NSPA Photojournalist of the Year portfolio

A reflection on my accomplishments and experiences in photojournalism 

Gabby Sherwood, Knight senior section editor
June 19, 2020

Signing up for the yearbook staff at McCallum High School was one of the best decisions I ever made. Although I was only on staff for two years, it completely changed my life. I initially joined yearbook because I wanted to take photos on the sidelines of football games, and although that was a memorable experience, I soon learned photojournalism was so much more than that. I fell in love with telling stories through images and capturing special moments for others to enjoy. 

The first spread I was ever assigned was a feature spread. I decided to cover a trending activity among students, one that had never been in a McCallum yearbook before, thrift shopping. I picked three students who were nominated by their peers as “pro thrifters” and gave them each $30 to spend at a thrift store of their choice. I met up with each student to take photos and interview them to document their experience. Although I struggled with the designing component of the spread, I had help from other experienced staffers. This spread later won two awards: second place ILPC 2018-2019 Current Yearbook Individual Achievement Award, and a superior award in TAJE Student Life Story. 

After my second semester on staff, I applied to be a section editor. As senior section editor, I took on a lot of new responsibilities, such as being in charge of designing spreads and assigning staffers’ jobs. We had a lot of first time staffers, so I took on the leadership role of teaching my peers how to give interviews, write captions, and even operate cameras. I loved interacting with my fellow staffers because I remembered how not too long ago I was also learning how to do all of those things. 

One of my biggest contributions to the yearbook staff were the many photos I took. Taking photos was the reason I joined yearbook in the first place. I covered everything from sports games to musicals. I made sure I didn’t just sign up for the popular photo opportunities such as the kickoff football game or the annual student-led fashion show. I challenged myself to photograph events I knew didn’t get as much coverage. Additionally, I have had some really great opportunities that have helped me grow as a photojournalist. One of these opportunities was when my yearbook adviser gave me credentials to take photos at the 2019 Texas Relays when one of our school’s 4×1 relay teams qualified to compete. I woke up at the crack of dawn to arrive at the stadium hours before the team competed and diligently planned out the best way to cover the relay. After I took photos of their race, I stayed the remainder of the track meet to take advantage of my credentials. It was an amazing experience to better my sports photo-taking skills, as I photographed college and elite athletes alongside professional photojournalists. 

Another contribution I gave to the yearbook team was my work ethic. Even when it was my first year on staff and I lacked experience in the journalism realm, I worked extra hard and stepped out of my comfort zone to learn how to conduct interviews, write stories, and design spreads. If I finished my work early, I would reach out to my fellow editors and ask them what I could do to help them. When I was assigned a spread or assignment, I didn’t see it as a task to check off and move on. Instead I went above and beyond to make sure that it was work I would be proud of and would be a great addition to the yearbook. 

My senior year on the yearbook staff will be one I will remember for the rest of my life. When it was announced we would continue the remainder of the semester online, I downloaded Indesign and worked from home. Even though the book took longer to finish, lasting into the summer, I continued to push through and helped to finish what we had started. I designed 12 pages of senior ads, a spread, and wrote numerous captions. It was hard work, but I can say I am proud of the work we did and strongly believe this will be a really special book for the senior class.

Because I joined yearbook, I found a new passion, photojournalism. I am now going to study journalism at Baylor University, so I can pursue the career of a sports photojournalist. I owe everything I know to McCallum Yearbook, and I am so grateful for the experiences I have had and the lessons I’ve learned.

Photo 1: MAKING A PLAY, first posted on MacJournalism Instagram account on Nov. 14 (during the game), this photo also appears on page 56 of 2020 Knight yearbook.

MAKING A PLAY: With the score still knotted at 7, senior Zach Napier forced a fumble early in the second quarter, but the Knights were unable to recover the ball before it skidded out of bounds. The Knights threw everything they had at the District 11-5A D1 champion champ Cedar Park Timberwolves in the opening round of the state playoffs, but after the Knights took an early lead on a Caleb Brown touchdown, the Timerberwolves pulled ahead with a flurry of second-quarter scoring. After the game, a proud Coach Gammerdinger congratulated his players for their effort and for how well they played. He thanked the seniors for carrying the torch of the Mac football tradition and challenged the returning players, particularly the large group of sophomores who earned valuable experience throughout the 2019 season, to pick that torch up and carry it in 2020 and beyond. Photo by Gabby Sherwood.

Photo 2: SPEAKING FOR THE TEAM, first posted on MacJournalism Instagram account on Jan. 23 (two days after the meeting), this photo also appears on page 81 of 2020 Knight yearbook. It also appeared in Volume 67, Issue 4, Page 25 of The Shield print newspaper on Feb. 13 and the Shield website on March 10.

SPEAKING FOR THE TEAM: Girls basketball team captain Ruby Del Valle reads a prepared statement to Austin ISD associate superintendent of high schools Dr. Craig Shapiro at the meeting in the gym. The meeting addressed the recent controversy over the district’s decision to remove the basketball banners from the large gym on Jan. 10. The controversy centered around the hand symbol that a referee makes to indicate that a shot attempt is beyond the 3-point arc. District officials ordered the removal of the banners because of concern that the gesture has more recently been associated with white supremacy. Del Valle acknowledged that the gesture may cause hurt because of its recent “hateful use” toward minority groups but she argued that well-intentioned people should reclaim the symbol’s meaning because it has been used to indicate three points in basketball long before it took on a more sinister meaning.

Photo 3: GLASS LAB appears in the 2020 Knight yearbook on page 40.

GLASS LAB: In Ms. Baughman’s forensics class, students learned how to identify different pieces of glass by finding their refractive indexes. To do so, students participated in a lab where they dipped glass shards into five different liquids with known refractive indexes and recorded their visibility. Senior Clara Stein holds up her test tube and glass to see how visible the glass appeared in the liquid, “I didn’t realize that each glass reacts with liquids differently,” Stein said. “They all looked the same so I assumed that they had the same refractive indexes, but then they looked different in liquids.”

Photo 4: TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM appears in the 2020 Knight yearbook on page 23.

A MARCH IN AUGUST: At the halftime show of the annual Taco Shack Game, senior Paulo Zambarano plays his drums at the very end of the drum solo. The complicated march was difficult to pull off on the House Park field. “It was pretty nerve-wracking because it was our first performance. Even when we practice a lot, which we did, the setting is different,” Zambarano said. “Nerves were pretty high, but it’s also just really exciting.” The marching band’s show for the year was called, “Forever in Stone,” which was inspired by the legend Medusa and also in honor of a former band parent who passed away.

PHOTO 5: SENIOR BATTLE CRY appeared as the cover image of our MacJournalism Instagram post of pep rally images on Aug. 29. Our coverage plan for each football game is to post a pep rally gallery prior to kickoff of the game. This gallery was particularly important because it was an annual rivalry game that means a great deal to our community.

SENIOR BATTLE CRY: Senior Shaine Rozman celebrates with her fellow peers shortly after the seniors won the spirit stick at the Taco Shack pep rally in the big gym. The spirit stick is given to the grade who has the most spirit. The winner is determined by the volume and enthusiasm the grade brings for the battle cry chant that is performed each pep rally.