- New Orleans, Louisiana
- fmmccormack@gmail.com
- @franza504
The only thing better than a solo journey is a journey with friends. That's what FrankMc.Co is about. Read some stories, click through some photo galleries, follow my personal blog. Join me, FrankMc.Co/rmack, in this journey of reporting, capturing and adventuring.
Art, music, adventure and travel have always been important parts of my life. My mom taught me piano and art. My dad, singing and the outdoors. We spent countless days on the Black Warrior River fishing and camping. I picked up a guitar in 8th grade. First learned photography and video editing in 11th grade. Started writing for the high school paper as a senior.
I earned a bachelor of arts in journalism/mass communication from Samford University in 2004. In four years at Samford, I met my wife, made some life-long friendships, wrote for The Crimson, minored in Spanish, used QuarkXpress. I learned journalism history from author Julie Hedgepeth Williams and studied alongside some incredible entrepreneurs and (still active) journalists.
In pursuit of a life-long dream to live in New Orleans, I moved to New Orleans in 2004 and began attending New Orleans Baptist Seminary. There, I studied urban ministry while continuing to do part-time/freelance reporting. During this time period, my wife and I had plenty of firsts: first Mardi Gras, first Saints game, first hurricane evacuation, first boiled crawfish.
On Aug. 26, 2005, Jen and I went to a screening of Wheel of Fortune. That night, on the 10 o'clock news, we heard the name "Katrina" the first time. By the following afternoon, we were heading northeast toward Tuscaloosa, carrying a few things special to us, some dirty laundry and our parakeet George. Katrina made landfall Aug. 29, 2005. Like so many who lived in the flood zone, we lost the things that were left behind. We settled in Chattanooga, Tenn., living with family then in a borrowed house. Jen worked at the children's hospital there. I worked at Starbucks and met some friends who are destined to appear as characters in novels. We moved back to New Orleans in July 2006.
Travel destinations have included the Oregon Coast, the Grand Canyon, Route 66, Las Vegas and Utah, New York City, Toronto, four Italian cities (Florence, Rome, Venice and Bologna), Santiago and Havana, Cuba. I worked at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, followed by a tour at two weekly newspapers, some freelance reporting and a return to the PR staff at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. In 2011-2012, we built a house in New Orleans. Also in 2011, we welcomed our first child, and I got into sailing (see my Instagram). Pedal to the metal since.
For how can one know color in perpetual green, and what good is warmth without cold to give it sweetness?
John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley
Never confuse movement with action.
Ernest Hemingway
Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from poor judgment.
Ronald Reagan
You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Christopher Columbus
Passion is too important to be without, but too fickle to be guided by.
Mike Rowe
You cannot know what it is to fear, until you have a child.
Mr. Woodhouse, Emma by Jane Austen
See below an overview of my reporting experience and to read a selection
of my published work. Publications include The St. Bernard Voice, The Plaquemines Gazette,
The Waterways Journal, Vision Magazine and Baptist Press.
The Waterways Journal is a weekly magazine that covers the marine industry along the inland waterways and the Gulf Coast. Search the journal online here.
BP is the official newswire of the Southern Baptist Convention. Assignments range from NOBTS news to annual Baptist convention coverage. For samples, click here.
Vision is published twice a year. Each issue highlights a special project, audience or mission of the seminary. The spring 2014 issue featured the school's work in Cuba.
Havana is both beautiful and complicated. From the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro to the streets of "Habana Viejo," the Cuban capital is an adventure around every corner.
Santiago is Cuba's second largest city and is located on the southeastern tip of the island. These pictures were taken in October 2013, one year after Hurricane Sandy made landfall there.
Jen and I celebrated the end of 2013/start of 2014 touring Florence, Rome, Venice and Bologna. These are photos from the last three cities. A highlight of the trip: nativities at every church we visited.
I started shooting medium format on an eBay whim. I use Kodak Ektar color negative film and shoot with a Yashica 24 twin lens camera and a Pentacon Six with a CZJ 80mm lens.
Care to stay up-to-date on my (mis)adventures?
Read about my always-attempted, sometimes-successful adventures here.
Stay current on blogs and photo sets from FrankMc. Submit your email to stay in touch.
No man is an island,
although plenty live on them.
Let's connect.
Want to connect? Contact me by email or through social media if you see a photo or story you like or would like to network, especially if you're in the New Orleans area or along the Gulf Coast.
My areas of interest and expertise include news and nature photography, travel writing, anything marine, religious reporting and local politics.
