Robin Nelson encouraged me for years to cover the Atlanta Pride Parade.

Each year UGA’s Photojournalism students are asked by their teacher Mark Johnson to shadow a working professional photojournalist. Kayla Renie contacted Robin to follow her shooting. Robin suggested she follow her at the Atlanta Pride Parade.

The mission of the Atlanta Pride Committee is to advance unity, visibility, and wellness among persons with widely diverse gender and sexual identities through cultural, social, political, and educational programs and activities.

Kayla did her interview on the front end of the coverage since Robin would have to leave for another engagement before the parade was done.

Things get confrontational when the parade hits the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont. A “Christian” group stood at the street corner holding signs denouncing not just the LGBTQ community but Muslims, Women who work outside the home, and the list went on and on.

What interested me was how the “Christian” group would pick people out and start yelling at them. All based on what they perceived as a person deserving condemnation.

I put the “Christian” group in quotes because this created a great deal of tension in my gut. Robin approached me at one point and asked if covering something like this can give you PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] from covering an event.

According to the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, “Journalists frequently bear witness to human suffering whether covering mass disasters or individual atrocities; however, little is known regarding the impact of such exposure on the well-being of journalists. Researchers in the field of traumatic stress are only beginning to examine the toll this line of work may have on the health of journalists.”

“Research suggests that 80-100% of journalists have been exposed to a work-related traumatic event.”

When a protestor gets in the journalist’s face and starts to yell, this can be very traumatic. If the journalists feel they are in physical danger, this can trigger a traumatic experience that the brain has difficulty processing.

I watched as Kayla and Robin took moments to talk to each other to process all they were seeing, hearing, and most of all feeling from covering such an event.

According to research on PTSD reported by the Dart Center, you can have a personal experience with work-related stressors such as experiencing Aggression, Intimidation, or Moral Injury.

The hardest part for Robin, Kayla, and even me today was that each of us is professing Christians who disagreed with the tactics of this “Christian” group. It was running opposite our beliefs of how to act as a Christian.

Other Christians have felt this way and created signs that reflect a different position and declare that all those in the Atlanta Pride events could also be Christians.

Each of those polar opposite groups believed that the others were wrong and right.

This man confronts Robin, saying he wasn’t part of their group. This is when Robin wanted a friendly conversation and said, “I am a born-again believer as well.” I think the photo reveals the posturing that was happening between them. One wanted dialogue, and one wanted just to judge.

So how does a person cover an event as a “journalist” when they have all these feelings? How do you protect something when you may pick one of the sides personally because of your belief system?

This was what Robin was trying to teach Kayla that day as she shadowed Robin. Robin has been able to bring her faith into her work and not leave it behind. She believes that everyone is God’s child. This means everyone deserves to be treated with honor, dignity, and respect, even when wearing a strange outfit.

As a journalist, you do all you can to be sure you let both sides be represented in the coverage. If you are aware of your bias and acknowledge it, you have a better chance of overcoming the bias.

This photo was as close as I came to showing both sides. The “Christian” Group was first on the corner, and then you could hear the crowd roar as a group carrying Pansies came down the sidewalk.

They called themselves the Pansy Patrol. They had whistles to blow and these giant pansies on sticks. Their mission was to block as many of the “Christian” group’s protest banners and make enough noise to drown them out with their whistles.

Still, some chose to be more aggressive to the “Christians.”

They not only confronted the group but took selfies in front of their banners, mocking them on social media.

When you are at an event like Atlanta’s Pride Weekend, where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the parade, which ends at Piedmont Park, you have to be able to cover the event for your news outlet. You also have not editorialized your coverage to be more of an activist with a plan about the event.

If you want to do this, you may find a job with an organization that fits your beliefs and do social activism, but don’t consider this the same as journalism.

Robin told me that the Atlanta Pride Parade had become more commercial than in the early years. I saw many corporations participating in the parade.

Each company had its #hashtag and was there to let everyone know they supported the LGBTQ community. I included them in my photos to show how the corporate community supported the event.

While it was a tough assignment for Kayla to jump into with all the emotions surrounding the Atlanta Pride event, I think she enjoyed watching a professional photojournalist like Robin do her job and be able to ask her questions to help her understand how she might have to cover something outside her comfort zone in the future as a photojournalist herself.

Robin and I were impressed with Kayla’s eagerness to learn and how well she interacted with people throughout the day.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:35

The best moments for celebration are when we have set goals that took a great deal of effort to achieve.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”

Luke 14:28

At The Citadel, there is the fourth class system. The purpose of the Fourth Class System at The Citadel is to provide a base upon which a fourth class cadet may develop those qualities essential to a good leader.

Although the System is demanding and complex, the rewards are considerable and more than justify the effort. Upon recognition by the upper-class cadets in the spring of the Knob year, a better person emerges – one who is mentally, morally, physically, and spiritually prepared to accept the responsibilities of leadership – a role which will ultimately be his/hers at The Citadel and in the world.

Isn’t that the purpose of setting goals and meeting them? You are better at taking action to meet those goals.

Don’t just create a goal without much thought about what you are setting up for yourself.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”

Psalms 127:1

My faith teaches me to pray about decisions. Take some time and allow God to speak to you. He will give you the peace of making a decision, and your chances of achieving the goal are not just better, but the reward is often much better than when we pursue vanity.

I find that making goals where others are there to support you as they do in the Fourth Class system at The Citadel means you have a better chance of achieving them.

The Citadel has an above average at retaining students past the first year with an 86.0% retention rate.

Based on the caliber of first-time/full-time students attending Citadel Military College of South Carolina, we expect an overall graduation rate of 58.3%. However, students are graduating at a rate that is 9.1% higher. That means Citadel Military College of South Carolina is performing above average at graduating students based on those students’ anticipated academic achievement in college.

“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

2 Chronicles 15:7

Do you have a goal that you are working on in your life? If not–Why Not?

I believe if you are not growing, you are dying.

Praise band singing at the Summerall Chapel on the Citadel Campus. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 Art, ISO 7200, ƒ/4, 1/100]

This past Sunday, my wife Dorie Griggs was asked to give the message for Parent’s Weekend at the Summerall Chapel on The Citadel by Chaplain to the Corps of Cadets and Director of Religious Activities Joe Molina.

Dorie introduced the concept that often, we live either in the mindset of Good Friday, the Saturday in between, or Resurrection Sunday.

I came prepared to videotape Dorie speaking for our records and to share with friends and family that couldn’t be there.

Listen to her message here. Many people commented on how much they appreciated the notification.

Now before Dorie’s sermon, The Citadel’s Gospel Choir sang.

I didn’t plan on shooting a video of them singing, or I would have been further back. But please listen to them sing.

I enjoyed seeing the joy on the cadet’s faces.

Now the service was a lot of pomp and circumstance. They have a Color Guard bring the colors in to start the service.

Here are a few tips if you decide to cover your church service.

• Talk to the minister first to get permission.
• Arrive Early
• Stand on the stage and get a custom white balance.
• If videotaping, use a wireless Lavalier microphone for the speaker
• Plan your moves around so that it is at a minimum
• Recommend zoom for less movement versus a fixed lens
• Upload your photos to an online gallery like PhotoShelter

The Summerall Guards perform half-time at the Parent’ss Weekend football game at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. [Nikon D5, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 S, Sigma TC-2001, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000]

Knowing your subject gives you insights into what makes a better photo than any photo.

My son was a Summerall Guard at the Citadel in the class of 2011. During this time, I took more photos of them performing and started to see these moments that gave you insights into how they communicate during a silent drill.

The facial expressions showed them counting to themselves or breathing loudly so those around them would hear. This lets them know if they were together in their counts and moves.

The Summerall Guard was formed in 1932. Membership is considered a high honor at the military college. The platoon aims to exemplify the exactness and thoroughness of a cadet’s training through a unique series of movements based on the old German close-order drill. The exercise is performed to a silent count. Each year’s Guards take responsibility for teaching the following year’s unit the precise drill.

In sports, very similar predictable moments happen as well. I know that if I am covering a team like The Citadel, they are trying to get to the goal they are facing. So even on defense, if a fumble or interception happens, the players will try and go towards the goal.

I like to stand or kneel in the endzone where they are going so I can see their faces. If I am on the sideline, I sometimes get their faces, but when I am facing them, the percentage of photos with their faces seems to be a loCitadel’sfor photos.

Their extra effort on the play will be them lunging toward the goal line, which is where I am standing.

The offensive linemen are creating holes for the running backs facing that goal line.

Even if they are stopped, their expressions usually show that they are putting it all on the line. This type of tackle photo works well on sports pages when the guy just got a first down.

As you can see in both the examples of the Citadel cadets, if they are on the Summerall Guards or playing a sport, the facial expression draws the audience into the photograph.

What you want to show as the photographer is the effort; one of the best ways to capture this is in the expressions.

By the way, we were at The Citadel due to a request for my wife, Dorie Griggs, to preach on Sunday. So here is her message if you would like to hear it.

He was spraying bug spray for protection during the parade for Corps Day Weekend at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. [Nikon D3, Sigma 120-300mm, 2X, ISO 200, ƒ/4, 1/1250]

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

― Mark Twain

Too many photographers do not spend enough time editing their photos. Editing has many different stages of the process. The very first step is that of culling. I want to address culling today for this blog.

Culling describes reducing the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter.

While there are maybe more definitions, I think this one will help you remember you will take the entire shoot and narrow it down to the keepers.

When using PhotoMechanic as my editing tool, I first go one by one and look at each image’s full-screen size after I ingest all the photos. I then press the “T” key to keep the ones that are:

1. In focus
2. Well Exposed
3. Good or great moment – If I have a series of sports plays, I may only keep 2 or 3 of 20 to 30 images of a play.
4. Can see faces/No back of heads – If someone starts to turn away from me or someone blocks them, I don’t keep those that you cannot see their faces.
5. Good expressions – When people are giving a speech, I eliminate those awkward expressions. The same as avoiding people putting food in their mouths. No blinks of the critical people in the photo.

After I have tagged the keepers, I select all the untagged photos and delete them. For an event, this may well be 80% of the images. For studio portraits, more than 20% will be deleted.

Too many photographers often think this is the only photo I have of someone, and I don’t want to leave them out. So they put up their social media or gallery for people to see an out-of-focus, back of the head, and badly exposed photo so that the person knows they took their picture.

It is much easier to take photos and then post everyone you took than to take the time to go through and eliminate all the images that a client would never publish. If you can’t imagine a commercial client taking your photo and putting it up on a billboard to sell their product due to focus, exposure, and seeing the people’s faces, then don’t put it up on social media.

More people will have the opportunity to see your photo published on social media than will ever drive by the billboard, so get rid of anything that shouldn’t be issued for the world to see.

There are two main reasons to edit your photos to the best ones and eliminate all those that shouldn’t be published.

The first reason is treating people with honor, dignity, and respect. If you publish a photo of a person, they will regret being of them; you have damaged them. Now I will admit that sometimes there are photos that people don’t like of themselves even if they are beautiful photos of them. There are just some people that wouldn’t want any image.

There is a second reason to cull a photo out of your take–Your Reputation!

You want to think of yourself as a photographer and not a hack. We use this to describe poor golfers as well. But you don’t want to have a reputation as a hack regarding photography.

You want people to invite you to their events and not to tell you to come but leave your camera at home.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

– Colossians 4:5

[Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4, ISO 900, ƒ/1.4, 1/100]

What lenses do you take on a job? I might take all I can, but a better question might be which ones you try to use the most.

One lens I have loved to use a lot these past couple of years is the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 Art lens. It is so sharp.

I love to fill the frame, get pretty close to people, and let that background go out of focus, giving that smooth BOKEH. Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.”

The cool thing beyond the BOKEH is shooting a much lower ISO than you have to do, say ƒ/4 or ƒ/5.6.

The shallow depth-of-field makes the subject pop out of the photo.

The closer you get to the subject, the even shallower depth-of-field becomes with the lens.

The other cool thing I love about giving clients photos with this lens is you cannot get this look with your iPhone.

While I love this lens, I often have to just react to a moment. I need to have more than a 35mm lens. I love a good zoom, and when photographing people, I love the Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 Art lens.

Sometimes I need to be wide, like in this photo of the Sunday School teacher reading a story about the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther.

Next, I need to go a little tighter in the photo.

Then I am right back out shooting wide again.

I like working around three to five feet of the people I photograph. Sometimes I might get a little closer or have something in between me and the subject that backs me up.

I am on the other side of the table with this lady in the Sunday School class. But I could get a little closer by zooming.

Here the lady is in between this lady and me smiling. But I could isolate her and make you, the audience, look where I want you to look.

Next, I turn and get some shots of the teacher. You cannot run everywhere on a photo shoot without becoming the focus of everyone. That often happens when I have just a couple of fixed lenses. I might have an 85mm ƒ/1.8 on one camera and then the 35mm ƒ/1.4 on the other camera, but with the zoom, I can get much better compositions without moving so much that I become distracted.

I rarely use on-camera flash, but I had no assistant, and setting up a light stand would have been knocked over with so many people. The people were backlit and were pretty much a silhouette. I filled in using the Godox V860IIN with MagMod sphere to soften and spread the light. I used slow sync and was able to capture this moment with the Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 Art lens.

My goal was to give the client a variety. You cannot do that with one lens as quickly as mixing up the looks with a few lenses.

I hope these insights help you on your next photo shoot.

For the past nine to ten years, I have made a journey to Mark Johnson’s Advanced Photojournalism class at the Grady School of Journalism on the campus of the University of Georgia. I present how to make a living as a photographer each time.

During this last visit, three of Mark’s former students I work with on my Chick-fil-A account also came to the class. They had all been in the class when I spoke in the past.

Earlier in the morning, Brenna Chambliss and I did a video shoot in town with a Chick-fil-A operator. She was my client and directed the project. Just a few years ago, she was one of Mark’s students.

After we finished that morning, Brenna took me around campus for a tour. I got to ring the bell on campus. I had never done that before. That was an excellent experience.

Brenna told me she learned more about life lessons from Mark Johnson than from other UGA classes. He was the person that helped her understand that it is all about relationships.

The program has grown in the past few years. They now have 80 students taking the introductory photojournalism class, and his advanced class has 20 students, whereas, in the past, that was limited to 16.

My presentation you can download it from the link above.

The best part about having Jackie, Brenna, and Mercedes is that they were the evidence that there are jobs in the industry for the students.

During the class and afterward, the students asked many questions and talked with all of us.

Mark got a lot of hugs from Jackie, Brenna, and Mercedes. Now that they have been working for a few years, they know even more about how much Mark prepared them for today’s jobs.

During the presentation, I realized I could ask the three who were with me some points I wanted to make. When she meets with a client, I ask Jackie what she talks to them about for a project. She wasn’t expecting this, and we hadn’t rehearsed, but she listed how she would ask questions about why they needed something. She would then talk to them so that all the ideas addressed that need. She also gives them options.

I then put up the PowerPoint slide, which said exactly what I had prepared. I knew Jackie would know what to say because professional communicators who do a great job start with asking clients questions to help them meet those objectives that sometimes they haven’t thought about.

For more than nine years, I have gone to the class, met people, and helped some of them find jobs with Chick-fil-A or even steered them to other employers. I have helped some of them with internships in the summer with WinShape Camps, a non-profit run by the family that owns Chick-fil-A.

When I was first asked if it was OK if the three ladies came along, they were thinking more about how wonderful it would be to visit and see Mark Johnson. Their question was how they could justify going to the class away from their jobs. I suggested they make it a recruiting trip.

Ken Willis, their agency’s boss, understood what I was suggesting and made it a recruiting time for them.

When I asked Jackie how she thinks it went for possible people, she had an excellent response, “We will see who follows up.”

Not all 20 students met with one of the three that came to recruit. Some had to go to other classes and take their cards. Some talked to them.

I suggest that whenever a possible employer comes to your class, do your best to meet them. Show interest in them and try to learn as much as you can about their work environment and what they do. There is no job to turn down until they offer one.

If you take their card, write them a letter thanking them for coming. Why? The reason is quite simple. You need to network and build your contact database and build relationships. While you may not work for the person you meet, they are often a great resource with their network to put you in touch with someone who might be a better fit. You can’t find this out unless you attempt to build those relationships that will become your network for the rest of your life.

I am often asked to go to places and photograph where the lighting is just not that great. One of the worst places to go is to gyms.

The reason is that they often use Fluorescent or Silver Halide lights that require you to shoot above 1/60 shutter speed if you are trying to freeze action. This can introduce banding into your photos. It can also change the color frame to frame, as shown here.

I thought. First, there was enough natural light coming into the room from the windows, but the lights hanging from the ceiling were impacting the walls and the people.

The easiest thing to do was to light the whole room up with four strobes pointing to the ceiling, and you fix a few things. Once the color looks much better, you can shoot at a lower ISO and reduce noise. Most importantly, there is a consistency that without the strobes, you would get color banding due to the lights flickering.

I had to drag the gear and set up the lights from room to room. This is why I hire photo assistants to help me out.

Here I overpowered the room lights but still picked up some natural light.

Even outside, the strobes can improve a situation. Here without the strobes, and then I added it.

My suggestion when trying this for the first time is always first to shoot test shots without strobes. Then add them and see if they make it look better. Sometimes adding strobes can kill an ideal lighting situation. Always test and don’t assume anything.

Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things …

Psalm 119:18

If you are in the service industry, you are most likely trained and understand the importance of eye contact.

Eye Contact is an essential part of using practical communication skills.
People are more likely to comply when more eye contact is used.
Eye Contact establishes a connection between the person.
Eye contact also tells us whether the other person is paying attention.
Maintaining eye contact during communication will make your presentation much more effective.

Now when I started to encounter other cultures, I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t give me eye contact. Come to find out, as a man having eye contact with a single woman means you intend to marry them. In many cultures, it is shown as a sign of respect not to look you in the eye.

I mention the cultural differences because you must understand your context like everything. You don’t want to do something that you think is the correct way to behave only to find out you were offending people or now must marry someone.

When your listeners see your eyes scanning their faces, they feel invited to engage with you. They feel encouraged to signal how they think about what you’re saying–with nods, frowns, or skeptical raises of their eyebrows.

As a result, your listeners are transformed from passive receivers to active participants. Your monologue takes the form of a dialogue, albeit in which you speak words while they speak with gestures and facial expressions. Your speech or presentation is suddenly a conversation.

When I am in a culture and don’t speak the language, all I have is my body language and, most important, eye contact and facial expressions to communicate. I use this to ask for permission to photograph.

Now depending on your perspective, you change the conversation. When you look down on the little boy where you put the camera in the position that is most associated with an adult over a child. The adult is responsible for that child. This is a great way to create empathy for a subject.

This graphic demonstrates the parent-to-child relationship. This next one shows the child-to-parent relationship.

Now here I am, slightly lower than the eyes of Don Rutledge as he is talking, which gives him the position of authority.

His expression can make him look like a warm or cold leader, but I have designated him as an authority because I am looking up at him.

When you are eye to eye with another adult, we call this being on their level, a good friend.

Now the exciting thing to me is if you are an adult and get on eye level with kids, it does something else. It makes those viewing the photograph equal to a child, tapping into those remembrances of being a child.

The child’s head, while looking down, shows modesty or lack of self-confidence, guilt, etc. In other words, her body posture adds another layer of meaning to the photograph beyond me trying to be on her same level by being at eye level with her.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”

Matthew 6:22

Thirteen years ago, I had been shooting with my new Nikon D100 for just a few years. This was my first digital capture DSLR camera.

My daughter and I drove to Americus, Georgia, to photograph the Habitat for Humanity International’s Global Village & Discovery Center for Disney’s Family Magazine.

For the past few days, I have been going through my old CDs and DVDs, looking through my work. In good light, all of my digital cameras were pretty outstanding compared to my days of shooting film.

Indoors with that first Nikon D100, I used flash more than I would have to do today. But the results were just great.

I used the Sigma 18-125mm lens on this camera, which wasn’t super sharp but did great with that camera. I loved not having to carry a lot of lenses.

I was shooting wide with the 18mm on a DX cropped sensor. So I was only hitting about 27mm if it was an FX sensor. It would be a few years before Nikon introduced the entire sensor.

I cannot say enough about  Habitat for Humanity International’s Global Village & Discovery Center for those wanting to make a great day trip. You can see how people live worldwide, and Habitat builds different houses depending on the country.

Here the kids see brick made of aluminum and concrete, which they have used in Mexico.

I think this is one of the great day trips for families to see how the rest of the world lives.

Kids and adults can see actual street scenes, homes, and other things like schoolrooms in different countries.

When I was shooting fill flash outside with that Nikon D100, I had to shoot at 1/180 not to see the shutter curtain.

While the cameras today are much better, I believe that no matter the camera, you can get some great photos if you know what you are doing.

Treat your neighbors like celebrities and celebrities like your neighbors.

– Anacleto Rapping

This Sunday, I lost a good friend Anacleto Rapping to colon cancer. Because of my faith in Jesus, I believe in the afterlife and heaven. I think one day we will be reunited.

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

While I will miss Anacleto, I didn’t want us to hold onto him and have him suffer in pain. Today Anacleto is no longer suffering, but I believe in the presence of God.

I met Anacleto at Southwestern Photojournalism Conference many years ago. Here is the bio we posted in 2015 when he was one of the speakers.

---

Anacleto Rapping
Los Angeles, California 

Anacleto Rapping has placed his passion for storytelling at the heart of every picture he has taken over a more than three-decade professional career.

As a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times for two decades, Rapping brought us four Presidential campaigns, five Olympic Games, three World Cup Soccer tournaments, three Academy Award shows, and countless breaking news stories and sporting events. His gift for visually capturing historic moments broadened his understanding of the world and national events. It allowed him to chronicle news events as they unfolded throughout the United States and in foreign locales such as South Africa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada.

While at the Los Angeles Times, Rapping shared three Pulitzer Prizes for team coverage in the news, and individually he received a Pulitzer nomination for his photography at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Rapping has taught and developed classes across the Brooks Institute Visual Journalism curriculum, including International Documentary, Portraiture, Sports Photography, Picture Story, and Advanced Lighting. He currently teaches photography and shoots freelance for editorial and commercial clients. Rapping continues to tell life’s stories, using his camera to portray the profound relationships between people and their environments.

Visit his website at www.arapping.com

---

One year we were both in Nashville for a college media workshop. I was covering the event, and Anacleto was helping teach.

While Anacleto was teaching, I walked up on the stage behind him, Gary Fong, and Jim Veneman to get a nice photo of the students listening to him. Well, in seconds of me coming on stage, the entire room started to laugh and look at me.

Only as Anacleto could do it, he used his soft voice to explain how he had told everyone that he had been watching me cover the event. He said at some point, Stanley is going on the stage to get some photos from behind the speakers–so watch and see when it happens.

Then, just a minute after he said this, I came from another room and walked in and up on the stage.

This is an excellent insight into how Anacleto taught. He didn’t just tell the students here is a shot list, and you do it. He taught them not just what they needed to do to cover an event, but he also led the students through the power of observation.

Anacleto also was teaching the ability to anticipate.

When I teach a long week workshop, I Skype with a few of my friends, which helps break up the teaching and reminds the students to develop friendships with other photographers.

Anacleto was one I always loved to Skype with the classes.

One of the topics that Anacleto liked to talk about was access. To get great photos, you need access. He often talked about how credentials didn’t always work all that well. He spoke about how being kind and courteous to everyone you meet will give you excellent access.

He talked about being backstage at the Oscars and how he spoke to the guards and all the people backstage during the practices. Because he had developed those friendships, those people not only let him through because they recognized him but also alerted him to things going on that made for great photos.

Anacleto loved to help others grow. I often watched Anacleto search out students at the workshops and ask to see their work. He knew they were probably too scared to ask and wanted to break that ice.

Now Anacleto wasn’t so kind as to make everyone feel like they were excellent photographers. Anacleto gave constructive criticism and asked many questions during those portfolio reviews.

Anacleto wasn’t one of those who only showed up at workshops if he was paid to be there. I saw Anacleto come to the Southwestern Photojournalism workshop almost yearly, except this past year when cancer returned.

Those students who showed Anacleto their work the previous year would find him to show him their progress. He was their mentor.

Whenever I would meet up with Anacleto, he would always take a moment and change his demeanor and ask in the most caring way I know–”How are you doing?”

I once had the privilege of hiring Anacleto to shoot the Rose Bowl for Chick-fil-A. This was the first time I saw how he worked for a client. I felt comfortable with Anacleto, and he delivered beautiful images throughout the process.

I came across this poem which Anacleto seemed to have lived by.

Life is an echo.

What you send out,
comes back.

What you sow,
you reap.

What you give,
you get.

What you see in others,
exists in you.

Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

James 1:2-5

While Hurricane Charlie or Irma may not have impacted you, you will face trials. Each of us will have a time when some test of our faith will be challenged.

I think seeing these disasters these past few weeks and watching the news gives everyone hope when you see people helping each other. That is what is lifting everyone’s spirits.

16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Hebrews 13:16

It is incredible that when you help others attain their goals and aspirations, you will often find that you met your desires. However, if you concentrate on meeting your own goals and not helping others, you seldom will achieve those goals.

Thirteen years ago, I covered both Hurricanes Charley and Ivan. Both went through Florida. Hurricane Irma had me remembering my coverage.

Seeing up close trucks and trains blown over gave me a first-hand look at the power of the winds from these hurricanes.

The other thing I saw firsthand was the destruction of the tornadoes, which are often part of the hurricane.

My job was to capture all the volunteers in the aftermath of the storms, serving meals, cleaning up, and supporting the people affected by the hurricanes.

I would go with the volunteers with chain saws to help people clear the debris around their homes and driveways.

One of the biggest things the Baptists do after the storms is set up feeding stations where the Red Cross would then pick up those meals and deliver them to the victims, the law enforcement working, and t0 other volunteers.

I have covered so many hurricanes and tornadoes through the years and each time the volunteers show up and help each other in cleaning up and getting back to the new normal.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30