Hard Work Doesn't Guarantee Success

Our assignment was to photograph 8 strangers using 1 light (either a strobe from a lighting kit or a flash). We were also instructed to photograph them wide, medium and tight. I knew this while I was shooting, but it was hard to fix on a tripod. I didn't shoot tight enough. We were supposed to fill the frame with the face of our subject, but I just couldn't get close enough with my camera on the tripod (as instructed). I photographed over 12 people, but I still wasn't thrilled with what I came back with. These are the images I turned in. There are individual photographs that I like, but overall I could have done better.

I've been pushing myself constantly, and I am just waiting for my hard work to transfer into my images.

Everyday Is A Good Day To Try Something New

As a part of Photojournalism 1, my professors insisted we submitted to the College Photographer of the Year contest. These past few weeks I have been thinking of my images I have made so far this semester. I am not impressed with myself. I am pushing myself and working hard, but I haven't broken through the glass yet, so to speak. This contest allows you to submit from September 1 until August 31. I didn't know what to submit, and when I looked through my images I knew what I wanted to submit. I wanted to enter the images I just posted, about the firefighters in the spot news category. That was the most fun I have had photographing in a while. I listened to a scanner and just went to an address they said. I really enjoy my images and working with the firefighters. However, they were taken just after September 1. I could have submitted one of the images of the couple I photographed at the end of the summer, but that project is ongoing and I am not satisfied with the quality of those images- yet.

Alas, I decided to submit 3 images. The images and the captions are below. They were taken in April of 2013 while I accompanied my parents when they came to New York to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary.

After a long day of driving, Robin, 61, and John Hunter, 65, lay in bed at the John Joseph Inn with their phones while watching some late night television in Groton, NY on April 25, 2013.

Robin, 61, and John Hunter, 65, share an intimate moment in a hot tub while celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary at the Acorn Inn Bed and Breakfast in Canandaigua, NY on April 26, 2013. "Between our two kids we still manage to spend time alone together," Robin said.

On their last night celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary in New York , Robin, 61, and John Hunter, 65, fall asleep in their hotel in Rochester, NY on April 29, 2013. "I'm sick of all this Food Network crap so I have to sleep on the chair until it's over," John mumbles.

Friendly Firemen

As mentioned in my previous blog post, the firefighter picture was my favorite. I found the fire by a chance of luck, however by the time I got there they were mostly just cleaning up all of their equipment. I started taking pictures. No news stations were there at the time, and they didn't come until long after the fire was over. The Fairport fire department came up to Kelly, a new friend of mine, and I. They asked if it would be possible to get a copy of our images for training purposes. There aren't a lot of fires in this area so the only way they can really inform the new firefighters is through pictures. We agreed, and ever since we have had a great relationship with the Fairport fire department. I have continued to photograph them, and the details of that will be discussed soon!

These are my favorite images I made that day.

                     

Learning Captions

My first assignment of the year for Photojournalism 1 was to take 3 images of anything we wanted. Once we picked our favorite 3 pictures, we had to caption them. Essentially, he wanted to see what our caption writing skills were. At this time, I didn't know to write more than one sentence or to get a quote from my subject. These were my captions and images. Although my captions were lacking, I still enjoy my 3 images. 

Kyle Swingly, 8, builds a wall around his sandcastle at Lake Ontario on August 31, 2013.

Reverend Marlowe Washington gives a powerful speech to kick off the Labor Day Parade in Rochester, NY on September 2, 2013.

Firefighters begin to clean up after containing an attic fire in Fairport, NY on September 2, 2013.

Making A Change/ For Sam

Alas, I am back! I am currently in week 5 of my 15 week semester. I said that I would be writing every single day, but little did I know I would be swamped with work! I am taking photojournalism 1, ethics and law, 2D design, foundations of photojournalism, and multimedia 1. It may or may not sound like a lot, but trust me the work load is intense. From now on I PROMISE to update this blog. I will be starting to post past assignment and current projects I am working on. In the past two weeks I have decided what I want my senior project to be, which I am most excited to share with you all (in a little while). Thank you all so much for reading this blog, it really means the world. However, I have to give a shout out to my best friend, Sam Silvestri, who encouraged me to find time to write again (she is an english major and she just created a tumblr so please please check it out because it is so beautiful!

SAM'S BLOG

I wouldn't want you all to leave empty handed, so here are my favorite images of a couple I began to photograph right before I left for school. I am hoping to continue the project when I am back for breaks. Ron and Jason are together, and Ron is a Big Brother to Kevin, 13. I will discuss this project further as it comes along. Thank you all so much, once again.