Capturing the Campus

As I tried to decide how I should go about capturing the college experience in a series of photos while trying to snap some portrait and landscape shots I came to the realization that they were all one in the same. I came to the conclusion that the best way to go about this assignment would be to document my daily adventure on campus: arriving at West Edge Lot then entering Dimond Library to dinner at The Dairy Bar and a stroll past the EquineFarm. It was in capturing the everyday sights and actions around me that made me realize just how much one can encounter in a single day. The campus is beautiful and lends itself so readily to the camera. Everywhere you go there is a picturesque landscape to be found. Whether that be a lush, green field or a sea of cars. There are portraits waiting around every bend!
My favorite shot is of a woman doing her homework in the library, head in hands. I though that photo captured the essence of the college life quite nice.
My favorite pictures to take were the landscape shots I took while walking out past the Equine Farm. There is so much open space to be captured, and the lighting was perfect. The shadows cast in the pics with the fence are great, and I found myself actually enjoying taking photographs. Usually I find it a chore and a hassle but when you become engrossed in the pictures themselves and become less concerned with the act of taking them it can become rather fun. I tried my best to fiddle with the angles and zoom to try and acclimate myself with the camera and with the art of photography in general but I found the best approach for me was the most simplistic: try to simply capture what was around me. Instead of looking for people who were standing in the right spot or making the right face I tried to catch people who weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. When people are unaware of the camera it makes for a more authentic photo (although at times I did feel odd snapping pictures of unassuming passersby!).

Idea for Multi-media News Story

The event that I believe would work well as a multi-media piece is the annual UNH Local Harvest Feast, which takes place on September 24 at three separate locations on campus (Stillings Marketplace, Philbrook Hall, and Holloway Commons). The event, which was started in 2005, was created to raise awareness of the food that is grown and produced locally to the UNH community. At the event, people can not only sample the food but they can also meet the very people who are producing, growing, and harvesting that food. This interaction allows people to become aware of how they can help support the local economy by purchasing their sustenance from a local source. With the university becoming a more sustainable and health-conscious environment, this event brings together not only members of the outside community but it gives UNH a chance to showcase their own efforts to provide local, organic food (the same that is being served at the newly renovated Dairy Bar).
Covering this event from a multi-media perspective involves taking photographs of not only the food being served, and consumed but it involves capturing the interaction that is going to occur between the local farmers and their prospective customers. Interviews would be conducted with both UNH officials who can comment on the direction the university is going but also consumers and producers. To supplement the photos, video, and sound I would also include a graph/chart that could show how the event has doubled in size every year since its inception. I would like to show how UNH has changed its policy towards the food that it serves by tracking the amount of local food served at dining halls dating back a number of years and show how it has changed. I would also like to provide something that would allow me to show the potential health benefits of eating a diet based around locally produced, organic food. I am not sure whether that would mean a visual aid in the form of a chart or a graph.

MOVING ON?

This morning I went through my usual morning routine which culminates with me sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, flipping between ESPN and CNN. What I expected to see was more of what I had been seeing on this day for the past six years: footage of terror and horror, video segments of weeping victims and survivors, and in-depth coverage of how September 11 had changed the way we live.
What I found was coverage of the health-care plans of the presidential candidates, and a piece on Libya giving up terrorism (without a mention of 9/11). Was I disappointed with the absence of coverage on the seventh anniversary? Was I missing that sinking feeling in my stomach that appears, without fail, every time I see the grainy video footage of that day?
Answering with a simple "yes" or "no" is impossible; I do not miss seeing misery and death sensationalized and exploited for ratings yet I feel as though we as a country are slowly allowing the memory of what happened to drift away. Perhaps this is because we were so inundated with coverage of that day and its repercussions for such an extended period of time. We became satiated with 9/11, and now it seems as though we are ready to distance ourselves. As long as we do not forget what this day meant to our country, and what it continues to mean for every survivor, and family member of a victim, then I do not mind turning on the television and seeing something other than the events of 9/11 unfold before my eyes yet again.

The First Step

Today marks the first time that I have ever given anything of substance (we'll see how true that statement is) back to the Internet; the primary source of knowledge, entertainment, and a lifeline to most of today's world. I have tried for as long as possible to remain true to those who came before me; I enjoy writing free-hand rather than typing, I enjoy reading a newspaper rather than watching the scrolling news banners that dominate cable news-programs, and I use the Internet mostly to check my school e-mail inbox, and type papers for said classes.
However, with aspirations to be a news-reporter and a degree in journalism right around the corner, I have taken the first step towards becoming a member of society who feels as comfortable with a computer as I do with a notebook. Enrolling in an Advanced Reporting class will grant me the opportunity to broaden my technological horizons and give me a greater perspective of how to look at news stories. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be able to not only write a factual, accurate, news-story but I will also be able to supplement those words with audio and video.