Connecting over images

The photographers met for a photo session with alum Willie Allen Jr. (of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times). He taught us photo tech, safety shots for sports and many other skills to be more efficient as photojournalists. The best part of our session was when he showed us his work from Hurricane Katrina. He shared his experience, and his speech was filled with such intense emotion that I started to cry. He gave me a hug. Later, I thought about how cool it is to connect with people you just met. The small, intimate setting for the photog session was one of the highlights of this conference weekend.

-- Michelle Le, San Francisco State University, Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star