Journalism 

My photography and graphic design skills led me to take a position as a Photo Editor at a weekly newspaper. This job gave me a tuition stipend for college and was what allowed me to pay for my undergraduate degree out-of-pocket. Without it, I would be in a very different position than where I am today. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity it provided and the confidence it gave me to move on to the next steps in my personal growth.

I captured this photo during the Nov. 2014 elections. it earned me two awards at the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association’s Collegiate Day later that year including First Place for “Best Spot News Photo” and Third Place for “Best Photography.” Pictured (center) is the President of the college as she looked over at a TV displaying updated results of the election. It was a very proud moment for me and I was humbled and honored to have been a spectator for this monumental decision for the college.

This was an interesting piece. The newspaper’s sports editor Jack had written an article about the Masters and had introduced me to this ominous “green jacket” concept. We hadn’t been able to gather any original visual content and we were to go to print in two days. In mild desperation, I had an idea to create our own “stock” image of a man wearing the green jacket. I had Jack come to the office the next day in a blazer and golf attire, snapped a few shots, ran the idea past my Editor-In-Chief, got a green light, and photoshopped the emblem onto the jacket in post production. I placed the image in such a way that it cut off Jack’s face, (editors identified in content was against policy) framed the text around the image to accommodate the size of the article. It went to print the next day and the positive responses came flooding in. As a result, the newspaper encouraged me to play more with “outside of the box” imagery in future editions.

This was probably one of the wildest action shots I’ve been able to capture. Our paper acquired press passes to the traveling rodeo that had set up in Portland’s largest sports center arena. This photo was taken from between the slats of the guard rail. About a half a second after this moment, I and a few neighbors got sprayed with dirt kicked up by the same bull. I now have a special kind of respect for the safety team at these events.

Please contact me directly if you’re interested in viewing a comprehensive list of my publications.