Employer
African Campus / Africa Media
Internship Title
Wildlife Photographer / Underwater Photographer
What were your duties?
For my first month I was a wildlife photographer, using my photography as a photojournalist to raise awareness about conservation. I worked my first week with bees and the human impact on them. My second week was spent with sharks and marine life, mainly just raising awareness about the misconceptions about sharks and the harm plastic and other pollutants have on our oceans. And my third week was focused on game reserves. We went to Schotia, a large game reserve in South Africa, and spent a week photographing the animals and talking to rangers.
For my second month I was an underwater photographer, this internship was much more technical. I learned a lot about the different housings for cameras and how to use them underwater. We dive around twice a day during the week. Working with the ocean there's always going to be the conservationist aspects so we learned more about sharks and other marine life and the harmful/beneficial moves the South African government is making toward conserving marine life. We give the opportunity to learn from Roger Harrock, a National Geographic photographer and one of the videographer for Blue Planet, he came out on dives with us to get footage for a new Netflix series.
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
I think it is split between spending a week at the game reserve and diving everyday for a month. At the game reserve we woke up everyday at 6 A.M. to go out on a drive with a ranger and wouldn’t come back till 8 P.M. Each day was actioned packed, watching the animals in the natural habitat. Being able to get on the ground with rhinos, watching lions get a kill, and watching an elephant fall asleep were all very memorable experiences. Our ranger could answer any question about the animals and it was so enjoyable to be able to just watch the animals and get so close. And while diving for a month we got to experience diving with pods of 30-40 dolphins and getting inches away from sharks, both very surreal memories.
What was the most difficult aspect of the internship?
Although diving was one of my most enjoyable times during my internship it was also one of the most difficult parts. I found learning how to use the underwater cameras while diving, was extremely difficult. I became a certified diver in my first month of my internship and had to apply everything I learned in that course to diving daily and with a camera, which at full set up was about a meter wide underwater. In the camera housings you aren’t able to see all the buttons, so you have to know your camera well and be able to function with it on manual settings. Keeping your buoyancy with your camera in your hand is one of the hardest things we had to learn during our second month.
How did your experience at ILLINOIS and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
My experience with Illinois being such a diverse campus really aided me in my internship. We had people from six different countries coming together, so having the experience of working and collaborating with people from all over the world at UIUC was really helpful.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
I want to work in magazines and production, so this internship helped me expand my network and gave me the hands on experience I needed to enter the industry as a photo editor or a designer.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
Be game for anything that comes your way and take advantage of the knowledge of people you are working with. They have been doing their jobs for a long time and have so many experiences and tips they can give you. I met so many amazing researchers and photographers at my internship, they will truly be life long friends.