Deadlines in Journalism

You will be reading two stories. The first is on WHY deadlines are important and the second will be on HOW to improve your deadline skills and habits. Please complete this task in a blog post titled: Deadlines, ARGGH!!

First read this article and answer the questions below:

http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-are-they-called-deadlines

1. What is the origins of the word deadline?
2. What impact will missing today's deadline have on you?
3. Have you had issues meeting deadlines in other classes? If so, what consequences did you have for missing those deadlines?
4. Do you find yourself missing deadlines on a regular basis? If so, what do you think causes you to miss deadlines?
5. What specifically kept you from meeting today's photo deadline?
6. What do you plan to do to complete this task as quickly as possible so you can earn as much credit as you can?

Now read this article on how to improve your deadline skills and answer the questions below:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/inside-the-classroom/8-ways-to-take-control-of-your-time

1. Which of those eight suggestions do you think might help you be more efficient?
2. Which of the suggestions is the toughest for you to complete? Why?
3. Are you a morning or night person?
3A. What are some of the problems you might run into because you are more productive at certain times of the day?
4. How can you create a dedicated study time for yourself?
5. What are three direct things could you do to eliminate distractions?

Finally, look at the following suggestion list for help with homework and answer the questions below:

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/inside-the-classroom/take-control-of-homework

1. Are there any correlations to taking control of your homework and time management?
2. What is your ideal study setting and mood?
3. What are your biggest distractions when it comes to studying?
4. What three things could you do to help with those distractions?

Turning in Portraits and Self Portraits

Good afternoon!!

Today your portraits and self-portraits are due. You will be turning in 4 total images.

Here is what you need to do:

First - pick out the portrait and self-portrait you want to turn in for that assignment. For these two images you can crop however you want to crop. This means you can make it whatever size you want to show off your photography skills and to send the mood and message you want to share with those two images.  When you crop, please make sure you set the resolution to 240. You will need to do levels and make the photo look good in Photoshop. If you are skilled in Photoshop and you want to do other effects with these two images - feel free.

When you are finished with these tasks please post these two images on your blog and label them Portraits and Self-portraits.

Second - pick out the portrait and self-portrait that you plan to use for your magazine cover when we return from holiday break. These images should be vertical and the subjects should fill the frame as much as possible. These images must be cropped 8.5 inches wide  by 11 inches tall and the resolution must be 300. I would prefer that you do not crop a really small segment of a larger photo for these two images. I wanted them to fill the frame as much as possible. You will need to do color corrections on these images by using levels as well. Do not do anything else to these images at this point. Later, when we return from break or the last week of this semester, I will share some tutorials on cut-outs and using text in Photoshop. For now, I just want to see the images you plan to use for your magazine cover.

When you are finished with these tasks, please post these two images on your blog in a separate post and label them Magazine Cover Images.

When you are done today, you are finished for the day. Please quietly study, complete any missing assignments, read a book, or surf the web.

Top 100 Photos of All Time

While we wait for the printer to be fixed so we can finish the mural project, let's take a look at some famous photos. Below you will find a link to the top-100 photos according to Time Magazine.

First, take a peek at some of the photos and get familiar with the website itself. It isn't the easiest to navigate, but there is some great stuff here to look at.

http://100photos.time.com

Once you have it figured out, lets narrow down to a few of the images and do some reading.

Pick FIVE of the top-100 images. Click them individually and read the short excerpt about the photo. Create a new post on your blog and answer the following questions:

1. Why did you pick this image? What caught your eye?
2. Summarize what you read. How about 2-3 sentences explaining the photo.
3. Every photo has some additional information, links, readings, or videos associated. Please tell me what you learned in addition to the actual photo. If you need to watch a video, I can come put in my credentials so you can watch, just raise your hands.
4. Look up the photographer. Post this famous image of theirs PLUS one more of theirs that catches your eye. (This means I should see at least 2 photos per post).
5. Find a biography of the photographer and provide the following information:

Name
Birth and death year (if applicable)
Born where
School attended (college or photo school)

You can complete these 5 image choices in one single blog post.

Prompt Shoot #3

Because the printer is not working in Mr. Reeves room yet so we can work on the mural project, we are going to do a quick prompt shoot today in class. I will be sending you out in teams for 45 minutes. When you return you will be expected to level the two images you are turning in and get them posted on your blog TODAY. So work fast and get them up on your blog. Remember to do LEVELS.

For fun, I am going to give you 4 prompts, but you only have to turn in 2 images.

Here are the four prompts to choose from:

Edge
Tiny
Numbers
Circle

Remember you only have to turn in 2 of these prompts.

5 Websites

Click on each website and quickly decide if it is something you are interested in. If you are, then go to the bottom and work on the questions for that website.

If you find that its not that interesting, move on to the next choice.

Complete questions for 5 websites. So Each website will be worth 20 points, you will get 20 points for each set of questions you complete. Get 3 done, you will get a 60, get 5 done, you will get a 100!!!

Have fun!!

Photography resolutions for 2016

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/31/10-photography-resolutions-new-year/

Photos everyone should know how to make

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/01/6-types-photos-know-make/

Using a projector

http://petapixel.com/2015/01/01/projector-brought-forest-turns-nature-glowing-wonderland/

Spiral Staircases

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/19/disorienting-beauty-spiral-staircases-old-abandoned-buildings/

Great Portraits

http://blog.phowd.com/2014/09/7-tips-shooting-great-portrait-photographs/

Style

http://petapixel.com/2014/08/25/approaching-problem-style/

The oldest living things in the world

http://www.rachelsussman.com/oltw/

Killer Timelapse

http://blog.ted.com/2014/10/07/how-to-create-a-killer-timelapse-with-joe-capra/


If none of these seem interesting, you can also go to any of these websites and find something that interests you:

http://petapixel.com/

http://www.lightstalking.com/

http://photo.net/

https://photographylife.com/

http://content.photojojo.com/

Okay now the Questions - Please use your judgement and decide which of the questions below you need to answer. 

Link the website you visited and make sure your blog is titled 5 Websites.

Briefly describe what you looked at on the website (4-5 sentences, make sure you write enough to really make it clear that you spent time looking at the website).

What did you learn new?

Post your favorite photo from the site.

Please answer the following questions:
a.     Why did you pick this photo?
b.     What rules of photography do you see in the photo?
c.     Who took the photo?

If you did a tutorial on the website, post the item you created on your blog. Remember that blogger only takes certain types of photos, if you can convert it to a .jpeg that would be ideal.

If you did a tutorial please answer the following questions:
a.     What did you learn new today?
b.     How can you use this in my class later?
c.     Did this expand your knowledge of an Adobe computer program? If so tell me the program’s name is.

If you looked at a video, please do the following:
a.     Describe what you saw in the video.
b.     Try to figure out who made the video. If it was a photographer look them up on google and see if you can learn more about them.
c.     If there is a story about the video on the website, paraphrase it in 2-3 sentences.
d.     What did you learn new?

If you were directed to a site that you cannot answer any of the questions above, please do the following:
a.     What did you see on the website, describe it in 2-3 sentences?
b.     What did you learn?
c.     How did the site relate to photography?

****Finally: I want to challenge you with something Mr. Reeves did...A few years ago he decided to do a 365 day challenge, where he posted a new photo each and every day of the year. Each image was taken with my DSLR (so not my phone) and was processed in Lightroom and posted by the end of the day, or early the next morning. Now it was a really difficult process and he probably wouldn't do it again. That being said, there are other challenges out there that you might want to take on. Here is a link with more information. If you want to do something like this, let me know and I can help you with ideas.

 http://photocritic.org/2015-photography-project-ideas/?utm_content=buffer95905&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

November 11th & November 14th

1. Be sure to upload your mural project images to the correct folder on the server for printing. Images MUST HAVE the ".jpg" in the JPEG format to be printed. Please double check with everyone in your group that they have done this correctly. 
2. Post your mural project images on the blog and give me a brief description of your groups theme. Title the post "mural project"
3. Find a LOCAL AUSTIN photographer (Google is your best friend!) Write 3-4 paragraphs telling me about the photographer, their style, why you like them, etc. Then pick out and post 5 of their images and write 2-3 sentences about each picture telling me about why you like it and what composition rules it does/does not follow. 

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY!! GO DAWGS!! -Coach D.

Magazine Preview Assignment

This assignment consists of four blog posts.

Blog #1 - Magazine tips

After you shoot your portrait, you will use it as the central element of a mock magazine cover design that will occupy a page of an InDesign document.

To get this process started, you need to learn a little about magazine cover design.

Go to the link below:

http://www.pubexec.com/article/32-tips-tales-techniques-evaluating-appeal-your-next-magazine-cover-84611/1

Read the 2 page article about magazine cover design. The second page is much more important than the first page. On your blog tell me 5 things you should be thinking about when you design your magazine cover.

Blog #2 - Best magazine covers 2013

Next, go here and look at some great designs:

http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine-cover-contest/past-winners-finalists/2014-winners-finalists

Look at and read about ALL 32 designs, please stop when you get to the section called Cover of the Year. Make a new post titled : "Best Covers"

17 of them involve a portrait. Number a blog post from 1-17. Figure out which ones are portraits (these will be the ones with people in them), start your count with the Section called News, Politics and Business. The first portrait is from the New Yorker and it has Michael Douglas on it.

Next to each number, write "Formal, Informal, or Environmental"

If you do not understand the difference between formal, informal and environmental - please ask but you should know the difference.

Blog #3 -- My Favorite Cover

Choose your favorite cover (with a portrait). Label it as "favorite."

Copy and paste the description from the web.

Write a 100-150 word critique of the portrait on the cover.

Mention what is communicated about the people in the portrait and how this is communicated.

You may consider composition, lighting, exposure etc.


Blog #4 - Magazines Part II

You also need to know a little more information about the types of magazine covers that have been used through the years. Here are the most common types:

Cover types

1. Image Based
2. Illustration Based
3. Type Based
4. Concept Based

Here is the description and some examples of these types of magazine covers:

http://www.magazinedesigning.com/introduction-to-magazine-cover-pages/

On your blog, write a short (50-150 word) explanation of what the main attributes of each of the four types are. Use your own words, and DO NOT copy and paste.

Finally, what is the relationship between words and photos on magazine covers and why is this important?

Portrait Assignment

I also wanted to formally assign the portrait and self-portrait shoot. You may get cameras beginning today to shoot this assignment. You can take as many photos as you want, but you will be required to turn in 1 portrait (of any variety of someone else), and one self-portrait that you take of yourself. This self-portrait must be you using the self-timer on the camera. You must use either my cameras or a DSLR that you have at home.

We will be using both of this images in a future assignment so you must shoot at least some of these vertically. You may turn in a horizontal image for both the portrait and self-portrait, but you will need vertical images of the same subjects for a future assignment, so make sure you shoot both ways (or just shoot vertically). You will need to turn in FULL FRAME images so make sure you either zoom in really well or get close to your subject.

These must be turned in by by November 30/Dec. 1, so you have over three weeks, but it is just 5-6 classes, so you have to check out a camera and return it the next day. Plan accordingly. Anyone who does not bring the camera back the next day will lose 10 points on the portrait and self-portrait major assignment. You may only check out a camera every other day, so don't abuse the fact you have one. Absences don't mean a thing - if you borrow a camera, you better get it back to me the next day somehow!!!

Please get started on this ASAP!!!

American Soldier

Craig Walker, a photojournalist from the Denver Post, tracked Ian Fisher's introduction to the Army from high school graduation through basic training and through a yearlong deployment in Iraq. The images Walker took capture Fisher's day-to-day experiences as a recruit, soldier, son and friend. Walker and his team were awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for this photo series.

I would like for you to look at some of the award-winning images produced by this photographer and reflect upon how the images tell a story without even having to read the story. In addition, I want you to pay attention to the captions that were written for the images.

1. Go to the following Web site: 

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/0412/20100412_011334_Ian_Fisher_American_Soldier.pdf

A. What is the most powerful image from the pictures printed in the Denver Post over the three weeks they published images from the year of coverage? Why?

B. How do the images work together to tell a story?

C. How do the captions enhance the photographs?

D. Summarize the story of Ian Fisher, based just on the captions.

E. For the photos in which Ian is the main subject of the photos, in what tense are the verbs usually written?

F. Break down the captions:

1. How many sentences are they on average?
2. Read the first sentence of a couple of them, what information do they provide?
3. Read the second sentences of a couple of them, what information do they provide?
4. If there is a third sentence, what information does it provide?
5. Do any captions include a quote?
6. Are there any that have four sentences?

G. Why do you think it is possible to tell a complete story with just photos and captions?

H. If you can create a story with just photos and captions, why bother writing a story at all?


FOR EXTRA CREDIT - because this is such a long reading, if you complete this extra credit, I will add 5 FULL points to your overall grade at the end of the six weeks. This must be posted on your blog by Friday, Nov. 11 to receive credit (Warning, do not skip other assignments to do this one, its not worth it, this is only for those people striving for the highest possible grade in my class):

Please read the story across those three papers

1. Briefly summarize the story of Ian Fisher. Please break this down by publish date. This means I want three separate summaries of a paragraph for each of the three days the paper published the story.
2. What was his motivation for joining the military?
3. What kind of problems did he encounter during basic training?
4. What part of Ian's pre-military life caused him the most problems as he was being trained and while on deployment?
5. What happened when Ian had a mid-tour break and returned home?
6. How did Iraq change Ian?