I'VE FINALLY GOT IT!!!!

Ok, well after two failed satellite live shots one because the generator went out on me due to over heating and the other live shot I could not find the satellite due to my elevation was off and I was on (V)vertical instead of (H)horizontal to access Galaxy 17(the satellite my station uses for live shots) I finally had a successful live satellite shot. It all happened when I supposed to perform a microwave live shot for our 5 pm newscast but due to our ENG/SNG truck had a short mast the shot could not be established so I called back to the station and explain the situation. I got off the phone, brought down the mast, put the jacks down, call to book a window, deployed the dish, and found the bird Galaxy 17. At 5:45pm I contacted ABSAT bridge to ask can I come up on power and then walla I saw my return then I waited for the reporter to arrive at the live shot location. We got all the mic's and IFB's and then its live to us at six. After the live shot I was soo relieved that I did it and I had to do the same for the ten and the eleven newscasts. I just wanted to say like the old saying "Practice makes perfect", well it really do. Below is the video and pictures in a historic day in my career. Thanks Paul!!! Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

This video displays my first satellite shot. Since our live/ satellite truck could not go live for the 5pm newscast via microwave at the live shot location I had to book time and perform the shot at 6pm.

The pictures above shows our station live ENG/ SNG truck as well the satellite Galaxy 17 in the waveform monitor.

PICTURES FROM THE GA. MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2009

OK I've finally made it back home to Columbus from a very busy weekend of freelancing. While I was setting up for the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame show I managed to snap some photos below. Enjoy!

A VERY BUSY WEEKEND.

Well sort of. I'm in Atlanta now to work or freelance if you will with GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) at their annual Georgia Music Hall of Fame show and this year will be a great one. This is my eighth year in working with the public broadcasting company for this event. This event will be a little different because my mentor for over a decade Phil Proctor, will not be there due to GPB letting him go early this year. I guess I have to carry the torch then. Anyways I hope i will be working camera this year because I think I deserve it due to my experience and loyalty to the company and annual event but we'll see. The people that I am told that will be accepting the induction of the GA Music Hall of fame will be Atlanta's own rock group Collective Soul and christian rock group Third Day. I'm looking forward to hear my favorite song from Collective Soul "Heavy". It's been a long time since I've seen the guy who gave me my first TV check out of college Rosser Shymanski and it will be fun to see what he's been up to as well others at GPB. Friday I have a 8am crew call and meet everyone at the TV production truck and Saturday leading up to airtime to tweak then fax all the cameras. Sunday i will be heading to the GA. Dome to work the Atlanta Falcons game. Can you say "Money, Money, Yea, Yea!" Later in my blog I will post any pictures from the Hall of Fame event. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

BY GEOGRE I THINK ID GOT IT!

OK after two failed satellite live shots, one the generator overheated and the other I was on the wrong bird then later I found out that I the elevation was off. So I had to practice and practice and it all worked well. Tonight I took out our satellite truck to do that and I feel comfortable in finding satellite Galaxy 17. For the first time I, by myself set up a live satellite shot in the back yard of our station parking lot. It did not take me a while to find it because I know where the bird was. I set the elevation to 51.0 and I looked on the waveform monitor and I counted the satellites while they went by pointing the dish 91 degrees west as my azimuth was 101.8. When I was calling Galaxy 17 access I sudden forgot to set the computer to H or horizontal so I can be on the right bird and they can see me. So I will try again once more to see I can find everything in the air. Hopefully when I ever go out and perform I sat shot I will not have no problem finding it. I'll keep my fingers cross and pray hard. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

Above is Galaxy 17 as viewed in the waveform monitor in the satellite truck.

PICTURES FROM ATLANTA FALCONS KICKOFF 2009

Above are pictures I took while the Atlanta Falcons kicked off their 2009 season at the Georgia Dome. Enjoy!

IT HAS STARTED!!!

After making the trip from "C-Town" which is Columbus GA to some I finally made it home to Atlanta to start doing the Falcons game. This weekend I'm "on call" at work at WTVM but hopefully no one at the station will call me while the game is underway. I just arrived at the GA Dome and I'm a little bit too early as I thought I suppose to be here for crew call but the time I had to be here is at 9:00am...Oops! Well I just got some good news that I will be operating camera soon here so I can't wait for the opportunity. Let's just say if that does happen you will bet that the Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders will get a lot of airtime! I'm hoping to see everyone here safe and sound. I can't wait for the game to start so I can go back to Columbus quickly so if anything happens I can be there. Anyways later tonight I'll be at Buffalo Wild Wings for the WWE pay-per-view "Breaking Point" so hopefully no tables-ladders-and chairs will be thrown. Tomorrow I will be posting some pics of the event here so be looking out for that. The season kickoff game will be on CBS today so hopefully their cameras will not catch me on the side lines. I'll try to avoid that. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

GETTING READY FOR THE NEW SEASON!

There is many seasons there's weather, sports and other but the new season of football has come. I will have the pleasure to work the whole Atlanta Falcons season while they play at home at the Georgia Dome this year. Though the pre-season was not all good with a 2-2 record we will see. Next weekend (Sunday) I will be blogging with pictures to follow to see every step of activities while I'm working the game. Hopefully, the first home game will be very good. I don't know what network will carry the game but you might see me on the sidelines. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

GET THE "F" OUT!!!

No it's not that four letter word that you may think I'm talking about. I'm talking about the "FILM" word. Daily I go out and shoot not "film" news and I know that this is a small thing to some but to me I kind of take this personally. I spent a lot of money to go to college to major in television production and not film school. My title at my TV station is a photojournalist which to some is a cameraman. A very long time ago before I was even thought about news cameramen did shoot on film but now I shoot on video, to get even technical I shoot on Panasonic P2 cards. If you want to know whats the definition of film lets see what wikipedia says below:

"Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.

The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) had historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, photo-play, flick. A common name for film in the United States is movie, while the Europeans prefer cinema. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema and the movies."

Now that you are educated on the word "Film" now you understand why I get aggravated when someone says "What you filming?", "Let's go film the concert!", and "Stop filming me!" Really not a lot of things gets to me so if you can and you see me on the street covering news please if you can don't say the "F" word. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Twenty-eight years I came of my mom womb with a video camera shooting my own birth. Later that's what I found out that I was very fit to be a news photojournalist. Today I had a easy day shooting two VO SOTS (wanted to to shoot a package), went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings which I got free wings but the day is not over...yet. Later I will be going to my first Columbus baseball game in a sky box I might add to cap off my day of birth. It's raining here in "C-Town" so I hope we don't get a rain delay. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

BREAKING NEWS....THOMAS IS A REPORTER!!!

Well not really. One day this past week I woke up and said to myself I'm going to see what it looks and feel like to be a reporter. On a daily basics I arrive to work and I go out on a story with a reporter and shoot their stories and sometimes I think how they do that? So on Tuesday I went out with my own personal camera gear to the south commons skate park to shoot a news package on the new skate park. I got out of my car and started to shoot b-roll of the skaters doing their tricks and stuff. After that I did a series of stand ups and boy it took 13 takes to get it perfect. Normally when I shoot any of the reporters stand ups it only takes them at least one or three takes to get it right but for me only 12 or 13. Now I know that this stuff isn't easy. So I went to interview one of the skaters in the park. Asking questions during interviews is not hard because I do it everyday when I'm assigned to VO SOTS at the station. Later that evening I went back to the station and during my break I logged all the sound bites, wrote out my script, voiced my track and edited the package on my laptop. Will I ever be a reporter in the near future well...NO! But if the opportunity presents it's self I might revisit that area. The lesson is that reporting is hard but It can be easy too only thing you have to do be yourself and remember the five key words; Who, What, When, Where and How. If you want to see the story look below. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

This package I shot and edited is my first "one-man-band" package as a news reporter. Basically I just got the itch to do a reporter package on the new skate park in Columbus Georgia. Note: I am not a news reporter I'm a photojournalist (news cameraman), I just wanted to see what it is like to be on the other side of the lens. By the way I wrote the script for this package as well.

I'M GOING BACK TO CNN....WE'LL SEE.

I remember the day, two and half years ago when I went to my former boss at the media giant and told him that I got a job offer at WTVM/FOX 54 in Columbus Georgia as a photojournalist. This shocked him and others but for me I had to start a new direction in my career because I always wanted to be a camera man for a major network or local TV station. When a made the announcement to my former boss he sent the email:

"VJ Thomas Bradley has decided to leave CNN after accepting a job with WTVM News 9 in Columbus, GA as Field Photojournalist and Editor. Thomas is known for the enthusiasm and energy he brings to work on a daily basis. His attention to detail in the studio became very evident during the transition to temporary studios while the main studio at Headline News was being renovated last year. He played a key role in getting the temporary studios set up and ready for the renovation and played a very vital role in the launch of the new studio. Please congratulate Thomas as he enters this next phase of his career—his last day will be Friday, April 27th."

After the cat was out of the bag of sorts I sent out my own offical announcement good bye email:

"After six and a half years at CNN with mixed emotions I'd decided to leave to start my next adventure and challenge. With many years of working in this industry from working for free starting with GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) doing camera work during pledge drives to working with the "big leagues" of CNN I accomplished a lot since graduating from Brown College in Minnesota in 2002. This journey is about to get "Freakin' Awesome Dude" as I had accepted a full time position in Columbus Georgia with an ABC/CNN affiliate, WSB-TV Ch. 2 sister station News Leader WTVM 9/WXTX Fox 54 as a field photographer/ editor. Friday April 27th is my final day with CNN and I assume my role with WTVM 9/WXTX Fox 54 on Monday April 30th. For this huge opportunity I would like to think you all from my lord in savoir Jesus, my mom Belinda, and the teachers in school, my mentor for over 11 years Phil Proctor, Shariff Mosley and everyone whoever motivated me and believed in me. For all who have dreams hold on to it and never let it go and never give up because when you do right good things happens. Before I go I have a bible scripture to share with all and this scripture is what I live by each day. Philippians 4:4-13: "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Right now I'm L.T.D Living The Dream and going to do what I always prayed to God to do and that's videography. I will always be a "headliner" and I am CNN. If Gods willing I will be back here at CNN in some fashion...stay tuned."

It was very tough leaving CNN then because I gave so much there and apart of me felt like I did not achieve all of my goals as my ultimate goal is to be a network editor or photojournalist there. I just applied for a Network Editor position at CNN and I hope to get the job. I know that If I get the position I will have to give up the daily grind of a photojournalist, chasing down house fires, covering press conferences, driving miles in our DMA for stories and finally doing live shots in the extreme elements. I will pray on this and hopefully If Gods willing I will return to CNN. Just stay tuned. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

MICHAEL JACKSON...YOU WILL BE MISSED!!

I know, I know that this blog post is not related to my line of work or my quote adventures but I have to give and pay my respect to the KING OF POP. I remember when I first heard that when Mr. Jackson died is when I was in Talbot County Georgia on a scene of a police standoff. So my station phone rang I picked it up and I was shocked. I immediately went to my laptop bag and broke it out and logged on to cnn.com, tmz.com, latimes.com and any .com that have news on this matter. This news to me was very devastated and I think that all this news is still a dream to me. From a child living in the ghetto's in Atlanta while in the distance you can hear " You know I'm bad!". Man I'm going to miss that. Micheal although you is going to be missed but your spirit and music will live on forever.Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

MEETING A TRUE SOUTHERN BELLE.

So when I arrived to work today I barely had time to say hello to everybody as my assignment editor rushed me out to cover two VOSOTS. During my final assignment I got a call form the assignment desk that I had to travel to Americus Georgia to cover an Boys and Girls Club fundraiser that former GA governor and U.S president Jimmy Carter with celebrity chef and Albany native Paula Deen. Did you think I was star-struck?! Well "no" but I did wanted to meet her because I hear that the food she makes is "oh so good", sorry Mister Food. So I had to come back to the station to ingest and edit the two VOSOTS that I did earlier then get final words from both my assignment editor and executive producer. I went to gas up my news car and headed out to Americus. While I was driving I was thinking of questions to as Ms. Deen and then I said to myself, "Thomas just be yourself and be natural". So I was still on the road going through the countryside of Beuna Vista and I was thinking that I will die of true boredom if I was living out here. I love the big city, I hate the country. Anyways I made my arrival at campus of Georgia Southwestern State University where the event was held and I started shooting b-roll before I had the opportunity to interview Paula Deen. Speaking of her although Jimmy Carter was there she had more people coming up to her to take their pictures and autograph's than the former president. Finally Paula came over and we met and the interview started. If you ever meet her she is the most friendly person you will ever meet. For more on Paula Deen please go to her website and for more on this story I covered please click here. Paula thanks for your time with me and Mrs. Deen you are a true southern belle. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

WTVM's photojournalist Thomas D Bradley shares a smile with Paula Deen.

I'M ON LINKEDIn!

In an effort of getting the world and even you to keep up on yours truly I have decided to join the professional world of LinkedIn. Just like you seen on my website at LinkedIn you can see a brief summery of all of my qualifications in the television production or broadcasting industry. For more on LinkedIn click here. If you want to view my LinkedIn website please click here. Finally if you are apart of this website please add me to your network. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

NEW VIDEOS...FRESH SECTION.

Hey everyone I've gotten several emails in the past that some of you could not see my videos or the the "videos" section of my website could not load or it takes too long to load. Well not to worry I have uploaded all of my news packages and stories that I shot and edited on You Tube and attached them on my website on the video section of it. If you want to view the site please click here. In a update in my previous blog post Yours Truly Is Featured On YOU TUBE!, I finally posted the video that the package I shot for it if you want to view that story please click here. All of my videos will be posted on You Tube so all the world can see so please log on to my You Tube web page by clicking here. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

Videos will be posted here on my website at www.thomasdbradleytvpro.com.

I TOUCHED HISTORY!

So today when I arrived at work I was handled a assignment from my assignment editor not knowing that I will be apart of something special. So my reporter and I was assign to shoot a interview at the National Infantry Museum. The person we interviewed was the "main contractor" of the museum. Afterwards we headed back to the station. At the station I did not know that I was going back to the museum to shoot some additional footage for our hour long special that the station will be doing at the end of the week. If you are in the Columbus Georgia area the National Infantry Museum should be on your itinerary. Since I work for the media it was an honor to shoot the exhibits and historical artifacts that is scattered in this facility. One of the artifacts that really touched me and made me misty-eyed was the Berlin Wall exhibit. Now I don't know if I was born or not but I only read and saw film of the wall in history classes. The exhibit as I know of will be covered with glass but I had the honor toady to not only shoot the wall but to feel and touch it as well. I never in my lifetime experience a piece of history as of this. I would like to thank the communications director of the National Infantry Museum Cyndy Cerbin in allowing me to feel a piece of history. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared Mind".

WTVM's photojournalist Thomas Bradley poses next to the Berlin Wall at the National Infantry Museum.

Photojournalist Thomas Bradley touches a piece of history.

My Schedule Change

So just you thought it was safe to say that working as a day side photographer was a good thing? Well, yes but doing the night side photog thing well it's another thing. I, at lease will have more sleep time to recharge my batteries so to speak, run more errands that I couldn't do while on the day beat and work on my reel plus website. Last year I did work the evening shift with good results as I covered my fourth fatal car crash along side J.R Allen Parkway here in Columbus GA. The reason why the change is because one of our photographer is going to guard training to be redeployed to Afghanistan for the U.S Army. I hope Jeff will be safe over there. I will miss the day side beat and working along side my favorite reporter at WTVM Zaneta Lowe. It's going to be a new challenge in working the evening beat but I know I can handle it but working at night makes some good lighting for live shots and no one knows lighting more than me. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

IM SAT CERTIFIED!!!!

A couple of weeks ago on a Friday I reached another milestone in my professional career. I am now a satellite truck operator! After two and a half years of being a photojournalist in this industry it feels good to get this monkey off my back as I start my new role as a sat truck operator. If you ask me I like operating microwave ENG trucks better because you don't have to call ABSAT to book a "window" as we call it then wait a certain time to "come up on power" on galaxy 17. Don't get me wrong but doing satellite shot is great because I can be so far away from the station in addition of learning from other satellite truck operators as well. I learned from the best with my chief photographer Paul Therrien, he has been doing this thing for over 25 years and he was the one who train me and mold me to become a satellite truck operator. Paul thanks and big ups to you. I know when I do my first sat shot I will be very nervous but thanks to my training, the computer in the truck and my GPS system I know that I will be fine. The picture below shows the truck that we have at WTVM. The truck serves both as a microwave ENG truck and a SNG truck as well. When I perform my very first live SNG live shot the video will be posted here on my blog as well on the video section. Till next time "Chance favors the prepared mind".

© 2008 Frontline Communications

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Yours Truly Is Featured On YOU TUBE

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor to go out to cover some 3rd Brigade training at one of the largest military installation in the country, Ft. Benning. The story starts off when I arrive at the station to pick up my gear in the early hours in the morning to drive down I85 to meet the PAO's at the main gate. The mission to do a NAT Pkg on the training. The background of the mission is to cover the preparedness 3rd Brigade of the for a month-long rotation at the National Training Center in California, then a pending deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Well that day was a very long day and I was at least 50 minutes away from the station and the surroundings was like I was really in Iraq. My black leather steel toe boots went from black to orange because of the "sand" and I was really hot. Anyways yesterday I was notified by one of our reporter Laurie Bernstein who covers the military at Ft. Benning that I was on the You Tube video. To view the video click here and to view the story from the 3rd Brigade click here. In a couple of weeks I will be posting the package that I covered on my website that aired on our station, WTVM soon so stay tuned. Until next time "Chance favors the prepared mind.

3rd Brigade media coverage increases as deployment nears

Very Busy But Back Writing.

Sorry everyone but I know that I have not written anything here in a while but you know life as a news photojournalist can be busy, I mean very busy. Since I blogged last I witnessed the largest fire here in Columbus Georgia history, click here for that story. Since the fire we in the Chattahoochee Valley experienced massive amount of rain and it flooded most of the residence homes here. Very bad flooding that ruined infrastructure like the waters did during hurricane Katrina. In my “Liveshot Of The Month” on my website you can see where the water was at this particular house. Columbus so call “9th ward was very much damage. In the first time in history the over flooded its banks. I live here two in a half years and I never thought I will see the day that river ever get swollen due to the drought we had here in Georgia. Finally, the event that I was apart of well sort of when the tornado hit Columbus. I always wanted to see a twister but I found out when I went to work the next day that the tornado came over Phenix City Alabama, over the river, hit downtown then skipped over Veterans pkwy and heavily hit the midtown/ lake bottom park area. Click here for this story as well. The tornado was my third tornado coverage ever in my career as an news photojournalist. After all I have been busy and now shooting nat packages (packages without a reporters track) and trying to get my tape together to move to the next market. As soon I get more news or event I will write more. Till next time “Chance favors the prepared mind”.