Lesson #2: Always keep names

Having just moved to San Antonio, I have been working on getting together my portfolio and organizing it into a polished and presentable form. In this process, I have of course been writing and re-writing cutlines (captions). I have many photos that I took while at the Texan that I would consider using in my portfolio, but I no longer have caption information for them. I have been going on some amazing investigative journeys trying to track down these names. This photo was actually a success story:
I emailed the University of Colorado band director and asked him the name of this student and what instrument he was playing. He emailed me back the information within 15 minutes.

This photo, on the other hand, has given me a bit more trouble:
I took this picture right before the Fiesta Bowl in January 2009 in Glendale, Arizona. For some reason, probably because I thought he might eat me, I didn't get his name. So I summoned my Sherlock Holmes powers and came up with the idea of posting it on an Ohio State Buckeyes fan forum and asking if anyone knew the guy's name. To my surprise, a lot of people knew his name. It's actually Dwight Schrute. It's also Bill Brasky, Kirk Herbstreit and Buck-i-guy.

Lesson learned: when you get names, write them down. With a pen. On something more substantial than a reporter's pad. When you upload, put the caption in the IPTC info immediately, and not just for the photo that's running. Do it for any photo you consider to be good. You don't have to write an entire caption, just basic info like names and titles in case you have to come back and use it later. It may seem like a lot of work at the time, but it will save you a lot more work two years later when you are emailing the Austin Republican Women to figure out who the heck these ladies are: