I should feel a little old today. As Tanya posted to the blog earlier today, we went to my 25th class reunion last night. It was good to see people I have not seen in years. I went to Skyline High School in Dallas. Skyline opened in 1971 and was the first Magnet school in the US.
If you are wondering what a magnet school is, it is a school that offers regular curriculum as well as concentrated programs of study that you attend for three hours a day. We had an airplane hanger for airframe and power plant study. A greenhouse for horticultural studies (my sister Venetia studied there) a TV studio, printing, art, architecture, cosmetology… you get the idea. It was a great concept and I learned so much there.
Want to guess what I studied for three hours a day? Well, my original plan was to take still photography my first two years and cinematography my last 2 years. Yes, I wanted to do film and be a cinematography/director. I fell in love with still photography and I haven’t looked back. Needless to say, I skipped the cinematography program and continued with photography for my last 2 years. In those last 2 years I was on yearbook and newspaper staff as a photographer and I was co-photo editor my last year.
Almost everyone that I talked to last night, that was not a close friend, remembered me for always having a camera in hand and taking photos. Not a bad thing since we had a yearbook there to look at the memories from 25 years ago.
Having my camera with me paid off one morning as I was driving to school and came across a car/school bus accident. I took photos and then processed the film when I got to school. My yearbook teacher, Mrs. Babb, encouraged me to take my photos to the Dallas Morning News so I drove to the newspaper with my negatives and they printed several photos and got all my contact info. The next morning my photo was in the Dallas Morning News. I was very excited and got a check for $35 several days later. So far, it is my only photo in a major newspaper. I had already shot several weddings at the time so it was not my first paying job, but was still very exciting. How’s that for a walk down memory lane – thank goodness I don’t feel old!
Tcuss
