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Carrying a pumpkin pie, Ester McMillen, left, thanks Joe Bill Brannon for her dontated Thanksgiving meal package as he wheels donated bread to members of the First African Baptist Church for distrubution Wednesday at the Statesboro Food Bank. (© Scott Bryant/Statesboro Herald)

Today I made photographs at the local food bank as they distributed food for Thanksgiving. The food bank required paperwork from the DFCS office for distribution, and I missed the Tuesday rush without realizing that DFCS would be closed on Wednesday. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to make pictures that showed both food bank volunteers and the people they service. So I began shooting volunteers counting and sorting donations. Soon, a woman came in and was able to get an emergency Thanksgiving dinner package for her family, and allowed me to photograph her as volunteers filled her box. Everyone went about their tasks in a friendly but business-like manner. The photos weren’t extraordinary, but they would function well enough to support the story.

I then turned my attention to photographing a volunteer, a food bank board member, as he began wheeling out donated bread to church members for distribution when the recipient of the above-mentioned meal returned for her pumpkin pie. As she stepped back out, she waved to the volunteer and thanked him for her meal.

It won’t be an award-winning photograph, but I feel that little gesture and her smile elevated the photograph above the others, which were of a basic informational nature.

On Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for people who may needy or down-and-out, but still allow me to share just a little of their story with my photographs. They don’t have to do it, and I’m respectful if they choose not to be photographed. But we learn show much more when we can put faces with issues that affect our communities.

Jasper Bryant trots through a field near home on October 18, 2009.

What does an overworked news photographer do in his/her sporadic off-hours? This one tends to put the camera down, most of the time.

That might surprise some. Don’t we live and breath photography? Yes, and no. After lugging around one’s equipment for 40+ hours a week, you like to get a breather. It keeps you fresh, and a fresh eye is vital. You’re always looking at light and imagining what everything might look like through the viewfinder, but sometimes you simply need a rest.

Of course, that doesn’t stop family and friends from designating you as the “official” photographer for events and get-togethers. And you try to oblige. I try to leave my work gear at home. Tossing a point-and-shoot camera in the pocket is more handy.

Some photographers really do live and breath with their cameras everywhere they go. They have personal projects. Favorite subjects not covered typically on the job. Maybe I’m different. I’m not a particularly good landscape photographer. I used to enjoy photographing musicians performing, but the late hours cut into family time. Not surprisingly, the subject of most of my off-hours photography is my son. I try to imagine what the world must look like through the eyes of a two-year-old. It’s a pretty good approach for a photographer, when back on the job.

“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”

Photojournalist W. Eugene Smith said this. This is what I believe. It’s what I live by. I usually prefer to let my photographs speak for themselves, but I’ve decided to give them an additional voice — my voice.

Let’s see where this goes.