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washingtonpost.com, or How I Learned to Keep Editing and Love the Internship

Posted in Internships/Careers, Introspection, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on August 14, 2009| 2 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Today was my last day as a photo intern at washingtonpost.com.

wapo.com

Today, I fielded photo requests and built photo galleries, edited and submitted some photos I took for a real estate project, turned in my security badge and Metro card… and that’s that.

That’s the end of these 90ish days of summer and my first journalism internship.

This is my pouty face. In this photo by Jeff, I am pouting for probably no reason whatsoever at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Right now, Im not pouting so much as Im sad this summer and internship are over.

This is my pouty face. In this photo by Jeff, I am pouting for probably no reason whatsoever at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Right now, I'm not pouting so much as I'm sad this summer and internship are over.

As I’ve blogged before, much of what I involved prepping photos for on-line use — to accompany articles and WaPo blogs — and building the many photo galleries. In addition, I worked on a few longer-term projects and shot two assignments.

But the vast majority of the internship was definitely sitting in front of a Mac and a PC and doing a lot of editing. Which is something I’m used to, having been the photo editor of The Maneater student newspaper, but that doesn’t mean I learned nothing this summer.

What I learned:

  • As my fellow intern Channing put it, being an intern means you’re there to do what you’re told — which means you do what other people don’t want to do. I hadn’t been on the absolute bottom rung of the ladder in a long time, but being there was a good experience. I quickly realized that that’s just how real life works and that my experiences at The Maneater, Philmont Scout Ranch and The Columbia Missourian aren’t exactly  reflective of that kind of corporate reality. (That said, the photo editors at washingtonpost.com are so friendly and helpful.)
  • Being an intern also means you should have a fast learning curve.
  • Multitasking is key. I’d like to think I was already good at working on three or four to-do items simultaneously, but fielding photo requests, editing photos, building galleries and researching for projects definitely put a more extreme spin on the art of multitasking.
  • Correcting white balance in Photoshop used to be the photo editing task I hated the most — and I’d always thought that having a background in color film printing gave me an edge on speedy, accurate color-correction. But after having to correct white balance, constantly and every day, I am so much more confident at this task. And I don’t dread it as much.

In short, I’m happy with how my summer internship turned out, although I do hope that, in future endeavors, I’ll spend more time behind a camera than in front of a computer. But whatever happens, I’m grateful and glad I had the opportunity to intern at washingtonpost.com.

On Monday, Jeff and I are returning to Columbia, where I’ll begin my last year as a photojournalism major at MU. This semester, I’ll be a staff photographer for The Columbia Missourian, as well as taking two linguistics classes (that I’ve wanted since sophomore year) and working on a long-term investigative/reporting project with broadcast student Theo Keith. (More details on that in a future blog post!)

It’s going to be busy, and you can expect a lot more regular updates to this blog than have happened this summer.

With that, I formally conclude this 90ish days of summer series.

Although, true to form, I still have a ton of photos to edit. Jeff and I have seen and done a lot in the past two months, and I simply haven’t had the time yet to edit all the photos. Among those takes are…

In the next few weeks, I’ll be editing and blogging these photos. The 90ish days of summer title will headline those entries, but apart from these backlogged posts, the series is officially concluded.

And now, for a weekend of packing and editing!

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THIS BLOG IS NOT DEAD.

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on July 21, 2009| 1 Comment »

90ish days of summer

I assure you, this blog is not dead, despite the fact that I haven’t posted anything in about two weeks.

The fact of the matter is, my photo internship at washingtonpost.com consumes the working week, and I’ve kept myself busy during the weekends. The problem is not a shortage of material. I have, in fact, about six photo entries and five other entries in queue. The problem is, the majority of those photos are not yet edited (some of them date back to late June, eek). As for the other entries — well, I’ll get to them! Cross my heart. Some of them will happen this week.

In the meantime, I’ve been accumulating material for a big potpourri post — basically, items that aren’t substantial enough to merit their own blog entry but that I’d nevertheless like to share with you. (Some of these are pettier than others.)

So, here’s some potpourri!

  • Three weeks left, and lots still to do

I have about three weeks left in Washington, D.C. It’s amazing how quickly this summer has flown. Of course, there is still plenty of work to be done…

Namely, I have three somewhat large-scale projects I really need to complete. Two of them are in conjunction with the other photo-pod interns and other .com departments. Both require a lot of research, too. All I can say is, thank goodness for Google Docs.

The other project is more weather-dependent and not as urgent as the other two. It’s rather disconcerting to see that the weather forecast for the next two weeks involves some significant chance of thunderstorms — every single day.

  • Metro etiquette — and other Metro notes

The Metro is an amazing Washington, D.C., institution. Without venturing into the various frustrations and annoyances that have resulted from the fatal June 22 collision on the red line, here are my general observations and thoughts.

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My first photo assignment for The Washington Post

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on July 6, 2009| 2 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Two days later, I can now show you the photos I took for The Washington Post!

My supervisor Dee gave me permission to post my photos on Flickr and this blog (with some provisions). So, here are a few of my photos from Takoma Park’s 120th annual Independence Day parade. All photos are copyright 2009 by The Washington Post.

Takoma Park mayor Bruce Williams waves from the back of a 1903 Oldsmobile during Takoma Parks 120th annual Independence Day parade on July 4, 2009.

Takoma Park mayor Bruce Williams waves from the back of a 1903 Oldsmobile during Takoma Park's 120th annual Independence Day parade on July 4, 2009.

Maryland Governor Martin OMalley shakes hands with a shy five-year-old Jacob Petruzzelli of Silver Spring during Takoma Parks 120th annual Independence Day parade on July 4, 2009.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley shakes hands with a shy five-year-old Jacob Petruzzelli of Silver Spring during Takoma Park's 120th annual Independence Day parade on July 4, 2009.

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BORN IN THE U.S.A.

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on July 4, 2009| 3 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Happy Fourth of July!

Fireworks over the National Mall on July 4, 2009. Taken from a downtown D.C. rooftop.

Fireworks over the National Mall on July 4, 2009. Taken from a downtown D.C. rooftop.

Although, technically now it’s the fifth of July…

Quite honestly, my memory of Fourths of July extends to the days of bicycle-and-firetruck parades around the neighborhood and then skips ahead to 2006. 2006 was my first year on staff at Philmont Scout Ranch, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t have the day off. For a few other staffers in the News & Photo Department, Independence Day was just another working day.

As for the next summer — also spent at Philmont — I’m not quite sure what I did during the day. But at night, some friends and I went to Eagle Nest to watch the fireworks show over Eagle Nest Lake. That night was also my first attempt to shoot fireworks.

My gear included:

  • my Canon Digital Rebel XTi (which is now broken beyond repair… poor baby)
  • my friend Greg’s 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6
  • a teeny tripod with bendy legs (kinda like this one)
  • the wall of a truck bed as my steady surface for the tripod

I shot on the bulb exposure — meaning, the shutter is open for however long I depressed the shutter button (sans a remote shutter release, which I still don’t have). Given all those factors, I’m still surprised my photos came out without any camera blur.

Fireworks over Eagle Nest Lake on July 4, 2007.

Fireworks over Eagle Nest Lake on July 4, 2007. The mountain in the background is Wheeler, the highest in New Mexico.

In 2008, I finally got the Fourth of July off from work. So my friend Stephen and I shot the annual Maverick Club Rodeo in Cimarron, the small village three miles from Philmont.

I’d never shot a rodeo before. But based on my experience shooting the Maverick Club Rodeo, I’d gladly cover another one, as long as it’s outdoors.

Then, of course, at night we all went to Eagle Nest Lake to shoot fireworks. This time, I shot with an XTi, my 70-200/2.8 and a decent tripod.

Unfortunately, I seem not to have saved those photos on my hard drive. Because my XTi started giving me ceaseless Error 99’s in April 2007, I used Stephen’s XTi to shoot the rodeo and fireworks. I’m guessing I somehow didn’t save them on my hard drive before deleting them from my computer forever.

Oh well.

Now, for 2009. I still don’t know if I can post the photos I took of the Takoma Park parade today for The Washington Post, but you can check out two of those photos in this washingtonpost.com photo gallery. (My photos are now the 11th and 20th photos n the gallery.)

However, here are some National Mall fireworks photos I shot from a downtown D.C. rooftop! This time around, I shot with my 30D, a Manfrotto tripod (from the office) and every lens I own.

The fireworks are launched over the Reflection Pool in the National Mall. At left, you can see the Washington Monument. Taken with the 16-35/2.8.

The fireworks are launched over the Reflection Pool in the National Mall. At left, you can see the Washington Monument. Taken with the 16-35/2.8.

Taken with the 50/1.8.

Taken with the 50/1.8.

Taken with the 70-200/2.8.

As always, you can view more photos HERE.

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The joys of having a photo byline again

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on July 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

90ish days of summer

ARLINGTON, Va. — This morning, I shot my first photo assignment for The Washington Post.

Today is the Fourth of July, which means that 233 years ago, a group of colonial rebels signed a piece of parchment that confirmed their resolve to break from their parent country and create a new nation. This also means that today in the U.S. of A., people celebrate by eating as many German/Austrian hot dogs as they can stomach, setting off Chinese fireworks and watching (insert country of origin) parades.

So I shot Takoma Park’s 120th annual Independence Day parade for The Washington Post.

I originally thought about taking photos and recording sound so I could create an audio slideshow. Then I realized that maintaining consistent levels while recording a parade would be above my learning curve at this point. So instead, I asked my supervisor Dee if I could shoot the parade for a gallery. To ensure I wouldn’t be stepping on the Post‘s toes in doing so, she contacted the Post.

Before I knew it, I received an e-mail from one of the photo editors at the Post. Shooting the parade was a legitimate Post photo assignment.

Right now, I’m trying to figure out if posting photos (published and/or unpublished) on my Flickr and this blog would be within the Post‘s copyright and ownership policies, which is why you don’t see here any of the photos I took this morning.

But in the meantime, I can direct you to this washingtonpost.com photo gallery, which features my photos in the 9th and 18th spots (as of 8 p.m., at least — they’ll be adding more photos after the fireworks show tonight).

I hope I can share more photos with you on this blog and my Flickr! As it is, though, I’m so excited to have a photo byline again, and plan to pitch more photo ideas and hopefully get more opportunities and fieldwork this summer.

(Why the ARLINGTONG, Va. dateline? Because I’m in my last half-hour or so for the day in the washingtonpost.com newsroom.)

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The journalist’s instinct when tragedy strikes

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on June 22, 2009| 4 Comments »

90ish days of summer

I am home in Silver Spring, Md., safe and sound after almost three hours of transit. Had I left the washingtonpost.com office a half-hour earlier, I might not have been home yet.

At 5 p.m., when I was logging off my work computers and saying goodbye to my supervising editor, two trains collided on the Washington Metrorail’s red line, between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations.

A detail of part of the red line, where the two-train collision occurred at 5 p.m.

A detail of part of the red line, where the two-train collision occurred between Fort Totten and Takoma at 5 p.m. today.

As you can see in the above map, the Silver Spring station is two stops past Fort Totten on the red line. According to the broadcast news, the two trains were headed toward D.C. — the opposite direction from which the train I would have been on would have been coming.

So even if I had left the office early, I wouldn’t have been on the trains that collided. But I would still have had to evacuate whatever train I were on, since according to the radio news reports, the entire red line is shut down.

Nevertheless, when I first heard about the collision — at 5:45 p.m. when I left a very congested Metro Center out of frustration — I didn’t know which direction the trains had been heading. So my first thought was, “I could have been on either of those trains.”

My second thought was, “I wish I’d been on or near either of those trains, and uninjured and with a camera.”

I read once that while most humans run from a crisis, only three kinds of people run toward it: the police, medical workers and journalists. I can’t honestly say I’m proud of the way tragedy and disaster attract journalists like bees to honey, but really, it’s a knee-jerk reaction. And if journalists can’t be at the scene, they often feel some dredge of guilt or regret that they couldn’t make it there.

That’s kind of what I’m feeling now, and every other time I’ve been close to a breaking news scene.

What else am I feeling? A lot of frustration with the Metro’s inability to communicate with commuters in the stations. It wasn’t until I emerged from the Metro Center station and called Jeff that I found out a major accident with multiple fatalities had occurred. I’m not saying that Metro station managers should have told commuters exactly what happened — but commuters should have been informed that the entire red line was shut down.

As it is, we were instead told to expect “major delays” and that a “turning incident” had occurred.

But I’m by no means educated enough on the D.C. Metro system and its history to say anything else about its failure to communicate and coordinate.

That said, I’m glad I’m safe and home, and my thoughts and prayers go out toward all the families affected by a tragedy that should never have happened.

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Newseum: Not quite a fail

Posted in Journalism, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

90ish days of summer

The shot glasses Jeff and I bought. Guess whose is whose.

The shot glasses Jeff and I bought at the Newseum store. Guess whose is whose.

Last week, I wrote a post called “Newseum: FAIL,” in which I scolded the Newseum for using what appeared to be a photoshopped photo on the cover of its visitors guide.

That was the most-read page or post on this blog, ever, except for my “About Chris Dunn” page. It attracted the most comments, too, even though I wrote an update/correction before any of the comments were submitted.

It still remains to be seen if my conclusion holds any water and if the photographer indeed edited that streetlight out. But I wanted to visit the Newseum to give it a fair assessement on the basis of its exhibits and not its visitors guide.

So last Saturday, Jeff and I went.

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Hello, starshine! It’s been a while

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on June 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

90ish days of summer

Just a big ol’ dish of D.C. potpourri:

TODAY is my first sick day this summer. I’m not sure where I caught this minor bug, but I have a slight fever, my eyes hurt, my nose is runny, the back of my throat is tickly and I feel generally fatigued.

I think part of it has to do with the nature of my internship at washingtonpost.com: I spend almost entirely eight hours on the computer every day I’m in the office. Now, I am accustomed to spending inordinate numbers of hours on my laptop every day, but not eight hours at a time and day after day. So even though my monitor’s backlight is dimmed as I type this post, my eyes hurt just looking at it.

TODAY is also roughly the 20th anniversary of the crackdown in Tienanmen Square. I say “roughly” because the crackdown began on the evening of June 3 and ended sometime on June 5.

So much has already been said about how the Chinese government has deleted the crackdown out of its history books and shut down foreign news Web sites and other sites such as Flickr and Twitter, so I won’t add redundant noise to that conversation. Suffice it to say that of course, as a journalist in the Western hemisphere and a fan of the First Amendment, I think it’s despicable that the flow of information and the people’s inherent right to protest and free press are being disrupted and restricted.

Some interesting links relating to Tienanmen Square:

TOMORROW, I will be at the office at 8:30 a.m. to do a special gallery, but I’ll be getting out early. Some other interns — from the Post and other news outlets — and I will be going to the Sculpture Garden for wine and jazz during tomorrow’s happy hour!

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I am done with Week 1 at washingtonpost.com

Posted in Internships/Careers, Introspection, Journalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on May 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

90ish days of summer

I’ve just completed my first week as a photo/multimedia intern at washingtonpost.com!

As I previously blogged, the .com newsroom is going to take some getting used to because it’s unlike any other I’ve worked in before. But I am definitely getting there and now am a lot more comfortable working with the different programs and processes the way the actual photo editors do.

On a somewhat related note, the whole eight-hours-a-day/40-hours-a-week, being-in-the-city-all-summer thing will also take some getting used to.

You’d think big cities wouldn’t be an issue. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where I spent the first 18 years of my life — but ever since I graduated from high school three years ago, I haven’t been in Houston for more than three weeks at a time. The schoolyear is spent in Columbia, Mo. (population: 100,000ish, which to me is tiny), and the summers were spent in the New Mexico mountains… until now.

So for three summers, my office was 137,500 acres of rugged mountains, and in every job I’ve held except one, I was generally in charge of my own schedule and could determine what tasks I needed to accomplish on a day-by-day or week-by-week basis.

Now, the real world strikes, and I’m doing my best to keep up. I can’t lie — I’m a little homesick for mountains and trees. Those kinds of surroundings can’t be replaced by tall buildings or even the White House and Capitol Building. But I am learning a lot and slowly-but-surely getting used to working in an office for eight hours a day. And don’t get me wrong: I’m definitely glad I have this internship!

And now, TGIF!

I think Jeff and I are going to make strawberry shortcake tonight. Tomorrow, we’re going to hit up the Newseum. When we return from that, I will certainly be sure to qualify it as a failure or non-failure.

(That’s a joke. Laugh! Ha ha ha!)

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washingtonpost.com: A newsroom I’m not yet used to

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on May 26, 2009| 3 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Today was my first day as a photo/multimedia intern at washingtonpost.com.

After the intern orientation wherein all 20-something interns for WP.com, Express and the Slate Group learned some basic facts about the company, etc., we split up and spent the rest of the day with our departments and supervisors.

I have worked in two newsrooms before — at the Maneater student newspaper and at the Missouri statehouse bureau for The Columbia Missourian — but was in for a surprise today when I got to know the WP.com newsroom a little more. For one thing, it’s very quiet, and only about half the chairs in the multimedia and metro sections of the newsroom were occupied.

For another, I learned pretty quickly that, as far as photo at the .com goes, they take what’s given to them (by other .com people or the print Post) and work to put it on-line. In the other newsrooms in which I’ve worked, the pace was almost always frenetic and frantic. Reporters and photographers alike were shuffling or rushing in and out: in to produce, submit or edit content and out to get that content. Unless it was a slow news day, the newsrooms were always a little loud and fast-paced.

But the WP.com newsroom — again — is quiet. And the photo editors wait to receive requests and content before they process anything. It’s unlike any newsroom I’ve encountered (to be fair, I haven’t encountered that many).

The bottom line is, unless I take my own initiative on projects and stories I want to pursue, my responsibilities would consist mostly of working on Faces of the Fallen, putting photo galleries together and fielding photo requests.

My plan for the summer? Get as much work and experience in the field as possible, but get some more experience at the desk and in the newsroom, as well.

My supervisor Dee seems very open to my both spending time in the newsroom and taking initiative with stories (as long as I don’t tread on the print Post‘s toes), which I definitely appreciate and am excited about.

Now I just need to figure out what I want to do!

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Newseum: FAIL.

Posted in Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C. on May 25, 2009| 11 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Okay — the Newseum itself is not a failure.

The last time I visited the Newseum was in 2001, and that was before it moved and upgraded to its current location on Pennsylvania Avenue. So I can’t really qualify the renowned journalism museum as a failure if I haven’t even visited the new facility (yet).

More accurately, the Newseum visitors guide is a failure.

Here’s the cover:

The cover looks nice. It’s got D.C. traffic going through on Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s got some nice evening light. Most importantly, it’s got the First Amendment on a slab for everyone to see.

Unfortunately, the cover is a gross misrepresentation of how the Newseum actually appears.

I’ve got proof:

This photo was taken at 16mm (a very wide focal length), from the median of Pennsylvania Avenue.

This photo was taken at 16mm (a very wide focal length), from the median of Pennsylvania Avenue, on May 21.

What’s the big deal?

There is a streetlight RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

There’s almost no way to avoid that damn streetlight. Here’s the only shot I could get of the First Amendment without that streetlight slicing into it:

Also taken at 16mm.

Also taken at 16mm.

But somehow, the photographer who shot the cover of the Newseum visitors guide didn’t get the streetlight in his photo.

Jeff and I discussed the matter when we first saw the visitors guide and noticed the streetlight was missing. We considered that perhaps the cover was an artist’s rendering, not unlike those that architects and designers draw up before a building is constructed.

But then we saw the detail in the background of the photo (example: the leafless tree, the appropriate exponential spacing between the time-elapsed cars), which you can view for yourself here. Then we searched the brochure for photo and other credits, which we found on the inside of the back cover. According to those credits, “Newseum exteriors, Annenberg Theater, Pennsylvanue Avenue Entrance, Today’s Front Pages” are by a Sam Kittner.

I googled Sam Kittner and found that he is definitely not an architect or illustrator, but rather a photographer who relies heavily on exposure trickery and post-production editing. The cover is definitely a photograph and not an illustration or artist’s rendering.

It is then very clear that the absence of a streetlight in the Newseum’s visitor guide cover is possible in only two ways:

  1. Kittner took the photo before the streetlight was installed.
  2. Kittner edited the streetlight out after taking the photo.

Option (1) is possible… except also according to the inside of the guide’s back cover, the guide was printed or at least final-edited in March 2009. So unless the city were doing some streetlight renovations before Kittner’s deadline for the March 2009 publication, the only option left is (2).

Therefore, I conclude that the front cover of the visitors guide to a first-class journalism museum has been photoshopped to remove a streetlight that in reality stands in front of the First Amendment.

If that’s not a glowing demonstration of photo editing ethics on a journalism museum publication, I don’t know what is.

What a shame.

  • UPDATE (11:18 p.m. EST, May 25, 2009)

Okay, I stand corrected.

Option (1) appears to be the winner here.

As Joel has pointed out using the below image, the streetlight was not installed until at least shortly after the Newseum’s new facility was completed.

So perhaps Kittner’s photo on the museum’s visitors guide cover was taken before the streetlight was installed. At this point, I’m not going to offer any further speculation on that matter.

On a related note, a Twitter debate ensued my blog post, and several other MU journalism students (@mcavanah86, @jmsummers and @pfal) argue that the visitors guide is essentially advertising and that using photoshopped images is permissible for advertising.

I don’t disagree with that. But if Kittner’s photo were edited, I don’t think a journalism museum should have used it. Commercial purposes or not, a journalism museum should uphold the principles on which the journalism profession is based — and that includes not using photos with objects edited out of them.

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THE INTERNSHIP: One day more

Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on May 25, 2009| 4 Comments »

90ish days of summer

Tomorrow at 11 a.m., I begin my photo/multimedia internship at washingtonpost.com.

I can’t lie: I am excited, nervous and thrilled as all hell out.

At 10 a.m., I’m meeting Kourtney for coffee. Kourtney is also an MU journalism student interning in the Post‘s digital newsroom. We’ve never met, but it is nice knowing there will be another Tiger nearby, and hopefully having coffee and arriving together at the newsroom office will help calm our nerves!

Today — Memorial Day — Jeff’s family and I are going to Baltimore to visit the cemetery there and then eat crabs. (One of Jeff’s goals for the summer is to get me to eat soft-shelled crab — I’m squeamish about crustaceans still in their shells!) I’ll have photos and everything up tonight from that, and then get a good night’s sleep and be ready for my first day in the morning.

In the meantime, here are some photos from Friday!

A man jogs in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. As you can read in the post before the previous post, we didnt get to tour the building.

A man jogs in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. As you can read in the post before the previous post, we didn't get to tour the building.

We then went to the Library of Congress, where we also were unable to get a tour and see the rest of the building.

We then went to the Library of Congress, where we also were unable to get a tour and see the rest of the building.

The Library of Congress does not allow photography of the Gutenberg Bible or the Great Bible of Mainz. So, being sly, I took this photo instead.

The Library of Congress does not allow photography of the Gutenberg Bible or the Great Bible of Mainz. So, being sly, I took this photo instead.

After leaving the Library of Congress and briefly photographing the Supreme Court building, we ate dinner on the Hill and then walked to Nationals Stadium. This is on the way to the stadium.

After leaving the Library of Congress and briefly photographing the Supreme Court building, we ate dinner on the Hill and then walked to Nationals Stadium. This is on the way to the stadium.

At the Nationals game vs. the Orioles. This is some wonderful evening light over the stadium.

At the Nationals game vs. the Orioles. This is some wonderful evening light over the stadium.

As always, you can click HERE to view more photos from Friday and my stay in D.C. thus far.

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Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Politics on May 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As I’ve previously noted, today is my last day as a day-to-day (or, two-day-a-week) political reporter for The Columbia Missourian.

It is also the closing day of Missouri’s 95th General Assembly’s first regular session.

Needless to say, this session and reporting on it have been quite a ride.

My editor Phill Brooks has been reporting in this statehouse for about four decades, and he’s said several times that he has never seen a legislative session quite like this one.

Every statewide elected official is a Democrat, the exception being Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, and the legislative majority is Republican in both chambers. The session opened with everyone talking about bipartisanship and how that’s what the voters wanted. But promises of working across the aisle seemed to stop there on legislation varying from abortion to AmerenUE to the budget.

Reporting on this session has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever taken on. As I wrote back in January, I began covering the legislature with only a very basic understanding of the process and the faces who propel the motions. But I flew back two weeks early from Texas to report on the start of the session, and now I am here for the end of it. It’s been a tremendously difficult, exciting, energizing five months, and I’m glad I did it and glad it’s over.

Lessons I learned, highlights I experienced and low points from which I learned even more:

  • Wear comfortable shoes.

I learned this very quickly during a 14-hour House Budget Committee hearing, at the end of which the committee passed the 13 operating budget bills. When I arrived, it was standing-room-only in the hearing room, so I had to stand in heels and on a bum ankle for about eight hours. I was walking in my stocking feet the rest of the time.

  • I asked my first question at a press conference! …in May.

Uproar ensued after Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt announced on the floor allegations of bribery by Gov. Jay Nixon’s office. Two Republican representatives later identified themselves to the press, saying Nixon’s staff offered career advancements in exchange for votes for the health care bill in question.

The Democratic caucus held a press conference upon adjournment, where reporters questioned them about the health care bill. That’s where I asked the first question I’ve ever asked at a press conference: “What is your response to the Republicans’ claims of bribery by Nixon’s office?”

You can view Minority Floor Leader Paul LeVota’s response at 2:11 in the below video:

  • Don’t be afraid to ask basic questions.

I became pretty comfortable with just going to Budget Director Linda Luebbering’s office and asking her if she could clarify a few budget-related issues for me. The same applies to a few other legislators, and I am very grateful that they didn’t mind explaining the basics to a student reporter.

  • Persistence is key.

It took me about seven weeks to get a certain interview, and another three weeks to get a certain photo. But they both happened, and you’ll get to see the published result on May 27.

Now, it’s 5:30 p.m. and I am still in the House press gallery. The session is to close in 30 minutes, at which time the representatives will throw all their papers in the air. Then it’s on to press conferences, furious article-writing and then — I’ll be done.

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Closing time: gather up your jackets and move it to the exits

Posted in Economics, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Politics on May 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Today is the last day of the first regular session for Missouri’s 95th General Assembly, and my last day of regular legislative reporting for The Columbia Missourian.

Yesterday, the House adjourned abnormally early — just after 4 p.m. — especially since that was the penultimate day of session. As I learned via Twitter updates (courtesy of @ChadLivengood, @Missourinet and a few others), the House is waiting for the Senate to pass House Bill 191, which has been called the “economic development bill” by some and the “jobs bill” by others. Either way you call it, it was filibustered in the Senate last night, as were several other ecodevo/jobs bills that the House has sent to that chamber.

As of 10:44 a.m., the Senate is still third-reading that bill.

No matter what happens, though, the gavel goes down at 6 p.m., and in the House at least, the legislators will throw their papers in the air. I’m excited and hope this closing day will go out with a bang.

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Blood, sweat and tears: producing an MMA audio slideshow

Posted in Journalism, Mizzou, Photojournalism, Sports on May 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Five weeks, countless hours of shooting and editing, who knows how much equipment and four very tired photojournalism students later, our audio slideshow is finally done.

As I’ve previously blogged, my group for the final multimedia project in Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism chose to highlight Hulett House Gym, a mixed martial arts gym representing Columbia in the Midwest Fight League. We photographed their practices in their gym, shot and recorded audio at the April 10 Battle at The Blue Note X, recorded interviews with the gym’s founder/trainer and two fighters and finally pieced everything together in about 15 grueling hours.

David has posted the Soundslides presentation on his Web site. Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t allow me to embed Soundslides files (as far as I know, anyway), so please click HERE to view our slideshow.

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Journalism under (gun)fire

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Politics on May 12, 2009| 3 Comments »

My most recent article published in The Columbia Missourian received a pretty heavy-handed comment wherein the author wished a snub-nose revolver be fired. At me.

The comment has since been deleted, but it was in response to my article about the then-latest status of the concealed-carry House bill. The Missouri Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing for a bill that would expand the castle doctrine and remove provisions that prohibit concealed carry on college campuses. Five witnesses gave public testimony, all of whom were in favor of the legislation.

One of the witnesses was Isaiah Kellogg, a Ph.D student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo. During his public testimony, Kellogg said he has carried a concealed-carry license since 2005, keeps his gun in his car trunk while he is on campus and wants to be able to carry his gun on campus since he intends to teach at universities after finishing his degree.

After the hearing adjourned after 10 minutes and with no executive session (i.e., vote), I literally jumped out of my chair to catch Kellogg so I could ask him a few more questions.

Near the bottom of my article, I wrote the following about Kellogg:

Isaiah Kellogg, who has spent 10 years at Missouri S&T and intends to teach at a university after earning his degree, said he supports the bill because it would increase campus safety.

“I am going to be in academia for the foreseeable future — that will be my career — so I will be on university campuses for most of my life until I retire,” Kellogg said in his public testimony. “So this is very important to me, to have the ability to protect myself.”

Kellogg has held a concealed-carry license since March 2005 and usually carries a snub-nosed revolver, which he must keep in the trunk of his car when he is on campus. Kellogg said Missouri S&T’s code of conduct does not allow concealed weapons on campus, and if the legislation passes, the university is not obligated to change its code of conduct. But if the bill passes, Kellogg said students can argue for concealed carry with the university board.

“We’ve taken down the legal barrier,” Kellogg said, speaking hypothetically. “Now, we have to take down the code-of-conduct barrier.”

The first comment I received is the comment in question. The author wrote the following:

Kellogg has held a concealed-carry license since March 2005 and usually carries a snub-nosed revolver, which he must keep in the trunk of his car when he is on campus.

I’m sure that Mr.Kellogg appreciates this reporter letting criminals KNOW where to get a free gun whenever he is on campus. Let’s just hope that the first person that has to face this weapon is the “reporter” that so willingly disclosed this information.

Someone wants me dead.

Great.

I understand the author’s point, but I absolutely don’t think it’s reason to want me to face a lethal weapon. And even if the comment wasn’t meant to be taken completely seriously, it’s still out of line to wish death upon someone. My editors agreed, and so — after I alerted them to the comment — the comment was removed.

My immediate editor, Phill, called me after he read my e-mail and said he requested the removal of the comment for two main reasons.

  1. The comment was directed at a student who is preparing herself for a career in which, unfortunately, many professionals are constantly under fire and in danger of harm or death.
  2. The Missourian should not have allowed such a comment advocating the injury or death of one of its reporters to be published on its own Web site.

I can’t really argue against either, but I’m also biased.

On a tangential but related note: Normally, I despise prior review/censorship of content in journalistic publications, regardless of whether that content is an article or reader-submitted. But also normally, I think readers should submit only content that they don’t mind their grandmothers reading.

So, do I agree with Phill’s second point? Again — I’m biased. But I’m not sure that a system wherein a Missourian editor filters all the incoming comments before allowing them to be posted is the best solution, either.

  • ADDENDUM

It’s perhaps worth noting that the article published by Columbia’s other daily paper, The Columbia Daily Tribune, led with the fact that Kellogg keeps his gun in his car trunk while on campus:

JEFFERSON CITY — Isaiah Kellogg, 27, carries a snub-nosed revolver for personal protection, but when he goes onto the campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, he stores it in a safe bolted to the frame of his car.

Kellogg, a doctoral student in mechanical and ceramic engineering, would prefer to carry the gun on campus, too, for his own safety. Last night, he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of a legislative provision that would allow the carrying of concealed weapons at higher education institutions.

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90ish days of summer in T-minus 4ish days

Posted in Internships/Careers, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Mizzou, Photojournalism, Politics, Washington, D.C., washingtonpost.com on May 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — On Saturday noon, I will be in Washington, D.C., with ten days to spare before my internship at washingtonpost.com begins.

This means I have four-ish days to write two articles, do an audio slideshow, complete the final group project for Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism, take my sociology final exam and pack up everything in my room/kitchen. In addition, I’ve scheduled coffee and meetings with about four or five different people throughout the week.

But in five days, I’ll be in Washington, D.C., where I’ll begin 92-96 days of summer (depending on my end date). Hence, “90ish days of summer” will be the running title/motif.

I haven’t had time yet to determine specific goals for this summer. Right now, I’m waiting for the Missouri Senate to adjourn so I can report on a 6 p.m. Senate committee hearing. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t started thinking and daydreaming about Washington.

Things to look forward to on this blog in the next few days:

  • Reflection on the 95th Missouri General Assembly’s first regular session
  • Reflection on reporting on abovementioned legislative session
  • Goals for the summer

In the meantime, I’m going to do my best to keep my head above water in this final week in Missouri.

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Flickr, copyrights and the role of White House photography

Posted in Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism, Washington, D.C. on May 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

I’ve got to admit, working the White House beat is vastly intriguing to me.

I’ve already pondered whether I would accept the position of White House photographer if offered the job. (Would I? Not quite sure, but leaning toward “yes.”) I enjoyed Ana Marie Cox’s “spring cleaning” column in The Washington Post about “why we should get rid of the White House press corps.” (Do I agree with it? Cox has some valid points, but I think the White House press corps still serves an important function.)

Now, as has been reported in the past few days, White House photographer Pete Souza has opened a Flickr account for the White House.

Pres. Obama apparently does not know how to hold a DSLR, but I'm not going to hold it against him. And, as you'll read further in this post, I'm not sure how to attribute this photo. Copyright 2009 by Pete Souza?

Pres. Obama apparently does not know how to hold a DSLR, but I'm not going to hold it against him. And, as you'll read further in this post, I'm not sure how to attribute this photo. Copyright 2009 by Pete Souza?

The vast majority of the 310 photos uploaded thus far were placed online on April 28, just before Pres. Obama marked his 100th day in office. It appears that Souza will keep the Flickr stream live, at least perhaps on business days, as his last upload was Friday, May 1.

Because I’m curious (read: nosy), I checked Souza’s EXIF data on his Flickr photos.

(more…)

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Fear and loathing in Jefferson City

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Photography, Politics on April 22, 2009| 1 Comment »

Today was such a strange day in the Jefferson City statehouse. I can’t/won’t go into too many details because of several ongoing developments, but suffice it to say…

  • Least productive Wednesday since the beginning of session? That could be a fair assessment. Today, the House, Senate and (the self-titled) “Kinder Mafia” played softball, so everything adjourned abnormally early. I suspect this is why the big bills (stimulus?!) weren’t brought up — because what’s the point of starting the floor debate if everyone’s going to engage in healthy athleticism in the early evening?
  • I really hope Monday is the last day I need to haul my camera bag to the Capitol building/would finally get to take the photos I need. I’d like to think I’m tough, but carrying a camera bag, thick leather portfolio, big handbag full of budget books and my laptop can be a bit much for me to handle all at once, especially when I’m in heels.
  • Today’s lesson for some of the bureau reporters: If you’re going to stake out the hearing room where the majority caucus is having a closed-door meeting, make sure you cover all the doors. Two teams of two reporters each waited outside the two main/public doors to Hearing Room 3. The legislators made it out into the halls without the reporters’ catching them. Nobody knew how this happened until I pointed out the back door designated for legislators and legislative staff only.

But hell, if the sunset wasn’t pretty as Abby and I left the Capitol building today!

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Whoa! A flash assignment I actually enjoyed!

Posted in Journalism, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism on April 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Let’s take a break from all the spring break roadtrip photo blog posts I’ve been putting up. Here’s my latest assignment for Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism: multiple flash.

Okay, I have to admit: I was TERRIFIED of having to use multiple flashes for this assignment.

The assignment:

Team up to assist each other in photographing an active situation using at least two strobes, one of which should be slaved or fired remotely. Just about anything can be fired using multiple flash, but good candidates for this assignment are things like sporting or cultural events, dance rehearsals, fashion shows and competitions — term projects.

Originally, my partner Matt and I were going to strobe up a practice at Hulett House (more about them in this blog post), as part of our group’s final project. But I wasn’t feeling well, and he had a paper he had to write anyway. So we ended up meeting on Monday — the night before the assignment was due, of course — and trying to figure out what to do.

After a stint at Capen Park didn’t work out and calls to other places didn’t go through, we ended up at Billiards on Broadway, where a few groups of people were playing pool. We chose to photograph Mike Smith, Chris Schulz and John Stone, who played several games. Fortunately for us, they didn’t mind being flashed with three strobes as they struck out billiard balls.

That’s right. Three strobes.

For my shots, here’s what I did:

  • I had an off-camera strobe (my 580EX II) attached via my shoe cord. Set on manual mode, this usually served as my key light. If I didn’t want it to be my key light, I’d simply aim it a little higher to trigger the other two strobes, which were optically slaved.
  • We had a Mini Morris, which is an optical slave whose power can’t be adjusted. Because of that, we simply sat it on nearby tables or the bar. Depending on the angle of my shot — which depended on where the players moved around the table — the Mini Morris acted as a backlight for some photos, a key for others and a side/fill for still others.
  • Matt set his strobe to act as an optical slave, and he would move around the table to accommodate my lighting needs — either to fill or highlight my shots.

Here are the three runner-ups, with explanations why I didn’t choose them as my select.

While I like that we can see Mikes eye and utter concentration here, we can also see Matts flash in the lefthand side. Combined with that and the Mini Morris, the highlights in left side of the photo are blown out.

While I like that we can see Mike's eye and utter concentration here, we can also see Matt's flash in the lefthand side. Combined with that and the Mini Morris, the highlights in left side of the photo are blown out.

I like this photo. Its a bit dramatic, which I really dont mind. And I dont mind that you can see the Mini Morris in the righthand side (sitting on the bar). But I dont think Rita or Catalin would appreciate it, so this ones out.

I like this photo. It's a bit dramatic, which I really don't mind. And I don't mind that you can see the Mini Morris in the righthand side (sitting on the bar). But I don't think Rita or Catalin would appreciate it, so this one's out.

Disclaimer: I would have cropped this photo if it were my select. That said, its not my select because the red-striped ball is blown out and the yellow-striped ball in the foreground isnt lit well enough.

Disclaimer: I would have cropped this photo if it were my select. That said, it's not my select because the red-striped ball is blown out and the yellow-striped ball in the foreground isn't lit well enough.

So what does my select image look like? It’s not perfect, by any means, but I think it has the best combination of technique and composition.

Caption: MU student John Stone gets ready to strike the ball in a game of pool at Billiards on Broadway on April 20. Billiards on Broadway was previously located on Ninth Street. My only criticisms: You cant see Johns eyes, and the highlights in the lower righthand corner are a bit blown.

Caption: MU student John Stone gets ready to strike the ball in a game of pool at Billiards on Broadway on April 20. Billiards on Broadway was previously located on Ninth Street. My only criticisms: You can't see John's eyes, and the highlights in the lower righthand corner are a bit blown.

Overall, I feel a lot more comfortable with using multiple flashes. At first, it was pretty hit-and-miss, but I think Matt and I did a fairly decent job by the end.

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