Oh No! I’ve Caught the Shutter Bug!

By Carole Burns

New Media Consortium participants with cameras. Photo by Larry Johnson.

Earlier this month I attended the New Media Consortium’s summer conference in Disneyland. Part of the conference focused on digital photography and I had the honor of working with Bill Frakes, an award winning photographer for Sports Illustrated.  I grabbed my Nikon camera, purchased a new lens to test out, and headed for California.

Bill was very patient and assisted me with shutter speed, ISO and aperture settings.  We headed into the park to see what we could find to fill the required assignment – red, blue, green, close up shot, shadow, and motion blur. It took me the better part of the day to figure out where these settings were on my new camera. *Editors Note* always bring your camera manual with you to a photo class! During break I Googled my camera manual and that sped up the process.

Urban Journalism: A 48 Hour Crash Course in Multimedia

By Jennifer Janviere

UJW students at work. Photo by Mahdi Gransberry.

Summer is officially here, and for the Diederich College of Communication that means the arrival of the annual Urban Journalism Workshop. Every year in late June high school students from all over the country arrive on the Marquette campus to get a crash course in multimedia journalism.

This year, I have the opportunity to work with the UJW group first hand. Although the workshop has a reputation for attracting a group of bright, ambitious kids, I’ll admit I went in not fully knowing what to expect. It is summer vacation, after all, and for many students the last place they want to be is in a classroom. Still, I entered the week looking forward to the chance to teach photography, video and audio skills (something I love to do) to a group I’d never met before.

The experience of working with the students surpassed any expectations I might have initially had. After listening to a morning briefing about the do’s and don’ts of photography and a tutorial digital camera basics, the group went out to put their new skills into practice. When they returned a short while later and we looked at everyone’s photos as a group, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The practice photos showed a lot of promise: examples of lighting techniques, depth of field and the ‘Rule of Thirds’ were all evident. The students had really listened and put what we’d discussed into practice. For an instructor, this is the most gratifying part of the job.

For many of the workshop participants, this was their first venture into digital photography. I was encouraged by the number of people who, after the class that day, expressed interest in photojournalism as a potential future career. I was also happy to overhear a few of them talking about taking the equipment back to the dorms for more practice that evening.

See photos by the 2010 Urban Journalism Students on our Flickr page.

The Ties That Bind

By Michele Derdzinski

All my life I’ve wanted to experience what it is like to live in a truly small town. I can’t think of a more charming one than Cagli. Although it is completely different than most American small towns in terms of culture and history (and, not to mention, continent…), the dynamics are just as I imagined.

In my first day here, a woman who also was shopping in the grocery store spontaneously introduced herself to me. She made a point of knowing the people who were in her town and remembered me when I ran into her later on. For me, this was a unique experience to meet someone (especially another customer) in a grocery store; I am used to keeping to myself and having little interactions with other customers and employees.

Walking through the streets of Cagli during the weekly Wednesday market today, I thought about the elements that bind this town so closely together.  The market is central to this. Instead of a typical shopping center or a Walmart, everyone gathers to shop for daily necessities, clothing, and food. To walk past the market stands, though, locals also end up interacting with each other as they walk and shop.

In a town this small, there are only a few “hot spots” where everyone hangs out. There are two main caffes within the Piazza Matteoti run my Mimi and Jake where I have frequented multiple times each week here.  It is neat to recognize not only the owners, but also the regulars of each caffe. Just down the street are Stefano’s Caffe del Teatro run and Bianca’s Dolci Folle, my favorite gelateria in Cagli. The time spent at the caffes is longer than the time it takes to just “grab and go” an expresso. It is not just about the coffee, but also the conversation.