Captions!

In my photojournalism class, we learned how to do captions. We took pictures around our school and picked our top three to write a caption on. Here is my favorite of my three.

Chemistry blow out. Carefully touching the bunsen burner, sophomore Kaitlyn Shanks adjusts the gas of the fire in a chemistry lab. The students of Chem 1 were to do a lab of four chemical reactions that involved fire. “I love the labs we do in chemistry and when we get get to use the bunsen burner, it makes lab more exciting!” Shanks said. Photo by Domenique Rieder.

Last Tips!

In my photojournalism class, we learned the last tips on how to make your pictures better.

7) Move it from the middle- to make your picture more interesting, move your subject a little to the left or right (rule of thirds)

8) Know you flash's range- When you know your flash range you can know how far back the flash will work. Pictures taken beyond range will end up to dark. Most ranges are 10 ft.

9) Watch the light- Choose soft lighting on cloudy days, avoid overhead sunlight. You don't want a shadow on someone's face because then you can't see the persons face

10) Be a picture director- Take and extra second to arrange people in the picture to make it more exciting. Add props, rearrange the subject, try different view points, etc. You want to bring the subjects together and make their personalities shine.

Black and white plus ONE!

In my photojournalism class we learned how to make a picture black and white an then make one color out of the whole picture stand out. We had to to this to three pictures. Here is my favorite:

Top Ten Tips continued.....

Sooooo we learned three more tips on how to increase your photgraphy skills.

4. Move in close(fill in frame)- moving in closer to the subject, create a better picture because there is is distracting background and you get better details of your subject. Get as close as you can to the subject first and then use your zoom on your lens to get even closer.

5. Lock the focus- Locking in the focus when taking pictures reduces focusing on other things in the picture. By doing this your camera won't focus on anything else but your main subject, Follow these steps:
     1. center your subject
     2. press shutter button half way down to lock
     3. reframe your picture to get the subject where you want it
     4. finish by pressing down your shutter button all the way down.

6. Take some vertical pictures- vertical pictures get things above and below your eye level. Take vertical pictures when you are taking pictures of buildings, architecture or art, etc. Vertical pictures make subjects look better.

Top Ten Tips

Hi! Today my photojournalism teacher showed us ten tips for good photography. She showed us different examples and what not to do in the picture.


1. Get down on their level! This means when you are taking a picture of animals or kids, bend down and get their face. It makes it more interesting and a sharper picture.

2. Use a plain background! When you take a picture make sure to look at the background. Objects can get distracting and the viewer won't focus on the main thing in your picture.

3. Use flash outdoors! You don't want to use flash all the time outdoors, but here are things you consider. First, only use outdoor flash if there is a shadow on the person or thing you are taking a picture of. Second, is if the flash you have will reach the object or person. Last, is the backlight.

Frame, Lines, Focus, Angles, Rule of Thirds= PHOTOWALK!

Last week in my photojournalism class we went on a "photowalk" around our school. I took many pictures of classrooms, nature, benches, and more. I tried to look for the techniques we learned in class. The techniques we learned were focus, frames, rule of thirds, lines, and angles. I chose my top ten and then I chose my favorite three.
Leading lines- real or implied lines that lead the viewer's eye through the photo
Framing- using a secondary element highlight or emphasize the subject
Focus- subject of photo is in focus but distracting or non essential elements aren't
Rule of Thirds- you focus the important part of your picture on the sides, or down or up
Angle- not making your picture at eye level

I like this picture because of the natural light from the sun on the stairs. It shows leading lines of the stairs  and the railing of the stairs. I also like the tree right behind the stairs.

This is my favorite pictur out of all the pictures I took on the photwalk. This picture shows framing over all the other techniques. There are two frames, one outlines the two girls looking at something and the other frame outlines a girl walking. This picture also represents line of the windows and benches. 

I like this picture because of the focus my camera made on it. The techniques shown in this picture are focus, frame and leading line. The picture is focusing more on the tree and you can still tell that didn't take away the focus from the bench. The ovals from the bench outline the tree, and the leading lines of the brick wall.

New things I learned today!

Today in my photojournalism class, we went through the basics of photojournalism, and what it is and just stuff like that. Well I learned three things I never knew! One thing I learned is that photography means " to draw with light." The next thing I learned was that photojournalism involves art, chemistry, and math! The last thing I learned was the the rule of thirds, where instead of making the "center" of the picture actually in the center, it's better to make it a little left, right, up, or down.

9/11 thoughts

This past weekend was the tenth anniversary of 9/11. I did not watch much over this weekend mostly because I was busy or I didn't want to watch some of the horrifying images. On Sunday night I did watch some TV with pictures and videos of 9/11. It made me feel scared and sad. I don't really remember clearly but what i don remember is that we were in class and my teacher told me that something very bad has happened in our country. I never understood exactly what had happened until the fourth or fifth grade. I was super shocked that something like that could happen to us. As I got older, my knowledge grew on this subject and I understood what happened. I used to not be able to see any of the pictures shown on the media, but now that I am older I can process this event along with the pictures and videos taken that horrible day. When I do watch TV and see these picture and videos, I do have to look away because some of them are just too much to show. I do think some images should not be shown on TV because some people can't "take in" what has happened. I think photojournalists should take pictures of things happening during an event but then the editors should decide if it's appropriate and respectful to show in the media. I think the "border line" to show pictures/videos on the media is when there are bloody scenes, people that have been hurt severely, and videos of people dying. There are so many contradictions to this, some might think it's alright to show these pictures yet some might say not to show them at all. I personally think once it crosses "my border line" the it shouldn't be shown in the media. Though media does show many of these pictures and videos. 9/11 was a hug tragedy for everyone all over the country, it made everyone feel scared and unsafe. 

This picture is significant to me because it shows just the location of this attack and how horrible it must have been to all the people watching around there and how scary it must have been for everyone. This pictures shows how the attack was by our country's symbol/statue. It also shows how massive of an attack it was. Remember 9/11. 

First blog Post!!!!

Hey! So I have never done a blog post before and I'm super excited to do one!!!! This blog is for my photojournalism class. I will probably update this weekly like once or maybe twice! Our first homework assignment was to make a collage of about 20 pictures that describe you! So we finished like this past Friday or this Monday! I am very excited to keep up with my blog!! i will post entries and pictures!!! So hopefully everyone likes them!!!! Bye!! :)