Personal pet peeve

"A student chats on the phone as she walks between Van Bokkelen Hall and the Media Center Wednesday afternoon. Students around campus are beginning to bundle up on their treks between classes. Many said they enjoy the change in temperature and scenery.

“I really like the fall and the cool weather,” junior, religious studies major Ricardo Silkworth said. “I’ve had to wait all of October for it. It took so long to get here, so it’s nice to feel the breeze in the air. I really like seeing all the leaves change color too.”"

Being subjected to find a feature image, often called a standalone here at The Towerlight, can sometimes be challenging.

Since our cover stories didn't lend themselves to visuals, today I was told I needed fill the space on the page with a fall foliage image. Not only was it to be bright, but needed to have people in it; those people hopefully being students.

The first image that came to mind was my photo from Saturday. However locating a place much as Rocks State Park would be tough to find around Towson University.

Campus doesn't lend itself to many colorful trees where students roam, so I was planning on driving around Towson trying to find some vibrant trees.

That was until I went to class this morning.

Between the two buildings I frequent the most on campus stands a beautiful tree. I don't know how I forgot about it since I pass it daily. I knew I wanted to use this tree as my focal point, but I still needed students to walk by.

Having been on the roof of the Media Center with Darnay before, I decided to venture back up. (Darnay is now a sports anchor in Kalispell, Mt. far left). I am glad I did because it provided a nice vantage point and placed me in front of the radiant tree.

I stood up on the roof for about an hour waiting for the perfect moment. Light was nice when not hiding behind clouds. The temperature was cold and the wind was strong.

Class change came and I had an abundance of students to work with.

But this is where my personal pet peeve comes into play: I couldn't identify my subjects.

While I could have tried yelling down to a student after making a picture, I doubt they could have heard me. Had they even been able to, I would have made a scene and other students would have began gazing up at me.

Why didn't I run down into the building they were entering to get names you say? Because by the time I walked across the roof to building which gained me access to my position, down the elevator, through the library and up a flight of stairs they, the students, would be gone or in class.

I know I beat myself up over something minor like this because its only happened maybe five times in my stint as photojournalist. I feel every assignment, including small ones like these, that it's vital to identify those in your images.

It's also something I stress to freshman photographers that come to the paper for the first time.

Hopefully they don't criticize me for my error and personal pet peeve.