Week 7 Forum

     

Topic 1 

1. Two tips from the textbook I learned about shooting sports photography are to check with staticians on various sports teams to see if any major records are about to be broken, and see if you can capture the moment as well as summarizing the entire experience into one photo, say for a newspaper. Both of these tips are extremely useful in furthering my knowledge of the art. For the first tip, this means to always be aware of what you are shooting, and know when you could take the biggest photo possible. There is a difference between a routine double and a franchise record for most consecutive doubles in games throughout the season. The second tip covers the issue of taking that one picture that will give viewers everything they need to know. If it is a basketball loss, try to catch the winners celebrating as well as the losers dragging their heads within the same picture.
2. Without these techniques, I bet there would be a lot less dramatic sports photos throughout the years. What both of these techniques do is add emotion to the shots, giving the viewers a sense of what was going through the participants' minds when these events occurred. It also gives an incentive to these photographers to attend these important events, where maybe even more crazy things might happen than expected. It will also help out with the filling of the story. 
3. Taking these tips into consideration when shooting my own assignments is paramount, because it will make my photos and their "captions" 1000x better. If I don't remember these tips, I might miss a huge moment or a perfect summary of whatever event I am at. I will try to look for reactions and emotions in faces from now on. At the end of every event, I will be look to get both teams in the shot, so I can show how the event was concluded. I will start asking around for anything out of the ordinary, like a bench player having a big game or a starter about to break his schools' record. I think my photos will drastically improve moving forward. 

Topic 2

1. I think I will try to shoot a youth basketball game or a playoff volleyball game. I know it will be harder to capture a "beautiful shot" in these harsh lighting environments, but I will try my best. Football is getting tougher and tougher to shoot with the extreme weather conditions and it is not baseball season yet really, so I am going to try to shoot a gym-based sport. 
2. I heard about a youth basketball game going on on Thursday, the 17 at the Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis. I will be there to take pictures using my newly acquired tips. 
3. For the different angles, I want a close up of a free throw being shot. Players show immense concentration when shooting free throws, and I think it would make for a good photo. For the medium, I want to try a routine jump shot, but try to get one that is contested so I can get both the defender and the attacker, to make for an extra dramatic shot. For the overall, I was thinking to take a good picture of the jump ball. The jump ball is like the calm before the storm in basketball, where players are poised and ready for action. 

Week 6 Blog 

Topic 1 

My hometown:

1) I am going to shoot Corvallis, OR because even though I am from Philomath, I have spent most of my life in Corvallis. I think there are more photo opportunities in Corvallis as well. 

2) For the landmark there are a couple things I could do, such as Reser stadium, the courthouse, wildcat park, the abandoned train, Avery park, and the downtown graffiti art. For the portrait I could shoot my old teacher who works at Timberhill as a work out instructor. For the event I might do a kids soccer game at Adams middle school. 

3) The biggest challenge I think I will have to face will be the portrait, just because I don't like taking pictures of people I don't know. I will have to find someone that will make the shoot meaningful and make the assignment eye-catching. 

Topic 2

1) The first tip I learned in this class that really stood out was the cropping. I started finding out that when I crop photos they really do look 100 times better. You can turn an "okay" photo into a great photo just with some simple cropping techniques.  

2) The second tip I learned was to always take as many as you can. When you are just starting your photo career, you want to take a lot of pictures because most likely a lot them them will be bad, simply due to inexperience. When you take a lot of pictures you are likely to find at least one you like, or at least can use. 

3) I can use these tips to make my photos the best the can possibly be. Without cropping, editing or taking lots of pictures I would really be limiting myself with the turnout of my assignments. With these tips I can make my blog look enticing. 

Week 6

For week 6, it was the photographers choice for the assignment. I chose to wake up early and head up to Mary's Peak on Thursday morning to capture the views.

In Image 1, you can see the sun just beginning to peak from behind the mountains. A lone crow decided to soar right in front of my lens as the trigger was pulled, at about 7:36 am. Mary's Peak was a popular location to watch the sunrise, with about 8 other vehicles of people bundled up to brave the blistering winds and freezing temperatures.  

Image 2 captures the still life around Mary's Peak. This was taken after exploring the area a little, finding backroads leading back to Alsea. I climbed high enough to get above the sea of fog, which made for a cool shot above the fog but beneath the clouds, with a landscape that is not often associated with Mary's Peak. This photo was taken over an hour after Image 1, at 8:47 am.

I ended up spending the day outdoors with good friends, and happened to capture a runner finishing up his jog as the setting back at Mary's Peak in Image 3. 20 year old Christopher Hoppe likes to run along Mary's Peak watching the sunset as he keeps in shape. Hoppe is in the Air Force, stationed in Denver. He had some time off and decided to visit his mother. Once he saw me taking photos of the sunset and knew he was in the shot, he decided to strike a pose. 

Photo Journalism Blog

Self-Critique

Topic 2

What is the best photo you have taken so far?

The week 4 assignment really made me realize what could come of my work if I really tried with the different assignments. I loved the outcome of this picture, with the only thing I don't necessarily like being the fact that you cannot totally see all of the targets' face. 

What is the worst photo you have taken so far?

This last week, being week 5 really had me frustrated with myself because of the outcome of my shots. Yes, it might be hard to get the "best possible photos" in a run down gym with bad lighting, but I was simply unhappy with most of the shots. I don't like this photo because I feel like I am not making her look very flattering. Also I do not like the cropping of the focus. 

What skill do you need to improve on the most?

For me, I feel like I do not take enough photos. You have a better chance to get easier photos to work with when you take more and more pictures. The more the merrier!

Week 5 Feature Assignment

October 28, 2016

Kelsey Herman flashes a smile as she warms up late Thursday evening at Cheldelin

Middle School for a city-league volleyball match. This is her 3rd season with her current

team. She plays on multiple teams throughout 4 different cities, always looking to play more.

Kelsey is seen setting up for a serve during the warmups of the game. She is a veteran

behind the line, most always getting her serves down. She practices constantly, always 

looking to get as much playing time in as possible. 

From left to right: Kelsey Herman, Mandy Williams, and Stephanie Marie. Team "Diggity"

experienced their first loss of the season, in the final match of the season. Usually they have

a healthy 6 players to run the league, but were missing two due to injury and illness and felt

the withdrawals late in game 1 when the opposing side started to pull away. 

Week 5 Blog Info 

Topic 1 

The story I chose to write about was the "Dog's Life" post from pages 246-247. I am a big dog person so I was immediately drawn to the photos which included animals. The specific picture which grabbed my eye was the photo in which one of the dogs is on a boogie board. 

Some challenges would definitely revolve around getting the dogs to all congregate together or even try to get them to look at the camera. There really isn't any ways to get dogs to do exactly as you want, especially if you did not train them yourselves. 

A theme I am seeing is the fact that the photographer looks like he wanted these dogs to be depicted as all having fun, there isn't a fun picture in which the dogs don't seem to be enjoying themselves, except for the last picture which shows the funeral celebration. 

Beyond taking the photos, the photographer obviously had to edit the pictures and put them through photoshop. There are some cool pictures involving the movement of lighting too. 

Some techniques I can work on to shoot my photo story are increased amount of angles, spending more time editing and photoshopping, shooting more pictures overall to find the best ones and shooting in various settings to improve diversity. 

Topic 2 

There are some ideas already flowing around in my head about what exactly I should shoot for my final project. I know I want to shoot in Philomath because that is where I spent the majority of my childhood. As for what exactly I can shoot, there is a fairly well known donut shop where most all of the locals go to get their morning fix. 

There is also a lot of people always around the high school, (tight-knit community). I am in Philomath a lot so everyday I am there I can bring my camera and shoot, whether early morning or late afternoon. I need to figure out the best times to go about shooting, like when events start and how long they last.  

Photojournalism Week 4 Blog

Topic 2

Shoutout 2 of your classmates:

I thought this picture was really cool. I probably wouldn't have thought to approach the shot at a lower angle like she did. I like the close up and the sky in the background.  

For more of Emmaly's pictures, follow the link below:

http://emmalywidmer.blogspot.com/

This next picture I thought looked really cool as well. I like how well the VR headsets' lights compliment the photo's environment. The lighting looks great in this shot. 

For more of Pepper's photos, follow the link below:

http://pepperhawkinson.blogspot.com/

Photojournalism Week 4 Assignment

Benton County police officer Brian Lundy stands next to his personal squad 

vehicle at the downtown police department in Corvallis. He takes his work very seriously 

and is always looking to improve and be better at what he does. He works hard at climbing 

the ranks and hopes to one day be at the top.

Photojournalism Week 2 Assignment

Oregon State business major Trevor Burton leafs through his writing class' 

textbook late afternoon in the Corvallis Public Library last week.

Mr. Burton is spotted looking at the various titles of books in the library late

Tuesday of last week, looking for his next read.

I spotted a security reflection on the ceiling of the library, and thought it made

for a great opportunity for a photo.

Week 2 Forum

Photographer of the Week

Steve McCurry

Steve is an American photographer, who is also a part of Magnum Photos, an international photography business. Steve has gotten a couple photos in the National Geographic. He has won numerous awards, including the great Magazine Photographer of the Year.

Steve's photos are really raw and like to show off "real life" as much as possible. He likes to make people think more about the life they have around them, through culturally shocking photos.

He is most famous for his 1984 photo, Afghan Girl. This shot earned the June 1985 cover of the National Geographic. The girl was not actually ever found until 2002, "striking as ever".

Feature Photos

List 2 suggestions you think you can accomplish:

1. Find someone is a powerful position, like a police officer or a politician. I think these make for great photos, and are easily identifiable at first glance.

2. Photograph them in their respective backgrounds, such as an office or next to their squad car. I need to make sure the background fits the target.

I think these are doable because I think photos of people in positions of power make great cover photos and overall tell great stories.

In the coming week I plan on visiting the police department and some offices downtown, to get people in their respective job environments.

Week 1 Blog Forum

Topic 1

     My name is James, but most everyone who knows me calls me Jimmy. This is my second year here at Linn Benton, but technically I am a freshman here because I took part in the Running Start program straight out of high school. My goal is to get my bachelor's degree in business marketing after 4-5 years of college. I took this class because I have always enjoyed looking at photography, whether on social media or throughout news outlets. I have some experience shooting high end photos, but not too much with editing. I took this class because I am thinking about getting a minor in some type of photography/journalism. I can't wait to improve and get better!

Topic 2 

     Some of the goals I have are to gain the know-how of presenting your photos and making them look nice on paper. I take good photos, but I am not sure how to go about the presentation of it. Another goal I have is to learn how to know when your are taking the best possible photo. You see amazing pictures everywhere, and I feel like they are in reach of my abilities, I just do not know how to go about the small tweaks to perfecting. The last goal I have to complete by the end of the class is gaining some people I can use as references in the future. Maybe collaborate with some classmates or teachers on some work in the future.

Topic 3

     I heard that LBCC has a chess club. Personally, I do not play a lot of chess, but I feel like you could get some really cool shots of the club. They publish their meeting times, so I think I could drop in and ask them if I could take some photos of them.

     I have some friends on the volleyball team here, and I know they are partway through their season. I think the best time to shoot would be at actual events, like their next home game.

     Rob told us in class about how the school has a center for horses. I have always liked shots of horses and barns, which I think would make a really good setting for photography. I will go ask the person in charge when the best times to shoot are, and find a time to make it happen.


James A. Dewey

Photo Journalism Week 1 Assignment

By: James Dewey

Casual Oregon State campus visitors Ara and Soren flash two smiles as they enjoy 

their evening out together as the sun sets over the Hawthorn building Thursday night.

An elderly couple locks arms as they walk laps around the Oregon State campus Thursday

 evening, watching all of the different sports being played throughout the many courts and fields. 

Oregon State college students blow off some steam late afternoon on Thursday by

playing some soccer on the inter-mural fields located on campus.