Photography was just a hobby for teenager Juliana Skelton, but years later, she has turned it into a successful career as the official photographer of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.
After high school, Skelton spent 22 years in the Navy, stationed in such places as Spain, Bahrain, Hawaii, Okinawa, Antarctica, California, and Florida.
In late 2001, she got orders to Combat Camera Pacific in San Diego, CA. There, she was in charge of purchasing, receiving, stocking, maintaining and inventorying supplies, whether it be still cameras, video systems, computers, uniforms, tactical gear of general support equipment.
“If the combat camera personnel needed it, it was up to me to get it for them,” Skelton said.
In that position, she took every opportunity to ask the photographers questions.
“I asked questions – lots of them – like how they got that shot, what settings were on their cameras, what’s an ISO, how do you adjust for the lighting in a situation.”
She learned everything she could doing that. And she had a natural talent for photography. She had never attended a formal school and developed her art on the job.
“Essentially, my ‘school for photography’ was hands-on training with the Navy’s finest photographers.”
Upon retiring from the Navy in 2009 as an Aviation Storekeeper Chief, she returned home to Ocean Springs, and held such jobs as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service and school bus driver.
But photography continued to call out to her.
Born and raised Catholic, Skelton would periodically take photos at a few different church masses or events while in attendance.
In 2015, the editor of the Gulf Pine Catholic (the newspaper for the Diocese) saw her taking photos and asked if she’d be interested in doing freelance work for them. She eagerly accepted.
Then, in April 2017, Bishop Louis Kihneman saw her taking photos at the cathedral in Biloxi and asked if she would be interested in working full time for the Diocese.
“I was honored to be considered for that position, so the obvious answer was yes!”
But Skelton soon learned that being a Diocesan photographer means more than taking photos.
Photo credit: Juliana Skelton
She found out that there’s no such thing as a “typical” day at work as every day is different. She doesn’t always go straight to the office first thing. Sometimes she’ll pick up Bishop Kihneman and drive him to a church for a mass, a sacrament or a special blessing, or events such as a ribbon cutting or a house blessing.
There are five Catholic high schools and nine elementary schools in the diocese which the Bishop visits every year, so there’s always something going on. And these visits, which occasionally also involve the Superintendent of Catholic Education and her secretary, can last all day. It’s usually after that when her “typical” workday occurs.
After dropping off the Bishop and any other individuals with them, she goes to her office to download the photos and/or videos and begins the task of editing them. This post-production work takes up most of her time.
Some photos are simply not good, and she can’t do anything with them. Others are good but could still use some lightening, shading, cropping, etc. After the photos are edited, Skelton posts them to the diocesan Facebook page, puts them on a site called Biloxi.SmugMug.com, and saves them to two different external drives, just in case one of them fails.
She also usually prepares 8-10 photos with a caption to post to the Bishop’s Instagram account. For the videos, she edits them and posts them to the Diocesan YouTube page, as well as also posting them on the Diocesan Facebook page.
“It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy it,” said Skelton.
Her attendance at the numerous churches, missions and chapels with the Bishop keeps her busy, but she attends daily mass whenever she can.
Photography isn’t just a career, it’s a way of life for Skelton, and it brings her much fulfillment.
“It’s a freeze-frame of a special moment in time which I can look at and instantly be brought back to that specific moment.”
Her favorite subjects to photograph are nature scenes, sunsets, and Holy moments, such as the ordination to the priesthood or diaconate.
Sometimes when things get overwhelming, Skelton gives herself a pep talk.
“I say to myself, and others, ‘I am truly blessed.’ It’s a simple line but it carries an amazing amount of truth. Because St. Joan of Arc is one of my favorite saints, I will also periodically say her line of, ‘I am not afraid, I was born to do this.’”
Skelton may have never considered doing photography/videography as a career, but it seems as if it was meant to be.
“When a Catholic Bishop, the Chief Shepherd of the Diocese of Biloxi, asks you to come work for him, it’s an honor and it’s hard to say no.”
When not working, Skelton enjoys spending her time sleeping, watching TV, going to the movies with her mother, or going to the Biloxi Shuckers baseball games as a season ticket holder.
