Hot Topics: 2013

My forte has been the written word, and my visual scope often has been limited to finding my way down the street, and often I'm going the wrong way.  That's why yesterday's session on Photoshop was so helpful.

I have been a poor instructor of photography, often directing kids to simply “take a picture.”  What I receive are butt shots, top of head photos, tiny people from far away seats.  We end up enlarging or running these pictures because these shots are the best we have, deadlines loom, sports opportunities are lost, etc. 

How useful it is to know the difference between RAW and .jpg!  I invested in more memory so that we may take larger pictures and enhance them more effectively.  The rule of thirds?  I think I understand that the content must be presented in intersecting lines, but for me, seeing these lines is difficult.  I’m working on it, though, looking at examples of effective photography online.
Taking pictures of Randy Lovely also was great.  I had to figure out what to shoot, how to crop, how to enhance levels.  I had some good content, but the focus was off, so I was limited to one picture, which was acceptable, but not quite what I want.

My takeaway?  I need to be intentional in teaching photography, and that means I need to better understand my camera, practice taking pictures, and look at good pictures.  I need to see what works and what doesn’t, rather than allowing these images to be passive complements to the text on which I focus.  Journalism is more visual than ever, and I need to catch up.

Below is a picture I liked because both Steve and Randy are laughing, but only Steve is in focus.

Hilari Anderson
Kentridge High School
Kent, WA