Autumn is coming and as the season of change looms some of the first changes will be noticed here at the City News.
My name is Jeremy Broadfield and I will be stepping in to fill the shoes of outgoing reporter Michelle Young who after years of telling your stories is moving on to new endeavors.
My career started in 2005 when I enrolled in the Journalism Arts program at SAIT Polytechnique, majoring in Photojournalism.
Within the first couple months I had my first byline, a photo taken at a craft sale in Airdrie. I continued freelancing for local papers, including the City News as I finished school.
After graduation I ventured out on my own for the first time moving in 2007 to Lloydminster, Alta. to fill the position of staff photographer.
It was here that I got a taste for hard news, for the most part motor vehicle collisions and fires, and developed a love of shooting sports. I especially liked rugby. I never have learned all the rules of the game but I do know that the intensity of the athletes and lack of helmets make for great photos.
I won my first award for photography in 2008, best sports photo from the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association for a rugby picture of two opposing players diving for the ball.
From there I moved to St. Albert, Alta. to become the new senior photographer. I spent two years there honing my craft.
My hard work paid off with more awards in photo essay, news, sports and feature photography categories.
Two of the most memorable assignments were photographing a helicopter filling and dumping water on a wildfire and the St. Albert Fire Department’s fire ops training day where members of the media and city staff got a crash course in firefighting.
In 2010 I returned to Calgary and took a job in Cochrane, Alta. as a reporter/photographer. It was here that I had the most editorial freedom and covered some of the most exciting stories of my career.
The highlight came in September 2011 when I travelled to Haiti with members of the Cochrane Fire Services as well as one other Cochranite. This was the second time in as many years that this group went to spend a week building houses in Haiti.
I had the good fortune to be the only member of the media along to cover the story (and help with the grunt work, you can only photograph someone hauling buckets of concrete so many times).
Other highlights included an article on an Afghanistan veteran and getting to ride in the Calgary Stampede Parade to photograph the Cochrane participants.
After two years in Cochrane, I was burnt out and left newspapers to pursue other interests while also getting married, buying a house and adopting a puppy.
While I was away from newspapers I found myself missing storytelling. I am excited to have the privilege to tell your stories as I get to know this lakeside city.
