Carolyn Cole

I looked up the story for which she won a Pulitzer in 2004, about the clash of government and rebel soldiers in Monrovia, Liberia.
The ones I can't stop looking at are the photos of the refugee children, like Tehneh Johnson in the yellow and red shirt, the three children bathing, and Patirnel Boima in the pink towel. I feel like I could not have composed those better if I had sat down and painted them, and also had an amazing ability to paint.

Also, LA Times has a multimedia package of the same story, which includes audio of an interview w/ Carolyn Cole. There's shocking quotes in that, when she talks about how the search for food occupies most everyone's time, how they have to walk three hours (if they're able) to find it, how children there probably get one handful of rice a day, if that. And the pictures, I think, make very apparent the danger she put herself in to show this story.

Le Mans on Autoblog

Looking up stuff for the Petit Le Mans Event...found a great blog, Autobloggreen...hey, They "
obsessively cover the green scene" and since this is such a big deal, might be helpful to read up.

Oh, and an afterthought...so since there's a gas shortage, how does that affect this racing series...I know they'll still race in the rain, but will they still race with no gas? Have they already purchased all the fuel they need? How does this work?

Petit Le Mans

Just got off the phone with our American Le Mans Series guy (John Evenson), looks like everything is falling into place. We'll go over some organizational stuff on Tuesday, but he reiterated the importance of the Green Challenge - we need to make sure we cover this and cover it well.

There will be lots of signage around the track and the paddock, he said the trophies are hand made and gorgeous, so we have to get them before they're presented and while they're being presented. (May be a good chance to do some location lighting, I'll pack up a few reflectors.)

Also, the 007 Aston Martin owner/driver Paul Drayson is a HUGE proponent of this, we have to find him and get some good stuff. 

Links to read up on the event:

• American Le Mans Series - the main site for the sanctioning body
  
• Road Atlanta - track site
  
• AutoWeek - good info in the forums and back stories
  
• SpeedTV - the network that will be broadcasting the event
  
• Modern Racer - news on the series
  
• MotorSports.com - another news site
  

You can also search for individual teams (Audi, Penske Porsche, Andretti Green Racing, Corvetter Racing, Flying Lizard Racing, Peugeot - who had a major crash on Saturday morning and rebuilt the whole car by Sunday).

Start Studying.

Something Different to Try

I know I keep posting about things that aren't actually photojournalism-related, but hopefully they're still interesting in a more general photographic sense.

Anyone seen infrared photography? Black and white images with dark skies and light foliage and basically where some of the colors tones look a lot different than they should?


What about COLOR IR? Now I've always thought this is some neat stuff:

The mechanics are different depending on how you want to do it (for film users there is actually infrared-specific film made by Kodak and a few others; you can have the IR-blocking chip in your digital camera removed; or you can buy a filter), but the results are always pretty unusual and neat-looking. The cheapest/easiest way (especially if you don't want to permanently alter your camera) is to buy a filter, usually by either Hoya or Wratten, and take one picture with it on and the same one with it off (you'll need something to brace it). I used to play around with this myself on my old camera, but since I bought a Rebel XT the filter thread is too big now for the lenses I have, so I've had to put it on hold. Even if you didn't want to do IR specifically, though, there are some interesting things you can do just playing around with the filter itself and different white balances.

To read more about it, check out this link. It's pretty long and technical, but it'll tell you essentially everything you need to know to get started.

(A sidenote: they specifically mention the 30D as being a pretty decent camera to do it with...)

Another Mediastorm Multimedia Piece: The Ninth Floor

Last year, mej posted this on the UGA Photojournalism blog. I don't know how frequently everybody checks that blog, so I wanted to post this again here. After Lesley's post guided me back to this site, I revisited this story. 

This multimedia piece had a really deep impact on me after watching it the first time. And, maybe even deeper after watching it again recently. A lot of the scenes are very graphic depictions of drugs, sex and violence. Just a warning: if you are uncomfortable with these you may not want to watch this. 

The intimate access that this journalist got into the lives of these subjects is remarkable. This is truly a story that needs to be told. And, is impossible to do so with out this level of access. 

Take a look.  

Mobile Photojournalism

I found an interesting blog, where this guy Charlie Saceda posts news photos taken using only the camera on his mobile phone. He is a photojournalist in the Philippines, who currently works for a daily national publication there. With all the debate today about what is journalism and what isn't, I was intrigued to see this man crossing over onto both sides of the fence.

On this web site, you can see some of his professional work (using a real camera). Scroll down and take a look at the Gallery section. Some nice use of wide-angle in there.

Or if you're REALLY into it, you can check out his Flickr Photostream.

Talking to the Taliban

So, I came across this multimedia piece from the Globe and Mail in Canada. I'd seen it awhile ago but was glad to find it again. There's more interviewing and video storytelling than photographs, but I thought it was a really well done. It's amazing the kind of access they got on this. The very concept of reaching out to a terrorist organization to tell why the individual soldiers believe, rather than just lambasting them in political rhetoric, is scary and powerful and so, so important. It humanizes them, I think, and creates an environment for understanding. That's key.

I was also trying to find a website through the Washington Post. They had short interviews (less than 5 min.) with interesting citizens around town. I remember a young male marijuana lawyer and an older man who was an art model. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I'd really like to find it again!

Another Country continued...

When looking through the comments on one of the posts I made last week, Another Country, I noticed the last post was from the photographer himself, Scott Strazzante. He was kind enough to answer some of the questions we raised in our comments. (I tried to copy it here to save you time looking it up, but I kept doing something wrong.) I thought this may get overlooked, so I thought I'd point it out. Also, MediaStorm made his slideshow into a multimedia piece definitely worth checking out: go here and click on Common Ground.

Internship for YOU!!!

Sorry I didn't get to post this last week, but here is an opportunity for anyone who's interested.  I receive emails from the NBA about internships, and I will pass this along to you guys! (Not really my cup of tea, but perhaps it will be yours!)

It is for the Washington Wizards basketball team. 

Photography Internship (2008-09 Season) - Washington Wizards (Washington, DC)
[ http://nbateamjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=20485 ]

New Media and Changing Computer Choices

I received this article  in my inbox and found it really interesting and on top of that it was written by a UGA student!  The article doesn't pertain to photojournalism specifically, but it is relevant to the technology we all use!! 

History of Photography

I was playing around on National Geographic's website and saw this image that MEJ showed us last class of the bullet going through the apple- a moment that perfected high-speed stroboscopic photography.  After clicking on it, it took me through a neat timeline of the history of photography which I found interesting. Some of these photos I have seen many times (the image of the Afghan girl's piercing green eyes), but others I had either never seen, or never fully understood their magnitude and the milestone they represented.  It was incredible to see the images they were able to create at such a primitive stage of the camera. 

Just thought it was worth checking out!

Daily Dose of Imagery

I'd forgotten about this site until I was going through my old favorites looking for something interesting to post -- every day this guy takes a picture around his hometown (Toronto) and posts it, and almost all of the time they're very GOOD pictures, too. Among other things, it's a good place to get ideas for features -- and just to get some ideas of sorts of pictures in general that you might want to try.

There are similar sites to look for -- I know there was another person I came across once who takes a portrait of someone every day -- whether it's in his studio, on the street, or on location somewhere. Sometimes they're planned, sometimes they're not -- I'll post the link if I come across it again, but otherwise look out for it yourself on google, it shouldn't be too hard to find.


There are landscapes, weather pictures, small detail pictures, portraits, pictures from premieres and festivals, and lots of similar things. The archives go all the way back to July 4, 2003 -- so there's plenty to see.

Amazing Site Cont'd...

For some reason I forgot to say that I specifically explored some of Harry Benson's work on the Fotophile site...super duper amazing! I mean, I can't believe the historical significance of most, if not all, of his photos. Robert Kennedy's assassination, pics of the Beatles and MLK ...crazy

Pinhole Cameras

In high school, I built my own pinhole camera, but now it seems to be hitting the mainstream market and becoming more user friendly. First the lomo cameras and now this! It's interesting to me how the more complicated film cameras are becoming more simplified.


Here's the link.
"http://www.corbis.readymech.com/en"

What the World Eats

This is less about the photos, more about the cool idea, but the photos are still essential to the story. The TIME mag photo essay is from a book called "Hungry Planet" by Peter Menzel, and in it he's photographed families around the world - from California to North Carolina to Tingo to Sicily to Breidjing Camp - standing next to their dinner tables, which are covered in everything they eat in a week, and in the caption he's also put what they spend on food weekly and some family recipes. One of the more obvious differences is the amount of packaged food vs. produce eaten by families in the US vs. families from everywhere else.

Features & Multimedia

This compilation may be a little old (2004), but it has a whole section on Feature stories. And seeing as I love multimedia, this has been my favorite way to get feature photo ideas.

It's the Best of Photojournalism Web Entries from 2004. Like I said though, be sure to scroll down to the section for "Best Feature Picture Story." Some good stuff there.

Election Stories

I know that our election centered photo stories are a little ways off, but I just wanted to point to a story that the Rocky Mountain News did on the democratic national convention this year. I really think it's done brilliantly and some of the time lapse stuff is pretty cool too. Some of you guys might remember that the Rocky Mountain News also did a story called "Final Salute," which is amazing.

It's called "At last, At last, A Dream Fulfilled." Though it does focus on Barack OBama, the story's more about Denver and the people who live there. So, despite this big starting point, the story still feels localized.

It's long, but hang in there.

Covering Protests

This article reveals the obstacles that many photojournalists faced while covering protests at the Republican National Convention a few weeks ago. A handful were arrested - one of them a 2 time NPPA photojournalist of the year.



The video below shows raw footage and photos from the protests shot by the AP. See 1:20.

Amazing Site!

So I found this amazing site with all these links to famous photojournalists work. There are also project links and other related stuff. AND if you go to the home site, they have all these updates and latest camera info. So freakin cool....

B B C

In my search for an internship in Edinburgh, Scotland I was brought to the BBC website and decided to glance through the photographs. This one is amazing. It has so many lines to follow and helps to communicate the confusion behind a grenade explosion.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7621096.stm

The other pictures on the site are good too. Especially the one with the small children in Somali. It is interesting to see what their make shift homes are made of. (it is photograph number 10)

Documentary Photographer: Wendy Ewald

When I took photography with the art school (shhh don't tell mej) two years ago, my teacher introduced me to Wendy Ewald, a documentary photographer who has committed her life to teaching young children photography. She started a program within the Durham Public Schools called Literacy Through Photography that, "at it's core... encourages children to explore their world as they photograph scenes from their own lives, and then use their images as catalysts for verbal and written expression." I really admire Ewald's passion for empowering children to visually communicate their stories. Especially, now that art is being cut from almost every public school and kids are no longer learning any form of visual communication. 

Ewald also wrote a book titled I Wanna Take Me a Picture that serves as an "accessible and practical guide to getting children involved in photography."

Another Country

I thought this story had an interesting angle that you see occasionally, but not as directly. After Scott Strazzante, a Chicago Tribune photographer, chronicled the end of a family farm he had photographed for years, he returned to the land to find a subdivision. He was invited into the home of one of the families and began noticing similarities in what he shot. (He describes those now as "really eerie".) The slideshow directly parallels the images, placing them side by side. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences he found in the two lifestyles. And it's cool to see how a story can develop when you return to it years later. 

LA Times Photos

Today I came across the photography section of the LA Times site, a paper/site I don't think to check out very often. They have a really nice photography page though, that has tons of galleries organized by subject, the week in staff's photos and lots of multimedia stories. Just thought it'd be another place to look for inspiring stories, images, etc. 

Lab Hours Adjustment

There will be a slight adjustment to lab hours, as the lab is needed between 12:30 and 1:30 on Thursday for a meeting.

The lab will be open from 11:30 to 12:30, then again from 1:30 to 4:30 on Thursday. Lab will open an hour earlier (11:30) on Friday to give another opportunity to work.

Flying Short Course Registration

Somebody broke the interwebs ... but the fine folks at NPPA's headquarters put up an emergency registration page for the Flying Short Course.

Aerial Photos

I'm a sucker for aerial photos. But this guy doesn't have a step ladder in his trunk.

He has a kite.

Parkour!

So have you guys heard of Parkour? Apparently it is kind of big in Houston. There is a video on The Dallas Morning News website.

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=238969

Turns out there is someone who specializes in Parkour/Free running photography

http://www.kiell.com/

pylon tumblr!

Michael Lachowski, who is Pylon's bassist I think, has a tumblr called I Photograph Bands! In this tumblr, he puts pictures of bands he has photographed!

Internships and great info

Since we have been talking about internships a lot...especially in this past class...I thought this was relevant information that I found on the NPPA website. Lots of tid-bits and helpful suggetions

This may be cooler to me than most of the rest of you (as far as I know -- maybe I'm not the only one), since I'm more into advertising/studio photography, but I still think it's an interesting article for anyone interested in photography.

This is a five-part tutorial from Atlanta-based photographer Zack Arias (if you've been reading Strobist for a while you may have already seen this, it was on there a few months ago) about how to set up a studio with a white seamless background, like you see used in portraits very often.

But what's cool about it to me is Part Three, where he shows how controlled use of your lighting equipment can turn that same white background to pure black, or even any other colors.



Yeah, that's a white background.

Real Photojournalism v. Flickr

"Flickring Out" 

I found this article online on the Columbia Journalism Review website and it is very interesting. Alissa Quart, the reporter, raises a lot of good points about the struggles and issues currently facing the photojournalism world. It is definitely worth looking at..

One of my favorite lines in the article:

"There's still a special recipe to be a 'real' photojournalist, and it's not just the 'trained' or 'expert' eye but rather the sheer hours put into each assignment and the ability to sustain a thought, image, or impulse through a number of images, not just a single snapshot."

Check it out:

http://www.cjr.org/essay/flickring_out_1.php?page=1

Notes from Tuesday

Sorry for the delay, but I've posted the presentation (sans images) online about finding features and story ideas.

Life in Color: National Geographic

Since our assignment for next week includes a feature photo that focuses on a color, I thought that this might help fuel some ideas. National Geographic put together an awesome feature that shows slice of life images, each in one bold color. Take a look!

Petit Le Mans and AutoWeek

A few years ago, I spent a week in Detroit for the North American International Auto Show and worked with the folks at AutoWeek on a research project. The managing editor there has a photojournalism background and we've stayed in touch the last few years. (Okay, I've been playing the stalker trying to get him to come to our fall workshop.)

He, again, can't make it (something about having to go to Paris), but has brought up the idea of us providing images for an online-gallery from the event for AutoWeek.

Are we interested? I'd handle the sending of the images, but I'd need everyone's permission to do this. It's a great opportunity for some exposure for you and the program.

Thoughts?

Where the Heck Have I Been?

Since we only have class once a week, it was not too noticeable that I have been gone for a week.  But where..?

Lol. I have been in NYC for Fashion Week interning with a fashion PR firm, and Mark wants me to share a bit about it.  

PHOTOGRAPHY aspects:

Although I could go on for days about which collections were the best, I just wanted to share a few things about being a photographer in an environment like that:

1) Very much like a football game, photographers are everywhere with multiple lenses.  Many carried at least 2 camera bodies--one w/ a short and one w/a long lens.  

    * NOTE: They used the SAME 70-200 lenses as we have in our camera kits!! 

2) Inside the shows, press is allowed at an area facing the end of the runway, less than five feet away.  Each photographer has a taped off 2'x2' box in which to stand in.  (Usually everyone is just bunched in as tightly as possible...screw the boxes).

* This is a horrible photo from my phone, but behind the people there is a white square against the wall. Press needs to be the width of that white area and as far in front as is taped off. It is NOT a very big space, and there can be 200 ppl there, depending on the popularity of the show.

3) Runway shows are probably hard to photograph: The audience is in near blackness, but the runway is blindingly lit.  There were a lot of off camera light-meters in action prior to the shows.

   * Press is let in abt 15 minutes before the shows, but luckily the venues are pretty standard--except for the Promenade at Bryant Park which is outdoors.

   

   *I've included this picture of LL and GF at Charlotte Ronson because 

1. this one of our firm's shows (yea!) and...

2. so you can see how dark everything is behind them although they are pretty bright in the first row.  This picture has been lightened as well, I'm sure.

4) They chimp like CRAZY, so I'm sure they carry a ridiculous battery pack.

5) If you work for a trashy newspaper or tabloid, wear your running shoes. When one photographer runs, everyone starts running--chances are, there's a celebrity ducking off somewhere and you need to get the money shot! Cha Ching! (for Morgan:)

Well, that's all I can think of to say about photojournalism and fashion. Enjoy!

Chanelle

Weather features

Since we're doing a weather feature this week, I thought you guys might want to take a look at these. Scroll down a bit, since the top of it is mainly ads. Some of them have been highly edited (the friend who sent these to me is a advertising student).

It seems like a lot of this depends on location, location. And patience. I'm not so good at that yet, but I have a feeling I will be.

ASSIGNMENT: Features, Reading & Learning

For next Tuesday, please shoot three feature photos. One needs to be weather related, one needs to focus on color and one needs to focus on a strong moment. Upload to the site as normal.

Please read chapter 9 in the book and the handout "In A Flash" (now available in the corner of this site and on the class site).

Don't forget to sign up for the Flying Short Course (and the NPPA) and talk with me about internship opportunities.

And don't forget to blog, either. Or do your photo requests. Or do a Tumblr post, if you want. 

Those Guys Ruined Everything

I read this a while ago and thought it was an interesting comment on the change in industry technology and how the public is responding to it.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/152989

this lens lets you control depth of field after the shot

Um I'm sorry, what did you say?!

Feature: Adobe's Magic Lens Lets You Control Image Depth After the Shot

craaazy

ASSIGNMENT: Blog, read, shoot news

Don't forget, you are all supposed to blog every week - posts by Friday at 9 a.m., comments by noon. 

For Tuesday, please read chapter 11 in the book and have a 3-5 photo package on a news event up online. You need to have them up before class starts - we won't have time in class to do this.

Letters - remember the letters? You were supposed to shoot letters ... let's get those on the server in the lab for Tuesday, as well. If you don't have time to do them before class, I'll stay a little late and you can upload them afterwards. Please crop them into a 5 inch wide by 7 inch high at 300 dpi image and I'll build something cool from there. 

And don't forget the tumblr page ... 

Amazing Sports Photographer

So the assignment is past, and I've already shown this to Mark and Amanda, but I still think this sports photographer based out of the UK, Bob Martin, is someone that would be worth looking at if you want to get some ideas to try for improving your sport photography.

FYI, the donut-shaped bokeh in some of his photos is from a mirror lens -- technically a cheaper way to get some of the longer telephotos, but some people still like them for that look.

Here's one of his most famous photos, from the 2004 Paralympics:

The Year in Pictures

This is a photo blog I like to check by a photographer named James Danziger. He makes posts about collections of photos, photographers, Youtube videos, and random things that inspire him.

I really like his picks for best Olympic photos.

---edit
Also while I was looking for journalists to do my Day in the Life project with, I found Shannon Szwarc, who shoots for my hometown's paper, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. I reaaalllly like his work and I can't get over this one shot of some kids playing in downtown C-town. Also he's new-ish to Columbus, but his dedication to capturing the spirit of the community is something I really admire. Like I think he already knows Columbus better than I do, and I've lived there 20 years longer than he has.

Geotag your photos!

Ok, so for those of you that don't know yet, Google Maps now has a "More..." button that lets you view photos and Wikipedia entries related to a certain area. To get photos on Google Maps, there are certain websites you can use to upload your photos and geotag them. This really builds up the collective knowledge and I think anyone who has good pictures of Athens (or their hometowns) needs to upload those pictures to one of those websites and geotag them.

Birds on a wire

So, this isn't quite as different as some of the others, but I liked it for its simplicity. I came across this pictorial that was simple, but pretty awesome: the lines, repetition, color, etc., etc. Plus, the photographer's assignment was more general news, but Robert Cohen found a pictorial there too...

Ugly Made Beautiful

I guess we can't complain about finding legitimate things to photograph anymore...

PopPhoto.com has a really interesting article about making stunning photos from unlikely subjects, such as trash and other discarded materials. Intriguing journalistic statements to be made in a world threatened by consumer waste. I guess sometimes a photo of something really nasty has the ability to make the most lasting impression.

Be sure to also check out the different photo series on Chris Jordan's website. His is the work that the article is about.

"Scattered, Smothered, Covered and Hitched" A Waffle House Wedding

These certainly are not the greatest photos in the world- but the story might be up there for the greatest subject! Take a look- make sure you look at the slideshow of pictures at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!

A little practice goes a long way

I've gotten obsessed with getting a picture right, but I've never been this fascinated. Basically, the guy takes a picture of the same vending machine every day. I believe the title of the blog is roughly "I take pictures of the same vending machine every day. I'm very sorry."

Wow. That's all I have to say. Do people actually follow this? Like every day?

Swimming in a tomato pool

This just looks absolutely wonderful. I love the deep reds in all the photos and the life in all the photos. Plus how much fun would it be to trounce around in tomato sauce while taking pictures. I can't think of anything better..its like a tomato pool.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1837057,00.html

Maybe Better Than a Mini Fridge

This is by far, one of the coolest things I've ever seen on-line for photographs. Except for maybe this:
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

[Make sure you scroll down and check out the picture of London from above.]

tumblr

As asked, it is done. Everyone should have gotten an invitation by email to join the VisualizeAthens Tumblr site. 

First word: brush

Make of it as you will. 

Sports Favorites

I came across this gallery on SI.com and thought that the pictures were awesome (all from different types of sporting events). What I liked most about this gallery is that on the right hand side it tells you what camera the photo was shot with! Happy Viewing!!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0703/gallery.canon.frakes/content.1.html