Special Correspondent?

It's important to bring value to your community whenever you can.  This is kind of a core philosophy of mine, not that I'm always successful at it.  By "your community" I mean whoever your audience, your network, or your customer base is.  In an attempt to implement this concept in a creative way, I volunteered to write a regular feature article for our local newspaper (the Fort Mill Times) on taking better pictures - it will be called Photo Finish.  This seemed like a way to share what I've learned, and get a little publicity (or notoriety) in the process.

So, I met with the editor and he agreed it might be a good idea.  He gave me a contract to sign (they're a McClatchy paper), which I did and have submitted the first article.  It's not been published yet, but this looks like it might be fun.

Everyone was crystal clear that there was no money involved, and that's fine.  The contract, though, did have an interesting section.  It allows me to describe myself as an independent contractor, a freelancer, a stringer, or as a "special correspondent."  From now on, you may think of me as "Special Correspondent to the Fort Mill Times"!  Lest that go to my head, feel free to think of me also as a photographer trying to make a living....