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.

Single flash experimentation

This is the first time we’ve used external flashes. I found it harder simply because people definitely tend to “shy” away from the camera a Lot more with a flash. Nevertheless, I like the honest emotion conveyed in my subject where she is very focused on practicing the marimba.

MU Freshman Abby Rehard practices marimba in a practice room of Loeb Hall. Rehard tries to practice anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour everyday. Last weekend she competed at a percussion competition in Lebanon, MO with other MU percussionists in an ensemble, as well as a solo piece. Rehard is currently an undeclared major, but is seriously considering a degree in Percussion Performance.

To create a large light source, I bounced the flash off of the ceiling. This also avoided unwanted shadows.

Lighting diagram indicates external flash removed from on top of the camera and directed towards the ceiling.

As for the Missourian, I am extremely proud of an article I wrote during my breaking news desk shift this past Monday. A famous jazz bassist, Rufus Reid, came to Columbia to conduct master classes and to perform with his new group, The Rufus Reid Trio. Reporting on his master class with the Hickman High School jazz band was a big treat. It was right up my alley with being a flute player of 10 years. My story ran as the front page centerpiece in Tuesday’s issue.

Glass object photography

Photographing a glass object is a lot harder than it looks. With my science background, I decided to use test tubes.

After getting the lighting for the empty tubes, I filled them with various levels of vinegar, baking soda, and blue food coloring. Results weren’t ideal and so I moved onto rubber cement and fire.

Incidentally, I emptied out the test tubes and after placing them back in the rack I realized that I really liked their “dirty” and “used” look. This gave me the final picture that I was looking for:

A rack of test tubes fizzle out after a weak acid and base reaction that lasted for about five minutes. Blue food coloring was used to help make it more visible. Lighting these glass objects consisted of three light sources with two soft boxes and at least one reflector.

Lighting diagram for glass object shoot. It took over 2 hours to get this perfected set up for the final set of frames.

A lot of research went into my latest Missourian article about potholes in Columbia becoming a problem due to the long winter. This one made front page and continued into the mid-section with some neat graphics.

I also attended a Boone County Commission meeting where improvements to U.S. 63 and Route H were discussed. In addition to this article, a follow-up may be written (including graphics) if legislation is passed for the construction.

First studio portrait shoot

For my Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism course, the first assignment involved a studio portrait shoot with a fellow classmate. We experimented with one and multiple light sources. I was a little nervous using studio lights for the first time, but am looking forward to what the rest of the semester has to offer. Overall, the shoot turned out pretty well.

Lighting diagram for one-light source during studio portrait shoot.

Classmate, Sarah, poses for one-light source experimenting in the studio.

About a week ago, I wrote an article for the Missourian about Columbia’s new City Hall addition, complete with floor plans. This story ran in the second page of the paper.

As the only breaking news reporter on staff for Valentine’s Day, I wrote a featured life story and a drug bust news release. A red-light camera protest was scheduled to cover, but got cancelled due to snowy weather. Being dispatched to a residential fire was quite the experience. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything worth covering.

More photography to come!

Kicking off this blog with some published stories…

I’m new to blogging, but I think it’s appropriate that my first post links you to two of my stories that just got published in the Missourian. I am a photojournalism student at the University of Missouri-Columbia and am currently a public life reporter for the Missourian. I am also majoring in geological sciences and plan to post about my current research in the petrology lab and geological events related to journalism.

The first one was a brief on Broadway Brewery teaming up with Partners In Health to hold a benefit for the Haiti earthquake relief.

The next story covers the energy efficient appliance rebate in Missouri.

Soon to come…posts of my personal photography. Get excited.