By Sophie Perrins, Photo Editor
Between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on February 22, 2025, photojournalism students at both Pellissippi and University of Tennessee-Knoxville used these 24 hours to capture photos and videos for the James Thompson Photojournalism contest.
The contest categories were street, sports, landscape, portrait, and an under two-minute video. Contestants could only make one submission per category and their submissions had to be taken in East Tennessee during this 24-hour period.
I started my day on Feb. 22 by traveling almost two hours to River Glen Farms in New Market, Tennessee, so I could get coverage of their first schooling show of the year. I arrived early so I could find the event coordinator and property owner to get permission and the horseback riders’ names. This event was a low-stakes competition to give young or inexperienced riders and horses the chance to practice and showcase their skills in a relaxed environment. Riders showed in low level dressage and show jumping, with some practicing on the cross country course as well. It was freezing and extremely windy, so some of the horses were acting up, and parents who would normally be cheering along the ring were clapping from their parked cars within view of the show.
Only one rider was thrown from his horse when he slid to a stop just before the jump. This is called a refusal and incurs a penalty. The rider was able to ride again at the end of the round and nailed all the jumps the second time with the same horse. Everyone I met at this event was kind, and I ended up staying a couple hours later than I was planning to photograph for a mom, coach, and her four students–something I’m sure other photographers can relate to.
River Glen is 192 acres on the Holston River, including 210 stalls, six arenas, RV hookups for camping, and a massive cross country course. I got photos for the sports, landscape, and possibly portrait categories from this property, but I still needed photos for the street category. So I started driving towards some rural towns to try to find something interesting.
I ended up in Dandridge where I got the picture I ended up using for the street category, but I kept driving to see what else I could find for a backup shot. Wandering aimlessly through East Tennessee, I came across four dogs (on three separate occasions) that were also wandering aimlessly in the road, so of course I had to check their collars to see if I could get them home, but I couldn’t find any numbers on the collars. One dog was a puppy, and another only had three legs which made me curious about why so many animals are neglected in this area.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, more than a million dogs die by cars every year in the U.S., and Tennessee is the fifth highest offender for animal abuse by number of cases. Total Vet reports that, “Texas…Delaware, Colorado, Virginia, and Tennessee round out the Top 5. All of these states see offense numbers that are more than double the national average during the analyzed time period.” The LMU Law Review believes the answer is to raise animal care standards through reform of Tennessee laws, and I hope they will be implemented.
Another concern I had was for my own safety; while looking for places to turn around, I remembered a pizza delivery driver who got shot at for parking in the wrong driveway in Middle Tennessee last year. According to USA Today, the shooter has been released on a $50,000 bond. Although this is a rare occurrence, I found myself wishing I was driving around anywhere else.
When crossing a bridge, I saw a Great Blue Heron, so I pulled over, jumped out of my car, and ran across the two lane bridge (with no sidewalk) to quickly get some pictures and dash back before more cars came. I somehow tripped over my own feet while running towards the heron and fell in the middle of the street. The bird flew away before I could get an adequate photo, and I skinned my leg, but Imanaged to save my camera so a win is a win.
I then headed to Seven Islands Birding park around sunset to end the day (after getting honked at for driving the speed limit on a winding road), but unfortunately, the park was closed. I did, however, see dozens of deer just outside the park that I got to photograph.
I finally came home to my animals who were happy to see me after being away all day, and I took a photo of my boyfriend hugging my dog, which I ended up using as my portrait submission. The day did not go how I hoped, but maybe some good can come from the pictures. This contest was challenging due to being limited to East Tennessee in February, offering a drab background to many images. This challenge however, I believe succeeded in making us better photographers.
