How I got that job

JEFF ERNEWEIN, 31
Home: Duluth

Job: Photojournalist for KQDS-TV in Duluth

Salary: Photojournalists in this market usually make $30,000 to $35,000.

Education: I have a high school diploma, but otherwise I am self-educated. I also took some photojournalism training in 2006.

Typical day: Come in ... look at the board and see what I am assigned to. I check my camera, batteries, memory cards, then meet with the reporter and head out.

What kind of person would be a good fit for a job like yours? A go-getter, a person who is not afraid to get out. You have to be really self-motivated to do this and be a little creative and think outside the box.

Advice for others in the job search? Don't give up too easy, because when I was doing my freelance work, it took me at least eight tries before someone actually bought my work. It's good to also look at the trade magazines and see what is going on in the industry.

How did you get into this field? Photography has always been a hobby of mine since high school. I decided to go around chasing fires and crashes and sell the photos to the local newspapers. At one of those events I met a camera crew from KSTP-TV [in the Twin Cities]. Jeff Ganahl and Jessica Miles took me under their wing. They told me that selling video would probably be more profitable than stills for newspapers. ... They taught me the ins and outs of the business. I bought a camera on eBay and started hunting for news at night. Eventually I was offered a job in news operations and later took a position as a live truck technician.

What is the most exciting thing about your job? The unpredictability. I could go to a press conference, then to a house fire and then shoot video of an intersection for another story.

Best spot news story you shot? One night I was out shooting and heard a call for a man falling out of the 17th-story window at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Minneapolis. I was only about eight blocks away. I rushed over there and figured it would be a fatal story, but I heard the police tell the ambulance that he was conscious. The guy survived the fall. I shot the video of him being rescued and that video went all over the country.