Words and Light

Life’s ironic, ain’t it?

I really don’t think “irony” or any derivative thereof is the correct word for this, but basically: In my last post, I discussed how I think I’m a balanced reporter in that I both report and photograph as a journalist. But it’s ironic (or something?) that I’m struggling to do my best work in both areas.

Let me say this right away: I am capable of reporting and photographing the same event/issue for the same story. I’ve done it several times in the past few years, and I think I’ve done it well.

But this semester, I am in two journalism classes with “Advanced” in their course titles: Advanced Reporting and Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism. For Advanced Reporting, I report on the state budget out of Phill Brooks’ bureau in Jefferson City for The Columbia Missourian on Mondays, Wednesdays and the occasional Friday. For Advanced Techniques, I have two classes and a lab period every week, plus a weekly assignment that usually involves at least two different shoots. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my days for those classes and lab, plus my other schoolwork.

I don’t have any problems balancing reporting and photojournalism in general. But when I’m photographing assignments that have nothing to do with anything I’m already doing in the bureau, that’s when it gets tricky. It’s the time crunch.

But there was no way I couldn’t have not taken these two classes this semester. I needed to take Advanced Techniques this semester as part of my photojournalism degree path and to graduate on time. In the meantime, this legislative session has provided great reporting material, and I’ve enjoyed reporting on state finances to a degree that I doubt many other Missourian reporters would.

Somehow I’ve been making it work, although I haven’t consistently done my absolute best for either class. But I really do not recommend that anyone take Advanced Reporting and Advanced Techniques in the same semester, especially if you’re reporting out of Jefferson City, which is 30 miles south of Columbia.

THAT SAID — this assignment for Advanced Techniques was not my best. This was one of the ones where my work suffered a bit.

We were to complete a fill flash/balancing assignment, wherein we basically fill or balance a subject against or in sunlight or some other bright light. At the last minute on Wednesday — in the middle of writing a monster article about the federal stimulus funds — I went to the legislative library in the Jeff City statehouse yesterday because I knew there are big windows there.

Legislative library worker Hilda Hartling pulls up articles dating back to the 1800s from the State Historical Society of Missouri’s newspaper archive Web site in the statehouse library on April 8. Hartling said she does not know how she managed to get the desk with the best view in the library – “just luck,” she said.

This isn’t quite fill-flash or balancing in the truest sense, since the light from the strobe isn’t competing with or framed against the light from the window. But I couldn’t remove the strobe’s reflection from the window glass when I tried a different angle. In the above shot, I bounced the flash off a white pillar that was squashing me against the wall to my right, to avoid the harshness of direct flash.

So, I’m not completely thrilled with how this assignment turned out, even though Hilda was really friendly and patient with me. I did have other options lined up, over the weekend and on Tuesday, but either I couldn’t make it to them or they fell through.

Alas.

I’ll do better next time.

It’s just a bit tough, because when my attention and time are divided between articles and photos that have nothing to do with each other, one wins and one doesn’t quite win. My article turned out wonderfully. My photo — ehh.

Once I’m actually in the field and out of school, though, I doubt that will be an issue any longer.