Sports Assignment
Due: Finals week (or, for extra credit, hand in at last one-on-one meeting)
Specifics:
• Five of your best shots from one sporting event
• Captions for each
• Handed in digitally (USB drive, CD, Flickr, etc.)
You can shoot sports for your News Event assignments, but use your best for this one.
Ideas:
DMACC Bears basketball (they play in Boone)
Iowa Energy
Des Moines Buccaneers
Drake or ISU basketball
iCubs (there is a nice string of home games April 8-15)
State wrestling tournament
You'll need to get a media pass for all of these except the DMACC Bears. How to get a media pass:
Call the media relations office for the team.
You can either say you are a freelance photojournalist or a photojournalism student and you're interested in a media pass. They will take your name and usually just leave the pass at the ticket window. I hope to arrange passes for the iCubs.. when we get closer I will take names for that.
Other tips:
• Try to figure out if there are any stars on the team and try to focus on them throughout the game. Watch for interesting interactions with the referees or the bench, or any interesting characters in the crowd.
• Put your camera in aperture priority -- if you don't have a lot of light, set it to the smallest f-stop number. This will automatically give you the fastest shutter speed available.
• If you can help it, avoid going over 800 ISO, but pick a higher ISO and faster shutter speed over slower shutter speed and lower ISO.
• Flashes are usually prohibited, although if they are allowed (ask media relations) you can dial down the power to add some fill light.
• For all games… STAY SAFE! This means for the iCubs, always stay down in the media dugout during the pitch. There will be at least one foul ball per game that will zoom straight at you. For basketball games, if you are under the basket, just be aware that players might come crashing in to you.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Photo story assignment
Photo Story assignment
Due: March 24, bring to our fourth one-on-one meeting
Specifics:
• Six or seven photos
• Captions for each
• Handed in digitally (USB drive, CD, Flickr, etc.)
Your task is to tell a story through photos. Much of the time, photojournalists have to try to capture the story in just one image. For this one, you can tell the story with the best six or seven photos to bring as many angles you can (literally and figuratively) to the reader.
Find someone with a story. Maybe you know someone with an unusual (and photogenic) job. Maybe it's someone who faces an everyday struggle. Maybe it's someone who is trying to make a difference. Think human interest. Conflict. Complication.Inspirational. Struggle. Unusualness. Humor.
Coordinate a shooting schedule once you find someone. Maybe you will follow them around for a day. Maybe you'll stop by over the period of a week or a couple weeks. It depends on the timeline of your subject story.
You don't have to follow a single subject, either. Your story could be a certain issue or problem that affects different people. Keep an eye out for stories about trends in the paper, maybe you shoot one person as an example of a trend.
Do whatever research you can to plan how much equipment you'll need with you (a flash? telephoto lens? tripod?)
Remember to include descriptive captions for each image. Feel free to break the typical 2-sentence length.
Each photo should be of a different "event" or "moment." For example, you wouldn't include a photo and then another one taken a few seconds later from a slightly different angle. Pick the best one to represent that moment. Think of each photograph as a different chapter of a book.
Use a mix of close-ups, medium shots and wide shots. Get different perspectives.
Arrange the shots in the sequence that makes the most sense. It's not always chronologically how they were shot.
If it's between the less perfect shot that better tells the story or a nice shot with less story, pick the one that best tells the story.
Try be as honest and objective as you can. Be a fly on the wall. Don't manipulate the subject.
Remember to title your photo story.
And remember to edit and crop all images as needed.
Due: March 24, bring to our fourth one-on-one meeting
Specifics:
• Six or seven photos
• Captions for each
• Handed in digitally (USB drive, CD, Flickr, etc.)
Your task is to tell a story through photos. Much of the time, photojournalists have to try to capture the story in just one image. For this one, you can tell the story with the best six or seven photos to bring as many angles you can (literally and figuratively) to the reader.
Find someone with a story. Maybe you know someone with an unusual (and photogenic) job. Maybe it's someone who faces an everyday struggle. Maybe it's someone who is trying to make a difference. Think human interest. Conflict. Complication.Inspirational. Struggle. Unusualness. Humor.
Coordinate a shooting schedule once you find someone. Maybe you will follow them around for a day. Maybe you'll stop by over the period of a week or a couple weeks. It depends on the timeline of your subject story.
You don't have to follow a single subject, either. Your story could be a certain issue or problem that affects different people. Keep an eye out for stories about trends in the paper, maybe you shoot one person as an example of a trend.
Do whatever research you can to plan how much equipment you'll need with you (a flash? telephoto lens? tripod?)
Remember to include descriptive captions for each image. Feel free to break the typical 2-sentence length.
Each photo should be of a different "event" or "moment." For example, you wouldn't include a photo and then another one taken a few seconds later from a slightly different angle. Pick the best one to represent that moment. Think of each photograph as a different chapter of a book.
Use a mix of close-ups, medium shots and wide shots. Get different perspectives.
Arrange the shots in the sequence that makes the most sense. It's not always chronologically how they were shot.
If it's between the less perfect shot that better tells the story or a nice shot with less story, pick the one that best tells the story.
Try be as honest and objective as you can. Be a fly on the wall. Don't manipulate the subject.
Remember to title your photo story.
And remember to edit and crop all images as needed.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Spot news/celebrity birthday
Spot News/Celebrity Birthday Assignment
If you happen upon some spot news -- an accident, fire, crime scene, cat being rescued in tree -- anything unpredictable an "on the scene" as it happens or right afterward, your task is to cover the scene as a photojournalist. Snap lots of photos.
You'll hand in your best two electronically.
Get enough information from the police or whoever else is on the scene to write your captions. Sometimes you'll need to ask who is in charge to get the relevant info.
If you happen to cover more than one spot news event, use your best one for this assignment and anything else you can use for your five News Event assignments.
- - - -
Since coming across a piece of spot news isn't guaranteed, you'll have the option to create a photo illustration (this is separate from our illustration assignment that we'll have later).
Your newspaper is doing a story about the birthday of a celebrity. Actually, a dead celebrity. Your task is to illustrate their last birthday. You'll want to recreate the scene as it might look in your head and what would make sense to the reader; it doesn't have to be historically accurate.
You could use a celebrity or politician/leader from any era, but you'll want to pick one that people will immediately recognize based on what props you include in the scene. Maybe the person has a memorable silhouette you could try to recreate on a wall.
Some ideas:
Charlie Chaplin
Marilyn Monroe
James Dean
Jimi Hendrix
Marlon Brando
Princess Di
Napoleon
Elvis
Einstein
Lincoln
Shakespeare
Mr. Rogers
You don't have to include someone in the shot, but if you do, use lighting, composition, or selective focus to obscure the person's face. Since it's a photo illustration, you can use whatever effects you need to in photoshop. Using the studio is optional, but you need to reserve an hour for it if you do.
Grading breakdown (25 points)
Technical proficiency (focus, exposure, composition): 10 points
Newsworthiness (for spot news) or creativity (celebrity birthday): 10 points
Caption(s): 5 points
- - - -
For our first one-on-one meeting in the next week or two, please bring either your first News Event photos (or ideas for what you might want to do) and ideas for this assignment. Also, bring any photography or photoshop questions you might have!
If you'd like a refresher for using Bridge or Photoshop, you can also bring some photos on a memory card or USB stick (RAW format is best) and we'll do a quick tutorial.
If you happen upon some spot news -- an accident, fire, crime scene, cat being rescued in tree -- anything unpredictable an "on the scene" as it happens or right afterward, your task is to cover the scene as a photojournalist. Snap lots of photos.
You'll hand in your best two electronically.
Get enough information from the police or whoever else is on the scene to write your captions. Sometimes you'll need to ask who is in charge to get the relevant info.
If you happen to cover more than one spot news event, use your best one for this assignment and anything else you can use for your five News Event assignments.
- - - -
Since coming across a piece of spot news isn't guaranteed, you'll have the option to create a photo illustration (this is separate from our illustration assignment that we'll have later).
Your newspaper is doing a story about the birthday of a celebrity. Actually, a dead celebrity. Your task is to illustrate their last birthday. You'll want to recreate the scene as it might look in your head and what would make sense to the reader; it doesn't have to be historically accurate.
You could use a celebrity or politician/leader from any era, but you'll want to pick one that people will immediately recognize based on what props you include in the scene. Maybe the person has a memorable silhouette you could try to recreate on a wall.
Some ideas:
Charlie Chaplin
Marilyn Monroe
James Dean
Jimi Hendrix
Marlon Brando
Princess Di
Napoleon
Elvis
Einstein
Lincoln
Shakespeare
Mr. Rogers
You don't have to include someone in the shot, but if you do, use lighting, composition, or selective focus to obscure the person's face. Since it's a photo illustration, you can use whatever effects you need to in photoshop. Using the studio is optional, but you need to reserve an hour for it if you do.
Grading breakdown (25 points)
Technical proficiency (focus, exposure, composition): 10 points
Newsworthiness (for spot news) or creativity (celebrity birthday): 10 points
Caption(s): 5 points
- - - -
For our first one-on-one meeting in the next week or two, please bring either your first News Event photos (or ideas for what you might want to do) and ideas for this assignment. Also, bring any photography or photoshop questions you might have!
If you'd like a refresher for using Bridge or Photoshop, you can also bring some photos on a memory card or USB stick (RAW format is best) and we'll do a quick tutorial.
News event assignments
News Event Assignments
General description:
Throughout the semester you will hand in five News Event Assignments. Each one will be of a news event of your choice (examples below). For each event, you will hand in:
• Your five best photos from the event
• Captions for each photo
Some of these events will overlap with other assignments (like your sports photo assignment). However, a news event must be different than your other assignments. For example, you can shoot a basketball game, but you can only use it for your sports assignment or your news event. You can shoot two games and use one for sports and one for this.
Examples:
DMACC Bears basketball game
State wrestling events (in the spring)
High school games
Drake basketball
iCubs
Media events like press conferences, speeches or unveilings/groundbreakings
Spot news like fire, accidents, etc.
Special campus activities
Concerts or plays (talk to whoever is in charge of media)
Special conventions or shows, like the Home and Garden Show
Special events for kids like KidsFest
Where to find ideas:
Des Moines Juice newspaper
DMACC website
KCCI community calendar
Des Moines Register events
For some of these you will need to speak to the media relations person to get a media pass or just to make sure it is okay to come and take photos. You can say you are a photojournalism student and inquire about a media pass or you're a freelance photojournalist or that you're shooting for the DMACC Campus Chronicle (especially for DMACC events, the Chronicle is always in need of photos).
Due dates:
First event should be done by our second on-on-one meeting
Events 2 and 3 by our third one-on-one meeting
Events 4 and 5 by our fourth one-on-one-meeting.
The main purpose of the one-on-one meetings is to discuss the photos you take at these news events.
Handing in assignments:
You can either hand in your assignments a few different ways:
• Burn files on to a CD
• Put the files in a folder on a USB drive and we can put it on my computer during a meeting
• Put your photos on Flickr and send me the link
Remember, captions should either be in a word document in the same folder or in the photo description (I can show you how to do this in Photoshop).
Grading:
News events are worth 20 points:
10 points for technical quality (proper focus, exposure, cropping, and Photoshop work)
5 points for newsworthiness
5 points for captions
General description:
Throughout the semester you will hand in five News Event Assignments. Each one will be of a news event of your choice (examples below). For each event, you will hand in:
• Your five best photos from the event
• Captions for each photo
Some of these events will overlap with other assignments (like your sports photo assignment). However, a news event must be different than your other assignments. For example, you can shoot a basketball game, but you can only use it for your sports assignment or your news event. You can shoot two games and use one for sports and one for this.
Examples:
DMACC Bears basketball game
State wrestling events (in the spring)
High school games
Drake basketball
iCubs
Media events like press conferences, speeches or unveilings/groundbreakings
Spot news like fire, accidents, etc.
Special campus activities
Concerts or plays (talk to whoever is in charge of media)
Special conventions or shows, like the Home and Garden Show
Special events for kids like KidsFest
Where to find ideas:
Des Moines Juice newspaper
DMACC website
KCCI community calendar
Des Moines Register events
For some of these you will need to speak to the media relations person to get a media pass or just to make sure it is okay to come and take photos. You can say you are a photojournalism student and inquire about a media pass or you're a freelance photojournalist or that you're shooting for the DMACC Campus Chronicle (especially for DMACC events, the Chronicle is always in need of photos).
Due dates:
First event should be done by our second on-on-one meeting
Events 2 and 3 by our third one-on-one meeting
Events 4 and 5 by our fourth one-on-one-meeting.
The main purpose of the one-on-one meetings is to discuss the photos you take at these news events.
Handing in assignments:
You can either hand in your assignments a few different ways:
• Burn files on to a CD
• Put the files in a folder on a USB drive and we can put it on my computer during a meeting
• Put your photos on Flickr and send me the link
Remember, captions should either be in a word document in the same folder or in the photo description (I can show you how to do this in Photoshop).
Grading:
News events are worth 20 points:
10 points for technical quality (proper focus, exposure, cropping, and Photoshop work)
5 points for newsworthiness
5 points for captions
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