The beginning of more of the same during the year of covid-19

  Welcome to fall semester 2020 ...  the year we all want to forget but most likely never will.

   I don't doubt a few of you are terrified to walk into a classroom again for in-person instruction due to the fear of getting sick, while most of you are probably dreading online classes because ...

• you'll get an instructor who doesn't understand how to use Zoom or BB Collaborate Ultra
• you are a social person and miss your friends terribly

So, to teach virtually or to teach in the classroom? That is the question. 

   My photojournalism class at the University of Toledo began Aug. 17. I sent out an email asking students to speak up if they didn't want to be taught in-person. I only heard from three students, and they didn't mind coming to class. So there you are ... I met them all face-to-face, with masks on. 

   My safety plan for the first day was to break up the class in half. Half of the class arrived the first half of the class, and the rest came the second half. However, I've been assured by the chair of the communication department that the room is safely set up for all 18 students. I trust that's true, but for the sake of my fear factor, I played it safe on the first day. It also gave me a chance to ask the entire class that question, and then determined our future fate together. All but one opted to have class in person.

   As a Toledo Blade photojournalist, I'm out and about in the community every day. I've covered several covid test sites, and even was in the fridge at the morgue to document the testing of a deceased man due to possible covid. 

   We photojournalists are a hardy bunch and not prone to succumbing to our fear. That said, I wear my mask everywhere, and disinfect my hands and gear often. I'll be especially vigilant in the classroom, because my number one priority is safety. I'm well aware things can change any day, but I'm prepared to teach virtually if I have to.   

   It's a different story at Wayne State University, where I've been advised to teach that photojournalism class online. After all, Detroit is an early hotspot, so I'm happily obliging. 

   I've equipped my home office with a whiteboard mounted on the wall so I can lecture as if I was in the classroom. The university also has given us access to Splashtop, allowing students to remotely access the software that's on the MAC computers in the classroom: Photo Mechanic, Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro. 

   My Visual Storytelling class at Owens Community College is also in person. However, I'm co-teaching that class with Blade colleague Phillip Kaplan. He will be the instructor in the classroom, and I'll be behind the scenes - setting up the coursework on Blackboard, updating the syllabus, grading the assignments, etc.  

   It's Phillip's first class as an instructor, so I welcome him to our wonderful world of education. There is nothing more fulfilling than passing on our knowledge to the next generation!

   This is a year of uncertainties, for sure. But like I tell my daughters (one who attends UT, and the other is leaving for Ohio State on Wednesday), facing and overcoming adversity makes us stronger in the long run, and life is a marathon. 

Teachable Moment: A podcast on shooting with a camera on manual mode

   Let's make this perfectly clear - shooting photography on manual mode is HARD!
   Consider this: There are three sets of numbers for ISO, fstop and shutter speed. These are the most common standard settings that are used:

• ISO = 400 | 800 | 1600 |  3200 | 6400
• fstops = f2.8 | f4 | f5.6 | f8 | f11 | f16| f22 | f32
• Shutter speeds = 1/30 | 1/60 | 1/125 | 1/250 | 1/500 | 1/1000 | 1/2000 | 1/4000 | 1/8000

Owens Pres. Steve Robinson and me

   It takes the right combination of all three numbers for a correct exposure. If you don't know how to meter a scene, there is way higher chance of screwing it up than getting it right. It is paramount that photographers know what each number means, and how they work.
  So, I had this discussion on a podcast show called Teachable Moment, hosted by Owens Community College President Steve Robinson. We met in his office in late October and spend a little over 30 minutes gabbing about photography.
   Thank you, Pres. Robinson, for having me on your show to talk about what I love doing - teaching photography!
   Give it a listen - 

In Pictures: WSU and Owens students learn about motion, depth of field

Owens Community College students  learn how to properly hold a camera. (Photo by Hanssel Martinez-Guerra)

Talking about the relationship between shutter speed and motion. (Photo by Hanssel Martinez-Guerra)

Wayne State University students learn about shooting for shallow and wide depth of field during class.

The Wayne State University Digital Photojournalism class of Fall 2017.  

My justification as to why audio lesson is a vital part of photoj curriculum

This is the very first audio story recorded and produced by Owens Visual Storytelling student Suzanne Caris, published on the Owens Outlook online student newspaper Nov. 28. 

WGTE's Haley Taylor explains her strategy for producing her Rough Draft Diaries series at the Toledo station.

   I received a negative comment on an instructor evaluation last semester from a Wayne State Digital Photojournalism student.

   That student wrote, and I quote: “Why in the f--- are we editing sound?”

   A few years ago I would have asked that same question, but not now. Gone are the days when photojournalists simply take still photos and write captions.   

   I try to make it pretty clear throughout each semester that photojournalism is rapidly evolving, expanding, transforming, and yes, getting harder. We are multitasking; being spread too thin; and doing more for less. Photojournalists now shoot video (and some even fly drones and do VR and 3D work), while journalists can be expected to shoot their own still photos and videos, as well.

   All three of my classes (Wayne State, Kent State and Owens) are either creating audio slideshows or podcasting. So, as a photojournalism instructor, it's my job to expose students to basic audio capture and production.

   That’s why they are editing sound.

   The WSU Digital Photojournalism course is an intense introduction class that is filled with journalism, broadcasting and public relation majors. They learn the basics of the DSLR camera, how to write captions, and their First Amendment rights. They also shoot feature, portrait and sports assignments for practical experience.

   For their final project, they shoot and produce an audio slideshow, which requires an audio track. They shoot the story, and also record interviews and capture ambient sound, if appropriate. The students can add royalty-free music if it benefits the story.

   The audio is recorded with their cell phones, a recording device or their cameras, and then edited using Audacity, a free multi-track audio editor and recorder that is installed on all of the MAC computers in the classroom. Adobe Premiere Pro CCis used for the audio slideshow production.

Haley Taylor's strategy for a Rough Draft Diaries show.

   For the Visual Storytelling course at Owens, I added podcasting to the curriculum this semester. 

    According to Dictionary.com, a podcast is a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer.

   To kick off the audio lesson we took a field trip to WGTE Public Radio in Toledo in October. We were given a tour by Cathy Kamenca, and podcaster Haley Taylor was gracious enough to show us how she produces her Rough Draft Diaries series.   

   Then the students hit the ground running. They used either the Zoom H2 recorder or their cell phones to capture the audio; edited their files using Audacity, and uploaded their stories on either audioBoom or SoundCloud.

   Their audio stories are currently airing weekly on the Owens Outlook student newspaper.

   This new audio lesson, which is pretty basic, is appropriate for this course, considering the Visual Storytelling class is now a requirement course in the new broadcasting major.

   The Owens Outlook staff is pondering a name and branding image for the podcasts. It’s unclear at the time the direction we’ll go with them.

   After all, this class, like photojournalism, is still evolving, transforming and expanding.

   To listen to my first effort at podcasting for the Toledo Blade, go here.

WGTE's Cathy Kamenca, second from right, gives the Owens' Visual Storytelling students a tour of the Toledo studio.

Owen's Visual Storytelling students going on trip of a lifetime to Atlanta

 Campus Pulse Promo from Owens Outlook Student Newspaper on Vimeo. 
This is an example of the Visual Storytelling students in action, recorded and published last month. Imagine what they will do after they get back from the CMA conference!

 
   The Visual Storytelling class will soon be packing their bags for a trip of a lifetime!

   Plane and hotel reservations are booked, and the students have notified their other instructors that they’ll be missing a few days of school Oct. 26-29. 

   With funds from Owens Community College Student Activities and an Owens Outlook student newspaper Block Foundation endowment, eight of us will be traveling to Atlanta to attend the Fall 2016 College Media Association convention.

   As the class instructor and student newspaper adviser, I believe this student media convention will pack a humungous educational punch that I can’t replicate. 

   We are one of nearly 100 schools that will learn the craft of all things journalism while sitting in choices of 360 breakout sessions, led by industry leaders and college media experts. The variety of sessions is quite impressive, and includes everything from learning how to write feature stories, get better sound out of your broadcast studio, and manage student media, to how to sell ads and become a better adviser.

      The keynote speakers alone are worth the trip. Here a few I’m excited to hear:

•         Award-winning CNN producer/editor Jen Christensen, who will lead a panel on the Orlando shooting and its aftermath
•      Tom Luse, executive producer for The Walking Dead television show about zombies
•      Hank Kilibanoff, director of the Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project at Emory University

Visual Storytelling class in their first Owens Outlook meeting.

      All six of my Visual Storytelling students are also members of the student newspaper, a requirement of the course. Because we are a community college with no journalism program, I, as the sole journalism instructor on campus, have turned my photojournalism class into a practicum course. The definition of practicum applies because this course is designed to give students supervised practical experience in a particular field, in this case visual storytelling, which includes shooting stills and video, and podcasting.

   Also attending the conference is the Owens Outlook student business manager, a paid part-time Owens employee. Alicia is responsible for all of our business needs, including selling ads for revenue, which pays for our camera equipment. We also use ads to purchase gift cards for students who go above and beyond. Because Owens Outlook student media are not paid, this is one way of giving back (not all student media are students in the Visual Storytelling class. The Owens Outlook is open to all students).

   This is the third time I’ve taken students the CMA conference, and I hope it won’t be the last. There is no better way of inspiring students to be better communicators and informed citizens, whether they stay in the journalism field, or not.

   Each student will be required to write a blog post, including an essay and photos, about their experience after they get back. I encourage you to check out their blogs, which you can find here.

   I can tell that the upcoming conference has already made a difference in their attitudes and enthusiasm. Their attendance is nearly perfect, and their participation is amazing.

   Yes, I wholeheartedly believe the monetary cost is worth every penny.

The Golden Camera: A symbol of achievement, hard work & true grit

Kyle Benner: First recipient for Visual Storytelling class

   I came upon a small yard sale while walking down a Columbus, Ohio side street this summer, and stopped purely out of curiosity.
   It is significant to note I am not a yard saler. I don't bargain hunt, clip coupons or window shop. But for some reason I stopped at this one.

    I noticed a collection of vintage camera stuff, so I, of course, did a quick scan of what was being pawned off as other people's treasures. And there, amongst the junk, was the Golden Camera.

    The hollow camera is a gold-plated monstrosity of a thing, and I had to have it! So I bartered, like I hear you're supposed to do at yard sales, and successfully shaved off a few bucks. I borrowed the $3 sale price from my spouse and walked away feeling like I had just bought something pretty special.

    It didn't take long before I realized what to do with it. It would be perfect as an incentive and reward for students in my Owens Community College Visual Storytelling and Wayne State University Digital Photojournalism classes.

    The camera is now presented during class to those who go above and beyond. Each recipient will get their photo taken with it, and it will be posted on Instagram. They then get to keep it for a week.
    So far, two students have had the esteemed honor of being presented with the Golden Camera: Kyle Benner, of Owens, and Wayne State's Ryan Miller.

    This is just one way of giving back to students who work hard to show up to class, follow assignment instructions, turn in their homework on time, and try their best. It is important to mention that the Golden Camera is not about being perfect or flawless, just getting the job done with enthusiasm, and for demonstrating true grit for getting out of their comfort zones.

    So, this is the story behind the Golden Camera. May it be in the hands of many, many, many students for the unforseeable future. 

    It is my little treasure, and I'm happy to share it.

Ryan Miller: Second recipient for Wayne State Digital Photojournalism class

Welcome back visual storyteller and photojournalism students!

   Welcome back!
   I'm looking forward to this semester for several reasons:

   Owens Community College

   The Introduction to Photojournalism course at Owens has been changed. It is now Visual Storytelling. This means less emphasis on journalism, and more on multimedia.
   The name change puts this course more in line with the Commercial Photography and Commercial Art Technology degrees. It also takes away the scary 'journalism' part, considering the students aren't journalism majors. No, there is no journalism major at Owens. This class is as close as it gets.
   Because it's the first semester for this new course, I'll be experimenting with assignment ideas.  The first major tweak is eliminating the sports assignment, and adding podcasting. Don't let the 'visual' part of the course title fool you; storytelling comes in all platforms, even the use of audio.
   The textbook has also changed. We'll be using Multimedia Journalism, by Andy Bull. This book helps "build proficiency and professional standards in multimedia journalism." It features lessons on social media, Wordpress, smartphone apps and building a personal brand.
  Another tweak is to change from Blogger to Wordpress. Wordpress blogs are more universally accepted in the journalism world, and I forced myself to learn and use it this summer. As my own test subject, I developed Visuals & Voices of Toledo, and am quite satisfied with the results. You, as Toledo-area students, will also be submitting your work, particularly your podcasts, to that platform, too.
   I strongly believe that learning is doing, so you will have ample opportunity to learn as you create real and published visual and audio stories.
   We, as a class, will also be meeting once a week in the Owens Outlook student newspaper office. That means one class period will be in the classroom, and the other class period will be in the newspaper office located in the SHAC. I'm hoping this will help get you into the spirit of the newspaper, considering you all will be staff members.
   And the best news of all - all six students have been invited to join me at the College Media Association Fall Convention in Atlanta the end of October. As the Outlook adviser, I will bring back with fresh ideas to keep this student newspaper running for as long as I am with Owens.
   So, students, bear with me as we go forth into the exciting unknown.

Wayne State University

   There are no dramatic changes in this course. 

   However, after reading the instructor evaluations, there will be more group sessions, particularly while going through the photo selection and editing process. In fact, I've added an assignment specifically geared for that process.

   As with the Owens course, you will also change from Blogger to Wordpress. This will go well with the website class many of you have taken, or will take, here at Wayne State.

   For inspiration and to get you into the spirit of storytelling, please view this PBS special on photojournalist and war photographer Lynsey Addario:

   

The final assignment for the Intro to PJ class: The Sunshine Magazine

   This 24-page magazine showcases the photography, writing and newfound layout and design skills by the spring 2016 Owens Community College Intro to Photojournalism course students.
   With my guidance, each student was responsible for their own work, including the layout and design of their assigned pages, using only Photoshop and Word.
   These commercial photography majors were certainly out of their comfort zones when they were tasked with writing and editing duties, but isn't that why they were in that classroom for the past four months... to be challenged with building new skills?
   The explanation of the successes and pitfalls of the overall project, which took a month to shoot and produce, is in the previous blog post. This is a Steller iPhone slideshow of our visit to Sunshine: Click here for Steller slideshow
   Thank you, Sunshine, for inviting us in, and thank YOU for viewing!

Page 1

Page 2
(The Play button on Page 2 indicates a video shot by Caleb, which is not linked on this blog post.)

Page 3

Page 4-5
(Note: The trapped white spacing at the end of the third column occurred during the transition from Word to PDF)

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

Pages 12-13

Pages 14-15

Page 16

Page 17

Page 18

Page 19

Pages 20-21

Pages 22-23

Page 24
(This last page is a sponsorship ad submitted by Sunshine)

How we built an online photo magazine from scratch using PS, Word

A rough draft of page designation on the white board during early stages of our planning.

   Sometimes you just have to work with the tools you’ve got, and make what’s old new again.

   That’s what my Introduction to Photojournalism students at Owens Community College did when we created a 24-page magazine from scratch.

   It was seriously daunting for all of us. I haven’t designed a publication since I was the editor of the 180th Fighter Wing’s newspaper, The Stinger, and I did that using Adobe Pagemaker. Who uses that anymore? InDesign would have been preferable, but it wasn’t available, and it’s too big of a learning curve to teach the students at the tail end of the semester, anyway. I was actually trained on InDesign by one of the best in the business, the great Jon Wile, the senior news designer for the Washington Post when I took his class at Kent State University. He was responsible for designing the A1 page.

   All we had in the classroom was Photoshop and Word. The students had limited Photoshop skills, and didn’t know a thing about magazine layout and design, but we needed a change, and they needed a challenge.

   Traditionally, this class used Soundslides to showcase their final team photo project, but the audio slideshow software is outdated. I wanted a modern publishing platform that would showcase a good body of work, and require critical thinking and teamwork.

    As the adviser to the Owens Outlook online student newspaper, the staff and I have been toying with the idea of creating an online magazine. So, why not make an assignment out of it?
   I have fond memories of my days when I was as a military newspaper editor of several publications, both tabloid and broadsheet. There is nothing more satisfying and thrilling than filling empty pages with content.  Since we would make the content, I figured we’d build the magazine as we went, considering a magazine has lots of pieces and parts.

   The students, mostly commercial photography majors, thought I was nuts. And maybe I was, but they needed a challenge that was completely different than what they were used to, which was primarily blogging and sharing their photography via social media. I wanted them to boldly showcase their work in a way that would make them feel accomplished, proud and shareable.

   I confess that I tried the online magazine format in the previous class three semesters ago, but I made a few tactical mistakes that prevented the publication from getting completed and published.

1.     Last time, we shot the community story on Bittersweet Farms too late. We didn’t have enough time to complete the magazine. It was about 95 percent done, then the semester ended. 

- This time, we shot the project a month before the semester was over.

2.     Last time, only one student was tasked to design the entire publication using InDesign on his personal computer. That meant the others were sitting around watching. I tried to emulate a real newsroom, but it didn’t work. This prevented the others from designing their own pages and being ultimately responsible for their own design.

- This time, they were all responsible for their own assigned pages.

   In this blog post I’m going to share how they successfully accomplished their 24-page creation.

STEP 1:  Choose a subject that would lend itself to magazine-type coverage.

In the past, this class has covered Bittersweet Farms, Cherry Street Mission, Wood Lane School in Bowling Green, and even the problem of arson in urban Toledo.

   This semester we visited Sunshine Communities, a residential home and outreach center for people with developmental disabilities.

   We only spend 90 minutes there, but each of the six students had their jobs to do:

•       Nate wrote the main story and a sidebar, and shot the art studio in Maumee, Ohio
•     Caleb shot and produced the video
•     Kyle covered the barn
•     Chris shot the greenhouse, and Georgette’s in Downtown Maumee
•     Courtney and Jackie documented the vocational services and art room                   

STEP 2:  Choose a magazine format.

I chose Issuu, a free electronic publishing platform. The key word here is publishing, meaning that the magazine has to first be designed and saved in PDF format before uploading it to Issuu.

   Then we had to select a design software. Since all we had was Photoshop and Word, that made the decision easy. We also had a video we wanted to embed in the publication, and Word allows you to do that.
   The problem using this platform is that we exceeded, by A LOT, the size of the issue. The free basic package only allows you 100MB. We were over 500! So, I have to find another way to get this magazine published. However, all 24 pages on now posted on this blog.    

STEP 3: Iron out the small details:

·      Size and page count of the publication

·      Front cover photo and flag

·      Font and font sizes for stories, captions and headlines

·      What’s on each page, and who has what pages

·      Page numbers

·      How to do double-trucks, since Issuu only accepts two-page spreads as a single PDF. Alas, we did it wrong. I'll update this post when I get it right...

STEP 4:  Get the final product into Issuu:

This was a little tricky, considering there aren’t quality instructional videos or guides for the entire process. We had to learn as we went. When we got to a roadblock, we Googled how to get over it.

   One of the big hurdles was how Issuu accepts the PDF files. We had to merge the PDF pages into one using Acrobat. At first I was a little concerned about the PDF conversion, but that made it easier when using more than one design software.

   Once the students were done with their pages, we saved them as PDFs, collected them into a single folder, merged them, and attempted to upload it to Issuu. But, as you now know, our file size was too big.

   We studied quite a few Issuu magazines to get ideas, and I think the overall design worked! 

   Yes, there are mistakes. Yes, there will be people who will point out those mistakes.  But a great benefit of this project is that students need to learn you don’t have to really know what you’re doing to try it. If you have an idea, take a risk and just do it! Fear shouldn't stop the learning process or the attempt! I hope this is one of the lessons learned.

Owens Digital Video class learns to shoot video with new Canon Rebels

     The Owens digital video class has been learning Final Cut Pro for a month now, and are finally ready to hone their skills with their own video.

     Because of a $9,000 grant for the course, the students will all be issued (through checkout when needed) their own camera kits,  which include a Canon Rebel, Sennheiser hotshot mic, tripod and LED lights.

     The course also has its own YouTube Channel. Their first assignment, an animation project, is uploaded on the channel now. 

      This is a Storify lesson I curated for them to help them understand how to use a DSLR for shooting video.

One blog, two schools: Welcome Owens and Kent students!

Welcome to a new semester!

   This blog is dedicated to you, students in both the Intro to Photojournalism and Teaching Multimedia courses.

   I hope you all benefit from the posts in this blog throughout the semester, especially since both courses are so different, yet many of the skills you will learn are the same.

·      The Intro to PJ course is geared for Owens Community College (OCC) photography and PR majors who want to learn more about the journalism field. Lessons include law and ethics, caption writing and camera operations.
     Every student in this course will also be a staff member on the Owens Outlook student online newspaper. This allows them to learn photojournalism in a real-world environment.

·      The Teaching Multimedia course is a distance-learning course
     for Kent State graduate students that begins Aug. 25. 

     These students are mostly high school teachers from across the country who want to learn multimedia skills. Most of these teachers are advisers for their school’s student newspaper or yearbook. Lessons include how to operate a DSLR camera; how to shoot video; how to edit still photos and video with industry standard software (Final Cut Pro, Adobe Elements, Photoshop); and how to capture and edit audio using Audacity.

   The common element with both of these classes is storytelling. That’s why it makes perfect sense to offer tutorials for both classes on this single blog. This way all students will learn something different and unique from their own course.

   I am so excited to hit the Publish button to let the semester commence!