Equality goes marching on in Columbus, Ohio

This project was interesting and enjoyable. I have never witnessed how enthralled everyone was at the December 1^st Ohio Street Protest for Marriage Equality in Columbus, Ohio.

Protesters fight for the right to be equal (PHO245/Ashley Bowers)

   I chose this project because I knew it would be exciting to shoot. Being there really made it easy to work with other individuals. Like before, I was anxious and didn’t come out of my shell at first. Once I felt comfortable around other people, I knew it was my time to shine.

   There were other photographers there. This made it worse for my anxiety. I felt like I was in the way. I got a chance to talk to the other photographers. Then, I was more comfortable. My surroundings were buildings, statues and lots of people.

      I took a deep breath and told myself that it’s okay to shoot while other people were listening to speakers. They wouldn’t pay any attention to me. All eyes were on the speakers.

   I learned how to interview someone properly. It was very hard for me to not say “mhmm” and “yeah”.  I was able to not say those two words and attained enough interviews for my project.

Equality is for all (PHO245/Ashley Bowers)

   This was a great experience for me. I was very happy with the outcome of the day. When I interviewed the speakers, they were very positive with helping me out answering my interview. All of the interviews went smoothly. They also gave me positive feedback about me interviewing them.

Adam Hoover encourages marchers to stand up 

Falcons take on the Broncos

   Sports photography is out of my element. I have never experienced this style of photography before. Sports photographers make it seem simple. I had no idea what I was in for.

   I have social anxiety and feel I’m in others’ ways. Knowing this was difficult for me, I stayed near a friend who worked for the Bowling Green News. I was shaking, sweating and couldn’t speak. During the third period, I got the courage to walk around and take photos.

   The most difficult aspect of sports photography, from my view, was shooting photos of the players.  They often moved around, making the assignment difficult to accomplish. As my hands were shaking from being nervous, I took as many photos of the players as I could.

   Another difficult part was getting photos of the coaches. Thankfully, there was a glass box in between both teams. I was able to get moments when coaches were into the game.

   Shooting sports photography was interesting and challenging. Attempting to snap photos of players, fans and coaches took time and was also tedious.

    The assignment itself was exciting and interesting. I tried to look for different sports that wouldn’t conflict with my schedule. I enjoyed watching the game and learned a lot about the sport. I would probably shoot hockey again soon.

If only this were everyday

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Piano goes with the flo in the blues

Flo Gordon

     Getting to know Flo Gordon was enjoyable. We had great conversation and she was full of energy. She is a resident student at Owens Community College and is part of Piano for Non-Majors. We discussed tattoos, my camera, the class I was shooting photos for, even her schedule. 

        Searching around the room, I noticed Flo and how photogenic she was. Wearing all black made it a challenge, but I succeeded. 

   Portrait photography can be both hard and easy depending on your subject. You look at the background and the clothing. Also, the most difficult part was hiding the shadow of Flo. 

     Previously, I have shot people photography working at Cedar Point two years in a row. Working there increased my skills of working with people and talking to them. It's been a while since I have shot people photography. 

Social work major Flo Gordon practices her 12 bar blues

   Flo and I had a great time working together. We laughed and I showed her how to pose, but I let her also help out.

Piano for Non-Majors sings along with 12 bar blues

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Piano for Non-Majors class take note of music styles

   Trying to get photos for my Feature Photography assignment was interesting, yet difficult. Most of the classes that were exciting conflicted with my school schedule. I had to choose between three different classes, two of which nothing was intriguing enough to shoot.

   The chosen class was Piano for Non-Majors, instructed by Allison Ringold. The class meets Monday and Wednesday from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m in the Center for Fine Performing Arts.

   When asked about the class, Allison stated she “loves teaching the class and gets excited when the students do great."

Owens Community College student Zachory Scott, front left, practices 12 bar blues in  Piano for Non-Majors.
12 bar blues is among the many styles the class is learning this semester. (PHO 245/Ashley Bowers)

    The students were learning 12 bar blues, which is a music style. Allison noted the lesson was “very enjoyable”. 

   I took photos that would capture someone’s eye. From watching them learning to play piano, I felt this was challenging.

   Trying to find something that’s part of my music beat is difficult because the lighting was bright and I had to wait for the right moment. There were times when no one was playing and students were paying attention to Allison. The most challenging thing about shooting my feature assignment was to photograph students at the correct angle so the sun wasn’t blinding.

    I am coming out of my shell when photographing students.

Capture the modifying moment

   When it comes to writing photo captions, they should always include the five Ws and the H: who, what, where, when, why and how. Photojournalists try to answer these in their captions.
   Captions can influence a reader's interpretation of a photo. According to Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach, "captions can modify and change the meaning of a photo." Photojournalists serve as an essential means of communication that channel the task. Words can lack the smashup of the visual message.
   Sometimes readers decide whether they are going to read the entire article based on captions and photos. Poor captions are a definite fail.
   As John Whiting said in his book Photography is a Language, "A caption is a verbal finger pointing at the picture."
   In your caption, also known as cutline, consider what is happening at the moment the photo is taken. This answers the what question, and it should explain the action.
   A person's name should lead the caption only when the person is famous. If you leave the name out, readers might mistaken them for someone else. Always remember to name the people from left to right.
   Captions always tell readers when or where a picture was taken. Don't start the cutline with a time or place unless the fact is significant or unusual.
  Some photographers claim that extensive captions will annoy a reader's interest. The caption should be the place to tell readers if it was posed or not.
   Small details are unparalleled when creating a caption. Cutlines can focus on attention of different parts of a photo and indicate elements. Photos must supply a before and after. Black and white photos always cut out the color of a photo, which is important.
   Associated Press caption writing is well-known and used in every photo. Make sure that your caption is short, sweet, and to the point. Complex sentences are not needed and unrelated facts are unwanted. Keep different facts separate and don't mix tenses. Avoid the obvious and keep it simple. Also, when making a caption for an old morgue photo, make sure to identify the photo as a "file photo".
   Overall, captions are necessary and will give the reader the information they need for an article.
  

Pictures say 1,000 words, and more when edited

   In the world of photography, there are many things you can do to create an admirable image.
   To capture the reader's attention,  a photo should have the right amount of various elements, like  mood, lighting and composition.
   According to Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach, it's best to research what the reader prefers. Whether it would be disaster, music, or wildlife the reader wants to be interested in what you are shooting. When taking a photo, make sure to set your aperture as well as your f-stop depending on where you are shooting.
   Light is also another important thing you need. As we all know, a picture tells a story. Say you want to take a photo during the night. Flash is possibly the worst thing to use because your white balance is off. Try not using flash and change your ISO settings.
   Cropping your photo is important in editing your photo. If you have a busy photo and want to focus on one thing, try to crop out as much as you can so whoever is looking at the photo can focus on the main aspect of your photo. Cropping is, by far, one of the important things when discussing photo editing. If you see something that you find should not be in the photo, you can crop that item out. You could crop an area out if you want to get a certain object in the middle of your photo.
   When dealing with the mood aspect of a photo, make sure that you are spot on and set the mood right as most would say.
   In the emotion aspect of a photo, you make sure your feelings are not staged and your reactions are open and natural. Emotional photos give the reader something to feel as if they were there when the photo was taken.
   Overall, learning the right steps in capturing an admirable image can seem to be tedious, but are worth every minute of the time you spend on the photos.

Four Score and Seven Years Ago

What does the First Amendment mean to me?
   The First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
   As I ask myself, "What does the First Amendment mean to me?" I take a few steps back and re-read what it says. The basis of freedom of speech and press have a cluster of things I identify with as a journalism major and a photojournalism student in college. The five basic First Amendment rights are speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly. In my major, the basis of what I am passionate about deals with freedom of press and speech. Even if I am working on a story that is via the Internet, it is still considered freedom of speech and press combined. I always love to exercise my freedom of speech and press via paper or social media. 

Sometimes the best cell phone apps come in small packages

What I learn in class astonishes me.            

Giving Star Wars a bigger perspective on smaller thing

   Even though I personally have an iPhone, I always learn different and new apps to use for photography. 

   I own a DSLR and love using it, but I normally do not carry it everywhere I go, like I do a cell phone. I learned that I can use an app called Hipstamatic for the professional look of any photo. I thought taking photos using the camera app alone was professional looking enough, but using the app that was discussed in the Richard Koci-Hernandez videos on lynda.com made it seem like you can get the perfect image just from an iPhone.

   All in all, I learned that just about any photography app on the iPhone can be used to gain knowledge in helping out your photography needs.

What I learned about the history of news

A long time ago in a news galaxy far, far away...

The History of News

   When I read and watched videos on the history of news, I found many things
interesting. I could go on for hours on end about what news is and why we really need it.
I think from reading the handouts, much more information was gathered through pictures
and interesting stories. I did enjoy reading the timeline as well. Gathering information
has really made me more enthused about becoming a journalist.
   One good thing I learned about news is it dates back to the Roman era with
newsletters handwritten by slaves. Even if it is written or spoken, news is everywhere. It
seems like telling people stories and what happened that day is still news. Free flowing
news helps our society be “in the know” about what is going on in the community as well
as what is going on with the nation.

My first blog post

Today, I start the first day of my blogging website.

   Ashley here! I'm currently attending Owens Community College for Journalism and will be graduating in the Summer next year with my Associates degree. I currently live in Bowling Green and love shooting photography. I do have my own business which is sprouting in the music, people, and wedding aspects of the photography world. I do have a personal Tumblr page that I am mainly on, but I will be using this blog for professional areas of my photography life. I shoot with a Nikon D-3000. Most of the shows I attend are at Frankie's Inner City and Headliners, both of which are in Toledo. I enjoy shooting mainly local shows to increase practice for what is to come. I took this class to gain knowledge about Photojournalism and to be "in the know" of my field of study. In my blog, I will mainly discuss what I learned in class. I think my blog will be interesting to read because my life itself is uber interesting and will be from the nerd aspect. I am a nerd of many aspects, but mainly Star Wars. Don't worry, I will be posting some posts on Star Wars.  Join me on my quest to tell the world about photojournalism!

BAZINGA!