Forum 10

1. My best photos this term came from staff appreciation day. My favorite was probably the closeup of Ramona Sweere.

2. I like this photo because of the low angle. It also easily depicts that she's working on a painting, and the caption gives more information about what she is specifically working on. Elliot also let me use one of his cameras for this assignment so the quality is much better.

3. I learned to get a low angle, to get the face, and to get the subject doing something interesting.

4. At the beginning of the term, I didn't really focus on finding an interesting subject, I just took pictures. I still struggled with finding interesting things, but there were times like the staff appreciation day where they turned out good. I also didn't really pay attention to what else is in the frame with my subject, but now I've learned to do a better job.

GOALS:

 1. As of right now I know very little about photo editing. By the end of the term I hope to know more about using photoshop to enhance my photos.

            2. Right now, taking photos of people I don't know at all and then talking to them afterwards seems really awkward. Hopefully over the course of the term I'll become more comfortable with it.

            3. My third goal is to make it into The Commuter. My hope is to get three photos published so I can get an A, but even one feature would be very exciting.

1. My photo editing skills are much better. I'm not a photo shop master, but I know my way around now. I know what to look for to make a photo nice, and I didn't before.

2. I never really reached this goal. I enjoy taking photos but it still feels weird snapping random people and asking them their name, especially when I'm using my phone.

3. I made it into the final edition of the Commuter. I wish I would have gone to more significant events and gotten photos interesting enough for more than just the section of the paper about our class, but it was still really nice to see my work outside of my blog.

Preparing for the Season

Every summer, forest fires rage for months all over the nation causing lots of damage. To combat them, the government pays local timber companies, such as Miller Timber in Philomath, Oregon to fight these fires . Miller Timber hires people from all walks of life to become a wild land firefighter for the summer season. It's a popular job for many young people because it's laborious, and pays extremely well. It's also during the summer, so students can come back from a summer of work with over $10,000 to help them through the school year. This is what it takes to prepare for the fire season.

 A first year firefighter, Alex Fredrick tries on a fresh pair of Georgia brand boots. He shopped around, but ended up buying them at Wilco in Corvallis. These expensive boots cost him almost an entire paycheck, but they should last him for at least two seasons, a sound investment considering the money to come.

Much of the time spent out on fire is spent hiking with over fifty pounds of gear on your back. To prepare, Alex and veteran firefighter Mickinley Langager each loaded their packs with fourty to fifty pounds of water and set out for a rigorous hike in Mcdonald Forrest.

In order to land the job at Miller Timber, you must be able to pass a drug test. Many of the firefighters are avid marijuana users in the off season, so in order to kick the habit, they resort to smoking tobacco. As Mickinley put it, "It's not that I miss smoking weed, I just like having something to smoke".

While out on fire, if you're not hiking, you'll be digging trenches to stop the fire. In the weeks leading up to the season, Alex has shifted his routine at Timberhill Athletic Club to focus on muscles that will help him dig. He said he's confident in his strength, but endurance could get tough working 12 hour days.

Knowing he got a late start on the drug test preparation, Alex takes every precaution he can to sweat the chemicals out of his system. Alex works out every day, and hits the sauna at his gym to sweat as much as he can.  He's already spent over $300 on boots and other equipment, so failing the test now would be incredibly foolish.

Photographer of the Week

Arthur "Weegee" Fellig was born in Ukraine on June 12th 1899. His family moved America when he was 11 years old, and when he was fourteen he decided to teach himself photography. He worked odd jobs in the photography scene of New York City until he decided to become a freelance photographer.

Weegee specialized in crime scene photography, and wasn't shy about it. He often beat police to the scenes of crimes thanks to his use of a police scanner. He was known to have everything he needed in his car, so his photos were always the first in the hands of the newspapers. Something that made his photos so compelling was his distinct use of flash. Not only were his photos the first, but they were also usually the best. He was essentially the first tabloid photographer.

Weegee made a name for himself in photojournalism, but he spent a good portion of his career taking artistic photos and working in film. The major turning point of his career was when he dropped journalism in 1947 and moved to Hollywood. After the move, he started experimenting with distorted lenses. Some of his most famous photos are of celebrities with distorted faces. When you see his distorted images it's amazing to think that it was all in the lens and camera. He also did some work in the
http://www.famousphotographers.net/weegeefilm industry, appearing in a few pieces as well as working with Stanley Kubrick as a special effects consultant.

My favorite photo by Weegee came from his NYC photojournalism career. It features a group of children sleeping outside on a fire escape during a heat wave. I like this photo because it shows the raw lifestyle of children in New York at the time. It also shows how confident Weegee was with his photography, not afraid to wake these children up with his flash.



(http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/36566/weegee-arthur-fellig-heat-spell-children-sleeping-on-the-fire-escape-the-lower-east-side-tenement-penthouse-heat-spell-american-may-23-1941/)

More photos:
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/1851/weegee-arthur-fellig-american-born-austria-1899-1968/


Sources:
http://www.famousphotographers.net/weegee
http://www.moma.org/collection/artists/1842 (more photos here too)
http://emuseum.icp.org/view/people/asitem/id/171