Just me and my camera, having fun!

I’m an Iowa native and former photojournalist. Now I shoot for fun.

I was a photojournalist for most of my adult life. My photojournalism career started as a student at Iowa State University, then took me to newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, Colorado, South Carolina, Nebraska, Minnesota and eventually back to Iowa. I won around 100 or so photojournalism awards in state and national competitions over the years and was also a two-time recipient of the Humanitarian Award from the Minnesota APME Association. Sports photography always seemed to be my main strength during my newspaper days.

After my exile from the news industry in 2018, I had to learn to shoot photos to please myself. I rediscovered my love for photography in 2020 after I gave myself a personal 28-day black and white shooting challenge. 28 days suddenly turned into 3+ years. I found myself embracing minimalism both in my images and the gear I carried. I often found myself looking for simple designs and patterns while shooting with only compact rangefinder style camera with a single fixed lens. As one of my colleagues said, I needed to get back to my roots so I could grow again.

Now I shoot mostly color and carry a bit more gear again. At times I do miss my old life, for a few decades I was paid to live my dream. But now I get to enjoy photography purley as a hobby, and shoot what I want, when I want, and how I want. As a news photographer, I seldom got to choose the time, place or lighting conditions for my subject, it was all about content. Yes, nice light was great when it was there, but I had to play the hand dealt.

I recently saw a reel where an influencer was interviewing famous photographers and asking them, “moment or carfully compose and shoot.” As a news photographer, my best photos were about the moment. Now I find myself spending more time carefully composing (and looking for good light).

I’m still a work in progress as I continue to renew my love for photography.

Thanks for visiting!

Jim Lee, Photographer

Contact me here:

Go back

Your message has been sent