Light Works Photography was kind enough to let me intern for them. It is a family run photography shop. They are contracted with all the schools in the Napa area to do year book pictures and other special photography occasions. Joe and Carol Darcy took me under their wing and taught me some very important business ethics. They taught me how to deal with customers and organize things in the work place to make business go faster and smoother.
            I had the very important job of putting business stickers on cards to get them ready to mail out to potential costumers. Sounds unimportant, but I actually witnessed a customer come in because they received a card. So by me doing my job I brought business to the shop. My most important job I was assigned was to download picture from the camera cards into the computer and sort them. I sorted the pictures into four different files, Napa high school, Vintage high school, New Technology high school, and Other. Later I would open these pictures and use a program called Photoshop to alter and clarify the pictures. One other job I was assigned to do was to sort and organize wedding photos then carefully put them into a hundred to two hundred page wedding album. When I would put together the albums I couldn’t help myself but to tear up at the happiness and joy that the pictures captured. It really made me think about my future.
            I realize now that the eight learning outcomes relate a lot to the real world. I had to collaborate with co-workers and the occasional walk-in customer. This means I also used my oral communication skills but interacting and speaking with them. I also used my critical thinking skills and Technology Literacy skills by sorting and organizing pictures into folders, and when I put wedding pictures into albums. At the end of every day I would use my written communication skills to record the hours I worked and the progress I had made.
            I have never used a Mac computer until I started interning at Light Works. It was a new experience for me because I then had to learn different key strokes and basically a whole different computer format. I also got to learn how to use a special Photoshop program to brighten and edit pictures. To me the Mac had too many options and it was easy for me to get confused. There was countless times where I would have to ask for clarification.
            My internship experience was one that I would pass down to any other student. They were very flexible with my hours, and they were very kind and caring people. It wasn’t a job where you were stressing all the time to get something done, you paced yourself and managed your own time. Basically you became your own boss. I had a lot of fun working there, if I had a chance I would defiantly do it again.