POYi Reaction

Attending judging sessions for Pictures of the Year International (POYi) never seemed to work out well with my school and work schedule. Luckily, I was able to catch the final judging of the “Long Form Multimedia Story” category by watching and listening to the live feed while at my job. The judges for this session were Andrew DeVigal from The New York Times, Duy Linh Tu from Columbia University, and documentary filmmakers Nelson Walker, and Lynn True.

This category had over 50 long form, 10 to 30 minute, pieces to narrow down for awards. The judges brought up a lot of great points regarding the remaining four documentaries, each guaranteed at least an Award of Excellence. They discussed the differences between the variety of stories and styles, and the challenges that a longer form of storytelling holds to a documentary photographer.

One of Lynn True’s favorites is “Half-Lives” by Maisie Crow, Jesse Dukes, Ted Genoways, and Adam Brock. She liked that it “brought to light so many things that [she] wasn’t aware of today in 2012 with the Chernobyl accident.” True said she was surprised in a way and that it was beautifully put together. For her, it “really hit all the marks in bringing an issue to light.” If True were to pick one to not put in the top three, she would go with “Machine Man” by Alfonso Moral and Roser Corella due to it being “a hair below the others in following the criteria for this subject.” Coincidentally, True was the one that earlier moved “Machine Man” forward.

Duy Linh Tu was impressed overall with the final pieces that they are deciding between because of how they show a promising future to the industry of documentarians. Tu went with the opposite approach as True. He acknowledged that there was great editing and transition in “Half-Lives,” but for him the longer piece (about 15 minutes) was crucial. “When I commit to a story of that length I am searching for traditional narrative structure. Overall there is adversity in the topic, but none of these characters went through the whole arch of the story,” Tu said. He liked that “Machine Man” is long, but shorter. Tu especially liked that the videographer utilized the camera to take advantage of creating a different type of feel to the story.

Nelson Walker loved “A Chance In Hell” by Brian J. Clark and Ross Taylor due to the imagery and emotional impact. Walker did comment though that in terms of technical, in comparison to the others, it is not the same level of expertise in the way the whole package is. Walker also noted that “A Darkness Visible” by Mediastorm had some strong stylistic choices.

Andrew DeVigal stated, “Choosing a first comes with great responsibility. There tends to be a follow-up in the industry with where we should go and focus research.” DeVigal looked at his choice in answering what stories he wants to see more of in the coming years. He chose “A Darkness Visible” to be one that he sees at the top. “To me it was a powerful way to put a narrative in a different kind of light,” DeVigal said. He felt like “Half-Lives” didn’t do as much for him because parts of it went astray. He would also like to see “Machine Man” up on second place because it is beautiful and parts of the narrative just surprise him.

After much debate, “A Darkness Visible” was given the Award of Excellence. Third Place was awarded to “Half-Lives,” Second Place was awarded to “A Chance In Hell,” and First Place to “Machine Man.”

In my opinion, I do agree with what these four pieces were awarded. I watched all of them later and I couldn’t help but be really struck by “Machine Man.” As Tu pointed out, the videographer really utilized camera angles and lenses to make this a creative, talented, and incredible piece despite its close to 15-minute length. I do think that it is important to follow the traditional narrative arch in these long form documentaries because it helps keep the viewer interested in sticking with the piece.

I wanted to write out each of the judge’s opinions when trying to decide on awards because I found their commentary interesting and worthwhile. I could give my reaction to each of these pieces, but I don’t think it would amount to as much as what they each had to say. Overall, I recommend viewing all four because they are all great in their own way.

Capstone One Day Story

My One Day Story for my capstone class involved my favorite subject: science. I followed the Smithton Middle School Science Olympiad Team from Columbia, MO at their all-day Regional Tournament at the University of Missouri Science and Technology in Rolla. Smithton is in region five, which includes about 25 total schools with 15-member teams ranging from middle school to high school. There are as many as 23 separate events, which include construction of bottle rockets, catapults, mousetrap vehicles, and towers, to exam-taking with rocks and minerals, food science, anatomy, astronomy, forensics, and much more. The top four ranking teams for middle school (B division) and high school (c division) will advance to the Missouri State Science Olympiad Tournament held on University of Missouri’s campus in April.

The day started at 5:30a.m. by meeting at the school buses, departure time to be 6a.m. We left a little late as one kid did not show up on time. My opener for my picture story is of Coach Gretchen Rohrs calling the late student to see if he was in transit to the buses. They were a little stressed out, as they needed to be at Rolla by 8.am. to check the students in for their events and start the competition by 9.

I followed the team throughout the day, making my way to several events, trying to incorporate and document the variety of science topics these kids have prepared for. It was quite the long day, with the awards ceremony being at 4p.m. Overall, Smithton Middle School received 2nd place at this Regional Tournament and will advance to the State Tournament.

Below is my final edit to tell this one day story. I had originally started with 6 images and with the help of peers and my professor we narrowed it down to these 5. I’m happy with this final edit because I think that it is more cohesive in telling the day’s events and best shows the science competition theme of it.

Smithton Middle School Science Olympiad Coach Gretchen Rohrs calls to see if one last student is on his way as the team prepares to leave Columbia for the Regional Tournament in Rolla, MO on Saturday, February 18. The team met at 5:30a.m. and intended on leaving by 6. The team will be competing in 23 separate events all day with hopes of earning the chance to advance to the State Tournament in April.

 

Team members Zeke Stokes, Nick Wright, and Jeremy Zhang prepare their machine for the event “Mission Possible” at the Regional Science Olympiad Tournament in Rolla, MO on Saturday, February 18. This Rube Goldberg-type device has to run in exactly 60 seconds and incorporate tasks such as pulling a mass up a ramp, dropping a bouncy ball, and pouring sand. Stokes, Wright, and Zhang received fifth place at the awards ceremony.

 

Smithton Middle School team members Dishti Goyal and Sarah Bai analyze fingerprints during the event “Science Crime Busters” at the Regional Science Olympiad Tournament in Rolla, MO on Saturday, February 18. This forensics event involves identifying unknown powders, hairs, fibers, DNA, and fingerprints to solve a crime scene scenario. Goyal and Bai later received third place at the awards ceremony.

 

Richard Shang lines up Smithton Middle School’s moustrap vehicle on the runway at the Regional Science Olympiad Tournament in Rolla, MO on Saturday, February 18. The vehicle is designed to use one or two snap mousetraps as the sole means of propulsion to reach a target quickly, accurately, and close to the predicted time as possible.

 

Smithton Middle School teammates Kristine Cho, Genevieve Saab, and Rebecca Shyu kiss the second place trophy that the team won at the Science Olympiad Regional Tournament awards ceremony in Rolla, MO on Saturday, February 18. Receiving second place advances the team to the State Tournament at the University of Missouri in Columbia in April.

 

Reading Reflection: More Bird by Bird and Selecting a Subject

I am trying to pace myself on reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird book for my capstone class, but it is hard. I would love to read ahead, so we’ll see how long it takes before I do that. Thursday evening I read the chapters “School Lunches” and “Polaroids.”

Lamott talks about school lunches and how it reveals a lot about a person’s character. I love how she developed the simple story further to the high rating of grape jelly to last place raspberry jelly. Grade school was full of peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches. Nobody touched the raspberry or apricot flavors! I found this hilarious because now I actually love raspberry jam the most and I eat my grandma’s apricot kolaches (type of Czech pastry) like they’re going out of style. Details like this are important to incorporate and they can be highlighted in your story, whether it is in writing or through pictures.

“Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop.” I couldn’t agree more. I found the “Polaroid” chapter to be easily compared to picture stories and photographic essays. For example Lamott states, “You couldn’t have had any way of knowing what this piece of work would look like when you first started. You just knew that there was something about these people that compelled you, and you stayed with that something long enough for it to show you what it was about.” It is important to not be so hung up on what you think your main character is for your story. Look around, be observant, and follow what peaks your interest. Stick with it long enough to develop the “polaroid.” In addition, I found this other quote to be important: “…you begin to notice all the props surrounding these people, and you begin to understand how props define us and comfort us, and show us what we value and what we need, and who we think we are.” And this is what I took away from it all: Get the details because they’re just as important as the portrait.

“Selecting a Subject” by Bill Jay and David Hurns is the next piece of required reading. I found this article to be dry compared to Lamott. However, they had some great points and it was interesting to read their back-and-forth conversation. The most important principle from this reading is where Hurns brings up the four questions to ask yourself when selecting a subject to photograph:

1) Is it visual? 2) Is it practical? 3) Is it a subject about which I know enough? and 4) Is it interesting to others?

Hurns and Jay continue to talk about the “more precise the topic, the easier it is to conduct research,” and “most photographers would do the world a favor by diminishing, not augmenting, the role of self and, as much as possible, emphasizing subject alone.” In addition to these, they bring up several points to clue in on around this “subject” topic and I would recommend reading this. It is lengthy and I found myself kind of getting bored with a couple of their tangents, but overall it deserves a read if you’re a curious aspiring photographer.

Editing Exercise for a One-Day Story

Last week in my capstone class we were given about 500 images to edit to a final approximate 8-image story. It proved to be difficult trying to keep in mind the formula for a picture story, with so many great photographs to choose from.  I tried to incorporate different angles, a portrait, scene setter, opener/closer, details, and enough information to tell this story in as few as images as possible.

Pageant Dad Prepares Daughter for the Glitz of Beauty Contests

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Although using all horizontal photographs is ideal for a slideshow, having verticals to use in a layout would be nice. Unfortunately the photographer shot mostly horizontal images, and the rare verticals were not strong enough. Here is a look at a possible layout design for a front-page broadsheet and continued picture story on a following page. (This can be viewed at the end of the above slideshow due to technical difficulties with inserting it below).

Photo Essay Inspiration Reaction

After viewing my capstone peers’ photographic essay finds, I discovered a wider range of stories that I didn’t even think to look for. I particularly found Carolyn Drake’s “Paradise Rivers” piece (there are three parts to it) visually appealing.

This picture is my favorite landscape/sense of environment photograph located in Paradise Rivers II. Drake utilizes vivid color schemes and unique light in every single one of her pictures. I recommend looking at all of her story projects under the menu tab on her website, as I think you’ll enjoy them all as I have.

Taking this blog post bird by bird…

Finally. A book about writing advice for a class that I actually enjoy reading. Usually I find myself zoning out really bad (“Oh I need to remember to send that email,” “Hmm what to have for dinner tonight,” and the inevitable “So much to do before tomorrow” thought) when reading through required reading assignments, but Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird has kept me hooked. She writes in a hilarious, yet helpful way to encourage writers of all levels to consider her writing tips. If I had the time, I probably would have read the whole book in one setting.

I particularly found the chapter “Perfectionism” to apply to me. I always have a hard time just getting started on anything I write, whether it be a research paper, newspaper article, or even this blog post. It’s that first sentence for me that takes forever to form. It doesn’t help either that I think it has to be perfect. Lamott states, “…the bottom line is that if you want to write, you get to, but you probably won’t be able to get very far if you don’t start trying to get over your perfectionism…so go ahead make big scrawls and mistakes. Use up lots of paper. Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend.” When I read this I shook my head up and down in agreement. It’s just what I needed to hear. Now onto those “Shitty First Drafts”…

Environmental Photo Essay

Oil drilling by Texaco (Chevron) has wreaked havoc on the Ecuadorian Amazon in Coca. Mitch Anderson has a well executed photo essay exploring the effects on the region of estimated spilled “17 million gallons of oil” and about “18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater” into the rivers and streams. Local residents have endured an ongoing public health crisis as result. Anderson’s essay is first in a series of documenting the “cultural and environmental destruction in this region of Ecuador by Chevron.”

I chose to highlight this photo essay for a couple reasons. One being that I am also in an energy and climate change course this semester, and just viewed the documentary “Gasland” by Josh Fox. I highly recommend viewing this film if you are interested in learning how hydraulic fracturing has contaminated residents’ homes all over the United States. There is proof alone in the video footage after video footage of people able to set their tap water on fire…

Another reason would be that environmental issues today are especially important to cover from a photographer’s standpoint. I would be interested in exploring something along these lines for a photo project in the future.

Multiple Flash

For the use of multiple flash, two different external flashes were set off using the pop-up flash on my camera. Inside Mojo’s, the lighting was particularly dark with some colored stage lights on the bands. Perfect opportunity to try different arrangements, flash ratios, bouncing the key light off of different surfaces, etc.

The Autumn Film performed on the second night of taking pictures. Incidentally, I really enjoyed their music and recommend checking them out as they just released a new album, “The Ship and the Sea.”

Reid Phillips, guitarist for The Autumn Film, plays at Mojo's on Wednesday, April 14. The band is originally from Denver, CO and are touring with their new album release, titled "The Ship and the Sea." Other band members are pianist and lead singer Tifah Al-Attis and drummer Dann Stockton. According to The Onion, "Like a post-collegiate Fiona Apple jamming with Snow Patrol, The Autumn Film serves up a piano-drenched sincerity topped off with a voice that's wise and heartbroken beyond its years."

Lighting diagram inside Mojo's. The key light was bounced off of the stage ceiling, while a fill was used to light up the entire guitar.

In addition, I came across this UK audio site that has some great interviews, clips, still pictures, etc to telling about 4-minute news stories and profiles. I particularly enjoyed the piece titled, “Chicago’s Still Got the Blues,” which interviews musician Buddy Guy. Enjoy!

Fill and balance

In harsh outdoor lighting conditions with sun, a flash can be used to fill in shadows (especially when someone is wearing a hat). At Mizzou’s Speaker Circle, Sustain Mizzou had been collecting donations for local farmers and food. I focused on a girl with a cowboy hat on. I chose this select because part of her face has the fill and there is still definition with what shadow there is. I also like that another Sustain Mizzou member is collecting spare change in the background.

Freshman Meighan Walsh stands on the MU campus Speaker's Circle with a jar of change. "Support local food for local people," Walsh said as students walk by in between classes. Members of Sustain Mizzou spent the day raising money for local farmers and families. "It is really important to me that we buy local food because it's cost effective, supports local farmers, and helps poorer families," Walsh said.

To create the fill under the hat, I crouched down and directed the flash up at her.

Gelling external flash: color correction

Fluorescent lights oftentimes give off a really poor light quality in photographs. For that, we learned to color correct by putting different gels on our external flashes. (Photographs were also taken in tungsten light to color correct).

Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream off of Ninth St. exhibits just that type of lighting.

Cassidy Shearrer gives flavor suggestions to a customer at Sparky's Homeade Ice Cream on Ninth Street. Sparky's is known for their inventive flavors, such as jalapeño chocolate, green tea, bacon and syrup, cinnamon, chocolate cake, and many more. You can sample as many flavors as you want before deciding which scoop to have.

Lighting diagram for color correction photograph. A light green gel was used in the fluorescent lighting.