Finding your niche in life can be a continuous search for some people. I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. I love what I do and have not worked a day in my life because of my passion for photography.
My road to photojournalism was not discovered until a few years into an accounting degree at the University of Kansas. I trudged my way through numbers and calculations and was left feeling the way most of us do at tax time, bored. Accounting was not an uplifting or spiritual experience for me. That's when things started to change. I took a photography class that redirected my course in life! It was called Introduction to Photography and I knew I had landed in a profession that stirred my soul and fit my personality and talents. Within the first year, I won the university photo contest and had a feature photo on the back of the phone book! After that, I fast-tracked into the news industry. I was photographing sports, human interest stories and all types of features. I was never bored again!
Being a photographer opened doors to most things people do not see up close, from horrific fires and accidents to presidents and special events that people only dream about attending. What is amazing is the catalog of my work., a visual history. My life is there for people to relive in the form of old negatives, and now, digital catalogs. It is a breadcrumb path that cannot be erased.
Photography is enduring as much as it is evolutionary. I am so glad I traded my calculator for a camera, and I love what I do!
Rod Mikinski is a photographer residing in Tucson, AZ. He has worked as the Chief Photographer for the Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, KS as well as in Opelousas, Louisiana and Casas Grande, AZ. He specializes in wedding photography, portrait, commercial, sports and real estate photography.