Lame Duck Session (plus addendum)

Well, folks, I finally did it. Today I turned in my final portfolio at school. The quarter goes on until right before Christmas, but my other classes are just electives. This was the final photography project at school I'll ever do. I've spent the last two years working up to this afternoon, and as I handed it over to my adviser, this bizarre feeling washed over me. It was part relief, part nausea. I felt like I'd just delivered a baby after a two year pregnancy. Since January 2006 I've been working toward and have had my laser sights set on one singluar long-term goal: Portfolio. That effort culminated in my submission today. My goal has been achieved. Mission accomplished. Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

Instantly, as the black aluminum case left my hands, I felt... lost.

What now?

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Ok, so I got the phone call this afternoon from my adviser: my portfolio passed. You need 15 pieces to get the "thumbs up" for the whole shmear to pass, and two of my seventeen didn't make it. One was a three panel series of the tree sculptor. That didn't surprise me... it was a rebellious risk taken on my part to demonstrate my commercial/editorial side. But the one of Brian posing in his hockey gear failed... that caught me off guard. Still, there's no ego bruising on this end. I broke multiple rules with that one, and they dinged me for it. Fuck it. I'm proud as hell of that shot, and nobody is going to convince me otherwise, dammit.

I rule, and you know it.

I passed, ergo, I graduate. Andy is happy, and fast on his way to an AAS in Photographic Technology, Majoring in General Applied Photography. Or, in layman's terms: "Jack of All Trades."

Flexibility. It's a beautiful thing in this miniscule local market.