Nicole Nemeth
Mojo: Blog #1
I had a feeling of anticipation as I drove, what should have been about an hour to Transitions, a small music venue in Tampa. I was nervous that I wouldn’t get the shots I needed for a good picture. I tried to think of the basic photography rules that I had learned in class. I was drawing a blank. Except for the Rule of Thirds. That is the rule I have heard most often. I tend to always remember the Rule of Thirds as if breaking it would cause one’s retinas to burn with a simple glance at the photo. Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic, but taking a picture is freezing a moment in time, a moment that can’t be recreated. And I did not want to mess up.
As for the lessons I learned...
Know where you are going or leave with enough time in case you get lost.To start off: Sometimes I feel like I can simply sense if I am going north or south. However, I am beginning to resign myself to the fact that I do not have an excellent sense of direction. Although I had directions to Transitions, they were inaccurate. My phone’s GPS was not working and I was lost for about a half an hour.
Know your camera.
For this assignment, I borrowed my fathers camera. Now, I did practice taking pictures with the camera before the show, but I practiced in a daytime setting. I probably wasted more battery power looking over the settings of the camera for optimal lighting in a dark environment, than actually taking the pictures.
Keep your extra battery in your back pocket.I had two batteries that were fully charged before I left m house. I left the extra battery in my car. The first battery died just before Andrew Jackson Jihad, the headlining band, began to play. I ended up losing my half-way decent picture taking spot because I had to retrieve the other battery.
Take more pictures than you think you will need.
I took about 50 pictures and only used about six of them.
Have fun.Enjoy what you are doing. Watch, listen and observe the people around you and be inspired by their excitement.
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Lessons Learned
Melissa Russell
In my quest for the perfect sidebar, I think I shortened my life span a few years due to the stress I inflicted on myself. Like most writers, I edit and re-edit my words as I go, never feeling it is good enough. But what I have become most frustrated with is my level of anxiety at the prospect of interviewing random people.
Being a somewhat introverted person, it sometimes takes a great deal of effort to gather up the courage to do what needs to be done. I know that as a journalist, talking to people is a large part of the job. I often joke that this must be why writers are rumored to have an occasional drink or two. Maybe they are on to something when it comes to calming nerves and doing what is necessary. As a professional, I need to find a way to separate my job from my emotions, specifically when there is something I need to do and I’m afraid to do it.
Coming in to this field, my desire has been to tell the stories of ordinary people in unique ways. I want to find and share the things that connect us all to each other. A human connection.
I found in talking to the members of The Absence – who were laid back and engaging – that often the things most feared, don’t turn out to be as scary as presumed. I was reassured to discover this, and found that I enjoyed talking to them and learning new things. I felt exhilarated knowing that I had done what I needed to do and survived.
So the next step is to do it again. And again. Until I find that it is no longer debilitating and instead becomes second nature to walk up to random people. Then I can introduce myself and listen to their story.
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Lessons Learned
By Melissa Russell
Blog Editor for Blog2
I have to say my original reaction to being blog editor was nothing short of uncertainty. While I am not completely computer illiterate, I knew this would be a challenge for me. But then, that's what I'm in school for.
So, I jumped in with both hands, (with a big Thanks to Nastassia for getting the blog set up in the first place...) with the intent of conquering the cyberworld, or at least this blog.
I learned that imbedding HTML code is easier than it looks. All that computer jargon has a purpose, go figure. I got cheap thrills when I imbedded my first link in Nicole's story and connected Jimmy's sidebar with the main article. And what a rush, after messing with a stubborn audio link, when I plugged Nastassia's audio interview into the article and sound came out!
I feel like I've learned a lot on just a short amount of time and look forward to setting up my own blog with links, and hyperlinks, audio, video and more.
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Lessons Learned
by Melissa Russell
Multimedia
Let me start by saying when I started this course I did not know much about multimedia, other than how to load a picture onto Facebook.
I am enjoying the growth of my technological self. I can almost feel the synapses in my brain firing off as new neuron pathways are created. I never thought I would succeed in making a sound slide, much less figure out how to load it to a website. What a frustrating venture that turned out to be, but in the end I won in the battle of woman vs. computer.
Getting the audio was not as challenging as I thought it would be. I visited one of the coffee shops and asked the owner if he minded if I interviewed his customers. In return, he told me to talk to the patron at the counter who was a long-time customer. It was perfect. She was a little hesitant at first, but when I told her I was hoping to encourage people to visit independent coffee shops rather than corporate chains, she was more than willing to help the cafe out.
Through working this story, I have a deeper appreciation for local businesses. It takes a lot of support from the community to keep the businesses open, but it seems that more people are becoming aware of this and doing what they can to help. I, for one, will be visiting the indie shops more, and the well-established chains less.
