Blog

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    Photo by Kelly Gorham/Montana State University

    Most photographers with a news background are accustomed to gathering enough information to satisfy the 5 ‘W’s (who, what, when, where, why) for photo captions. However, we’re entering a new age of multimedia. Photo slide shows now usually include an audio soundtrack containing interviews. The interview is a key element to make sure the core message is communicated. Rambling, unfocused questions often result in rambling, unfocused responses. Since the interview is spoken and not written, it’s much more difficult to edit into something that will keep the viewer’s attention. Pretty pictures are great but if the audio narrative is off-target, the pictures won’t really matter.

    Prepare in advance. Research your subject. Have they appeared in interviews before? Read up on them. Think about the core message and think of specific questions to help your subject communicate this message. It’s okay to email the questions to the subject in advance so they have time to think. Give the subject a rough outline of what you think the story will be about, when and where it will appear.

    Develop a story arch. Think in terms of a beginning, middle and end. Take the reader on a journey. Don’t masquerade statements as questions. You’re there to listen, not to show off how much you know about the subject. Simple, open ended questions lead to better information. Why did you do that? What happened? How did it start? What happened next? What did it feel like? What were you thinking?

    In addition to any specific questions regarding the topic there are three questions that work well in any situation. The questions can even be used exclusively and will elicit rich and thoughtful responses.

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    I've been a big fan of "The Campus Beautiful" blog for some time now. It is a place where Eastern Kentucky's Chris Radcliffe can showcase his photos of EKU's diverse campus community. I recently asked Chris to explain why he started the blog and how he uses it to showcase his talents as a University Photographer:
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    Fall Convocation - Photo by Chris Radcliffe/EKU

    When we first gathered a small group of people to discuss a possible redesign of our web presence I don’t think any of us realized what kind of shape it would take or how consuming it would be. We just knew it needed to be done and we were willing to do it. Let it be known that I had little to do with it other than some tiny input on the overall design. I basically just sat in the meetings and said “great idea!” to everyone (every group needs a cheerleader).
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    Richard Merritt, who died on January 8th at the age of 90, was the founding president of the UPAA. - Photo by Lisa Nugent/University of New Hampshire

    This is truly sad news. As the current president of the University Photographers' Association of America, I would like to express my gratitude to Richard for his service, to both the University and UPAA. Richard's vision to create an organization, with the other founding members, that would promote both university photography and the University Photographer was exceptional.

    Today the organization represents photographers and universities from all over the globe, Israel, Australia, Belgium, Grenada, and North America. This is quite the legacy that was started 50 years ago by 12 photographers in the Northeast. The technology has changed but the responsibility is the same, to record the visual history of higher education.

    To Richard and his family, Thank you for a great idea!

    Glenn Carpenter, UPAA President

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    Richard Merritt in 1962 - University of New Hampshire

    See some of Richard's work and his obituary below:

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    The 51st University Photographers Association of America (UPAA) Symposium will be held at the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio, June 18-23, 2012.

    Your hosts at Miami University are Scott Kissell and Jeff Sabo—we look forward to seeing you and we hope you will enjoy your experience. Last year UPAA celebrated its 50th Anniversary in scenic Utah, hosted by Brigham Young University and organized by photographers Mark Philbrick and Jaren Wilkey. This memorable symposium was attended by creative university photographers from all over the country who were eager to learn and to share and to inspire each other with ideas and information. We all have something to contribute, and it is important for you to attend. The UPAA symposium has become an annual reunion of professionals who help each other grow and succeed, and it needs YOU to accomplish this!

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    Fitness model Liz Jackson at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah on Sunday, June 27, 2011. © 2011 Robert Seale

    If you were able to come to last year's Symposium, you were lucky enough to spend a full day learning from Robert Seale. In case you missed it, check out the recap or watch the video below:

    One of the reasons that Robert was so excited to come out to the Symposium was that he really wanted to do some personal shoots both in Southern Utah and at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Over on his blog he just put up some posts showcasing the photos he took. Check it out on his blog: http://www.robertsealeblog.com/

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    Melanie Webb, of Sol Fitness Adventures in Kodachrome Basin State Park near Tropic, Utah on Friday, June 24, 2011. © 2011 Robert Seale

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    By Mark Carriveau, Elgin Community College

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    Radiopopper Transmitter and Receiver - Photo by Mark Carriveau/Elgin Community College

    Now that using small strobes for most photo shoots is becoming more mainstream, it also brings a new set of problems. The biggest problem I had was getting the strobes the fire consistently. I always had to make sure I had tape, foil, and white paper in my bag so I could modify the strobes in order to catch the infrared signal. I tend to shoot a lot in the classroom when class is in session. This is not the last place I want to start messing with the strobes to try to get them to fire. At the advice of David Tejada I purchased a set of Radio poppers and that has helped tremendously to alleviate these problems.

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    By Robert Jordan, University of Mississippi

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    Duluth Trading Company "Fire Hose Presentation Jacket" - Photo by Nathan Latil/University of Mississippi

    I’ve been receiving a Duluth Trading Company catalog in the mail for years, they sell a few tools but are best known for their clothing line designed for tradesmen like their virtually indestructible “fire hose canvas” pants, “no baloney, no pony” polo shirts and long-tail T-shorts to cure “plumbers butt” wardrobe malfunctions.

    I was looking through a recent catalog and was intrigued by their “Fire Hose Presentation Jacket.” It’s designed to wear with jeans or khakis and looks like an ordinary casual sport coat, but is made of 7.6oz 100% cotton canvas. Like all of their jackets, it has a “bi-wing” action back for ease of movement, underarm vents, elbow patches, stain resistance and 13-pockets inside and out. Thirteen pockets! I sat bolt upright in my chair, Presentation Jacket my butt, this is the mother of all photo vest disguised as a sport coat! I grabbed the phone and ordered one in Brown and couldn’t wait for it to come in.

  • A team of BYU Computer Science students recently won a computer hacking contest against some prestigious competition. When we were assigned to create a photo illustration to accompany the news release, I was stumped. Shooting photos of guys sitting in front of a computer is one the the hardest things that we have to do as University Photographers. The morning of the shoot I came up with the idea of shooting the photo from the perspective of the computer screen in order to show the team working together trying to hack into a computer. I also thought it would look cool if we did a really long exposure, and used some blurred colored lights in the background to separate the hackers from the dark background.

    First off, we cut out a computer screen sized to match one of our Apple Cinema Displays and set up a conference room with the screen cutout, lights, keyboard, mouse and speakers. I wasn't a big fan of the wall in the conference room, so we set up a black background that wouldn't show the shadows of the screen or the models on it. Then I set up my Canon 1D Mark IV on a tripod with a 14mm lens on it. I wanted it to look like the hackers were being lit by the glow of the screen, so I put an Elinchrom Ranger right behind the camera to act as my main light source. Here is one of our first test shots with Elisa serving as our stand in model:

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    Homecoming is always a stressful time for a University Photographer. Every year there seem to be more and more events to shoot, and never enough time to do them justice. I always try and block out that one week of the year and focus on all the assigned events that I have to cover and nothing else. I don't even try to do anything fancy, it is about survival, plain and simple. Unlike me, the boys at Baylor Photography are always up for a challenge. This year Robbie Rogers and Matthew Minard decided to create a multimedia piece with stills and video captured during their homecoming celebrations. Even more impressive is that they turned out the finished piece on the Monday after homecoming week. Matthew was kind enough to share how they approached the project with us. Check out his comments after the video:

    An Invitation from Baylor Photography on Vimeo.

    As has been tradition every year for Baylor Photography, Robbie and I have produced some type of multimedia project for Homecoming. Our goal is to evolve our storytelling efforts every year. This year we decided on incorporating video.

    "An Invitation" was a concept we came up with a couple of months ago when we discovered the original Homecoming invitation sent out by the Baylor President in 1909.

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    Good Afternoon to everyone out there!!!

    I just got back from Chicago after meeting with the board on the 2012 Symposium. All I can say right off is, What a great bunch we have on the board, very helpful and understanding and guiding. THANK YOU! Ok now for a little information you can use to get ready for the 2012 Symposium:

    Date - June 18th -23rd, 2012 Miami University, Oxford Ohio so mark the date and get your bosses pumped up about going.

    We are marking Dec 1st for the website launch and have all the hotel accommodations listed as well as a good start on the weeks schedule. It will be a lot of shooting workshops, lectures and Top Notch speakers, and we cant forget team building workshops on working together.

    If there is anything that you need, information wise or IF you would like to be a presenter or have a suggestion please drop me an e-mail at photo@muohio.edu

    Jeff Sabo - Miami University

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    This is not your every day admissions piece. In fact, it is one that only works for one day out the year, specifically October 31st. Radford University decided to show off their University in a unique way by highlighting how they have something for EVERYONE at their school, including zombies and vampires. Today their webpage was taken over by these special students and their stories.

    Check it out on their homepage.

    Here is the video that tells their story:

    Happy Halloween from Radford University from Radford University on Vimeo.

    I got a kick out of the fact that they were willing to do this on their homepage for Halloween. It is a very novel way to get some attention for their University; they even got a writeup in the Washington Post. I asked Jaslyn Gilbert, Radford's Multimedia Producer, to explain how this project came about and here is what she shared with me:

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    One of my favorite images from the Summer MIC is Michael Lewis' "Center Stage" which took first place in the Features and Illustrations category. I thought it would be fun to have him explain where he got the idea for this image and how he shot it. Here is the explanation from Michael Lewis and his student Doug McKay:

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    First image lighting the model and background. Photo by Michael Lewis/BYUI

    For our Fall 2011 Performance Arts brochure we were given creative license to come up with an exciting cover image. We were told it should be a percussion image but not much else. The lighting takes inspiration from Marc Norberg's collection of photographs of jazz artists in his book "BLACK AND WHITE BLUES."

    The concept came from one of my student photographers, Doug McKay, who assisted me throughout the whole process. We wanted to convey that seemingly superhuman ability that percussionist have of creating a whole cacophony of sounds while barely moving.