About Alan Carrol

My name is Alan Carroll and I'm a little out of my element writing a bio for a website like this. Pardon me if I ramble a little (nerves mostly).

I am a 37-year-old Communication Arts major/Journalism minor at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. I started shooting for newspapers while at high school in Ankeny, Iowa. I did the standard high school paper/yearbook photographer jobs, but really had fun in my senior year. It was then that I talked my way into a job as a stringer (of sorts) for the Lake County Tribune, a weekly wrapper to the Des Moines Register/Tribune. All I did was go out and get mug shots of the area high school athletes, but I had a blast. I had one photo spread of our high school basketball team at the state tournament published in the weekly, and that was enough to hook me for good.

My career path soon took a left turn and I spent the next 13 years in the US Air Force (long story). My duties ranged from firefighting to criminal investigations, with a 3-year stint on a Secret Service type protective detail in Europe. I was lucky enough to live in Europe for 6 years (3 in Spain/3 in Germany) and traveled extensively during this time. After getting out of the Air Force in '92, I settled in Rapid City, SD, where I roamed through several jobs, just enjoying life. I managed to get an AAS degree in Computer Aided Drafting and to start-up and run a computer graphics/digital imaging business in my spare time. In January of '97, I decided it was time to get back to school and get the "official degree." I sold everything that wouldn't fit in a dorm room, packed up what was left and headed north to Spearfish and Black Hills State University. In addition to my class load (easy) and dealing with living on a campus where I was on the average 15-17 years senior to my classmates (hard), I got the bug to start shooting photos. I hunted down the editor of on the campus newspaper, the BHSU Today, and volunteered to work. In the Fall of '97, I was promoted to the photo editor and computer systems manager positions, as well as hired on as a photographer for the BHSU Media Relations office. I still hold these positions today.

In January of '98, I was approached to become a sports photo stringer for the Black Hills Pioneer, a tabloid p.m. daily which covers the Spearfish area. The following May, the Rapid City Journal picked me up as a stringer to shoot for both their Northern Hills Journal weekly and the daily paper. The Northern Hills Journal covers a three county area (Lawrence, Meade and Butte counties) in the Northern Black Hills region.

That is me in a nutshell. This past summer shooting for the Journal has been my best education in photojournalism to date. I have developed a strong appreciation for "community journalism," and how our photos play into the lives of our readers. Regards

Alan's Web site