photo training (1)

2014-15 Maroon Photography

I. Editors

Peter Tang, Photo Editor

(Courtesy of Tiffany Tan)

Frank Wang (Frank #1), Ass. Photo Editor

Courtesy of Joey Li

wow  

Ms. Sydney Combs (Syd), Senior Photo Editor

Courtesy of Jamie Manley

Frank Yan (Frank #2), Senior Photo Editor

Courtesy of Jamie Manley

Associated Collegiate Press, Photo of the Year

Courtesy of Tiffany Tan

II. What do we photograph?

Local Events

(Peter Tang) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/10/17/star-studded-group-opens-innovation-exchange/

Educational Events

(Frank Yan) http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/05/02/panel-recounts-the-legacy-of-former-attorney-general-university-president/

Community Discussion

(Sydney Combs) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/04/04/ucpd-seeks-calea-accreditation-student-activists-cry-foul/

Community Protest

(Sydney Combs) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/20/ucpd-ends-trauma-center-sit-in/

National Issues

(Sydney Combs) http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/02/19/obama-comes-home-talks-gun-violence/

Cool People

(Peter Tang) http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/05/31/uncommon-interview-soledad-obrien/

(Frank Yan) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/10/17/uncommon-interview-cece-mcdonald/

Sports

(Frank Wang) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/01/27/maroon-waves-crash-down-on-competition-at-senior-day/

(Frank Wang) http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/01/23/neon-night-victory-fuels-sunday-win-over-brandeis/

Homecoming, 2013

(Frank Yan) http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/10/22/a-happy-homecoming-chicago-dominates-macalester-26-7/

Photo Essays

�  http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/20/locking-arms-for-a-trauma-center/

�  http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/04/19/losing-the-53rd-street-graffiti-wall/

You are free to pursue whatever you want with photo essays. If you have an idea, just talk to one of us.

III. General Tips for Photographing

�  Our Goal as Photojournalists: To accurately and holistically portray the event you are covering.

�  Try to capture the spirit of the event while presenting important details like the setting, main characters, and the event’s aim.

General Tips

� Be aware of what type of event it is. If it is a public event, you should be able to freely move about the room. If it is a limited access event, ask permission to photograph.

� When in doubt, ask permission as well.

General Tips

�  Know who you are photographing! Do a little research about who might be important, and what they look like.

�  Record information about who you photograph. This will be important, when you caption the photo. Bring a pen/pencil, or use your phone.

General Tips

� Move around the room and try different angles. The sides of the room and the front will usually serve you pretty well. It is extremely difficult to get a good shot, even if it’s just a podium talk, from your seat.

Example

General Tips

� Be mindful of how an event is evolving over time and try to predict where the action will unfold. By being mindful of the future, you can set yourself up for a peak moment shot.

Example

Predict where the action will play out, and get there before the action happens.

General Tips

�  Try to make photos with tight compositions of someone doing something interesting. Having too much empty space around the subject can weaken the impact of the photo. This is especially true on print where the print quality is low contrast and small. (Be careful not to cut off any limbs though.)

Example

Slightly loose composition. While the audience is in the shot, the focus of the event, the speakers are somewhat small, and the woman on the front left is blocked.

General Tips

� Watch your foregrounds and backgrounds. Awkward items, both behind and in front of your subject, have the potential to completely ruin a photograph. (This sounds easy enough, but we get photos with pipes and boards and branches coming out of people’s heads all the time.)

Example

This is an example of awkward foreground. The teleprompter obstructs the view of Attorney General Eric Holder’s face.

General Tips

� Watch your focus. When you are shooting multiple individuals at once, it is very easy to have one person focused, while the others are blurred out. Pay attention to who is important.

Example

Senator Dick Durbin stops at UChicago on his campaign trail. Senator Durbin is the focus of the event, but having David Axelrod in the background gives a nice touch.

FAQs

I don’t have photojournalism experience. Should I still do shoots?

�  Going out to do photo shoots is the best way to practice.

�  Study photographs by great photojournalists. (Try http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/)

�  Bring your camera around with you, or a small camera around with you, and take shots of any campus events/activities that you find interesting.

How many photos is enough?

� Get a variety of shots, of different angles � Ideally, you want to have 3 to 4 good shots to

pick from � You know when you are done.

IV. Logistics

Claiming a shoot

� Weekly E-mails: ~Sundays and Tuesdays/Wednesdays ¡ Maroon Photographers Listhost ¡ Click “Reply All” to claim a shoot

Production Night

�  Monday and Thursdays, starting at 7:00PM �  What we do:

Production Night

� Select 3-4 photos that you really like � Edit photos � CAPTIONING: It is very important that

we caption our photographs. Captions are written in present tense, and provide a brief explanation of what is going on the in photo.

Captioning

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (center) introduces the Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE) as a game changer for the Chicago startup scene on Thursday at the CIE campus, along with other prominent members of the community such as the Dean of the Booth School of Business Sunil Kumar (right) and Executive Director of the CIE John Flavin.

VI. Requirements

Staff Photographer Requirements

To maintain your status as a member of the Maroon Photo Team, we ask for the following: �  Five shoots during the course of the quarter � Come into Production Night for your first two

photo shoots

Becoming an Editor

� Being an editor is a big time commitment. ¡ Work a full production night each week ¡ Manage and send out shoots every week ¡ Attend Sunday editorial meetings

Editor Applications Cycle

�  At the end of this quarter, we will be seeking Associate Photo Editors to start during Winter Quarter

�  This quarter, feel free to come to production nights. The more you come to, the better we’ll get to know you!

Questions? Ideas?

Don’t hesitate to shoot us an e-mail, or talk to one of us. We are always free, even when we’re not. Peter Tang peterxtang@gmail.com Frank Wang fkwang@uchicago.edu Sydney Combs sydneyc@uchicago.edu Frank Yan frankyan@uchicago.edu

Join Glass Eyeball! http://glasseye.strikingly.com/