No one imagines that, but it’s the answer I give when folks ask what it's like to work in one. Some are louder than others, but producing a daily news product requires focus.
He also had the hopeless task of explaining the language of photography to me, and it quickly became a running joke between us that when I understood F-stops, that was proof that hell had indeed frozen over. As a snapshot novice myself, I assumed Jake needed the latest and greatest technology to keep pace in a digital world.He usually would send his camera equipment out for servicing and handled many repairs to his softboxes, butterflies and other accessories. He maintained he didn't want to waste newsroom resources on excessive equipment but vowed he would ask if he needed something.
I assumed that that would take at least half a year, given his hectic schedule and the delays in almost all government functions caused by Covid-19.He did it in under three months. Jake was now a pilot, too, of a two-pound drone and its passenger, a miniature camera. It delivered what he promised: unique vantage points of economic development in progress. His eye in the sky also demonstrated its effectiveness during breaking news events and the aftermath of destructive Texas weather.
I moved hurriedly to his desk. I did my best not to focus on the glasses he used while editing photos. Or the cast-off media passes. The lens in his locked cabinet he preferred for specific shoots. An unopened package of fruit snacks. The lone notebook documenting his daily assignments, which stopped suddenly, as if in mid-thought.