Portrait/Mug Lab

Kyle Nelson, employee at Home Depot, works in the front loading center, helping customers load and unload their vehicles for supplies and building materials. April 26, 2019.

Kyle Nelson, April 26, 2019.

Week 4: Media Blog Forum

TOPIC 1: NPPA CODE OF ETHICS -- Look at the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics posted on Moodle.

1. Code #4, stands out to me the most because you see it played out heavily in the Lynsey Addario book. Treating and be compassionate towards others after taking heartbreaking images, is human nature. You must recognize you're not just taking pictures of a subject, but the person in front of the lens has a life, a story and is going through pain.
2. Code #6 is a great one to take to heart. When approaching others and learning their stories to photograph, make sure you are being respectful. You don't want to sit down and be rude or interrupt them. BE there because you genuinely care about their story and want to here what they went through.
3. I would apply the rules that I picked above by trying to remain unbiased when talking to a group or individual that I don't necessarily agree with. I need to remain polite and show respect to someone else's ideologies even if I may disagree.

 

TOPIC 2: FAVORITE PHOTOS -- As we approach the midpoint of the term, let's do a shoutout for some of your fellow students' work.

One of my favorite class photos was one that Brady took for the LBCC part 2 assignment of Quinn Bohlen. I love the lighting and different colors in the shot. I also think the composition of having him in the center behind the cash center makes it clear who the subject of the photo is. You can tell that he works in a clothing/skate store due to the background which adds to the story of the photo. I just think the photo draws the viewer in and is a quality photo.
Link: https://bradyford33.blogspot.com/2019/04/humans-of-lbcc.html

Another really great photo taken by Will, is of Jacob Orsmby. I think the photo is a quality image. The composition takes a lower angle which switches it up from the cliche portrait photo. I like the landing and also the brick wall creates a nice back drop for the scene.
Link: https://willreddekopp.blogspot.com/

TOPIC 3: FAVORITE LYNSEY ADDARIO MOMENTS: Describe your favorite part of the book so far, identifying the page numbers of the passage; include a quote; why did this particular story stand out to you; what have you learned about photojournalism from Lynsey Addario?

My favorite part of the book so far is when Lynsey describes her first car bombing experience. The scene itself is a horrifying read and is a very intense moment, but I love reading her thought process through the whole thing. I think her most powerful thought is as quoted, "An experienced conflict photographer would know to stay, to shoot the wreckage, injured, and dead, but I was young. This was my first bomb" (122). I think this quote begins the process of a huge mind shift in Lynsey. It shows that she recognizes the cost of her profession and the sacrifes she needs to make in order ti capture what is truly happening around her, even that means going against her very instincts to flee.

The Lucky in Love String Band

The Lucky in Love String Band gathers in the Benton Center, April 4th, to play a few of their originals, as well as some classic singalongs. Members from the community as well as students stopped by to watch and enjoy the bluegrass and folk music style. 

The band members Pete Kozak, Mark Weiss, Ron Green and Jeff Hino, lead the community in the song "This Land is My Land." Community members and Linn Benton Community College joined in to raise their voices in song. 

Lead vocalist and guitarist Ron Green, plays a solo guitar rift for the audience during one of their original songs. 

Portrait Subjects and Self-Critique

TOPIC 1: TWO PORTRAIT SUBJECTS --  Write about TWO possible subjects for your Environmental Portrait and Mug Shot.  For each subject note:

1. His or her FULL NAME: Kurt Morgan Tristan Smith
2. Your subject's "claim to fame” (What is their passion? What are they best known for? Job? Creativity? Achievement?): KM: Financial Adviser/Skier TS: Police Officer
3. The best environment in which to shoot this person: KM: Office or on the slopes TS: Police Station
4. Props that would work best: KM: Computer, stack of coins or ski's TS: Police car, city sign
5. How you plan to contact this person: KM: Phone TS: Phone or email

TOPIC 2: SELF-CRITIQUE --  Now that you've been committing photojournalism for a few weeks ...

1. What is the BEST PHOTO you've taken for this class, and WHY is it your best? (Post a copy of it! AND A LINK!): I would say my best photo that I've taken in this class was my photo of Daniel Thomas, when I was taking the portraits of LBCC students. I love the lighting and shadows on his face. I like the composition of the scene, showing his ideal study location and setting. I think the lower angle really brought the scene together, giving it a new perspective.
2. 

   What is the WORST PHOTO you've posted on your blog so far, and WHY did it turn out that way? (Post a copy, or not ...): The worst photo I've posted so far on my blog is the one I posted of Sean Moran outside of the Benton Center. I'm not a huge fan of the lighting or the background of the scene. The environment around him doesn't tell the story of an LB student. To me the picture is very cut and dry, with not a lot of exciting things happening around it.
3. What SKILL do you feel you have to improve the most to raise the quality of your photos?
I believe the skills that I need to work on are just finding the right angles and setting for the photos. I really need to try and tell a story based on the props and environment around them. I think I just have to ask more questions, and really get to know them a little better before taking a photo of them.

Lynsey Addario

Lynsey Addario

So far the Lynsey Addario book I've been reading in class has been fantastic. I knew hardly anything about photojournalism before reading this book, and it really opened my eyes to the life of a war photojournalist. The book started off very intense so I was hooked right off the bat. It's a really cool experience to understand and look at what it takes to be in that line of work. It amazes me that she was over there risking her life to show the world how war can destroy a country.  The things she learned like getting closer to her subjects to really see their emotions and reactions to the events going around her. That is the biggest lesson I've taken away from the book so far. You have to get up close and personal to your subjects in order to really capture and tell a story of the subject. I want to try and incorporate this more into my photos when taking images of the students here. My favorite quote from the book is when Lynsey is questioning the work she does and is wondering if it is worth it to risk her life. She says, It is the way we make a living, but it feels more like a responsibility, or a calling. It makes us happy, because it gives us a sense of purpose" (15). I love this quote because it shows the heart of a photojournalist who loves what she does.

Photographer of The Week

Marc Adamus

Facts:

1. He is an adventure/landscape photographer from Western North America.

2. Has had images posted in many famous photography industries including: National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer, etc. 

3. Has been a professional photographer since 2005. 

Stands Out:

His photographs stand out to me because of how majestic and beautiful they look. He has an amazing talent to capture light and use it to create powerful imagery of vast landscapes.

Claim to Fame:

Marc's claim to fame is being a National Geographic landscape photographer. He is very proud of being able to spend months out in nature to capture the beauty and glory of it. 

Faces of LB Part 2

Sean Moran

Meet Sean Moran, a dedicated part time student at Linn Benton Community College. Sean is going to school for mechanical engineering and will hopefully transfer to a university once all of his back core gets filled up. The reason he is only going to school for part time, is because Sean is a Frozen Department Manager at the Safeway in Corvallis. He works the night shift, so that he can do schooling during the day. He told me that on average he only gets 45 hours of sleep per week, that is Sunday-Sunday. So, when most students are home sleeping, Sean is working until the early morning hours. Sean originally is from Southern California but moved up to Oregon for school and because it is his dream place to live. He is a PNW guy at heart, enjoying activities like, mountain biking, camping, hiking and photography. When asked he said that his favorite place to go camping is Utah, because of all the nice weather and amazing rock formations.

Grace Mahr

This is Grace Mahr, a dual enrolled OSU and Linn Benton Student. Grace is currently studying English Education, with a dream of teaching to high school students. She told me she was a little undecided whether she wants to be teaching literature or music education. Grace really enjoys music and loves to listen to all different kinds on a daily basis. She also enjoys reading, writing, camping and enjoying her friends company. One of Grace’s favorite things is traveling. She loves exploring the world and seeing all the different cultures and people. She told me that she has been to Mexico, California, Italy and Austria. She said she wants to continue to travel and see as many places as she can in her lifetime. Grace is from a small coastal town from Coos Bay, so she said that being in the valley is very different, but she has enjoyed it so far.

Faces of Linn Benton

Daniel Thomas

Daniel is a full time student at Linn Benton, and is pursuing a general associates degree that will hopefully be able to turn that into a Bachelor's later on in his life. Daniel has a passion for writing and recording music. He enjoys listening to music infused with soul and gospel, which inspires him to get down on the keys. He was in a band that he created in his home town called "The Downtown Fools." He was the keyboarder for his group and played in different concerts downtown McMinnville. Daniel described his interest in film camera's and thrifting with friends. He would like to shoot with his film camera more, capturing unique concept design photos as he gets more free time. 

     Ty Brewen

Ty is a dual enrolled student at Linn Benton and OSU, studying mechanical engineering. He wishes to become a project manager in the workplace and eventually wishes to tech at a local community college. Ty has a strong passion for drums and is an excellent one at that. In high school Ty has been playing drums for 7 years now and has grown greatly in his skills. Through high school Ty was involved heavily in band and had the honor of playing in multiple bands and gaining many awards though his high school experience. He has the biggest passion for funk and jazz drumming and skill continues to pound out his passion.

1st Photojournalism Post

Topic 1: I'm taking my first photojournalism class this term and I'm pretty excited about it. I do have experience taking photos, but mostly enjoy taking landscapes, I like the challenge of taking portraits that's presented in this class.

Topic 2: My goals for my photojournalism class is understand how to better capture someone's story in a single frame. I want to understand the background, mid-ground and foreground of the shot and use those to tell the story of the persons life.

Topic 3: Ideas?
              -Teacher teaching students
              - Sports
              - Culinary shots