WEEK 9 FORUM

WEEK 9 MEDIA BLOG POST 

TOPIC 1 - TURNING PRO -- After reading the short textbook chapter on "Turning Pro,” think about what it takes to pursue photojournalism as a career, or even a serious hobby.

• What do you see as the next step in your progression as a photojournalist? Is the end of this term the culmination of your photojournalism career, or would you like to continue in some way? Discuss your answer, including reasons pro and con.
• If you plan to continue, what would you like to do next? What do you have to do to make that happen?

TOPIC 2 -- PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE WEEK:  Think about the famous photographers whose work we examined this term -- Pete Souza, Bob Martin, Sebastiao Salgado, Yousuf Karsh, Ansel Adams, Art Wolfe, Walker Evans, Arthur "Weegee” Fellig, Mathew Brady, Annie Leibovitz, Nigel Barker ... (If you need a reminder, see the write-ups on your classmates' blogs.)

1. Besides the photographer whose work you presented, which OTHER photographer made the biggest impression on you? Explain why, referring to their style, techniques and favorite photos ...
2. How could you use the techniques of that photographer in your own photos?

Week 10 Blog

WEEK 10 BLOG

Topic 1

1. What was the best photo you took this term?  
2. Why did that photo stand out?
3. Think about your photo skills at the beginning of the term and now. What has changed in your ability or approach to taking and presenting photos? Give some examples.

 

This is my favorite photo from this term. I heard lots of people in the class talking about this photo and a few people told me how lucky I got with the beautiful sky and clouds. The sky and the clouds in this photo is what completes it, without them I believe it is nothing special. 

I definitely think that my overall photo skills have gotten better mainly because I am shooting more photos and anytime you are shooting photos I believe you are getting better. I know many photographers that say the best and only true practice you can get is just go and shoot more photos. This class has been great for me to be able to go out and shoot photos and then come into a "lab" and work on them and take time to view all of the photos instead of having to do it on my own time.

Topic 2

My three goals for Photo Journalism....

1) Understand what photos are the best to draw a reader in...
2) I know it's not a big part of the class but I want to learn photoshop better. I am good at every other editing system but photoshop, just something I would like to improve.
3) Become more comfortable taking photos without feeling shy. I believe this is key in photography.

I feel like I did a good job on achieving these goals. The biggest thing that I think I learned this term is how to confront people and feel confident while doing it. That's a big part of being a photojournalist and being successful while doing it.

It's been a great term and I have had lots of fun with this class. :) 

Photo Story

ALEX MOWDY

Follow Alex along his journey of perusing his dream of becoming a professional motorcross rider. In this series Alex trains and practices for a and upcoming race. The race that he has been training for is also featured in this series.

Alex Mowdy straps on his motorcross boots before his practice on May, 27th at Albany MX Park. Alex is training for his race on Sunday the 31st. 

During practice Alex Mowdy dials it in his 2012 YZF 450 practice bike. At the end of the practice Alex said "I am feeling very confident about sundays race after this practice today." Alex was constantly putting down very fast lap times.

After the race Alex and his Dad Mike realized that his Motorcycle had a flat rear tire. Here is a photo of Mike changing the flat tire.  In motorcross there are always lots of little things that can go wrong to cause problems in Alex's case he didn't blame anything on the flat rear tire because it was't completely flat at the time of the race. I believe that the low tire made it very hard for Alex to ride his motorcycle to its max performance. 

Alex Mowdy now on his 2014 YZ 250 race bike #813 heads into the first corner of the race at Albany MX on the 31st. Alex struggled to get the start he wanted and had to battle back the entire race. Alex battled back and earned a hard fought 3rd place in the race. 

Alex Mowdy is ready to leave the track after a great 3rd place finish at Albany MX Park. Alex's next race is the Loretta Lynn regional qualifier at Washougal MX Park on Sunday June 7th.

For this assignment I spent lots of hours at the track following around Alex Mowdy.  I knew what I wanted to have for this assignment and I knew it would take some time. The first thing I did was contact Alex to figure out his schedule and find out when the practices where and when the races where. I found out the first practice was Wednesday May 27th from 3-9 P.M and that the race was Sunday May 31st beginning at 10 A.M and ending around 4 P.M. I ended up spending many hours at the track out in the sun watching motorcross. Overall looking back at this assignment I am very happy with how things all turned out especially telling a story using only 5 photos when this covered many hours and 2 completely different days.