Why I Learned Photo *After* Video & a Look at My Multimedia Journey

I have a bit of a secret. Well, okay, not a secret, but a bit of information to share that might surprise some of you readers.

Did you know I learned how to shoot a good photo long after I learned how to shoot and edit a good video? It's true! Most people learn photography first and then venture into videography, but for me, it was the opposite.

Before you say, "Well wait, Sandi. That can't be true. You surely took photos before you ever took videos!" Let me be clear: Sure, I played around with a camera and shot stills before I shot video, but I would say I became skilled at shooting and editing video before I became skilled at shooting photos. Savvy?

See, when I started my undergraduate studies at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs back in 2009, video was hot, and I wanted to do what was hot. So, I enrolled in the Introduction to Digital Media class (as the only freshman in the class, mind you!) and got a crash course in video production from the awesome Chhayal Mehta.

After an awesome semester with Chhayal, I was totally in love with video production and worked really hard the following year (2010) to improve my shooting and editing skills by interning at KPRC Local 2 (Houston NBC affiliate), working for the GW Hatchet on their inaugural video team and shooting several pro-bono videos for non-profits.

Fast forward six (ugh, I'm old!) years later, and I'm doing video production professionally for the USO.

Sure, I'm not the best video shooter and editor ever -- I still have a ton to learn [for reals, it took me several years of work to go from this (shot/edited in college)...

... to this (shot/edited this year)...]

...but video production, the whole process, never seemed like a daunting task. Video production has always been a fun challenge for me!

Photography wasn't always as much fun as it is now...

I remember looking at my DSLR in college and being totally baffled at the concept of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. In video... you can kinda get a way with not understanding all of that for a while, especially if you are a strong editor. Photography? No way.

Even after I took a proper still photography class my junior year, it took me several years (read: until recently) for me to become equally confident in my still photography skills.

Now, I love both photo and video production -- for very separate reasons, they are so different-- but video was, and will always be (I think!), my first creative "love" and where I am most comfortable working as a visual storyteller.

Looking back, I'll admit, it would have been easier to learn how to shoot photos first (and, consequently learn a bit more about lighting/framing/how cameras work), but honestly, I wouldn't change a thing about my multimedia learning process.

Jetting Around For USO Stories: Part 1, NYC

I forgot how much I loved traveling for work. Seeing new places, meeting new people, being out of the office -- it's one of the many things that makes my job at the USO so wonderful.

But until last week, for nearly half of 2015, I hadn't had the opportunity to travel beyond the DC metro area to report a story since 2014. Needless to say, when my boss asked me if I could hit the road for a week to capture stories in NYC and Fort Leonard Wood, MO, I was more than ready to pack my bags and get back into the field.

I started off my marathon work travel week in NYC, where, in addition to capture a video story and writing a blog about OTMD, the adult leg of the USO Operation That's My Dress program, I got to spend time with my friend Tara, who I met playing softball at GW.

In addition to hanging out with her and her fiance on Friday night, the Saturday before I had to work, we wandered around Brooklyn for a bit, which I had never done before.

I even got to introduce Tara to another one of my close friends who lives in NYC during dinner on Saturday evening, which made me really happy.

Sidenote; I'm a big believer that, if my work schedule allows it, I should always try to squeeze in time to grab dinner or a drink with friends, colleagues or acquaintances who live in the area I'm visiting. It really makes work trips seem like much more than a plane trip and another night in a hotel room, savvy?

Anyway, back to the weekend. On Sunday, after a wonderful first half of the weekend with friends, I put on my working shoes on and headed the USO's launch of OTMD, the adult leg of the USO Operation That's My Dress program. Basically OTMD, along with its sister program, provides women in the military and military spouses a special day of pampering and fashion where they get to select and take home a FREE designer gown of their choice. Think Sherri Hill, Ralph Lauren and Ann Taylor -- for FREE! How cool is that?

To give you a better idea of what the program is all about, take a look at the video I shot and put together about the day. It'll put things into perspective.

Anyway, after shooting the video and having a ball at OTMD, I headed back to Penn Station to travel back to Washington, D.C. so I could jump on the next leg of my travel week adventure...

--The Prof: A Eulogy to Professor Mike Shanahan

Death is hard, always.

A few weeks ago, a dear mentor and friend of mine, Mike Shanahan passed away. He was an amazing professor, mentor, friend, father and husband known and loved by many.

I was honored to speak at the George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs celebration of his life event this past Saturday, and wrote these remarks.

I think in life we know some people will die. Friends. Family members. Parents. But nobody prepares you to say goodbye to your mentors. So I did the best I could.

Good morning everyone. For those of you who don’t already know me, I’m Sandi Moynihan, and I was a student of Professor Shanahan's from 2009 to 2013, but I’ve been lucky to have had a really special friendship with The Prof for more than just the four years I was a student at GW.

At SMPA, our professors train us to tell stories for a living about politics, science or whatever interests us most. But besides teaching us how to be storytellers, whether they know it or not, they also leave us with stories about them.

I still remember the first time I met Professor Shanahan. I was a junior in high school and was visiting GW on a softball recruiting trip (I played for the Colonials). Because nobody on the team had ever graduated from SMPA, the coach arranged a informational meeting with me, my mom and a “well-known SMPA professor” — who just happened to be Professor Shanahan.

I don’t remember anything specific about what we talked about, but what I do remember is leaving the SMPA conference room feeling like Professor Shanahan was somebody that I really wanted to get to know during my time at GW, whether he liked it or not. Lucky him.

As fate would would have it, in my freshman year, Professor Shanahan was assigned to be my academic advisor and our relationship and friendship, albeit initially forced, began.

I can’t really put my finger on why Professor Shanahan and I hit it off so well  — maybe it’s because I reminded him of his daughter, Claire, who also played college sports. Or maybe it’s because I was a pest and just kept showing up in his office. But over four years, fifteen minute required advising meetings about schedules and course selections became impromptu 45 minute conversations about everything and anything.

Not many professors would be willing to let you drop in on them in the middle of a busy day and talk about personal day-to-day things, like how your softball coach was driving you crazy, or how you can’t figure out the right lede in to a story or you how you really missed your mom’s cooking — but Professor Shanahan did. I think that most of his students will agree that he really took joy in making us all feel important, especially when we needed it the most.

Like many other students before me, I feel privileged that Professor Shanahan took a special and personal interest in me and made me feel at home in his little office when I was so far away from my family.

For me, Professor Shanahan was more than just a professor or adviser - he was a mentor, a father figure, a friend.

One of my favorite memories of Professor Shanahan didn’t happen in the classroom or his office or anywhere near SMPA, but actually at the GW softball field. In my junior year, when I had decided that I was going to graduate a term early and therefore ending my softball career after three seasons, Professor Shanahan promised me that he would come and watch one of my last games, and he did.

My family happened to be in town to watch me play that weekend too, and I told my dad that he should introduce himself to Professor Shanahan at the beginning of the game. 

While I expected the two of them to chat for a few minutes at best, what I didn’t expect was to look up in the middle of the fifth inning, almost an hour into my game, and see the both of them were standing together on the outfield fence, talking away. Seeing my dad talking to Professor Shanahan, who I sometimes called my DC-dad, kind of made me feel like everything had come full circle. My dad still talks about the conversation that he had with Professor Shanahan that afternoon, and how much he enjoyed talking to one of my mentors and a fellow father who understands what it’s like to raise a house full of girls.

It hasn’t really sunk in that I won’t see another email signed by the Prof pop up in my inbox, or spend a long two hour lunch chatting with him about my career, our families, or whatever. I’ll really miss Professors Shanahan’s warm smile, his wise advice and the witty sense of humor I grew to love so much — and I’m sure I’m not the only one of his students who feels this way. 
 
Professor Shanahan influenced so many young lives during his time at GW, and while he might not longer physically be with us, his spirit will surely live on in his family, friends and all the students that he taught.

Thank you.