Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog! This summer I was interested in doing an internship to explore different career paths. This blog explores career management and how to be professional in the work place.

I am a senior at Sir Francis Drake High School who is very interested in the arts. I was given a link to http://www.sacred-land-photography.com/ and was inspired by the work. Not long after that I started my internship. The above picture is myself on location for taking photos. Not only do I get to learn about the business and art of being a photographer, but I get professional hands on experience using my camera.

The following blogs show my journey through the internship.

My Resume

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also please email if interested in references

Internship Description

At this internship I get the opportunity to explore my creative side. Below you can see me participating in different aspects of the interview. One portion of the internship is what I call taking field trips. During this time, my supervisor and I get to walk around taking photos. For example we went to the plaza in downtown San Rafael to see the art installations there. We also went to the Italian Street Painting Festival and the San Rafael Twilight Bike Rice. These were all fun opportunities to put my camera knowledge to work.

The other aspect of this internship is learning to work in the studio. Below you can also see me setting up the studio lights and taking photos of my own work. As I learned it is not as simple as it looks. I learned to set my custom white balance with a gray card, set up the studio lights, adjust my umbrellas, and check the light meter. After taking the photos I learned some new computer skills in Expression Media and Photoshop to further enhance my photos.

Along with these two main things I also attend studio art walks and openings, keep the studio clean, and chat with artists or prospective business.

Organization Overview and Culture

My internship is based out of Art Works Downtown, located on 4th Street in San Rafael. This 1/2 city block Art Center hosts over 40 studio artists, a gallery, classrooms, artist lofts, jewelry guild storefront, and art events since 1998. Cindy is one of the founding artists of Art Works Downtown. For more information visit: http://www.artworksdowntown.org/.

I work with a photographer named Cindy Pavlinac. She teaches individual photography in her studio, hosts interns, and photographs artwork for artists. Besides framing fine art photography and digital photo composites, her studio contains fused glass and assemblage.

"I specialize in images which convey the beauty, mystery, and power of place. I work on location throughout Europe and North America photographing ancient sanctuaries and modern expressions of the sacred. Since my first photo exhibit in 1974 my fine art photography has been collected, won awards, and appeared in over 800 publications. I produce multimedia presentations featuring historic and prehistoric sites, rock art and labyrinths. I am an independent multimedia producer, content provider, and creative consultant. My Labyrinths of Spirit and Grace Image Library and photography of historic and prehistoric sites provides editorial, rights managed stock photos for publication, print, web, and AV production. I also design book covers and CD artwork for authors and musicians."

- http://www.linkedin.com/in/cindypavlinac

In her free time Cindy also photographs Merlin, her Austrailian Shepard, for her travel blog. This blog was a finalist for a travel blog competition:

http://merlinsroadtrip.blogspot.com/

Career Path to Top

Being a photographer means photographing anything: people, places, or commercial products. This also may include developing negatives, printing, or using photoshop or other digital programs. Right now the photographic industry is going digital, so it is important to know how to use a camera, all the equipment, and a computer as well.

To become a photographer one should have some type of art degree and be a self-starter. Artists usually work for themselves so they need to be able to find jobs and clients and manage their own affairs. It is really helpful to be a problem solver, both artistically and with clients. In addition, other skills needed to be a successful photographer are observation, creativity, stamina, flexibility, and active listening and learning.


There is no real "career ladder" for this job, you should just have as much experience as possible in a single focus or a wide range. So three steps to attaining this job are formal school training and a degree, experience, and then more experience. In high school I recommend taking photography and just taking photos everywhere. Some top photography colleges in California are: the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (estimated annual tuition of $18,225) and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara (estimated annual tuition of about $35,000).

According to Cindy Pavlinac of Art Works Downtown the best thing about being a photographer is being your own boss and sharing your art with the world. As an artist you can choose your own focus and not have a “typical career path" and there is so much room for creativity. The worst part is: being your own boss and lack of steady income. The average wage for this position ranges from $19,822 for entry level workers and $60,882 for experienced workers.

To read more about this field you can look at asmp.org (American Society of Media Photographers) go to museums, find gallerys, and view powerful images. A good local place to get information is Art Works Downtown in San Rafael. One of the photographers there is Cindy Pavlinac, my supervisor.



To find out about jobs for this industry you can post your resume online, join organizations such as ASMP, or join an art center. But mostly you have to find jobs yourself through references or word of mouth.

As a last word of advice from Cindy Pavlinac: keep true to your own vision, develop and protect it.



(information from: http://www.cacareerzone.org/flash/profile.html?onetSoc=27-4021.00&clusterId=ONET2 and http://www.linkedin.com/in/cindypavlinac)

How My Internship Fits/Does Not Fit My Future

This internship fits my career path because no matter what I want to do something involving the arts. I am very interested in using my creative ideas and abilities to send messages. To me that is much more inspiring than a block of words. Below is an example of an art piece I photographed in the studio. I think those skills will be very helpful to me for when I need to market my work.

This internship showed me the reality of becoming an artist: it is not only art but a lot of business. I think this is something I can do. It also takes a lot of work to establish one's self, but from my internship I have learned that it is possible. Although I may not want to become an artist and have a studio, like Cindy, I know that art will always be important to me and whatever career I choose.

Advice To New Interns

The best advice I can give to a new intern is to take action. Your supervisor wants someone who is interested. An internship should be a collaborative experience where you think of projects for yourself to do and not just listen to what your supervisor has to say. Because most internships are unpaid, you only get out of it what you really make of it, so stay interested!

Always be courteous and business-like, because wherever you intern know that these people are having you here as a favor. Always stay on top of things and don't let yourself get bored doing a tedious job. There may be tedious jobs to do in your internship, but while you do those think of other more exciting projects to do.

But the bottom line is, you must still think of this as a real job: dress appropriately, arrive on time, be helpful, and have fun!