Magazines, newspapers and internet pages would be nothing without the work of photographers. But what goes into taking the pictures you see in everyday media? Alex Wong of Getty Images came to AHS to explain just that.

He is a professional photographer that attended AHS’s second Meet the Press presentation in Clausen Hall on Dec. 16. Yearbook, photography and newspaper students of AHS gathered during both Flexes that day to look at Wong’s work and ask him questions about his field of work. Wong showed the students a few of his albums in slide shows including pictures of President Obama at the White House, the First Lady, Capitol Hill, healthcare reform, reactions to the BP oil spill, funerals at the Arlington National Cemetery and same sex marriages. Wong covers exclusively news photography, and works in or around the Washington DC area.

“I thought the photographer that came was really good,” A-Blast student Betsy Kruse said. “It was interesting to learn about the daily life of a professional photographer.”

Wong was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States to study photography in college, where he discovered a love for this hobby. After showing the students his work he told them about an average day for a photojournalist, and the stress and pressures that it has similar to other jobs. Wong shared that he only takes an average of five to 25 pictures at one event and that he attends multiple events a day. He also told students that with photography there’s no messing up, because once you miss a moment you can never get it back. As soon as the pictures are taken they have to be edited and sent in right away, so they can be as up-to-date as possible.

“I thought the presentation was very interesting and it was fun to see the pictures he took,” yearbook student Lois Kim said.

Overall the presentation was very beneficial to students of yearbook, photography and newspaper because all of those students will have to be photographers at some point.