Slices of life

   I was once told that the difference between a good photographer and a great photographer is effort.
   It takes effort to learn the controls on a camera. It takes effort to take photos of total strangers. It takes effort to tell stories for the sake of journalism. So I applaud the effort put out by my PHO 245 students.
  I've chosen a few of their photos to share. The captions are attached to these copyrighted photos, which are posted on their blogs.

Feature photo by Holly Omlor

Sports photo by Dennis Oehler

   

Sports photo by Teri Birtwhistle

Photo by Katherine Cedoz

Weather photo by Kathie VanNess

    
    

Foundations of scholastic journalism

Scholastic Journalism Foundations = poster material
Thanks to John Bowen, my Social Media class instructor, for posting this on the JEA's Scholastic Press Rights Commission blog. Great resource material for every journalism educator and student!

Social responsibility at work

   I think the weather photo assignment was a good wakeup call to the students about how hard it is to document real people in real situations. A common question in class yesterday: Do our photos have to have people in them?
   Well, yes and no.
   This week's assignment required them to turn in two photos related to weather. One had to be a scene setter, or a wide shot. The other needed to be tight, to show detail. As in all photography, the subject matter depends on the subject.

Photo by Holly Omlor

   Holly documented a new sledding hill at an area metropark. All of her photos captured happy people playing in the snow, so they were all willing to supply their names for caption information. On the other hand, Teri shot an electrical outlet box in a building with rain water  "gushing" over it. Is that a major safety issue? If so, I doubt the janitor would dare pose by it for obvious reasons. Teri thought this was a powerful photo that she was compelled to take, but was reluctant to turn it in because the photos should have included people.

Photo by Teri Birtwhistle

   I approved this photo because journalism is a social responsibility, after all. If she was working for a community newspaper, that photo would make a powerful statement about the dangerous mix of water and electricity. Who is responsible for the upkeep of that building?  What if the electrical box caught fire and caused the deaths of residents (if it's an apartment complex), or students (if it's inside a campus building)? This is a wonderful example of witnessing a problem and bringing it to light.
    This is social responsibility at work. Journalism's first loyalty is to its citizens, according The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. This photo could help save lives. But first we must verify that the electrical box is a fire hazard. If it's waterproof, then it would be sloppy journalism to assume danger when one doesn't exist. So the caption information she collects on this photo will be paramount to the success of this particular static photo.
    That photo makes for a great teaching moment.
    If you're wondering why these photos aren't posted here, it's because they aren't due for publication on their blogs until March 14. I will add them to this blog that week.

Photojournalism: Two skills, one class

   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.

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.

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."                                      

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

hollyomlor.blogspot.com

kathievanness.blogspot.com

dennisoehlers.blogspot.com

teribirtwhistle.blogspot.com

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.

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. 

   

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:

• 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.

   I invite you to follow along throughout the semester. Individual photo blogs will not be posted until Jan. 17.