Recommendations on Fordham PS Forum

[JCFindley]

I have read the article by Stephen Brown on this site and when asked about the PS his first response is "Tell us a story."

At age 47 I am most certainly a nontraditional applicant. I spent 21 years flying in the Air Force and Air National Guard certainly have plenty of good stories about flying B1-Bs at the speed of sound 200' above the ground. I taught close quarters counter terrorist techniques for aircrews. I was extremely active and effective in improving flight safety both as part of my job and as a volunteer in the civilian world..... But most of that can be seen in my resume.

Now, the last couple of years I have worked as a government contractor and have been building my own "fine art" photography business and doing pretty well with it.

My question is should I go with a PS that emphasizes the stronger soft of my military background or go with something from the artist side of me that isn't covered elsewhere in my resume or LORs?

Thanks

JC

[ix88]

Either one could work. I would go miltary BG PS.

Alternatively, you could write 2 separate PSes and pick whichever one is better. Can't go wrong there.

[JCFindley]

Sound advice..... I believe I will.....

Thanks ix

JC

[JCFindley]

This is the "artist" version....

Any input, critiques, or even you are completely off base and go look into something else to do with your life comments are welcome.

Thanks,

JC
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Last summer I was walking along the River Walk in downtown Wilmington North Carolina. Looking across the Cape Fear River I saw the wreckage of an old wooden tugboat. My early success in the saturated art photography market has come in large part from capturing scenes others are either unable or unwilling to produce. An image of this tugboat with Wilmington in the background had potential to just such a scene.

First, I searched the internet and local Wilmington art galleries to see if others before me had the same idea and had beat me to the punch. There are a handful of images of the boat online but only one for sale and no images of the boat in local galleries. That’s important information because it means an image of this tugboat can be found without having to search through hundred or thousands of similar images. If art can be found and is well done and there is a market for it the art will sell.

While I would love to have shot the boat that that very day there was a problem. The tugboat sits on the edge of the Cape Fear River in the middle of a large river swamp. Being an avid outdoorsman I know that these southern river swamps are just filled with big-nasties. Big-nasties is my term for the huge alligators and venomous cottonmouth snakes that inhabit the area. There are also swarms of mosquitoes and biting flies that add a misery factor on top of the danger. The tugboat shots would have to wait until winter when all of the living obstacles would be in hibernation.

Fast forward to this January and I am back in Wilmington. Winter is a relatively safe time to explore swamps. Well, when the temperature range is between 35 and 45 it is. If it gets much colder than 35 then you risk hypothermia because I promise you are going to be wet. If it starts to get above 45 and is sunny then some of those big-nasties might just come up out of their holes and do some sun bathing. The temperature this January morning was a perfect 39 degrees.

I spent some time the day before trying to find a trail to the boat but had no luck so I went with my “can’t miss” route to get to the boat. That plan was to simply follow the edge of the Cape Fear River from an easy access point until I was next to the shipwreck. For this trip I was dressed in multiple layers, had my camera gear in my backpack and had my trusty oak hiking stick. Since I wanted to be in place an hour before sunrise, I started this “hike” around 5:00 AM which was two hours before sunrise.

The hike started as I expected. There was a mix of mud, sand and rocks and everything else I expected along a southern river. The further I got the more unusual the terrain became. There are actually 35 abandoned ships along the edge of the river here. All but the tugboat have been reduced to partially buried hulls in the fifty years since the area was deserted. It takes a while to make your way around what used to be docks and wharfs and to navigate around the hulls buried in the muck. At one point I wandered across a large marine diesel engine sitting alone in the swamp. It was the only part of that vessel that had survived the decades of storms and the wrath of nature.

An hour into this trek I was getting close. I could feel it. That’s when I came to the river of mud separating me from my objective. I sunk to well above my knees when I tested its depth. It would be physically impossible to walk across without getting stuck. At this point I was faced with somewhat of a conundrum. I could give up and turn around. I could follow this “river” upstream to see if there was a crossing but that would take hours. Or there was the option I chose; you can indeed cross mud flats like this but you have to spread your weight out so that you remain on the surface. That means the military low crawl. I am not talking hands and knees here because that won’t work. I am talking about literally crawling on your belly and moving like a snake across the mud. It works!

After fifteen minutes crossing the mud flats I looked up and there she was; the tugboat Isco. There is enough solid land around the Isco that I can now move relatively well. I still have to be careful or I will find myself and my camera in the brackish mud and muck but it is far easier than the hour plus I have spent getting to this spot. I spent the next hour shooting the scene then was able to find a small game trail that made my egress from the scene much easier than the ingress.

I now have the images for sale in my online shop* and have sold one so far. Several of the tugboat shots are scheduled to be displayed in local North Carolina galleries in the spring.

*These images and my other work can be seen online here: JC-Findley.Artistwebsites.com

[JasonR]

I have no doubt that you have more than your share of interesting stories, but this is not a PS at this time. Stylistically, the tone is far too colloquial. More importantly, reading this does not give me any idea of why you want to go to law school/practice law. A PS need not directly address an unstated "why law?" question, but I also shouldn't remain entirely in the dark about how your life experiences have led you to this point after reading your PS.

[JCFindley]

Thank you Jason.....

The writings continue and I appreciate the direction.

JC

[Jsa725]

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[JCFindley]

Thank you Jsa.....