Photo Editing
Knob noster
Knob Noster is small town located between Columbia and Kansas City that is home to Whiteman Air Force Base, the home of the B2 Stealth Bomber. When the war in Iran broke out, the base became much more active. We decided to send a photographer to spend time in the town to see how the community felt about the conflict and their town’s role in it.
This assignment required a few trips in order to develop the story. I worked with the photographers and other editors to find places that the community would gather and also reflect the military influence in the town. I worked closely with photographers to select photos that would reflect the town accurately.
MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships
The Missouri State High School Activity Association’s State Wrestling Championships took place at Mizzou Arena over the weekend of February 27-28. The tournament welcomes teams from all over the state for a chance to compete for a chance to be the best.
I worked closely with the photographer over the weekend so that we could document all the action, on and off the mat. The photographer was adept at getting the peak action on the mat but I encouraged him to look for photos in the peripherals and to focus on documenting relationships (between wrestlers, coaches, parents, etc.) and emotions.
Columbia city council ward 5 election
Columbia City Council’s Ward 5 election took place on April 8. To cover this story we sent a photographer to each of the two candidates’ watch parties to document their reaction’s to the results. In an upset result, challenger Christina Hartman defeated incumbent Don Waterman.
Before the photographers left to cover the events, I walked them through what the night was going to look like. I coached them about shooting in a low-light, chaotic environment and the importance of capturing the key moment of when the election was called. In addition, that night we had an early print deadline. This required the photographers and myself to work under pressure quickly but accurately. In the end, we were able to capture some great photos of both victory and defeat.
Veteran artist
This story focused on veteran and artist John Schneider who is also the arts collection manager at the State Historical Society of Missouri. Schneider recently designed and contributed to a new exhibit, W[A]RN AND TRANSFORMED. Schneider said that he uses art as a way to cope with his experience being in the military and has helped heal him psychologically.
I worked with the photographer and reporter of this story to map out a plan to tell the story of John’s mental health journey and his relationship with art in a visual way. We eventually decided on documenting him working on one of his daily paintings. The photographer ended up spending a few hours with him alone in the gallery as he sketched and painted a few of the displays. This allowed the photographer to connect and learn more about John and document him in his element.