FOND FAREWELL TO JOUR250

Entry for NY Times, A Moment in Time, May 2, 2010 @ 11 a.m.
Glorious magnolia blossom on a drizzly Spring morning in Edinboro, PA


Journalism Day Exhibit


My initial Blog entry referenced Alice in Wonderland falling down the Rabbit Hole in relation to my experience with blogging. Like Alice, during this semester I experienced many new learning opportunities and quite a few challenges.

Not only did I blog for the first time in my life, but discovered that I truly enjoyed taking photographs. Even if many were mediocre, I could usually tell what was wrong with them, after listening carefully in each class meeting.

I learned about photojournalists, and the difficulties they have encountered in the process of obtaining a great, usable photo. I learned to appreciate the preparation necessary (and sometimes luck) successful photojournalists experience.

I learned what Picasa is, and the joys of sharing the albums with others. Using professional lighting equipment for the first time was actually fun, once I got over my hesitancy and reluctance. And I learned firsthand that its proper use really improves a photograph. Taking this course coincided with the birth of my first grandchild, so knowledge and experience gained with the Nikon D3000 was much appreciated and used often, especially during Spring Break.

I took an interesting photograph of Samantha the Gorilla at the Erie Zoo, selected for exhibit during Journalism Day. My confidence increased to the extent that I submitted an entry to the NY Times for "A Moment in Time" (Magnolia Blossom, above).

I attended several campus events looking for photo opportunities as part of the homework assignments, and met several interesting characters in the process.

I even became a member of the YouTube community, in order to upload a clip and post the html to a previous blog entry.

For me, one of the biggest challenges was finding willing subjects for certain assignments, and drafting family members provided the necessary "posers." I thank my somewhat patient husband Bob of 36 years (also now known as the bald Bill Clinton), my adorable grand-niece Khloe for visiting the Erie Zoo with me, and our beautiful new grand-daughter, Winnie Clare, all of whom gave their time and attention to portions of my Photojournalism homework.

However, the final assignment, recording a video, almost defeated me completely. My previous life experience with video, other than watching them, was accidentally recording our feet while sightseeing in Puerto Rico when I thought I was photographing an ancient fort with a new Samsung digital camera.

When I realized my fatal "user error" in not deleting practice recordings from the memory card and missed filming the actual event I had chosen for the video assignment, I fixed myself a tall gin and tonic one evening and tried to work out an alternative. One plan was to go ahead with the lame clips of the parking lot and entrance to the arena and to fill in with still photographs to tell the story. I rejected that idea when I surrendered to the fact that I was failing to learn the basics of Adobe Premier Pro video editing after several hours of trying, with a looming deadline.

Not finding the tutorials for CS3 particularly helpful, I decided instead to make a 30-second movie of the still photographs taken at the Cat Show. Hopefully, I provided 30-seconds of laughter to a class who probably (I am just guessing here) would have never set foot in a local Cat Fanciers Association Competition, even if the requisite 6 clips of 5 seconds each for the video assignment weren't attained.

Kudos to Professor Jim Wertz, who did his darndest to engage the class, and exhibited the patience of Job with our many (sometimes sophomoric) questions!

Not being a Photo or Journalism major, I had a large learning curve this semester, but managed to complete each assignment on time, perhaps not well, but with a sense of humor. Not bad for a 57-year old grandmother trying to complete degree requirements for an English degree part-time, while working full-time in a stressful office atmosphere (especially just prior to Commencement).

My own adult children fondly and persistently prod me into the 21st century. They realize their father may be resistive to new technology, but they've had a modicum of success with me. Like Alice, I don't know what is beyond the next tunnel opening, but I might even eventually learn to Twitter. JOUR250.001 provided another bend in the journey.

FOR CAT FANCIERS ONLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wAvys4fVss




CATS, KITTENS, AND MORE CATS: The parking lot of the JMC ice Arena was jammed Saturday afternoon with row upon row of vehicles, many from out-of-state.

Inside the arena were cages full of cats, forty different breeds in all. Some were sleeping, being groomed by their owners, or simply eyeing up the hundreds of spectators who gathered for the competition sponsored by the local Cat Fanciers' Association for the top Cat awards in the Kitten, Championship, Premiership and Household Pet classes.

Judges, vendors, breeders, cat owners, and one professional pet photographer attended the 21st Annnual All-Breed Cat Show this weekend, with one thing in common -- their love for felines! The entrance fee was nominal, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting Because You Care Inc. and the Erie Zoo.

CAT FANCIERS' ASSOCIATION judges independently ranked the competing cats in color and sex. Six winners' ribbons are required to earn the title of champion or Premier. Cats were also judged for Best in Breed or Division or Color or Sex. Top Cats were awarded ribbons which earn points for CFA Regional and National ranking and awards.

All the owners I approached were more than willing to pose with their animal or encourage it to perform for the camera. Photographers were asked to check with the cat's owner before using a flash or taking close-ups.

One of the judges puts a feline contestant through its paces.

The judge sets up the cat for evaluation.

The judge measures the length of a contestant's reach.

Visitors were asked not to touch the show cats without the permission of the owners. The licensed judges washed their hands with a disinfectant after handling each cat to avoid accidentally passing germs from one cat to another. All were willing to answer questions when they were not engaged in the handling and evaluating of cats.

The owner of "Blue Eyes" opened its cage so I could take a photograph.

Red-haired "Henry" receives a loving hug from its owner after winning a ribbon.

This owner chatted on the phone while offering lap time to a relaxed contestant.

Alas, our own low-maintenance pet Kitty the Cat was ineligible to enter the Household Pet Class because she had been declawed. She didn't take offense, but instead enjoyed a quiet afternoon home alone on her favorite knitted afghan, unlike the cat above, who watched from the window of the Winnebago in the parking lot of the JMC Arena for its people to return.

RE-CREATION Assignment, Part 2

AP Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by J. Scott Applewhite in 1998.

This is the Re-created version, after Photo-shop, in which the columns were further straightened in Picasa.

See details of setting up the photograph in Re-creation, Part 1.

RE-CREATION Assignment, Part 1

Selected location for the re-created photo shoot: Strong Vincent High School on West Eighth Street, Erie, Pennsylvania.

In order to more realistically re-create the selected famous photograph, I took several shots of the columns while holding a branch in front of the camera, because a branch will need to be added to the top corner of the finished re-created photograph.

I also took several photos of grass and other greenery, to be used to edit the photo, since the columns at the high school did not extend into the grass, like the photo of Bill Clinton entering the White House Rose Garden.

This is my main photograph, prior to Photo-shop edits. The columns were cleaned up, the thumb removed, the bottom greenery added, and the branch in the top corner was added. I decided to ask my subject to wear a cap, since there was not an easy way to "re-create" Bill Clinton's hairstyle. This had the added advantage of shading his face, so he didn't squint into the sunlight.

Here is the Photo-shopped version of the re-creation assignment. If my Photo-shop skills were better, I would shorten the shadow on the subject's left shoulder, darken the suit, and change the alignment of the columns to more closely replicate the original famous photograph. Because of the landscaping in front of Strong Vince High School, I was unable to stand where the columns would look more similar to the photo below.

AP Photograph by J. Scott Applewhite
December 11, 1998

After President Clinton apologized to the country for his conduct in the Monica Lewinsky affair and said he would accept a congressional censure or rebuke, Applewhite shot this photo of the President entering the White House Rose Garden.

RE-CREATION: For this assignment, I selected a Pulitzer-prize winning photo taken by then AP photographer J. Scott Applewhite.

I scouted out locations in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania for the re-creation. Strong Vincent High School on West Eighth Street, the Erie County Court House on West Sixth Street, and the Erie Art Museum on State Street at Fourth all seemed likely prospects. I anticipated the need to take a budding branch with me to recreate the upper left corner of the photograph, or Photo-shop one in later. The bottom grassy area in the original photograph needed to be added also, since none of the locations mentioned above have similar ground level grass near the columns. I selected Strong Vincent High School for the venue, since there were six smooth columns, parking was readily available, and pedestrian traffic would mostly be light on a weekend.

I alerted my husband to dust off his dark suit, and be prepared to pose this coming weekend, when optimum weather conditions are expected.

Saturday, April 10, 2010: I enjoyed this assignment, although my husband who portrayed an older, bald and bearded Bill Clinton, is glad the photo shoot is over! My Photo-shop skills are severely limited; hence the shadow is still present on the final version, and the columns are a bit uneven and not exactly like the original photograph.