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