2009 Summer Internship Bloggers

   

Blog Installment #2

July 1, 2009
By Travis Beck


I've been an intern over a month now and can say confidently that I'm learning. Shooting assignments daily and getting critiqued from veteran photographers is essential to growing as a photojournalist. I always have the option of emailing my photos and not going into the office but what sense does that make if I want to learn from my peers?

California is great as could be expected -- weather, beaches and bikini-wearing babes are always nice. But so is cheap gas, clean air and water.

I've shot a variety of photos for news, sports and features assignments. The features always prove to be the most interesting. I've been updating my photo blog regularly, and invite all of you to check it out and tell me what you think: http://travisbeck.blogspot.com. My blog goes into detail about each photo assignment and the photos are self explanatory.

So many blogs and so little time
I'll try to stay more consistent with my updates, but I'm also maintaining a journal that's approaching 25,000 words so my time is definitely being put to good use.

When I'm not editing photos or on assignment, I'm eating cheap fish tacos and sipping beer, playing Frisbee at the beach, or trying to do something else productive — like reading and writing.

I went mountain biking for the first time since we don't have mountains in Nebraska. I nearly had a heart attack — it was so intense. I wore a helmet but had to jump off my bike downhill a few times to avoid spinning out of control over the side of the cliff.

I've been to L.A. twice and attended a massive concert at the USC coliseum. People live more intense lives out here, it seems. The culture is less cohesive than Nebraska -- everything is more expensive here. Because I hardly know anyone out here I usually tag along for the ride, which has proved entertaining and worthwhile every time. It's easy to spend too much money, which you can do anywhere, but especially here in Orange County.

Until next time.