I’m not sure if this link will work…if not, the video I meant to post is on the second page:
Coursework
EPJ: Second Website Critique
I have a feeling a lot of the MPW people are going to be critiquing the websites of the MPW faculty, but I’m going to go ahead with Penny De Los Santos’ site anyway.
I’ve seen the Livebooks format before, but I think this particular portfolio does an exceptionally good job of presenting the images and tweaking the basic template to make it more personalized. The white background, I feel, has a lot to do with this; it sets off the bright colors of Penny’s photos (and the contrast of the black and white images) in a way that black backgrounds can’t. I tend to lean toward black backgrounds when presenting my own images, so this made me rethink my ways.
I liked that there was a variety of images to choose from in each of the galleries, and particularly that there were multiple ways of selecting a large photo to view–there is both a ‘back/next’ arrow bar and a scrolling stream of thumbnails. I am not sure that I would use this particular type of scroll, as it jumps too much for my liking (I’d rather it jump to the next image one at a time instead of skipping ahead several images), but I would like to find a way to give more viewing options.
Overall, the site is well-presented; however, I wish there had been more incorporation of caption material. Only two galleries of five had this information; when it did appear, it mentioned only the publication for whom Penny was working when she made the photo. I would have liked to see more details about the subjects themselves, or where the photo was taken (this detail did appear in the ‘travel/food’ portfolio, but I feel it applies to all of the categories except the lone ‘food’ one). Also with regard to caption material, the rollover text frustrated me because I kept forgetting not to move the cursor while I was reading, and the words would disappear before I could finish. Since it is optional to show the captions in the first place, it seems like they should remain onscreen; the viewer has already seen the corresponding image in full, and the words will not distract from a proper presentation.
Picture Story: One Day Story/5 POVs
Fielding a Community
Five nights a week, from mid-August to mid-October, the Rainbow Softball Center at Cosmopolitan Park in Columbia, Mo., fills with recreational adult softball teams. Most league divisions contain more than eight teams. Thursday night Men’s Church League softball is one of the few exceptions to this rule, with just five teams rotating through the designated field each night. Playing in the Church League “has advantages over other leagues,” says Nathan Thomas*, manager of the St. Andrews team, specifically because of “the common thread that we share a love for sports and Jesus Christ” and “the chance to enjoy fellowship with your brothers…this is a good way for different churches to come together and not get so immersed on each other’s beliefs [and] practices.” For the teams of the league, fellowship comes both on and off the field.
While most teams in the league sport jerseys with their respective church names on them (or simply shirts matching the team’s color), the Disciples opt for a more broad design. The self-described “hodgepodge” team no longer has a specific church affiliation; several players have switched congregations since the team’s original inception. Nevertheless, the men continue to play for the Disciples. “They’re just a great group of guys,” says manager Chris Peters.
Shortstop and third base coach Corey Harden claps for his teammate at bat as other Disciples watch gameplay from their dugout. After a slow start, the team scored fifteen runs en route to a win over Fairview Church of Christ.
Scott Riley, second baseman for the Disciples, receives a dugout visit from wife Ginger and 10-month-old son Aiden. Riley, like many other players, also competes in the Church League during the summer months.
Kayanna Smith, right, slips away from the crowd of Rocky Fork Fellowship players and fans after the team’s loss to Trinity Lutheran. Smith, accompanied by her mother Amber, comes to “watch” her father Kurt play for Rocky Fork every week. Rocky Fork, despite the apparent setback of being located half an hour away, in Hallsville, enjoys a large fan contingent for each of its games.
Danny Jung, temporarily playing for Fairview Church of Christ, pitches to Nathan Thomas, right, of St. Andrews as umpire Charlie Schuster and Fairview catcher Rob Kallenbach look on. Jung normally plays for Trinity Lutheran; due to a smaller-than-normal roster on the Fairview team, he pitched in not only his own game, but also Fairview’s two matchups. Says Thomas of the league, “It’s not cutthroat competition.”
Members of Rocky Fork Fellowship and Trinity Lutheran Church gather in a prayer circle following the teams’ September 17 matchup. “A lot of the same churches play every year,” says Peters, “and you get to know the guys that you’re playing with.”
*all quotations taken from e-mail correspondence.
EPJ: Final Project part one
For my Final Project, I plan to create a multimedia piece revolving around the teams of the Mens Church League division of the Columbia Rec Sports softball group. The five teams play on Thursday nights in the fall, although most also play for the Columbia summer softball leagues. Four of the teams are directly affiliated with a particular church, while one is composed of men who once attended the same church (several years ago), but have since switched congregations. They remain, however, on the same softball team. I have already taken photos for the story as part of my Picture Story class, and will be returning this week to gather audio and video, and make some more stills.
The story strikes me as one that will work well with multimedia because softball, like most sports, is active enough to necessitate both stills and video (which can be shot from a variety of angles), and offers the opportunity for interviews and for collecting good ambient sound while a game is being played. In addition to the noises of the players and umpires as they go through the procedures of play, the crowd watching the game also provides fodder for the ambient.
I am focusing on this story largely because I feel that the intersection of sports and faith remains a very relevant issue, and one that can be easily explored at a local level. There is a definite air of tradition about the softball leagues in Columbia–the St. Andrews team, for example, has been around for some thirty years–and I would like to tell the story of these five groups while keeping in mind the more broad features.
EPJ: Website critique
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/photos/
On the websites of many newspapers, photographs are treated as supplementary visual information to the meat of the article they accompany. While photography is allowed more of a stay in the spotlight due to the increased space allowed by online publications, there appears to be a tendency to underutilize the platform when it comes to running images.
The Boston Globe, however, is one of those outlets that does recognize and work with the potential offered by the web. The site is by no means perfect—when images run with news stories, the old patterns often still apply—but the “Photography” section of bostonglobe.com offers something entirely different. Special efforts are made to showcase the efforts of the Globe’s staff photographers, but other photo collections, composed of wire images, make up a considerable portion of the page. The site itself could be a little more streamlined—there are so many choices for photo viewing on one page that it’s a little overwhelming—but at the same time, the variety of collections available on one page for browsing minimizes the time viewers spend clicking around to find a slideshow.
The best part of the site, however, is the size at which the images in the collections are run. The default minimum width for the photos is 959 pixels, and viewers can also choose to employ the “full screen” option.
Links to the main Globe photo blogs are prominent and easy to find, but it was somewhat frustrating to visit the “Big Shot” sports photoblog only to discover that its host page was the Sports section, and that I had to click the back button in order to get back to the Photo area. This was not an issue with the other blogs, however.
Overall, the Boston Globe’s photo section does an excellent job of showcasing its visual information. While there are some navigation tweaks to be worked out, the site itself stands out as a good model of how online news outlets can work with the web.
Some VOX Assignments (or, more food photos…)
They all seem to come in during my Friday shifts.
Dressed in period costumes from the 1850s, Brittni Steding, front, and Abbey Milligan clear tables in the J. Huston Tavern in Arrow Rock, Mo., on July 31. The tavern is the oldest continuously operated restaurant west of the Mississippi River.
Fried chicken plates, one of the main entrees at the J.Huston Tavern, are offered as a family style, all-you-can-eat dish.
Curly potato chips coated in Parmesan cheese and chives at the J.Huston Tavern.
Three of the dessert options at the J. Huston Tavern: from left, carrot cake, apple cobbler, and pecan pie.
Specialty drinks at Bleu, such as the New Zealand “No”jito, left, and Bleu Rosemary Lemonade, are known for as much for their presentation as their taste.
New Zealand “No”jito
Police in Columbia using such unconventional methods of transport as bicycles also rely on unconventional methods of keeping the bikes from being stolen.
Boone County Fair: Junior Talent Show
After enterprising at the sheep show, I had an assignment at the Junior Talent Show. On the minus side, the event lasted forever (I was at the fair until 10:30pm)…but on the plus side, that blue curtain made for the best clean background I could have asked for.
Stephanie Stricker, 13, left, and dance partner Caroline Sunvold, 13, wait backstage before performing in the Junior Division at the Boone County Fair Talent Show.
Rachel Guilford, 9, waits for her turn to sing during the Boone County Fair Talent Show. Guilford, along with sister Hannah, 11, performed in the Junior Division
Bill Tempel, left, of Columbia, videotapes his son Nathan, 8, during his performance at the Boone County Fair Talent Show Junior Division. Nathan has been singing since age 3
Taylor Noakes, 16, performs the final song of the Boone County Junior Division Talent Show on Tuesday. Noakes sang “Not Anymore,” by LeToya Luckett.
Boone County Fair: Sheep and Goats
Some enterprise photos from the Boone County Fair last Tuesday, during the Junior Market Lamb competition. I followed Ashley McKinlay-Remus and her lamb Agneaux around for a while, as they prepared for the showing, and took some pictures of goats eating canvas deck chairs (goats are strange) in between.
Baseball hooray!
I’m trying really hard to actually post Missourian assignments…so here’s an enterprise photo from today. I was waiting around for Show-Me State bowling to start, and started to head back to the newsroom when I realized they were playing Show-Me State baseball at Hickman Field. Baseball, for the record, is way more fun to shoot than bowling is.
Right fielder Brennen Wood of the West Plains Zs connects with a pitch from Eliel Malpica, back left, of the North County Indians during the pool round of Show-Me State baseball, held July 18 at Hickman Field in Columbia. Despite Wood’s efforts, the Indians won 10-1.
Hole-in-One!
Second time shooting golf for the Missourian. This was a loooooong tournament–and I only shot the back 9–which lasted about five hours, including a rain delay and the trophy presentations at the end. Whew. On the plus side, I got to use the 300mm, which I love…on the minus side, I had to handhold it because the monopod wouldn’t attach to the lens, and I needed to be able to quickly switch from horizontal to vertical framing. Whew.
The girl who won the tourney, Chelsea Schriewer (wearing the black shirt; Alisha Matthews, in the stripes, placed second), won by twelve strokes, tied the overall course record (as shot by a man or a woman) with a 66, AND got her first hole-in-one on the 16th. On the 16th, while she was hole-in-one-ing, I was, of course, changing lenses. CHANGING LENSES. Rotten, terrible luck. That’ll teach me to go out without two camera bodies.
Once again, these uploaded a little undersaturated…
