Photography in transition

I used to be the world’s worst picture taker. In fact, if my students posted a story online and forgot to include a graphic, the mere threat that I would take a picture would motivate them to check out the camera.

Once, I went on a whale watching expedition to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington. I took two disposable cameras full of shots. The problem was that I was so excited about seeing the orcas, the minke whales, and the dolphins that I snapped the pictures after the animals had re-submerged. Thus, 90 percent of all my photos were blurry, gray images of murky waves. In telling friends about my trip, my narration consisted of descriptions like “in this shot a mom and baby orca had just breached … you can’t see it, but it was awesome.”

Other photo crimes of which I am guilty are thumbprints across the lens, chopped off heads, and washed out colors.

I brought a Kodak XE digital camera with me to the Institute. Arizona Republic photojournalist Patrick Shannahan said to take the camera off auto focus and use the viewfinder. This camera does not even have a viewfinder. I did not bring the manual with me but I definitely will read it when I return to Georgia.

Here are just a few things I have learned about photography.

• Photography in Latin means “light writing.”

• Mash the shutter. Virginia Barr requires students to take a minimum of three shots for each photo assignment. Shannahan fills his SD cards with images.

• A little blurriness shows motion and makes the photo more interesting. The face needs to be clear but the hands can have movement.

• I knew about the rule of thirds before but I had never really thought about things like negative space.

• Photographers are ubiquitous on the sidelines of high school sports. I had not thought of the ethics involved with a flash or the photographer interrupting play. Mentor Alan Weintraut recommended getting shots of practice.

• I also had not really given much thought to cropping. My staff tended to crop photos to reflect the people in the story. The photo itself presents a story that buttresses the printed words. Perhaps I viewed photography before like a recipe and a picture of a cake. The print verified the event; the picture simply reflected the achievement.

• And finally, wait. Shannahan and Dave Siebert, Senior Video Producer from the Arizona Republic, both impressed upon the institute participants that when someone does something interesting, he or she tends to repeat it. This is perhaps the best advice for me. I bet if I went whale watching now, I could get actual shots of whales!

The accompanying image contains two photos I have taken. The first embarrassingly is Dean Callahan’s pants. After his speech, I asked him a question. Perhaps I was star struck. I got six unusable blurry photos and one of his pants. The second image was going to be my choice to support the institute story. I got a better photo showing people. This image, though staged, is interesting to me. I wanted it to show transition from print to online media. I placed the pile of money between the computer and the print papers to show the connection. I took it on the hotel bed because I wanted some texture to it.

Debbie Aughey
The Spartan Chronicles
Campbell High School
Smyrna, Ga.