I'm really sad we never got to see inside Eleanor's sheep dome.

REPOST: Final Portfolios

Lab hours:

Dec. 7 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Dec. 10 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Dec. 11 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Dec. 12 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (I'll be in the lab, 1-5)
Dec. 13 – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (I'll be in the lab all day)

I'll be around all of exam week, check my office or drop me a note and we'll set up a time to look at work.

Don’t push the deadline. Be paranoid - no portfolios will be accepted after 5:00 p.m. Remaining time will be announced throughout the day as shown on the clock on computer 0.

Deadline: Thursday, December 13, 5:00 p.m. SHARP

You must turn in your equipment with your portfolio. Be sure that all filters are in good condition. If anything is missing or broken, you’re responsible for replacing or repairing it. If you don’t, your account will be flagged and you won’t graduate.

Portfolio requirements:

10 single images, shot during this semester
1 photo story

Color laser prints of all the images, as well as one CD with high resolution versions of the images, to be placed in a 9x12 manila clasp envelope with your name and section on it.

All images must have complete, AP style captions, proper credit lines and correct file names.

To print photos with captions:

• When you are done toning, cropping and captioning, go to File -> Print with Preview
• Make sure “Center Image” is checked
• If a horizontal, click on “Scale to Fit Media”
• If a vertical, set height to 7.5 inches
• Click on “Description” to get captions to print
• Click on “Labels” to get file name to print
• Do not rotate prints in Page Setup
• Send to the HP 4600 printer

It's The Bokeh! Amongst other things...

Remember Mark E. Johnson's speech about the Bokeh? Well, the metaphysical and the practical have merged in this tutorial about how to make sweet shapes out of the Bokeh in your photos. Now we can not only have beautiful out-of-focus-ness, but it can be in the shape of a heart. Photography + Cuteness= Mark's favorite thing! :)

Clips on Monday

Stop, Pan and Blur - one of each, not from ads. Stop will be easy, pan and blur harder.

Publishing Opportunity

Hey photo friends,

I am the New Media Intern for UGAs Admissions Department and I need your help! If you would like to get some of your pictures of life at UGA published on-line, I can help you out. Basically my internship allows me to design content for the Admissions website... which currently is pretty lame. So my job is to come up with cool and exciting things to put on a Media page that is currently being designed.

Where you come in: If you have pictures that you think show interesting things about UGA or Athens in general and would like to get your name out there... I'm doing a package called "Slice of Life" for the website. If you would like to be considered for the package, submit your photos to me at morgankc@uga.edu

How to submit:

Attach photos as JPG files and in the body of the email, place your captions. Include all relevant information just like you would for class. I will let you know via e-mail if your photos have been chosen for the site.

Thanks and can't wait to see your pictures!

Morgan

Assignment: Stop, Pan, Blur

For Wednesday, November 7, you'll need to submit three photos - one stop, one pan and one blur. The three photos do not need to be of the same subject. I strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last minute to shoot these - this will be the most technically challenging shoot of the semester, plan on doing at least one reshoot before you submit - particularly of the pan.

Assignment: The Photo Story

For Wednesday, October 31, you'll need to submit 3-5 photos from your photo story. Be prepared to talk about the story, what you want it to tell and how you plan on achieving those goals.

My bad

[whoops... I posted this on the wrong blog and can't figure out how to delete it]

No Clips On Monday

But be sure to bring your camera - we'll be doing an in-class shooting exercise.

Afghan Girl

In today's video, Steve McCurry talked about the portrait of Sharbat Gula, the Afghan girl he photographed in 1984. In 2002, she was found and the magazine did a follow up story on her, complete with a new portrait. The effects of 17 years are astounding.

Cool link I found

This photographer named Bill from New York decided to take a portrait of someone for every day of 2007. What a cool idea, right? Most of the pictures are pretty awesome and notice the titles he gives some of his subjects.

http://365portraits.com/index.php

Assignment: The Portrait

For Wednesday, October 17: You need to choose a newsworthy subject and shoot an environmental portrait of them. By "newsworthy" we mean someone who a newspaper audience would be interested in - such as a faculty member, administrator or student leader.

Think about where you'll be shooting them - choose an area that is relevant to them and the story being told. You have total control over this image - how they dress, how they pose, which direction they look, etc. Think about the when and where well in advance.

For Monday, October 15, bring in three clips of environmental portraits - not candids, but fully controlled situations. One good one, one bad and one you're curious about.

A beautiful mind

A beautiful mind

Mount Everest, by Stuart Baker-Brown, represents his struggles in life

Stuart Baker-Brown, 43, a photographer and writer based in Dorset, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1996. On World Mental Health Day, he delivers a unique personal insight into how his condition has nurtured his artistic expression.

For the complete story, visit the BBC site.

---

Photojournalist becomes a part of his own story

Oct. 3: Norman Thompson leaps off a third floor balcony before being tackled and apprehended by a photojournalist. (AP Photo/Sun Journal, Russ Dillingham)

I'm sure you've all heard the story by now, but here it is again.

-Rusty

Assignment: The Feature Photo

For Wednesday, October 12, one feature photo - a found situation that shows a "slice of life" moment about the UGA campus or Athens area. Look for good graphics, good light and, most importantly, a strong moment.

For some examples, check out the Best of Photojournalism 2007 winners in the Enterprise or the Humor categories.

Clips for Monday

Assignment: For Monday, October 8, three clips of stand-alone feature photos - one good one, one bad one and one you have questions about.

12 Essential Photographic Rules

Pophoto gives some great tips on things ranging from depth of field to freezing motion...

Lab OPEN on Tuesday

Have no fear, the lab will be open Tuesday night, 4:45 to 7:45. Be sure to thank Lab Assistant Caroline for her help.

For Wednesday, Oct. 3 ...

... please be sure to bring your cameras to class. Last time we'll be doing inventory.

I hope ...

This is why you don't go into Broadcasting

Let's just say, I'm glad I went into print media...

And boom goes the dynamite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45DRy7M1no

AJC Sports Photo

Here's a link to the online gallery of Johnny Crawford's coverage of Georgia Tech this weekend for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Crawford will be teaching the spring Documentary Photography class here at Grady, so paying attention to what he shoots would be a good idea. (He's on the Tech beat.)

National Press Photographers Association Student Chapter

The National Press Photographers Association (which, if you're thinking of doing this as a career, you should be a member of) has an option for creating student chapters on campuses with photojournalism programs. There has been an NPPA "club" on campus in the past, but I don't believe there has been a formal chapter.

Why would you do this? Given that there are only four active student chapters at the moment, creating a new one would garner some attention - and attention is a good thing when you're looking for jobs and internships. It would get you some money from the NPPA for individual programs (speakers, shooting events, etc.). It may also allow you to go to SGA for more money to fund, say, trips to the NPPA's Flying Short Course in Washington, D.C., in October. (HINT HINT)

Assignment: Light

For Wednesday, October 3, you need to shoot (and edit, caption and upload) an image that speaks to the Beauty of Light. Plan on shooting early in the morning or late in the afternoon, using the golden hours around sunrise and sunset. Find a great subject that will benefit from great light. Think about how Joel Sartore talked about light and especially about how he used it.

Light is directly linked to great color, as well. Keep that in mind.

DO NOT delay in shooting this - you've got two weeks, and as unlikely as this may seem, it could rain for part of that. That will make your life very, very difficult.

Assignment: Long, Medium, Close-Up

For Wednesday, September 26, you need to shoot (and edit, caption and upload) a three photo package from one event, situation or story. You need an opening image - a long shot that shows a sense of place and scale. A medium shot that moves in tighter, gives us a sense of who is involved, has good light and a great moment. The third shot is to be a close-up or detail shot - show the reader something the casual viewer might not have seen if they had been there.

Post questions if you have them, but please note I'll be offline from Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening.

Class Notes

A reminder - class starts at the scheduled time. If the door is closed, you've missed the start of class and that will be counted as an absence. We seem to be having a rash of late arrivals, that stops now, as it is both a distraction and disrespectful to your classmates.

Monday Clips

Assignment: For Monday, Sept. 24, bring in a 3-5 photo package from a newspaper or magazine that demonstrates the ideas of long, medium and close-up shots.

Posting to the Server

Here's how to upload your images to the server. This will only work from within the lab/classroom.

From the Desktop/Finder ...

1. Choose the “Go” menu, all the way to the bottom for “Connect to Server”
2. Click on Connect
3. Click on “Guest”, then Connect, then Okay
4. Drag your images onto the class folder (3610 AM or 3610 PM) (You’ll be told you don’t have permission to see the results of this action, click okay)
5. Eject the server (“photolabinstruct”)
6. Copy your images to your thumb/USB drive

Next Assignment - Four Scenes

Four photographs with the same composition, altering the focal length and the aperture as follows:

1. 28 mm, f/2.8
2. 28 mm, smallest aperture possible*
3. 75 mm, f/2.8
4. 75 mm, smallest aperture possible*

* Maximum of f/8

Monday Clips

For Monday, please look for the following seven types of photos ...

• Rule of Thirds
• Leading Lines
• Fill the Frame (filled and showing use of negative space)
• Depth of Field (shallow and deep)
• Framing

As a bonus, see if you can find a Golden Section.

Five More Minutes of Your Life I'm Stealing

As mentioned in the afternoon class, here's the video of Ari Vatanen racing up Pikes Peak in the late 1980s. (If this isn't one of the greatest pieces of video you've ever seen, you need to start sharing.)

Clips

As a slight reminder, please remember to include both the photo credit and caption with your clips starting next week. Where a photo comes from can have a large impact on how we relate to it.

Exploding Whale Video

Totally off topic, but ... one of the earliest pieces of "big bandwidth" downloads on the web was this video from an Oregon television station in the 1970s. I think I was first pointed to it about 10 years ago, when I had just upgraded to, ahem, a 56 kbs modem ... I was cruising ...

Anyway, it's all over the place now and rather comical in a slightly twisted journalistic way.

Enjoy.

Software Discounts

Rusty Bailey asked in the comments yesterday if there were any software discounts for things like Adobe Photoshop CS3 and the answer is yes, big ones.

The university's eMSD program said they were going to offer Adobe discounts, the R&B reported that, then eMSD said the R&B was wrong. Yet ... they still have it listed on their FAQ page (What products are available?: University of Georgia students may purchase Adobe or Microsoft products.) ... so that's not really an option.

Regardless, Apple and Adobe both offer significant discounts on their software and hardware packages for students. The bookstore has the best prices I've seen, believe it or not. Perhaps the volume they're selling gets them a better deal, but I'd look there first. For Apple stuff, if you go to the Apple Store, look along the right hand side for education links and you'll find their discounted stuff. Again, check the bookstore first - I don't know why, but buying iWork and Final Cut Pro HD last year was cheaper on campus than online.

Some camera manufacturers have discounts, too, on gear. I get listings of those from time-to-time and post them in the lab.

(Sorry for the cross posting, but people need to know this stuff ...)

Clips on Monday

Back to our regular schedule - three clips on Monday. Then we'll do a little more in Photo Mechanic before heading into Photoshop.

By the way ... the company that makes Photo Mechanic, Camera Bits, does a free 30-day trial and has done educational discounts. Worth downloading and playing with the newer, full version. (We're a generation behind at the moment.)

Lab Hours - UPDATED

The photo lab is now open for business - enrolled students in either 3610 or 3710 can use the lab to work on their assignments. Hours as follows:

Monday - 3:30 to 6:30
Tuesday - 4:45 to 7:45
Wednesday - 3:30 to 6:30
Thursday - 8:00 to 10:45 (a.m.)
Friday - 10:00 to 3:00

Next Assignment - 33 More Faces

For Wednesday, September 5 ...

You need to bring your total number of faces up to 36 - 12 of them at 75 mm, 12 at 50 mm, 12 at 28 mm. Collect the name, age, hometown, major (or job title) and one piece of contact information (phone or email) from each person. Bring your card (and camera) to class on Wednesday - we'll be going through the download, batch captioning, renaming and editing procedure.

Below are some of the images from past classes as examples. Remember, shoot verticals, watch your backgrounds. Keep an eye on your exposure - don't let the shutter speed drop too low.

Fire away with questions or comments.

As we do not have class on Monday, you do not need clips for next week - the next set will be due on September 10.

....

For Wednesday

Assignment: Three mug shots - head and shoulders, shot vertical. One at 28 mm, one at 50 mm and one at 75 mm.

These will be the first three of the 36 Faces assignment. They are to be people you don't know and you'll need to get their names, ages, hometowns, majors (or job titles) and one piece of contact information (phone or email).

Moments in mug shots are rare, but controlling your background and filling the frame are important here. Watch out for bad light, low light, high contrast light, things growing out of heads, awkward expressions. Make sure your shutter speed doesn't fall below 1/60 of a second.

Questions? Ask away, by email or in the comments section if you think others will benefit from the info.

UGAzine Meeting

Kick off meeting for UGAzine - Wednesday, August 29, 7 p.m., SLC 148.

Go, participate, learn.

Slip N Slide

As promised ...

Welcome

This is here as much for you guys as it is for me. I'll post items of interest to the class, along with updates to deadlines and such if there are changes.

I want you folks to post stuff, too. See a great online photo package? Share the link. Have a question about a photo you saw somewhere? Ask about it. Comment on each other's posts.

As silly as this may sound, being able to understand how a blog works - and how to establish a conversation via one - is important to editors these days.

And don't forget to check out the main blog - http://ugapj.blogspot.com - you're responsible for information posted there as, well.

-mej