Photo Day: Headshots in the Florida Sun

My main assignment was straightforward: shoot new head-shot photos for every intern. The challenge was to maintain consistent backgrounds and lighting outside. I found a shaded brick wall covered with leaves near the office, and spent most of Monday on it. The sun kept moving, so each setup took longer than I thought. By afternoon, everyone had a matching, well-lit portrait. After that I spent some time in Lightroom correcting exposure and color to ensure the entire set looked like it came from one mini-studio session.

Podcast retake

Mid-week, we attempted to record a solo episode with Dr. Lua Hancock. It was a short piece on why Phoenix Generation matters, as part of the mini-series. Halfway through, the main camera overheated and shut down unexpectedly. We lost some amount of footage but not a lot as we were monitoring while the camera was recording. We regrouped, checked the battery temperatures, and re-shot the missing segments. The good thing was that I liked the second take more than the first one and I know the edited video will look seamless once I put the clips together.

Polishing the Daryl Davis Interview

By Friday I was back in After Effects, cleaning up the long-form interview we shot during Courageous Conversations. Tasks included normalizing audio levels and designing a branded intro. Seeing the raw footage transform into a shareable episode reminded me why post-production might be my favorite phase – it’s when the video actually takes its final form.

Reflection

Week six was not full of events, but it sharpened my technical skills and challenged me in taking photos once more. I learned how to deal with the changing sunlight, troubleshoot an overheated camera on the fly, and keep an interview flowing in the edit. Even slow weeks here come with new problems to solve.