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It was one of the busiest days in my
life and also one of the most enjoyable. It started bright and early at
8:30am (which is early for a college student on summer break) when I woke
up to get to the city of Placerville, CA by 10am to work on a story for
Discover Magazine. The Magazine was doing a feature story on that part
of California and I was sent to photograph an old Gold Mine and new junior
college campus. I hurried back to Sacramento around 1pm, grabbing fast
food on Interstate-50 back into town.
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Pat Cook, Chairman of the
Board of Hangtown's Gold Bug Park, exits the Gold Bug Mine on August
26, 1999 in Placerville, CA. |
I had until 2:30 to get the film processed and scanned, but that didnąt
happen. I had to leave to get to The Sacramento Bee by 3:00, after scanning
just one picture. Fortunately the deadline for the photographs wasnąt
until the next week.
| Throughout the week I was contracted to work for the
Bee on the photographic coverage team for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships
at Arco Arena in Sacramento. I started at 3:00pm and finished around
10:30 after all the competition was over. l love working those events.
The team atmosphere was great with several photographers, editors,
director of photography, and myself working the event. Iąve played
sports my whole life and I love playing on teams. |
Vanessa Atler flips during her balance beam
routine practice before competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships
at Arco Arena in Sacramento, CA. |
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My main responsibility was to drive film back to the Bee at three
intervals throughout the evening. Secondary responsibilities were
to assist photographers on the floor, which included getting caption
information, lugging around equipment, scouting out angles, and
anything else Randy Pench or Bryan Patrick (the two photographers)
needed taken care of. I was on constant contact with the photo desk
and Randy and Bryan via a Nextel digital cellular phone/2-way radio
(GREAT tool for a photojournalist). It was hard work but I loved
every minute of it. I would find ten minutes here and there to shoot
for myself as well.
When gymnastics ended at 10:30 I was ready to head home,
but my evening was long from over. I headed straight to the University
of California, Davis Medical Centerąs Emergency Room.
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Jay Thornton flips during his routine on the parallel
bars at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Arco Arena in Sacramento,
CA.
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Throughout the summer I worked on a photo essay on the medical students
who work 12-hours shifts in the E.R. for no pay. Its has definitely been
a learning experience and I have to admit I am disappointed with the essay.
I had visions of gunshot wounds, multiple vehicle accidents, and general
mayhem that the students had to navigate and asses. What I found was stitches,
chest pains, and broken bones. Those kind of patients rarely make for
exciting photographs, but nevertheless that was the reality and I was
there to report it. On this particular night, I was hoping for more action
because it was a full-moon which supposedly coincides with more activity
in the E.R. Nada. The E.R. on that night at 1:00 am looked the same to
me as it did the Tuesday before at 1:00 p.m. It was that night which convinced
me to switch my story from showing the action that the students go through
which I had envisioned, to showing their relatively mundane responsibilities
that characterized the job. The essay will be published on the first day
of school at U.C. Davis on September 30th.
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An elderly woman is unable to hold back her emotions
after learning her husband, who was having a psychotic episoide,
could not be admitted because he had no medical problem. (Photo
© Joe Jaszewski) 8/26/99
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UC Davis medical student Ethan Hollander
studies X-Rays of a patent in the reading room of the UC Davis Medical
center E.R. (Photo © Joe Jaszewski)
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I think I fell asleep at 3:00 am that night. All told it
was nearly 15 hours of work straight that day. And I'll be darned
it I didnąt have a blast.
UCD Medical Student Lisa Swensson checks a patent
who came into the UCDMC ER complaining of headaches and irregular
heart rythms. Photo © Joe Jaszewski
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