Book Report

Lynsey Addario had no ordinary childhood and I believe this is what contributed to her love of photographing intense moments in war. It takes a special kind of person to have that kind of drive and passion for what they believe in. You must posses a lot of qualities to want to photograph the aftermaths of war, because it is no easy task.  Keep in mind that most people run away from war instead she follows it knowing that there is danger ahead. Insane would be the correct word to describe her.  I just simply  believe that she has taken it upon herself to reveal the truth no matter how ugly it is.

Two themes that I saw in Addario's photos throughout the novel was her ability to capture emotion while keeping the photo fairly casual. Her style is unique, and really gives the observer an explanation of what is going on in the photo.  These styles were best portrayed in the photographs of the Afghan women shielding their faces at the women's hospital in Kabul, May 2000 on page 146-147. Another good example would be on the same page of the young afghans who were listening to music for the first time since the fall of the Taliban. The photo of the women shielding their faces really captures the emotion of war, and the one the young afghans listening to music is very casual makes you feel like you are apart of the crowd.

I think page 31-32 really helped me with my photography, and was probably the most informative section of the book to me. This section taught me how to look for light in a room or picture, and how to fill my frame on the viewfinder. This information came from Bebeto her mentor, and I found it the most useful. It read “He explained how to enter a room and look for the light by the window, or from a door slightly ajar. He taught me about composition. He showed me how to fill the frame of my viewfinder with the subject and important contextual information- something that lent the image a sense of place.” I could really relate with this section of the book and it definitely helped me while shooting for my photo story assignment.

My favorite photo was of the Cuban couple watching Fidel Castro on TV at home, in 1997. The reason I believe I like this photo so much is because I can relate to it. I say this because that is a latin household and I come from a latin background, and my grandparents would be in the same exact posture as the people in the photograph. The photo also includes the television which lets you know why the couple looks so disappointed. Addario tells a story in this photograph, and captures the emotion of the couple very well.

The quote that most resonated with me from her came on page 184 “A bunch of young American who should have been out drinking beers at bars back home and living up their early twenties were instead carrying the lifeless body of their dearest friend through the lonely mountains of Afghanistan- a place that no one would care about twenty years from now. I wondered what we were doing there when so many others had failed to occupy afghanistan in the past. Were we trying to influence and change a culture that was a hundred years old? We were in what seemed like the most desolate place on earth, with no people around, neither Afghans nor Americans, and I wondered why we were there, fighting in a forest in the name of democracy. We were giving our lives for a policy that wasn't working-something completely intangible” I liked this quote because it describes how I feel about war in general word for word.

I would probably recommend this to my mom because much like Lynsey Addario she also has a troubled past, and I feel like she could really relate with Addario. My mom is also a domestic abuse counselor, who takes great pride in women empowerment. I don’t really have friends that read for fun. I don't even read for fun, but I do have plenty of relatives that could take an interest in Addario's story.

Seafood Industry in Newport, Oregon

The famous Bay Road in Newport, home of the two largest seafood export companies in the world, Trident Seafoods and Pacific Shrimp Co. Across the street is 70-year-old Mo's restaurant, which is known for having the best chowder in the world. 

OSU graduate Amber Morris, known as the "Fish Goddess" by locals, prepares to fillet a salmon at the restaurant Local Ocean. Amber has worked here since the restaurant opened 15 years ago and she is responsible for finding the best quality fish available on the docks. 

Marathon F/V sets out under the Yaquina Bay Bridge in early June for a 15-day trip in hopes of bringing back a bountiful cargo of Dungeness crab. The City of Newport is most known for being "The Dungeness Crab Capital of the World." The seafood industry is the city's main source of income. 

Orlando Tapia carefully selects a Dungeness crab to prepare it for the cleaning process, so it can be sold to the public.  

Here is the Black Cod Ceviche served on a homemade tortilla chip. The Ceviche consists of lime juice, cilantro, sweet onion, avocado, green bell pepper and chipotle aioli. This delectable dish can be found at Ocean Bleu Gino's a restaurant, located on the west side of the Bay Road in Newport. 

Hometown Photos: Newport, Oregon

An overhead view of Agate Beach located in Newport Oregon.

This photograph was taken outside of the Performing Arts Studio in Newport Oregon and is overlooking Nye Beach.

The Yaquina Bay Bridge which connects Newport and South Beach through Highway 101.

Free Shoot

Pictured is a black tail deer next to a gas tank at Mary Ann's barn in Toledo, Oregon.

Shakespeare reel is on cast waiting for a trout to bite on a sunny Monday morning at Adair Village pond.

A man and his son take a stroll on a foggy day at Nye Beach for Memorial Day weekend.

Week 7 blog forum questions

TOPIC 1: SHOOTING SPORTS -- Our guest speaker Scobel Wiggins offered a variety of suggestions for shooting action and sports.

1. Write in detail about TWO TIPS that stood out in Scobel's talk.
2. For each tip describe how you can use that suggestion for your own sports/action assignment.

Scobels talk made me realize that I need to be more patient when I go out and take photos. I usually make time to go shoot photos for this class around once a week for 2 hours, but Scobel in her discussion told us to go to the same spot on different days to see if you can come up with a better shot. Im currently being pretty patient for my hometown assignment by taking pictures of landmarks in my hometown on different days and on nights to see if I can come up with a more interesting photograph.

Another tip that stood out in Scobels talk was anticipating the moment. I can relate with this very well because I play sports and video games. You often anticipate moments in sports and video games so that you can have the upper hand on your opponent. The more you play the better you're at anticipating your opponent. That is why for my action/sports photos I will try and anticipate the moment so I can take a better photo.

TOPIC 2: ACTION/SPORTS PHOTOS -- Now that you've got some tips on how to shoot action ...

1. WHAT is your Sports/Action subject?
   Soccer, surfing, fishing, skateboarding, pickle ball, pingpong.
2. WHEN and WHERE are you going to shoot it?
   Most of my shots will be done outside at the sports park, although some shots will be done on the beach. I will shoot my subjects from 12-2 because I feel like thats the brightest time of the day.
3. Scobel talked about her approach to shooting sports/action. Your approach must include an "overall,” "medium” and a "closeup/detail” shot. While one of these can be a “sideline” shot, you must have at least one good ACTION PHOTO. List your ideas for:
1. OVERALL -- I was going to try and get an aerial photo of a soccer match.
2. MEDIUM -- For a medium I was either going to go with a ping pong serve, or someone reeling in a fish.
3. CLOSEUP/DETAIL -- I really want my close up to be of a skateboarder doing a 360 flip.

Photographer of the Week

Photographer of the week

Neil Leifer was born December 24th, 1942 in New York City. As a young boy he would scam his way into baseball games for free; he would bring his camera along and place himself with other fellow photographers to blend in and be able to take photographs of his own. He was fortunate enough to retrieve a free ticket to the 1958 NFL title game between the Giants and Baltimore Colts where he took many photographs which he eventually sold to Sports Illustrated. Those photographs ultimately jump started Neil Leifer's photography career landing him his first cover photo for Sports Illustrated at only 19 years old. Neil eventually went on to work for various companies such as Time, Life, and Newsbook.

His claim to fame definitely came when he was working for Sports Illustrated. I say this because Neil took a different approach to traditional sports photography. He would take photographs of sporting events from an aerial perspective, which would give the viewer a different field of view of an iconic moment in sports history. Neil was very good at captivating an intense moment in a very abstract manner, and that is something not many photographers can do. A couple examples of Neil's abstract manner would include the photograph of Cleveland Williams VS Muhammad Ali in 1966 at the Houston Astrodome where he suspended a camera from the rafters and took a photograph via remote control; capturing the moment where Ali knocked out Williams. Leifer did another one of these remote controlled photographs at a basketball game between the Kentucky Colonels and the New York Nets. This time he set up the camera behind the backboard where he took a picture of Rick Barry floating the ball over a couple defenders at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, New York. This photo gives us a very profound field of view; fish-like almost. I feel like the lights also add to the depth of field in the photograph. These are just a couple of examples of Neil's creativity with the perspective in his photographs

This project had a series of anecdotes which ultimately led to me choosing the photograph of Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston as my favorite photograph of Neil Leifer.  I say anecdotes because this photograph has been a poster on my wall since I was six. I chose Neil Leifer at random from the list of names, and when I googled his name the first photo was the one that's been on my wall since I can remember. Now the reason this photo is so important to me is because it was a part of the first 100 page plus  book I ever read which was Muhammad Ali’s autobiography. I understand the significance in the photograph and how Ali predicted he would knockout Liston in the first round. What stands out to me the most about this photo is how jaw dropping most of the spectators are. Really adds to Ali being the focal point of the photograph.

https://www.si.com/longform/neil-leifer/index.html

Sources

http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/muhammad-ali-knocks-cleveland-williams-astrodome-houston-1966/

http://neilleifer.com/biography/

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/oct/30/muhammad-ali-25-best-photographs-cassius-clay-legendary-boxer

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/5-conspiracy-theories-changed-sports-history

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2043

Blog forum for week 6

TOPIC 1: MY HOMETOWN -- Next week’s assignment is to post three photos from your “hometown” -- a news or feature photo of an activity; an environmental portrait; and a landmark, preferably with people in it.

1. I will be going to Newport, Oregon for this assignment. I have chosen this city because it is my hometown, and I want to share it with my class.
2. For my portrait photo I was planning on taking a picture of Amber Morris a local fish dealer holding up either a crab or a fish. My landmark will probably be either the bridge or the lighthouse. For an activity shot I might do my friends and I long boarding down a hill or playing soccer on the beach.
3. I think all of these photos will be very difficult because it tends to rain a lot in Newport, and its fairly windy so it might be hard to get a good shot.

TOPIC 2: TWO PHOTO STORY IDEAS (See assignment explanation below) --  Begin thinking about the Photo Story that you will do to culminate this term in Photojournalism.  A Photo Story is a photo series that takes multiple visits to your subject.  it will be comprised of 5 photos, including at least one overall, one medium and one closeup. 

1. I plan on taking pictures in Newport, Oregon. The series of pictures will consist of restaurants, seafood processing plants, commercial fishing vessels, and locally own fish markets. I will be photographing how  seafood is caught, processed, and sold. I have friends who work in all of the fish industries so obtaining access to these places should be fairly easy for me. One problem I may encounter is weather; Newport is a very windy and cloudy city so I feel like that could hinder the quality of my photos. Since Ive worked in all of the fishing departments I think its safe to say that I wont need to make prior arrangements. 

2. I plan on taking pictures of the Willamette river. The pictures will mostly be of the river, its bridges, and parks. I will be photographing how polluted the river is, and examples of littering. I might lurk around the park and try to snap a picture of someone actively littering I can go to the river whenever I want the only problem would be the weather.