My last 2 weeks at the paper and why I left a staff job.
This past weekend was my last at The News & Messenger, a paper I’d been a full-time staffer since November 2008. When I first started to write this, I wrote too much. Then I realized I could write this very simply: With the arrival of my first child in December, it became readily apparent that staying with the paper was no longer viable. My wife and I decided that it made the most sense for me to stay at home with the new baby and freelance. First, I don’t have to sign over my paycheck every month to a childcare center. Childcare really is that expensive…or that’s an indication of how little I got paid. Additionally, it allows me to focus on freelancing, which is where I was headed anyway (especially with the disappearance of staff jobs from the larger, more prestigious papers). I like to think I did my best while working at The News & Messenger. I know I’ve become a much better photographer, and much of that is due to daily assignment work. Here are pictures from every ...