thrill when someone you know is published. Rachel is a good friend and our families have known each other for years. The photo bug bit Rachel early on.
I was filming a major convention for a magazine when Rachel (a college student at the time) asked if she could be my assistant. The convention PR officials gave her a pass as a Photographer's Assistant and were were off and running. If I needed to make a fast lens change, I would say "Get my telephoto ready" and she would pull it out of my bag, take off the front and rear len caps and hold it "at the ready". I would take my last establishing shot with a wide angle lens, pop the lens off, trade lenses with Rachel, and while I took tight shots with the telephoto lens, she would cap my wide angle lens and put it back in the bag or hold it at the ready. She was a big help.
Rachel. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.
Rachel and I were both using Canon SLR film cameras, so during slow moments, I would let her shoot with my lenses, everything from fisheye to 300mm. She was in lens heaven. Her photos looked good.
We did three conventions together over a period of several years and her photos got better and better. I told the PR people and the magazine editor it was time for Rachel to graduate to Staff Photographer. We surprised her in mid convention with her new pass and a small, spontaneous celebration. Rachel and I were both shooting digital by then, so I borrowed her memory card, edited her photos, and burned the best to a CD for the PR department. When the magazine's next issue came out a few weeks later, I was more thrilled to see Rachel's photos in the magazine than my own. There is nothing quite like seeing your own photo and credit line in an international publication, and even it is even more fun to see a good friend do the same thing for the first time.
Rachel pursues her varied photographic interests and her photography and art work have appeared on one musician's CD cover with another in the works.
A few days ago, Rachel's courtside photo of Antonio McDyess was published on the Detroit Piston's website (click on Photos of the Day and scroll through them). This is another red letter day in Rachel's part-time photo hobby/career. You go girl!
Rachel's photo as it appeared on the Piston's web site.
