For the past five years, Julia McKay has been a multi-media journalist working full-time as a member of the newsroom at the Kingston Whig–Standard.
After 10+ years in the customer service/technical support fields, Julia decided it was time for a change and went back to school in 2011, taking Photojournalism at Loyalist College.
During her time as a Loyalist photoj, Julia made connections with her hometown paper and worked as a freelance weekend/spot news photographer for both the daily and weekly papers.
Since graduating in 2013, she secured a full-time job at the Kingston This Week, before the newsroom was merged with the city’s daily paper, The Whig-Standard.
On the education beat, Julia regularly interacts with students, families and the community, taking photos and telling stories ranging from classroom education to sporting events, school safety and funding for both local school boards.
As well, she is in the sixth year of her 365 Photo challenge, taking a photo a day, every day, to help keep her eyes sharp and always looking for possible standalone photos.
Julia received the Paul Henry Award for commitment and dedication to spot news coverage in 2013, the Award of Excellence in Spot News from the College Photographer of the Year, a worldwide competition, in 2013 and is nominated for an Ontario Newspaper Award for sports in 2018.
Photojournalism program testimonial
“Good things happen when you talk to people” – Frank O’Connor
This is just one of the many lessons I still tell myself, learned during my time in the photojournalism program at Loyalist College.
The program faculty, with their years of combined real-world experiences, provided me with the skills and understanding about how to approach people, keep objective, and how to tell a compelling story.
Being a mature student, there turned out to be many opportunities to learn, as well as share my experiences, with faculty and my fellow classmates. I greatly improved my photography skills, as well as being able to share my computer skills as a tutor.
The faculty goes out of their way to mentor their students.
Through hands-on assignments and real-world applications, I learned different ways to step outside of my comfort zone and to explore my surroundings.
This program helps develop a variety of different styles of photojournalists, from those who work in community newspapers, like me, to wire photographers, freelancers, news editors, documentarians, videographers, magazine photographers and more.
I would highly recommend this program for anyone interested in telling stories, capturing memorable photos and learning about the world around them.
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