![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.umt.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/workshop1_web1.jpg\")
\u201cWhittling that down was so hard,\u201d Evans said. \u201cIt was like a four-day photojournalism trial. I learned a ton.\u201d<\/p>\n
Going deeper, building trust with sources and finding the photos that tell the story are at the core of the workshop. Now in its third year, it presents UM students and young photographers from around the country a chance to build their skills with guidance from expert photojournalists.<\/p>\n
One of those mentors this year? Bront\u00eb Wittpenn, a UM alumna and photographer<\/a> on this year\u2019s Pulitzer-Prize-winning team from the San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n Photo by photo, hour by hour, Wittpenn sat by Evans\u2019 side, poring over each of those 8,000 photographs to find the 12 that would best tell Coach Harris\u2019 story. She also helped Evans refine her portfolio.<\/p>\n Evans knows that kind of one-on-one mentorship is pushing her closer to her dream of taking pictures for an NFL team.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are people who could become our bosses or help us get to the places we want to be,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI figured that this was my opportunity to show them what I can do and ask them, \u2018What can I do better?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains, Evans found UM on a quest for a place with higher peaks. She says she saw pictures of the Oval and imagined herself sitting in the grass on a sunny day, reading a romance novel.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know when it feels like a string is pulling you?\u201d Evans said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I felt.\u201d<\/p>\n She started out in wildlife biology, but a photojournalism class with School of Journalism Professor Jeremy Lurgio changed everything. He assigned her to cover a Griz men\u2019s basketball game. After one evening on the court, capturing the action and finding the best photos on a deadline, Evans was hooked.<\/p>\n The School of Journalism\u2019s<\/a> photojournalism classes have a reputation for producing top-level talent. This May, graduate Maddie McCuddy won the top college photojournalism prize<\/a> in the nation. But in a school where the motto is \u201cLearn by Doing,\u201d class is just the beginning.<\/p>\n Lurgio, who also directs the Montana Photo Workshop said he helped launch the first workshop three years ago because he saw an opportunity for UM to cement its status as the photojournalism hub of the Northwest. He leaned into what makes this University different: a strong sense of partnership with the community, personalized mentorship and a style of learning that pushes you to leave the classroom behind.<\/p>\n The workshop welcomed 18 students this year \u2013 more than half from UM \u2013 and mentors from Getty Images<\/a>, the Colorado Springs Gazette<\/a> and the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something about bringing this group of instructors together with these motivated, dedicated students,\u201d Lurgio said. \u201cWrestling with storytelling, ethical dilemmas and technique \u2013 there\u2019s a magic I can\u2019t put into words.\u201d<\/p>\n The magic this year took participants to a retired couple\u2019s off-the-grid home in the mountains above Frenchtown, a beekeeper\u2019s apiary and a local synagogue during Rosh Hashanah. They took photos, yes, but Lurgio said they also took time to slow down and get to know the people in front of their lenses.<\/p>\n For Evans, the workshop was a chance for her to hone her skills behind the camera at a crucial time. She\u2019s set to graduate this winter with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the J-School, our professors teach us something, and then we go out and actually do it,\u201d Evans said. \u201cWith that real-world experience, I know my goals are in reach.\u201d<\/p>\n By Austin Amestoy, UM News Service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" University of Montana journalism student Casandra Evans had photographed Lady Griz Basketball Head Coach Nate Harris before, but never like this. Early on a recent Friday morning, she traded gymnasium hardwood for bedroom carpet, capturing Harris as he woke his daughters and got them ready for school. At the UM ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10709,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10708\/revisions\/10709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.umt.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/workshop2_web1.jpg\")