Henry Powderly

Nostalgia and New Paltz

Henry E. Powderly II — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:27:59 +0000

Had an interesting trip last week back to New Paltz, New York, the town where I went to college and eventually met my wife. The memories of that place are too great to go into here, but it was pretty wonderful to walk down the same streets I used to but now with my children.

My wife and I had an interesting conversation in the car about nostalgia, obviously brought on by seeing the old haunts of past. She asked why nostalgia was so sad, and I said I thought it’s not really sadness that a person experiences in that pause brought on by nostalgia. Rather, since simultaneously it brings up memories of the past and an instant emotional inventory of who you are now, and where you are now, versus where you were then, or how you got from then to now, and so many other feelings that it sort of overloads the soul, causing that quiet you get when you’re feeling nostalgic. It’s so much packed into one moment that it makes you still, which though it might seem sad, is just an honest processing of all things considered.

Anyway, I took pictures via Hipstamatic on the iPhone. Seventy-five Main Street is the building I used to live in.

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Light, Eyes and the Cross

Henry E. Powderly II — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:04:52 +0000

Seemed like Good Friday would be a good day to post these, not because there was any religious intention when I took them, but because the cross pattern that resulted is eerily spiritual.

I took these by putting a long cardboard tube, with a square-shape opening, up against the lens of the iPhone and took a few photos of my daughter.

The results are intriguing.

In Bermuda, A Tree Grows Through a Church

Henry E. Powderly II — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:07:01 +0000

My interest in vacant buildings came out on my summer trip to Bermuda, when I caught this empty church on the side of the road on a scooter trip into Hamilton.

Check it out, trees are actually growing through the building of this, the former Faith Tabernacle Church.

The Boats of Bermuda

Henry E. Powderly II — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:09:32 +0000

This latest gallery from my trip to Bermuda focuses an the assortment of boats I saw in the pristine turquoise waters of the island paradise.

My favorites were the two tugboats stationed in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Faithful and Powerful. There’s definitely a poem in that.

10 Tips for Getting a Job in Journalism

Henry E. Powderly II — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:37:17 +0000

Last week I was part of a really great panel discussion at the Society for Professional Journalists Region 1 Spring Conference with Newsday reporter Bill Bleyer and Fox CT television reporter Alison Morris on scoring a job in journalism. It’s something I can talk about having hired or participated in hiring dozens of journalists for Patch.com on Long Island.

While each panel member had different points of focus, the result of the discussion was a great checklist that journalists looking for a new job (or a first job) should find valuable. So here is a handy list of points made by myself or my colleagues on the panel.

1. An objective statement is a plus, but just a phrase, please. Bill made a great point, that sometimes resumes end up in a pile, only to be revisited later when the hiring manager may have forgotten what job you were applying for. A simple phrase as an objective statement up top, such as “Business beat reporter” can immediately spark the ir memory. The flip side: A long rambling objective statement can turn off the reader before they’ve even gotten to your experience.

2. Don’t bury the lede, put your news experience up top. Career counselors may tell you that your education should be listed above your work experience, but in the case of a journalism job, hiring editors want to see your news experience first since in this profession especially it’s the on-the-job training that shapes journalists most. List your education under your experience.

3. Of course reporters interview sources and meet tight deadlines. Avoid listing the obvious when you are describing your work history. Focus on achievements, special projects and awards.

4. At this point, Microsoft Office is not a skill you need to list. It’s expected that you know how to create docs, spreadsheets and presentations. Listing Google Office could be helpful since its collaborative, could-based elements are a bit more vanguard and are being implemented by businesses.

5. Social media is more than a skill. Your Twitter and Facebook pages are how you interact with the world publicly online. Listing your URLs near your contact info makes it clear that you see the value.

6. Obviously, no typos. Enough said.

7. Write everywhere you can. This is especially true if you’re just starting out. Having been the editor of your campus newspaper is a great thing, but the minute you enter the “real world” realm of journalism all of your new experience immediately trumps what you did on campus. Lead with your internships, freelance gigs, entry-level news jobs and if you need clips be tireless in your quest to build them up.

8. If you’re Webby, show me. If you want to work for a digital medium, make sure you can show the hiring manager how you fit in with the other Web-heads out there. That means going beyond an active Facebook and Twitter feed. Do you blog? Run a Tumblr, have a YouTube page? You don’t need to participate in every single platform, but at least know about them and how you think they fit into the realm of journalism.

9. For broadcast applicants, your video says it all. Allison explained how important video clips are for scoring a broadcast job. The energy and clarity in how you deliver news on camera needs to be polished.

10. But when it comes down to it, passion seals the deal. Interestingly all three of us on the panel described how often we knew after only talking to a job applicant for five minutes that we’d give them the job. That’s because their passion always came through, because they spoke with excitement about past assignments or lit up when they discussed the myriad ideas they had for the position. Journalism is in a tough spot. Print media is fading as readers move online while Web news companies are still adjusting their business plans to be able to fund news organizations without the hefty print ad money. It takes passion to push this industry into its next chapter, and those who are doing the hiring know that.

Getting Artistic With Vacancies

Tree Fungi Patterns, Black, White and Wonderful

Henry E. Powderly II — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:42:13 +0000

I love these photos.

An old tree on my property is home to several semi-circle tree fungi, a common thing in this area. But a few close-up photos reprocessed in black-and-white and the patterns here are just great.

Blur your vision a little, focus on the patterns and the shadows, and the fungi are lost.

It’s Spring 2012, So Here Are Some Pretty Flowers

Henry E. Powderly II — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:24:44 +0000

Last week was a treat. Long 70-degree days in March brought intense spring fever and coaxed the early spring flowers up from the ground.

A few years ago, you couldn’t stop me from shooting pictures of spring flowers. But after I downloaded these, which I like, I think I realize I’m interested is photographing different things now. So it may be some time before you see a flower gallery again.

A Hike Through the Nature Preserve

Henry E. Powderly II — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:31:59 +0000

This is a recent discovery of mine, which is a little embarrassing to admit since it’s only 3 miles down the road, the David Weld Sanctuary in Nissequogue. It’s a tight loop of trails that runs along the North Shore, skimming the bluffs of the Long Island Sound and winding through vine-laden woods. Interestingly, the trails of the preserve, run by The Nature Conservancy, are only a few feet behind the backyards of many of the estates located in this tony area. I recently shot these photos for a quick gallery featured on Smithtown Patch, though some of them are so nice I’m choosing to feature them here as well.

I’m hoping to use this nature preserve more, to hike, to bike, maybe jog or at least take my girls for a walk.

A Journey In the South

Henry E. Powderly II — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:58:51 +0000

So here are the remaining photos I have from my recent trip to Georgia. There are some good ones there of Lake Oconee and the Ritz-Carlton, but I only used the iPhone so the non-Hipstamatic ones came out just so-so. A few Aperture filters added some depth to them, but looking at them now I can see clearly that there is no replacement for my DSLR.

From now on, I’ll most likely only take Hipstamatic photos with my iPhone.

Enjoy the pics.

Self Portrait With Beard

Henry E. Powderly II — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:21:26 +0000

My daughter told me this morning that I need to shave my beard, so I figured I’d immortalize it first.

I will try to renegotiate with her tonight.

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