Assignments 1 & 2

Family/Friend photo story • due January 18 • 25 points

In 5-7 photos, capture a story with images. Following your family or friends is okay.

This should be a real event. Don't influence or contribute to events. Let them unfold and do your best to gather a variety of photos to convey the story to anyone who wasn't there. Try to include a beginning, middle, and end. Try to pick something photogenic.
Remember to get a variety of angles and shots: close-ups, wide shots, low-angle, high-angle, medium shots.
Remember that the shots should work together as a whole, not just one by one. If you have seven shots that are too similar, your story won't be very interesting from the reader's perspective.
Write a short caption for each photo (1-2 sentences). Simply describe what is happening and who is in the photo. Say when it happened in the first photo (if the story happens over the course of time, tell the reader at every major time jump). Remember the where, as well. Who, what, when, where (and why).
Photo story ideas: Following a sibling athlete before, during and after the game. Following a friend through their day at work or school. Documenting your friend giving their dog a haircut. Telling the story of your cousin as she replaces a flat tire. Capture a series of images showing the story of a hunting trip.

5-7 shots, cropped 5x7 or 8x10
Uploaded to your Flickr account
10 points: storytelling
10 points: technical proficiency (focus, exposure, composition, cropping, etc.)
5 points: caption


Family/Friend portrait • due January 25 • 25 points

Find an interesting family member or friend.
Take their portrait in a way that really shows who they are. What is their story? What makes them interesting?
Think about looking at a simple portrait of someone you don't know. It usually doesn't have much interest to you, does it?
As a photojournalist, your job is to make the photo interesting by using lighting, props, location, and positioning the subject (for portraits, photojournalists are allowed to influence the shot, unlike most other assignments).
Don't forget to write a few sentences telling us what the "story" is. Captions play a vital role in making the photo interesting for the reader. Think about what is unusual, interesting, quirky, etc. and include it in the caption. Explain the prop or location in the caption if needed.

1-2 shots, cropped 5x7 or 8x10
Uploaded to your Flickr account
10 points: storytelling
10 points: technical proficiency (focus, exposure, composition, cropping, etc.)
5 points: caption