My reflections on spring semester 2012 at Owens Community College.

    If I had to sum up this semester in one sentence it would be, "I can't believe I made it through".  This semester in comparison to fall semester was difficult and very frustrating. I found that to be kind of odd since I only took 12 credit hours this semester and 15 during the fall. Then I reflected on everything about this semester. I realized that within a four month span I have moved twice and was picking up more hours. I am very grateful that I had teachers that were willing to work with me.

    If I could do anything different it would be to stay organized throughout the whole semester. I realized I would start the semester very organized but then would slowly slip into a more unorganized state. Another thing I would do differently is to not put so much on my plate. I need to learn I'm not a superhuman and I can't be at two places at once. All in all I really enjoyed this semester no matter how stressful it was. 

Managing Owens Lake Commons.

     For my portrait assignment I decided to do it on a majority populated college apartment complex employees. I choose to do my portrait assignment on a populated college apartment complex because this is the environment that I'm in. These are the people I see on a semi-regular basis other than my teachers and classmates.  This assignment was mildly difficult than expected. I believe the fact that I knew the employees made it easier to shoot them doing their everyday routine. Another thing that made it easier is that I talked with my subjects and they made me feel at ease when shooting them. 

    What I found challenging about this assignment is that looking at my photos I can tell that my metering was off. While doing this assignment the office had some good sunlight and they also had tuscan lighting so it was difficult to find a balance. Another difficult issue I faced was that my camera at high ISO has a lot of noise to it and is really grainy. This is something that I need to look into so that my images don't look so grainy.

Justin Drouillard working on some files for residents. (PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Jen Mann (left), Debbie Mansfield (center) and Justin Drouillard look over upcoming events for the Owens Lake Commons. (PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Jen Mann (left) talking with a potential resident and Justin Drouillard getting a file. (PHO245/ Christian Howell)

Jen Mann making copies of the community news letter. (PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Owens Community College softball team is national ranked

   For my individual project I decided to do it on Owens Community College softball team. I choose to do my project on them because I will like to work for ESPN magazine one day. I thought covering a national ranked team will give me some practice and guidance in the right direction. The game I covered was on April 22, 2012 and they played against 16th national ranked Mercyhurst College. The OCC softball team is ranked 8th in the nation being lead by 9th season Coach Duane Lanham.

Mercyhurst teammates (Christian Howell/ PHO245)

Mercyhurst pitcher after the OCC just scored a run. (Christian Howell/ PHO245)

OCC cheer on their teammates. (Christian Howell / PHO 245)

Katie Butler at the bat to get a single run. (Christian Howell/PHO 245)

     I enjoyed shooting the team as they split winning the first game and losing the second. Despite the freezing weather the girls played the double header very well. 

Duane Lanham

Our team project at the Sunshine Home

Janet Schaefer takes a time out from painting Super Saks bag to greet us. (Pho240/Christian Howell)

For our team final project we were invited to capture a brief day with the staff and residents of the Sunshine home. The photos I chose to share in my blog post are the ones I felt provided the best of my experience. This assignment was easier than the previous ones, because we worked as a team. Even though we all shot different elements of the Sunshine home having my fellow classmates by my side provide a sense of comfort.

I found shooting the staff and the residents difficult because I didn’t want to invade any ones personal space. Luckily, the residents were excited to have their photos taken. The staff was very helpful when it came to getting the names of the residents. They also provided a more comfortable atmosphere for the residents as we all shot them doing their normal routine.

I’m getting used to shooting people photography and invading others personal space for that perfect shot. I still find it a little uncomfortable but it is something that is a working process. What I found challenging about the assignment was that I wanted to go everywhere and capture everything. Unfortunately, we had a limited time there so I captured what I felt was important.

This encouraging poster  located in the front doorway of the vocational building provides inspiring words to those that enter the building. (PHO240/Christian Howell)

Mariah Luifs (left) gives friend Melissa Jender a birthday hug after arts and crafts in the vocational building. (PHO240/Christian Howell)

Mindi Wilsoy works on removing staples and paper clips from the box of papers. (PHO240/Christian Howell)

Sports photography: Shooting the dream.

Lady Rockets dominates over VCU in round 3 of the WNIT game . 

             I was recently given what I felt was a once -in-a-lifetime opportunity to shoot the Lady Rockets in a WNIT Sweet 16 game against Virginia Commonwealth University. I was excited to attend a college basketball game.

 I found sports photography a lot easier than expected. One of the aspects that made this assignment easier was I could just sit back and capture the moments of the game with little interaction with my subjects. I’m slowly getting used to people photography.

I had a couple of challenges with this assignment. One of them was getting close to the players after the game. I particularly didn’t want to impose on the losing team.  Another challenge was when Andola Dortch of the Lady Rockets injured herself. I was unsure if shooting her lying on the floor in pain was ethical.

The sports assignment is my favorite assignment it is fitting with my love of sports. I desire that one day I’ll land my dream job working as a sports photographer for ESPN magazine. 

Lady Rocket #2 Courtney Ingersoll, senior, guard goes in for a lay up to the basket.
(PHO 245/Christian Howell)

Lady Rocket player #3 Lecretia Smith, junior, forward drives the ball down the court the basket.
(PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Lady Rocket #22 Andola Dortch, sophomore, guard goes up against two VCU players as she takes the ball to the basket.
(PHO 245/Christian Howell)

University of Toledo fans celebrate as the Lady Rockets make a basket.
(PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Lady Rockets 4th season head coach Tricia Cullop has some words with the Lady Rockets after their win against Virginia Commonwealth University in the WNIT game.
(PHO 245/ Christian Howell) 

Lady Rocket #5 Janelle Reed-Lewis , sophomore, guard celebrates with team mate as the Rockets score a basket. (PHO 245/Christian Howell)

The Lady Rockets get together for a team shot after their win against Virginia Commonwealth University in the round 3 game of the WNIT 2012.

 (PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

Fishing for walleye in the Maumee River

The fisherman goes out into the Maumee River to find a stop to start fishing during the walleye run. (PHO 245/ Christian Howell)

  Feature photography is the documentation of life around you, which sounds like it would be easy. But when you’re not comfortable approaching people to take their picture, it becomes difficult.
   I recently went to the Maumee River to shoot the fishermen who were catching walleye. There were a few people in the river that afternoon and I was able to get a couple of good scenery shots out of my trip. But I needed that one, good personal shot with one of the fishermen with a fish. I felt that would be my winning shot for this assignment.
   My only problem was that I couldn’t find the courage to ask a stranger if I could take their photo. The strange part about  my fear of approaching these people is that my other job requires me to talk with strangers. I bartend on the weekends. I don’t have a problem approaching my customers or even asking someone how they are doing.
   I found approaching people for this assignment challenging. Life doesn’t stop and there is always something to shoot. I’m still working on people photography because I feel it’s a lot more personal when you are right there in front of your subject with a camera documenting something that is we as photographers make a part of history. I know with time I will soon overcome this fear and will be more at ease when it comes to people photography and interviewing them.
   Lucky, the two fishermen who I talked to were very nice, which put me at ease when I was talking with them.

The fisherman cast out his line in the Maumee River for a relaxing day of fishing for walleye fish. (PHO 245/Christian Howell)

How captions help describe a picture.

   As the old proverb says “a picture is worth a thousand words,” captions hold an importance when describing a photograph. The caption of a photograph lets the reader know the who, what, where, when, why and how of the event. For the photojournalist it is highly important for them to get the information of the photograph precise from their source. Because with false information from the caption the reader is not given the accurate news on what is going on. Many photojournalist use the AP Style guide to write a detail caption with little space provided. The AP Style guide gives the photojournalist examples of how to make writing addresses, age, events and any writing styles. 

Knowing your First Amendment rights is important to new photojournalist

        “Congress shall make no law…”

According to firstamendmentcenter.org, The First Amendment is a blue print of our personal freedoms that gives us the freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition.

As a photojournalism student, the First Amendment is significant to me not just because it gives us those five freedoms. As an African American female, it gives me the freedom that others before me didn't have the chance to experience without being silenced.

Now, with the exception of censorship, myself and other minorities have a much larger voice in our country, which brings great meaning to the term the melting pot.

With growing social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and Tumblr, many of today's youth, minorities are taking more advantage of their First Amendments rights and freedoms.

The history of news educates photojournalist the future of photojournalism

On April 1877 photography and journalism made a beautiful creation called photojournalism. One of the first daily newspapers was The Daily Graphic. I found the process of the photographer giving the artist the images to draw interesting, because the artist can change the details of the image if they wanted. Which is similar to the software Photoshop. 

            There were many pioneer photojournalists that changed and paved the way for photojournalist today. The photojournalists I found intriguing are; Frances Benjamin Johnston for being the first woman photographer, Arthur Fellig (Weegee) for using a police scanner to be the first on the scene, Erich Salomon for capturing those candid moments that make a picture interesting, and Gordon Parks for telling the story of racism to the African American community in the 1940s. Photojournalist has came a long way since 1877 and is growing even more with new social media that provides us with news.

Get to know me in my first blog post

   I am Christian Howell, a commercial art/technology and photography student at Owens Community College. I hope to improve my writing abilities, and share my thoughts with the world through in this blog.

   This course is not required for my degree, but I’ve walked past the classroom before and saw the photos of the former students on the wall. I thought the class would be interesting.

   I’m on a quest to find a career in photography. I am a quite person who believes the world will be a happier place if people would just laugh and smile, and I believe photography will help achieve this.