Any Given Monday

Government-issued equipment, moments that could never be repeated, and the technical knowledge that earned people’s trust.

On any given Monday, I could walk into a room knowing the moment I was there to photograph might happen only once.

It could be a retirement ceremony, a promotion, or another occasion that represented years of someone’s life and work. The lighting might be terrible. I might be the only photographer available. Whatever I found when I arrived, the expectation was the same: get the picture, and get it right.

The event was going to move forward. My camera had to be ready. I had to be ready.

That was my daily life as a professional photographer and media producer in government environments. I spent years as a photographer at the Pentagon. At the Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., my work covered photography, video production, podcast editing and engineering, and other media. What I want to talk about is what that work required of me, and how technical ability became the reason people trusted me to do it.

Backup to the backup

I didn’t start as the lead photographer in either place. The running joke was that I was the backup to the backup. I could laugh about that. I was fine with where I started, because I knew my technical ability was being evaluated from day one. Every assignment was another chance for people to see what I could do.

By the time I arrived, I was already a technically strong photographer. I took pride in understanding cameras and lighting well enough to recognize a problem, make an adjustment, and keep working.

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