Day 1 Fundamentals of Photojournalism

Class Notes from Day One of Fundamentals of Photojournalism

Always format the card before taking pictures with a D-SLR (especially if you use the card in different cameras). This can save a lot of time and hassle that might result if not done.

Photography is an art. The picture and the process is the THING.

Great photography is about HiCe:

          Honesty

          Interaction

          Candid

          Emotion

Camera Setting 101: What mood/mode is your camera in?

A- Stands for Aperture mode. The photographer sets the aperture and the camera figures out the rest.

T- Stands for Shutter (Time). The Photographer sets the amount of time the shutter is open and the camera does the rest.

P- Stands for Perfect (Program). The photographer sets this up.

M- Stands for Man Mode (Manual). The photographer does everything for better or for worse.

When using digital cameras, most people take a picture and then see immediately how it turned out by looking at the image replayed on the camera's screen. My professor says we should avoid this as much as possible. He says it destroys the thought process of the photographer and creates a barrier between the photographer and the subject. I totally agree. Instead he says photographers should work an idea, not just take individual pictures. He calls constantly looking at the results "chimping" out. "Don't Chimp!" Look once or twice before the subject arrives to make sure lighting is good, but then go off of the numbers and indicators on the camera, not the replayed captured images.

Depth of Field 101

Below are some notes from my Fundamentals of Photojournalism class at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. I am blogging about this to improve my retention of what I learn in class.

Basic Depth of Field 101

1) Three things affect Depth of Field.
Aperture
Focal length of the lens (i.e. 50mm, 35mm, 135mm)
Distance from the subject (greater the distance the the shallower the depth of field).

2) Focusing should always be done on the eye. The eye always needs to be sharp. For portraits the subject should be in focus and the background should be as neutral/fuzzy as possible. This will bring attention to the subject.

3) Shutter is the duration the camera window is open.

4) All the stops are half or twice as big as the previous. So if you make the shutter faster you need to compensate by changing the aperture or ISO.

New info to me.

Today I actually learned something I have never heard about before. It is called the Depth of Field Preview button. It was mentioned casually in class but I found more about it online. There is a great article here. I am excited to start using this more. It is sad that I haven't heard more about this before, because I have been taking pictures now for almost a year and a half.

Another thing I learned is that the f stops are really not a fraction but rather an logarithm.

I've Been Blogged!

Every so often I will blog about a journalistic work that I admire or think was done well. Today marks the first time someone else, whom I do not know, has blogged about me and one of my stories.

In Columbia, MO there are only a few local blogs that aren't run by a news companies that frequently write about local topics. One of those blogs is done by Mike Martin.

Now to be honest in the past I have checked out his blog to make sure I wasn't missing any great stories around town, and he usually has some good stuff. There have been times I have considered taking an idea from his sight a doing a story, but I never have. So when I found out that my own work was admired and written about in this blog, it gave me a sense of accomplishment. All spring semester I worked on a three part series on parking issues in Columbia, MO for my investigative journalism class. The fact that my story got picked up by this blogger in a way validated my journalism. Thanks Mike.

Check out the post. I am referred to as "KOMU."
http://www.columbiaheartbeat.com/2011/05/unattractive-nuisance-ten-story.html

You can also watch the series below.