Irene Rojas

Here’s the final version of my soundless character profile.

http://web.missouri.edu/~irck9/picstory/sharon_quinn/

This is a rough draft of my profile of Sharon Quinn.

http://web.missouri.edu/~irck9/picstory/sharon_quinn/

Congratulation to Rock Bridge City Lights on winning Grand Champion in Omaha this past weekend!

The trip started Friday afternoon, with a 6 hour bus ride to Omaha, Nebraska.

Penny Kome opens her bag for a bag check by a chaperone.

On the trip to the Harrisonville competition, I went on the second bus.  This time, I rode on the first bus.  Here are some sights from the trip.  A lot of sights actually.

Shelby Ringdahl and Caroline Sovich watch "Glee" episodes on the bus to Omaha.

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I watched the issue story multimedia session.  On a side note, I was surprised by how well the audio and video synced over the webcast.  I did not expect that.  Anyways, the big issues this year were homelessness, unemployment, poverty, and environmental issues.  In the final 8, there were 4 stories about homeless or unemployment or poverty, 2 about coal mining, 1 medical story, and 1 story about coping with molestation.  The stories created some interesting discussion amongst the judges.  One judge praised photographers as reporters.  I think he made a very good point, especially in regards to multimedia.  In our multimedia pieces, we want good audio.  Not just high quality, but good content from our subjects.  To that end, we must act like reporters, asking good questions that solicit engaging and interesting replies from subjects.  Sometimes it is hard, but it feels great when we do it right.  Simply being curious and honest has helped me.  I want to know more about something or someone, so I ask. Read more…

I watched the Pictures of the Year (POYi) issue reporting picture story category through the webcast.  There were 320 entries, of which “Love Me” was the winner.  While I agree with the decision, having watched almost all of the judging, I had mixed feelings about the photos themselves in “Love Me.”  I feel they were the best at reporting the issue, but I wonder if there were stronger photos within the project.  Alas, I could not find the entire project to decide.  One webcast participant wrote that “there are lots of strong stories, if you read the captions, but if the images don’t attract you from the first view, they are not pictures of the year.”  I think this is where I trip up with this series.  As a whole, I think it is very good, but I wonder about the decision to open with the stark portrait of the girl.  It definitely sets the tone for the project, but I don’t feel it had the strongest opening photo.  Opening with a portrait creates the impression that the series is about that person, when that is not the case here.  Nonetheless, I think it addressed a troubling issue with a steady eye.  The judges noted its very clinical light, which I think makes sense in the context of the story.  It doesn’t glorify beauty, choosing instead to show the dangers.

I had never watched the competition through a webcast, but I’m glad I did.  There was some interesting discussion at times.  One person asked, “war war why?”  It made me glad, then, to see that the top three finishers were not necessarily about war itself.   Second place went to “For Better or Worse,” about a elderly couple struggling with health care.  While some of the judges wondered how issue-worthy this project was, Donna Decesare argued that we should “fight for beauty” in the world.  She herself was tired of looking at war, death, and destruction.  I can see how the media’s tendency to focus on those issues creates the impression that there is little good in the world.  This story reminds us that we don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to find important and touching stories.  This story takes place in a small town with simple characters, yet reminds us of the power of genuine love.  It works well in stark contrast to “Love Me.”  Only one of those stories shows true love.  Despite all the efforts to make people love them, we are left doubting that the subjects of “Love Me” will ever find the simple love of “For Better or Worse.”  The first story highlights conditional love.  The second one praises unconditional love.

I can’t get into the Moldova story, “Moldova – The Outsiders.”   One judge felt that each image was a small story in itself, and another thought it was good at giving an overview without losing the subjects.  I disagree.  I found the photos disconnected, and frankly, uninteresting.  They don’t call out to me like the others.  It does seem to accurately reflect the chaos of the current climate, but I just don’t feel it was that strong a series.

Last night, I went to the women’s gymnastics game in hopes of adding some photos to my sports portfolio.  I think it was my first time shooting gymnastics and I had to do it from the stands, since I lacked a press pass.  Nonetheless, I’m rather pleased with how the photos turned out.  Alas, I didn’t notice until near the end that they were putting the gymnasts’ names on a screen.  So any help with names would be great.  Also, I’m falling in love with the D700.  If only it had video abilities…

Brittany Bendoff performs on the beam during Missouri's match against Oklahoma at the Hearnes Center on February 19, 2010.

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This past Saturday, I went with the show choirs to the Harrisonville Invitational.  I also used this event for my one-day picture story.  It pretty much was one 23 hour day for me.  I woke up at 4:30 am on Saturday and went to bed around 3 am on Sunday… and I wasn’t performing in a competition.  This was my first time using the D700 exclusively for an extended assignment.  I noticed that there’s something different about my photos this time, but I’ll get to that later.

There first five photos are the ones I submitted for picture story, in this order.  More photos after the break.

Rachel Craig, left, and Kelsie Henry, center, apply make-up on the bus to the Harrisonville Invitational. Both are members of Rock Bridge’s all-girls show choir, Satin ‘n Lace. Since the group was performing early in the morning, the girls were expected to already have their hair done before boarding the bus and apply make-up on the way there.

Kahley Amiot waits as her mother applies hairspray before Satin ‘n Lace’s first performance at the Harrisonville Invitational. The choir eventually placed third overall, up from fifth place last year. They also won awards for best costumes and best closing number.

Members of City Lights, the coed show choir at Rock Bridge, performs Styx’s “Renegade” at the Harrisonville Invitational. The choir placed second overall, and won awards for best opening, best ballad, best vocals, best choreography, and best show design.

Jordan Rippeto, Caroline Sovich, Shelby Ringdahl, Molly Totten, and Brian Dresner (l-r) react after City Lights won an award for best direction under Mike Pierson.

Joel Johnstone rests before City Lights’ performance at the Harrisonville Invitational. The choirs left Columbia at 6:30 am and returned at 2 am the next day.

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This week’s reading from Lamott went well with our class discussion about the differences in stories and essays.  The reading provided things we need to keep in mind when doing either.  When talking about character creation, Lamott asked, “why should we care about them anyways?”  I think this is a fair question for our subjects too.  I think it’s also a hard question to answer.  Our reasons for finding a subject interesting might bore another person.  I guess the best way to answer the question is to answer it for ourselves.  I should care about this subject because… I think it shows to the audience when we care about a subject, and hopefully that will hook them in too.  We could argue that this subject’s situation is representative of others like him or her, or that it’s an important issue, but in the end, I think the audience can see when we, the narrators, just don’t care.  As Lamott points out, audiences appreciate a likable narrator.

Her section on plot had some other good pointers.  She writes, “characters should not… serve as pawns for some plot you’ve dreamed up.”  Let’s admit it.  Upon receiving an assignment, most photographers begin wondering, if not planning, what photos to get.  In some cases, preparation helps, such as with remote sets or something we’ve never shot before.  However, some photographers start planning out the story before they arrive, and are inflexible when faced with a situation that differs from their pre-conceived notion of the story.  Yes, it helps to have some ideas going in, but be flexible if a new story presents itself while there.

Lamott also suggests finding out “what each character care most about in the world because then you will have discovered what’s at stake.”  I think this holds true for our subjects.  By discovering what matters to them, why they are doing something, it in turn gives us something to focus on.  We get a better idea of who the person is and what drives her.  The more we know about the subject, the more accurately we can present her, her beliefs, and her actions.  We do this getting to know the person.  Sometimes this means putting aside our ideas.  Sometimes they match, sometimes they don’t.  Either way, we owe it to the subject to learn what motivates our subjects.

I realized my blog had been rather wordy of late.  Good news everyone!  I’m here to change that.  Earlier today, I went to the women’s tennis match to try out a Nikon D700.  I foresee a lot of low light situations next weekend when I go with City Lights to a competition, so I wanted to try it out beforehand.  I liked it.  Anyways, some photos from the match.  Also, big pictures!

Kaitlyn Ritchie

Jamie Mera

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Today’s readings were like a trip back to my Photography in Literature class at W&M.  At the least, that class was good for introducing me to daguerreotypes.  It’s one thing to read about them; another to actually hold one.  I guess it was a good background for the readings, since I actually knew what Langston and Chapnick were talking about.  Unfortunately, I was also familiar with photojournalism’s disreputable past-the lack of education, the yellow press, the sensationalism.  Sometimes, I’ve gotten the feeling that certain subjects still have the idea that photographers are the “dumb” ones of the journalism world.  On the other hand, one person said photographers were among the better liked people in journalism, since we’re more focused on telling a person’s story, as long as we don’t cross into paparazzi territory.  Paparazzis are borderline stalkers.  We stalk you with your permission, mostly.

Reading through Langston’s history was at times like a summary of two of my major papers in the past fews years.  The first one was about the effects of Vietnam War photography on popular support for the war and the military.  (I wrote this one at W&M.)  The second was about Rosenthal’s Iwo Jima photo and the connotations it carried and still carries.  Anyways, Chapnick’s article provided a nice example of how photography has become more complex over time, growing from single photos to the photographic essay.  (If a pictures is worth a thousand words, couldn’t I have just turned in 2 or 3 photos for my final papers?)  Granted, some of the photos in these essays can stand on their own,  Others require viewers to have a prior understanding about something (a sculpture, a reference, etc), as is also the case with satire and irony.  I’m just hoping I can tell my one-day story well.