Thanks for looking!

When you don’t have a boss, mixing it up for the heck of it is always allowed and sometimes enjoyable.

My preliminary conclusion from the crop experiment is that I need to do a better job of filling the frame.

Thanks for looking!

I had the opportunity to do some photo work last weekend in Miami. Overall, I felt my trip was visually successful: I made the pictures I was assigned to make plus I had a little time to explore and make a few frames for myself. My favorite personal shots are below. Thanks for looking!

I had a great time documenting a group of young and ambitious students at an eighth grade graduation on Friday. Below are a few pictures from the ceremony.

The syllabus, which I wrote with Zach’s advice and consent, requires me to complete a picture story, video story and multimedia story in 10 weeks. In addition to the stories, Zach has challenged me to to make pictures that communicate feelings. For example, he asked me to shoot pictures that would make a viewer feel sad.

Shooting exercises of this nature have been a great challenge for me. I’ve shot a lot of pictures and failed a lot.

Every so often, though, I make a picture that I think goes deep enough to make a viewer feel a certain way.

Below are a few examples that I’ve shot over the past few weeks.

PS If you’re inclined, tell me how the images make you feel.

Evanston, IL — December 18, 2011 — Northwestern forward John Shurna receives a pass during a game between the Eastern Illinois Panthers and the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Ray Whitehouse/The Daily Northwestern

I shot in a different location than the standard baseline position because I want to figure out where I can make the best pictures. It’s likely that sitting on the baseline is the best place to make pictures because that’s where most photographers sit. That said, I wanted to explore different options before I decided to go back to shooting where most other photographers sit.

In the two games, I haven’t come to a definitive conclusion. I’ve missed shots because of my location but I’ve also gotten shots I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

First off, I”m writing a photo column for The Daily Northwestern in order to challenge myself to think about my experiences as well as to work on my photography skills.

Here”s my first column.

Second, I”m making a conscious effort to differentiate my photos abroad from others. My strategy is to document people as well as ?????????? places. Below are some examples.

A man uses his jackhammer to break concrete in Worcester, UK.

David Andrews, standing on top of the electronic parking meter, said “pay me my money.”

Candid Portrait of Mike Layland, Mayor of Worcester.

A man directs people to a nearby McDonalds.

More photos to come. More columns to come.

This festival generally draws the “hipster” crowd. It”s hard for me to define these people, but I can point to a site dedicated to them. The lineup of bands combined with the hipster crowd leads to many members of the “hipster” media to apply for media credentials.

About a week before the festival I got the following email. Many photographers violated was the sentence about “no pocket-sized digital cameras.”

While most of the photographers had professional cameras and lenses (see below), there was a significant number of photographers that didn”t While I cannot say for certain that all the people with non-professional cameras were part of the hipster media, but based on the people I talked with, I had evidence to support that conclusion. The photographers with non-professional gear generally were working for small online newsources aiming a hipster audience.

More photographers means less mobility in the music pit directly in front of the stage. This makes everyone”s job, making great pictures, more difficult.

I”m all for access of the press. I don”t think any one photographer is more important than any other photographer, but when a music festival makes rules, I think they should enforce them and people should follow them. Neither occurred. When I talked with separately with two people at the media tent about the rule against “no pocket-sized digital cameras”, they both independently told me not to worry about it.

After some discussion with my family, it appears that Pitchfork had reason to be lax on enforcement. If the small online newsources en ligne casino aiming a hipster audience couldn”t get photo content, their reviews of the festival would suffer. Reviews drive attendence and that means more money. It”s always about the money.

Because my main assignment was to cover the styles of Pitchfork attendees, I didn”t have many problems with getting the shots I wanted to get when I did need to photograph a certain band. Additionally, I found that the non-professional media were just courteous and respectful as the professionals. When people accomodate others, mobility became less of an issue.

For me, the takeaway point of this weekend is that the evironment you are shooting is likely to continuously change. Instead of worrying about why it is changing, it is more important to figure out how to make the best image possible in my given environment.

“Do or do not, there is no try.” -Yoda

Credit: I heard this quote on a Photoshelter podcast with Tim Mantoani.