Yes, I shot all the video on my iPhone.
It might not be anything new, but since it was my first time doing it, I thought it was pretty amazing.
Growing up in Colombia, I learned to ride, respect and love horses. For me, there is nothing better than the feeling of freedom I get while galloping in an open area.
But when I learned about the abandoned horses in Arizona, I needed to find out why horses — creatures I’ve cherished for so long — were being left to die alone.
Luckily, I was able to visit a rescue shelter, a place where these abused and abandoned horses get a second shot at a better life.
I wanted to be able to capture the desert, the cactuses and the heat, the kind of scenery you only see in this part of the U.S.
The video just made perfect sense.
Although the video turned out to be pretty short, I think I was able to capture the love that these horses are receiving from the shelter.
I was able to work with two incredibly talented people, Martine Powers, a reporter from The Boston Globe; and Deborah Acosta, who works with video at The New York Times. (Both were Miami natives like me, which is probably why we made such a good team.)
I learned lessons in video editing, which I hope to continue developing, and I saw my hard work pay off.
In the future I hope to continue writing, doing videos and adding social media to my stories.
And the iPhone thing … pretty cool!
During the Institute, students are working journalists supervised by reporters and editors from The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Opportunities for students include reporting, copy editing, photography, Web production, print and Web design, and video journalism. Institute graduates now work at major news organizations, including The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and The New York Times itself, and dozens of midsize news organizations.