In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Reward.”

In this recent blogging adventure I’ve taken up, I discovered that the Word Press peeps have a weekly photo challenge, with a new topic posted every Friday on The Daily Post. Well, hot damn and game on! I’m in!

This weeks challenge was “Reward.”

I thought instantly of an old photo I took when I worked for Pioneer Press, I believe it was the Cary-Grove Countryside. The assignment was to cover a grade school spelling bee. Here’s something to know about these types of assignments. This is when you end up using a few of the required “talents” of photojournalists. Patience being the key one and the ability to capture the “moment” when it occurs, and it usually occurs quickly (if at all.) I was lucky.

This photo made me think of reward for two reasons.

First off, the obvious.  The day was full of rewards for this little lady. A trophy, congratulations from classmates, teachers, her family and friends. A HUGE squeeze-the-bageebees-out-of-her size hug from her siblings and mother. She was the winner!

The second reason was the reward for me. I am not always the most patient person. And many many times a photojournalist may wait to very end of a long game, a debate, a board meeting, (insert very boring long thing here,) and there’s no “reward.” There’s no emotion. There’s no cheering or jeering or even a Wooha. Everyone packs up, says good bye, and leaves. And you want to shout “HEY!!! Can’t you all just high five or something?! I’ve been here since the beginning!!!” And the photograph you are left with at the end of this event isn’t quite what you had hoped.

The photograph I ended up with at this event, was better than I had hoped. Reward for her, reward for me. Not a bad day.