It's seven weeks into the semester and the students finally have their first shooting assignment. The timing couldn't be better. They are instructed to document the weather, so this weekend should give them lots of photo opportunities. Toledo is supposed to get up to nine inches of snow.
This shooting assignment will challenge the students in many ways. First, they are tasked to approach strangers dealing with weather, like shoveling or sledding, document the activity and collect caption information. That's the journalism part. The photography part is knowing how to take photos in the snow. Knowing how to properly meter a white scene is key to accomplishing this assignment successfully.
That's the complexity of this class: photography (math) + journalism (writing) = photojournalism. These are two distinct skills that are learned in one class. The wonderful writing in their blogs prove they are ready to use their cameras. Like one student blogged in her most recent post, "I am a photographer...I did not sign up for grammar."
Yes, you did, Kathy, and you're doing a wonderful job.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
More on Ethics
I want to thank Madalyn Ruggiero for being our guest speaker yesterday.
Madalyn is a local freelance photojournalist who has been published in the Detroit News, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and the Toledo Blade (where she interned). She also is an Associated Press stringer. We looked at her website and her Denali the Dog blog. Both had wonderful examples of her work. It's important students see that news photographers can also have personal projects that keep them inspired.
When asked what keeps her working in a weak economy, she said tenacity and persistence. The students need to hear that it's possible to be a freelancer these days, as long as they are marketing savvy, and ethically fit.
Speaking of ethics, she did talk about her experience as "the legs." The students should know the harsh consequences of unethical behavior. Read about this story by going to this link.
This week we started talking about ethics and law. Next week: caption writing.
Madalyn is a local freelance photojournalist who has been published in the Detroit News, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and the Toledo Blade (where she interned). She also is an Associated Press stringer. We looked at her website and her Denali the Dog blog. Both had wonderful examples of her work. It's important students see that news photographers can also have personal projects that keep them inspired.
When asked what keeps her working in a weak economy, she said tenacity and persistence. The students need to hear that it's possible to be a freelancer these days, as long as they are marketing savvy, and ethically fit.
Speaking of ethics, she did talk about her experience as "the legs." The students should know the harsh consequences of unethical behavior. Read about this story by going to this link.
This week we started talking about ethics and law. Next week: caption writing.
Discussion board Comment of the Week
Every week the students are required to post a comment on the Discussion Board in their class Blackboard. This adds to their communication skills in writing and sharing information. Every week I will pull a comment to share on their class blog.
The question every week relates to their weekly lesson. This is a comment on blogging from Holly Omlor.
"I think to a certain extent this class will be good for me. I have always been under the impression that bloggers were people who sat at home with nothing else better to do than talk about stuff that most people could care less about!
"I know, it sounds kind of harsh, but that is how little I knew about blogs! Most blogs I was familiar with were ones people put out there to whine about things they didn't like, or business owners who bragged about how awesome they were.
"From doing a little searching of other blogs, I am starting to see how a blog can be much more than that. It can give a cause a voice. It can bring attention to injustice. It can inform people about what is going on when they didn't know anything was going on."
The question every week relates to their weekly lesson. This is a comment on blogging from Holly Omlor.
"I think to a certain extent this class will be good for me. I have always been under the impression that bloggers were people who sat at home with nothing else better to do than talk about stuff that most people could care less about!
"I know, it sounds kind of harsh, but that is how little I knew about blogs! Most blogs I was familiar with were ones people put out there to whine about things they didn't like, or business owners who bragged about how awesome they were.
"From doing a little searching of other blogs, I am starting to see how a blog can be much more than that. It can give a cause a voice. It can bring attention to injustice. It can inform people about what is going on when they didn't know anything was going on."
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Blog URLs
The students have finally created their blogs. They would be happy to have followers! Included in their blogs are essays on what they are learning about the news business, photos (soon to come), and a blog roll of their favorite photojournalism blogs.
katherinecedoz.blogspot.com
katherinecedoz.blogspot.com
Monday, January 31, 2011
Practicing patience
It's been two nearly three weeks, and yet there are no photos to prove they're in a photo class.
Yes, it's by design. I'm keeping them busy learning what a photojournalist is before they actually act like one.
By the time they snap that first feature photo for their blog, they will be soooooo ready to post it. And that's my intent. I want these students to appreciate that it takes more than capturing an image to be considered a photojournalist. It takes knowing their ethical and legal boundaries, writing accurate captions and having a growing sense of what news is.
They have finally created their blogs. I will add their blog URLs tomorrow.
Yes, it's by design. I'm keeping them busy learning what a photojournalist is before they actually act like one.
By the time they snap that first feature photo for their blog, they will be soooooo ready to post it. And that's my intent. I want these students to appreciate that it takes more than capturing an image to be considered a photojournalist. It takes knowing their ethical and legal boundaries, writing accurate captions and having a growing sense of what news is.
They have finally created their blogs. I will add their blog URLs tomorrow.
Monday, January 17, 2011
The power of the pen, camera
There is no doubt modern American media has tremendous influential power in our society.
The press helps determine national and local election outcomes; can bring down shady corporations through its investigative efforts; can inspire change and action at schools and dog pounds, etc., and can even influence society to establish change in our military (Don't Ask, Don't Tell).
Because of this 'power of the pen (or camera),' it is absolutely necessary journalists are taught the responsibilities of truth, accuracy, fairness, balance and conscience at the scholastic level.
In this Intro to Photojournalism, comprised mostly of commercial and computer art photographers, students are made aware early and often about these responsibilities to their local community. In fact, before they even take a single photo, they first learn the history of journalism, the definition of news, and the legal and ethical rights of photojournalists. And that's just the first week.
The second and third weeks are spent creating their own blog. It will only take an hour to create the blog, but three class periods to teach them to be responsible with their new social communication tool.
By this time next week, there blogs will be up and running, and I'm sure they can't wait.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A new crop of PJ students
Classes resume at Owens Jan. 10.
I'm very excited about this upcoming semester because this class is as progressive as the time we live in. The current curriculum is designed to give students a competitive edge in today's market. Photojournalism students must be media social savvy, as well as educated in the traditional staples of the profession - shooting news, feature and sporting assignments.
With that in mind, students will:
I'm very excited about this upcoming semester because this class is as progressive as the time we live in. The current curriculum is designed to give students a competitive edge in today's market. Photojournalism students must be media social savvy, as well as educated in the traditional staples of the profession - shooting news, feature and sporting assignments.
With that in mind, students will:
- create and maintain a photo blog;
- learn the legal, ethical and responsibilities of traditional and social media;
- use current editing and multimedia software, like Photo Mechanic, PhotoShop CS5, Audacity and Soundslides;
- shoot traditional photojournalism assignments; and
- write AP style captions.
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