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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:

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.

Photographer Mike Ekern is always trying to find interesting ways to do things at the University of St. Thomas. Using a GoPro and a few Canon 5d Mark II cameras triggered by an intervalometer, he created this cool Move-In day video. Check out more of his videos at:  http://www.youtube.com/user/universityofstthomas

You can also visit the photo services website at: http://www.stthomas.edu/photo/default.html

The 2011 Monthly Image Competition is off and running. Check out the winners from the summer months at: http://www.upaa.org/mic-archived-galleries/summer-2011

When I'm working on a multimedia piece I always struggle to know when to shoot stills and when to shoot video. For me it always has been difficult to juggle between the two. When I first saw Burn Camp, I was amazed at how well Dot Paul mixed stills with video to tell a compelling story. I caught up with her at the Utah Symposium and asked if she would be willing to share the story behind her award winning piece. Check out the video first and then read her comments below:

The Burn Camp story idea formed during a very slow time in December; I started looking for a project to work on during the coming summer. I wanted to enterprise a project that would challenge and push me creatively.

So I researched and looked through all the school and college websites for something visually interesting that I could immerse myself into.  I found the Burn Camp Service-Learning course on the School of Social Work’s website.  A colleague had covered it in an afternoon nearly a decade prior, but I wanted to revisit the camp and see if I could attend the whole week and make a documentary picture story from the students’ experiences there.  When I pitched my idea to the faculty of the camp, I had no clear outlet in mind for publication.

UPAA Annual Conference sponsor Canto has released two educational whitepapers on how to implement and optimize digital asset management.

The “Building A Better DAM” white paper offers ideas to maximize the usability, functionality and value of your digital asset management system.  You’ll learn:

• Metadata design tips that help you ensure you’re tracking everything you need both now and in the future.
• User account configurations that simplify permissions assignments for more secure systems
• Ideas for keeping metadata fresh and accurate
• Keeping users interested in the DAM

You can download the “Building a Better DAM” white paper at: http://canto.com/betterdam

The “Getting Started with DAM” white paper covers all the things you can do before you purchase digital asset management software to ensure that your system is a success.  You’ll learn:

• How to analyze workflows and interview users so the system will be liked and used
• Which environmental requirements determine whether an on-premise or cloud-based system is best for your organization
• Who do you need on your “Team DAM” for your system to succeed
• Where to find trusted advisors so the system meets your needs

You can download the “Getting Started with DAM” white paper now at: http://canto.com/getstarted

Eastern Kentucky University Photographer Chris Radcliffe recently shared a post explaining his decision to return to film to shoot a recurring spotlight article. Check it out at http://www.eku.edu/photo/darkroom

It is becoming a tradition for the boys at Baylor to come up with unique ways to tell the story of Move-in Day. In 2009 there was the mess and in 2010 they reinvented the box. This year Robbie Rogers and Matthew Minard decided to tell the stories of the families dropping off their students. Check it out:

These Precious Things from Baylor Photography on Vimeo.

When I asked Robbie how they came up with the piece, this is what he shared with me:

The idea surfaced last October, after Matthew and I were chatting about
telling more personal stories.  Knowing we love Move In Day, I thought
about trying to get into residence hall rooms and seeing what the kids
bring with them.  Then we discovered that if we included the parents, this
would add the emotional element we were striving to get.

Have to admit - I really wanted to add some gimmicks to this piece, but we
went with straight reporting.  We put together the title slides and
storyboard a few weeks before Move In, then gathered photos and audio for
two days.  We talked Admissions into buying a ZOOM H2 that my wife used to
get the audio.  The only student we knew beforehand was the girl showing
off photos of her and her brother.  All the other students we grabbed on
the spot.

UPAA Board member Martin Vloet was just featured in PhotoShelter's Photographer Profiles. It is a great article highlighting Martin's skills as a university photographer and the success that he has had with the Michigan Photo Store. Check out the article at PhotoShelter and make sure you pay a visit his the Michigan Photo Store.

Frank Williams captured this images as he was returning home from the 2011 UPAA Symposium through Dallas, and now it has garnered him an honorable mention in the National Geographic Traveller Photo Contest. Check out the article and learn more about the image by clicking on the photo. Great job Frank!

On the first day of the 2011 Symposium, we were paid a visit by BYU's weekly news show, appropriately titled BYU Weekly. They finally aired the story on byutv, check it out below:

Here is video from a presentation by BYU Basketball Trainer Robert Ramos. Robert spoke to us about some of the biggest injuries photographers face in the course of their work and how we can prevent and repair those injuries. You can also click on the link below to download the powerpoint of his presentation:

Injuries and Photographers

We were saddened to receive the news that retired UPAA member Maurice Green of the University of Waterloo passed away on June 30th. Maurice became the Unviersity of Waterloo's first University Photographer in 1969 and retired in 1990. He first became a member of the UPAA in 1972, and a board member from 1976-80, and served as president of the board in 1978. He also co-hosted the 1985 Symposium with the University of Guelph and served as the newsletter editor from 1985-1990. Our thoughts are with his family. Click the link below for a tribute from the University of Waterloo:

http://www.bulletin.uwaterloo.ca/2011/jul/11mo.html

We put together a little slide show with pictures taken by our members review the week in Utah: