Missourian work

Since the Summer session has begun, I have already started to cover numerous events around the Mid-Missouri for The Columbia Missourian as staff photographer. Take a look at some of my work in the portfolio link below:

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/users/profile/etlq48/

Portrait Series: Untraditional Passion

Chris Thompson, 30, slings a disc across a field at McKay Park while practicing his form on Monday, May 1, 2017. "The game moves with you," said Thompson,"When you jump into football, that's already established, basketball---already established--but once you got this, it's a young sport, it's growing and I can play this into my seventies or eighties as long as I'm allowed." Thompson is a Jefferson City resident and has been playing disc golf for four years and has competed in national tournaments with up to 1900 participants.

Chris Thompson, 30, prepares to sling a disc across a field at McKay Park on Monday, May 1, 2017. "What you put into it is what you’ll get out of it and even if you don’t reach that high pinnacle level of being  pro player, you’ll still be able to enjoy it for years to come. I play this with my daughter, my wife plays its spread out through all spectrums of people." Thompson practices three times a week to stay in shape and keep his form consistent, his favorite aspect of disc golf is how, "you never play the same round twice."

Abby Dodge, 20, balances a Lacrosse ball while warming up at Stankowski Field on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. "You can manipulate the game, its starts with the draw, if you can control the draw, you can control the game." Dodge is a defensive player, if she were to describe her play in one word, it would be, "aggressive." Dodge was one of two freshman to be selected on the varsity team during her time at Lee's Summit West High School. Since coming to the University of Missouri, Dodge has joined the club Lacrosse team, who went undefeated with an 8-0 record in the 2016-2017 season.

Abby Dodge, 20, stands in a defensive stance while warming up at Stankowski Field on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. "When you’re standing on the line getting ready to start, I get nervous every single time I mean Ive been playing for 6 years and I get nervous every single time even if its a game we’re probably going to win I just get excited and anxious and I just wanna play, thats all I wanna do—I wanna play I wanna have fun and I wanna do the sport justice." Dodge has been playing Lacrosse for six years since her freshman year at Lee's Summit West High School and says she will play until she's old.

Painting with Light

Missouri trails light up as the warm weather rolls in at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park on Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Columbia is home to multiple trails and nature areas, including the Gans Creek Wild Area. The rugged trail system welcomes hikers and horseback riders year round.



Painting with light was difficult. While I had some previous experience going into this project, trying to come up with a solid concept that wasn't visually overbearing was a challenge. Getting on the same page with everyone was another challenge. Strange things would happen in some of our images when we would see unintentional ghosting and other unexplainable light sources.

Blending & Color Correction

GELS and Journalism

The select:

Cindy Gwinner turns up the music as the cake walk gets started during the Earth Day Fair at South Elementary School in Eldon, Missouri on Saturday, April 22, 2017. "It's a wonderful event! The kids have fun and there's good prizes!" All cakes were baked by the faculty and all proceeds at the Earth Day Fair go towards funding for both South Elementary and Eldon Upper Elementary.

Outtakes of Cindy w/ different gels (orange for a warmer tone)

Blending was a challenge. In order to "match the ugly", one first has to find it and then also be able to capture a relevant moment.

Lighting Diagram at the cake walk:

Final Project Lighting Test

My final project will be a portrait series of passionate high school athletes. Each athlete is involved in a unique sport. Unlike your traditional high school football, basketball, or baseball star--I am looking for the passionate horse rider, golfer, track star, or any other wild athlete I can find in mid-Missouri.

This is a lighting test with my classmate, I shall see what adjustments I will need to make in order to express the subjects passion and personality accurately.

Multiple Flash

Levi Firkins grinds his skateboard across a rail at Cosmo Park in Columbia, Missouri on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.

Levi Firkins attempts to control his board while doing a trick in mid-air at Cosmo Park in Columbia, Missouri on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Firkins has lived in Columbia all of his life and has been skating at Cosmo Park for 11 years. "I just come out here to get the stress off," Firkins says, "you just kinda feel free."

Video Interview: Marta

Link to video:
https://vimeo.com/209808586

I put a lot of thought into the lighting setup. I know Marta, at least well from my time in the journalism school. She’s kind, spiritual, caring. I wanted to include a gradient for the background that would add some visual variety including a single light from the right to illuminate Marta with the fill light being off to the left. I wanted there to be balance in the shot and I feel that I achieved that. In terms of making sure that the video and audio was in sync also was a process. I wanted to make sure that I had different angels with different focal lengths so I chose to do my close-up at 135mm and my wide shot at about 80mm. I felt that the video was balanced and the pacing was good.

In terms of questions I started off by asking her if there was one piece of advice that she wishes she would have had when she first started college. She told me how she had a big shocker at the beginning of college and that she wasn’t as good at some things as she originally thought. I had the same experience so we just got to talking and it was easy to make it a conversation at that point.

Looking back on the video itself, I wish that I would have been able to keep a better eye on both cameras because one of my shots was a little out of focus, I think this occurred after I set a focus point and then Marta moved.

The audio was tedious but manageable overall. Audio is just a weakness of mine that I have steadily been improving on over the last couple of semesters.

I wish that I had somebody else to help me out because I was not able to keep track of the secondary frame and that really hindered my video, the framing and the focus was off. Not sure how I could have fixed that by myself while talking to the interviewee. Having another hand would help next time doing this just so that somebody can keep track of the focus that things of that nature. Thinking ahead next time I can fix this problem. It just requires that much attention to detail.