Thursday, March 30, 2006

Southeast Texas Wheels


Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Daniel Adams (left) and his mother Lana Adams (right) pose for a portrait at their home in Mauriceville on Wednesday, March 22, 2006. They want to start a group called Southeast Texas Wheels for paraplegics and other disabled individuals. The group will have its first meeting on March 30 (today) at North Orange Baptist Church.

4 comments:

Steve said...

Mark,

These are great shots. Are they all from stories assigned to you or have you sought them out yourself?

Mark M. Hancock said...

Portraits almost always go with a story. The portrait takes the place of an action photo when the action photo isn't a possibility. In this case, the story is a preview to a future group meeting. Since the group technically doesn't exist until the first meeting, we can only show the founders.

Steve said...

Do you have any personal feelings about working freelance vs. staff?

Mark M. Hancock said...

It's a continuum. Most folks start as low-rate freelancers. They build up their skills and equipment enough to snag a decent staff job. They move up a few levels/papers, and get tired of the low pay. So, they become high-rate freelancers. Some go back to staffers as retirement or medical expenses near.
As long as a shooter stays on the editorial side of the house, it's not a problem. When a PJ moves to the PR or deep into advertising territory, it's harder to move back into editorial (both pay and conflicts of interest).
Personally, I like being a staffer because I wake up with a sense of purpose. My purpose is to make interesting images for our readers. I'm not as happy with freelance because my purpose is to make money.
Because it's important to make a living either way, it's a subtle difference. However, I prefer to make images rather than money. As long as my bills are paid and I get an occasional key lime pie, I'm happy. :-)
I'll try to post soon about three-month budgeting.