Switching Gears

In the last week, I've gone through several drastic changes.

Hot and humid to cool and breezy. Free evenings to working every night. Intern to assistant photo editor. No class to class. And the list goes on, but ultimately I'm starting to get back into the swing of things here at the U of I.

The day after I got back to Iowa, we hit the ground running at the DI. We have so many changes this year that it was a bit overwhelming in the beginning but I think it's going to turn into an exciting year.

Here are just a few things we are focusing on as a staff:

- Spotlights - This is an every day portrait series that is somewhat of a spin off of the NY Times' One in Eight Million. So far it seems to be going well, the only problem is quality audio slideshows everyday might get a little gruesome for some of our photographers who are being stretched pretty thin. I love the idea though and so far it's been executed well. Here are this weeks:

- Intramurals - Although we've always covered all the Big Ten sports we are beginning to cover intramurals. This is a way of incorporating more of the students into the paper and expanding our coverage on who UI students are and what they are doing.

-Avoiding lecture photos at all costs. It's something we've struggled with in the past. Lecture rooms are just not visible. Therefore, we are attempting to use the information from what reporters tell us will happen at the meeting - and go from there, doing our own reporting and capturing a portrait of various people who may be largely involved in that particular meeting.

-And of course - slideshows, slideshows and more slideshows.

-Video is also going to be a big push for the photographers this semester. If not for anyone else, it's a big push I have for myself. We will see what comes out of that.

The biggest difference between working desk two nights a week, attending a lot of meetings, and editing other's photos - I find myself not shooting photos as much as I have in the past or even this summer as an intern down in Houston. It's difficult to find the time to go out and produce a well composed, thoughtout product when time is a factor. I've managed to work on it throughout this week and I will continue to work on time management as the semester progresses.

The most amazing thing that I've found so far since I've been back - is that I remember the little things that various photographers and Mr. Steve Gonzales told me while I was down in Houston. When I'm out shooting photos - I can hear their voices in my head and I do everything that I can to apply it. I also use their advice everyday as I look at other people's work - trying to give my fellow staffers some of the knowledge I've gained in the last month.

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Click here to view yesterday's Daily Iowan issue and let me know what you think of the dominant photo on metro and the dom photo on 80 Hours.

When I shot the photo of the veteran for metro front I wanted to show this man as a veteran. But I also wanted to show him in a different view - something that not anyone would see. So I spent some time with him.

I met him a few hours before the photo shoot and then we talked on the phone a couple of times to arrange a time. It was good to establish this work relationship with him before I arrived to take photos. I learned this from Michael Paulsen. I was amazed at how much smoother things went.

When I arrived at his apartment we just talked for a little while. I got used to his personality, and let him get used to me. I would snap a few photos occasionally and we would continue our conversation. Then, as we spent more time, I began seeing more things. I would ask him to do this, do that and he was more than cooperative. When he was unsure of what I was doing - I would show him on the back of my camera - this is what I am doing, this is what I am trying to do. I learned this from Johnny Hanson. He always told me - the more time you have with a subject, the better off you are. Work it as long as you can. If they question you - show them what you are working on and more times than not they will think it looks cool and be completely okay with what you were doing.

I thought it paid off. Let me know what you think.

As far as the 80 Hours cake photo shoot went...

I was working desk on Tuesday night when a photo request was turned in to photograph a cake that one of the metro editors had made for 80 Hours front - our Arts insert. I got done working desk at 12:30 a.m. and headed to his house with two on-camera flashes and a camera.

I was there until about 1:45 in the morning working all the different angles...with the help of two metro editors and the editor-in-chief. We started with a fully frosted cake...then lit candles...then added sprinkles...then added lit candles...and this is how it came out.

The only reason it turned out the way it did, however, is because of the experience I received down in Houston. I spent one morning in the studio with James Nielsen who showed me the ropes to various lighting techniques. I spent an afternoon in the studio shadowing Melissa Phillip photographing cupcakes and other food items. I also spent an afternoon in the studio shooting various trinkets while Mayra Beltran watched and answered questions that I had. The three of them combined gave me all the knowledge I needed to photograph this cake. AND on top of that all the lighting techniques I learned from Michael Paulsen contributed to the shoot as well. I couldn't have provided the product that I did without even one of them.

On that note, it's the end of the week and I'm spending the weekend at the Society of Professional Journalists National Convention in Indianapolis to further my knowledge and bring back more information to my co-workers and peers.

More to come in the next few days...