Tuesday, November 10, 2009

THE COLLEGE YEARS

In 1977 I enrolled into the Forestry program at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches to study Wildlife Game Management. Three years into this degree, I discovered I had a true talent for photography when I shot a photo of a Red Phase Screech Owl and Texas Parks & Wildlife bought it for $75. I was hooked, so photography became my new major and I took all the classes Dr. Michael Roach taught at the time. He was the second man to radically change my life. Without question, one of the best Photo Profs in the U.S. Many of his students have gone on to have stellar careers in photography.

Once I had taken all his classes, I decide to change my major to Photojournalism and transferred to The University Of Texas in Austin. I learned there that you always go for it and never say no for other people. Make them tell you no. Which is why I proposed stories to top newspapers and magazines while I was still in college and landed assignments with several including Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic World Magazine, The Dallas Times Herald, and The Houston Chronicle. My last years in college were filled with regular assignments from United Press International and the top newspaper in the nation, The Dallas Times Herald. In Fact, those guys decided to hire me full time before I had graduated from college. Thank God the Dean of the College of Communications allowed me to finish my degree via mail (no internet, no email back then).

THE REAL WORLD ...coming soon

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