Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Two
So, back in the ring for another day at The Herald / Evening Times offices. Today was a somewhat quieter day... I arrived at ten again, but didn't do anything until about 1pm, which wasn't fantastic. I think it's just the luck of the draw really, and will be like that for the upcoming week and a bit. The only job in the morning was a death knock (where a writer and photographer rock up to the family home of a recently deceased person, and ask if their relatives fancy a chat, and to have a photo taken of them), but that's obviously quite sensitive, and not something a work experience tag-along fits well with.
After a spectacular Boots meal deal (£2.99 for a big sandwich, crisps, and two bottles of lucozade - bargain!), I tagged along with one of the staffers who was going to shoot photos for a story at an animal shelter. Essentially, the Cardonald SSPCA shelter has got loads of cats in at the moment - a situation that reminds me of that Match.com advert that's on telly right now - and he needed to get some images of the aforementioned felines. On arrival, we weren't allowed in the cattery, which is certainly a barrier when you need photos of cats, but after a bit of chatter, that was reversed, and we were in business.
I've grown up around cats, as my dad's a vet, and as I had a pet mog as a child, so I was quite happy to shoot away with some of the wee beasts on my own, while the photographer with me went off to do some setups with a staff member, which I helped with a little (jangling keys to get a cat to pay attention, for instance). My cat stuff was much more candid (how pretentious does that sound...), as I was just snapping away by myself, but I got a few I was quite happy with. Following on from yesterday, it was interesting to see how the staff photographer was shooting his set-up shots, which did a good job of illustrating the story - although in this case, I felt that the animals in their cages were also pretty engaging subject matter.
Shoot over, we headed back to the office, after abandoning a vox pop shoot on the way to Paisley (rain stopped play, thank god. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be less in the pissing rain). On opening my laptop, I was greeted with the sight of just how fucked my laptop is, as the crack in the display has crept right into the middle of the screen, rendering it about 1/3 useless in the bottom right. Time for a replacement, or perhaps a new screen, if I can find one at a decent price. We'll see if any of my National Champs DH pics make the cut before that decision is made...
So, tomorrow might be a manic day, or another mellow session of crossword based lucozade consumption in the office. Who knows. Oh, one more thing - my six vox pops from yesterday made the Evening Times, but they managed to credit the wrong photographer. I think that's a semi-result at least...
