Photojournalism
Singles
Operation Atlantic Airstrike
The Avon Park Air Force Range in Highlands County has an annual exercise called Atlantic Strike to prepare military personnel before they deploy overseas. Although the event starts late in the day and is nearly out of the newspaper’s coverage area, Highlands Today covers the event because the public has a high interest in the activity that comes from the range. I included this photo package to show my skills of taking multiple photos under a tight deadline and being limited to certain locations during the training.
Gator Farm
Florida is known for their gators. What some don’t know is that there are actual gator farms where they hatch, grow and butcher gators. I learned of a local gator farm owner through networking, which I set up a photo shoot on my free time to showcase the art of gator farming. I brought the photos back to my boss, which he was very intrigued about gator farming. He ended up assigning a reporter to the story to add to my photo story and the spotlight the farm for a centerpiece.
Jail and the Holidays
This is a turnaround in a day story. We were looking for a story to do during the holidays and someone mentioned this. I added these photos to show my abilities to shoot an assignment in a 20-min time period.
Slain Trooper
One late afternoon in January 2007, I got a call from the editor saying that there had been a shooting and they believed a police officer was involved. I dropped what I was doing and headed to the scene, not knowing what I was going to come across. As the night progressed, we learned that a local trooper was shot and killed during a traffic stop. I covered the day of the shooting, the manhunt for the killer that followed the shooting, the funeral a week later and a third time when we talked to the family coping months later. I worked with Tampa Tribune, tbo.com and WFLA news to provide updated information as I covered the event.
Illegal Immigration Relief Act
Even though illegal immigration is a national problem, the City of Avon Park mayor decided to localize the dilemma. He brought up an ordinance, which would penalize anyone who hired or housed illegal immigrants. Local and national activists gathered to protest the mayor as well as support him. At the time this was one of the biggest media events that I had ever covered. I again worked on a very tight deadline and worked with Tampa Tribune to provide photographs for their paper and online editions.
Hurricane Coverage 2004 & 2005
Only a month after I started working for Highlands Today, there were three hurricanes that came across the Heartland. I included a special folder on my hurricane coverage to show my ability to work as one photographer covering major disasters. I worked with about 8-9 reporters on any given day and I shot about 95 percent of our hurricane coverage. Some of the photos that I found on my own ended up being our centerpiece stories. I also included photos of people who evacuated to Highlands in 2005, which the photos published in newspaper worldwide.
