Looking Back

OK, so I've officially completed my first real multimedia assignment, and I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. I was a little intimidated at first because I've never owned a camera, and I've never fancied myself much of a photographer, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. All the human subjects I worked with were great, all strangers, all completely cooperative. My favorite one, the one of the guy reading on that wall by T-hall, was completely candid, I never asked him if I could take the picture, either before or after, and I think that might be why I liked it so much. It was just real. The main problem I encountered was, you guessed it, lighting. I found some shots that would have been amazing had I had more, or less, light. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and I'd like to keep doing things like this. And I'm also still happy with the first photo I took of Jennesa. I noticed that no one else in the class did anything that extreme with editing, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Sandy reccomended that we download Picasa, so I did that, then just had fun with all the stuff you could do with it. Cool class.

New story idea

Alright, so my whole pumpkin idea really doesn't look like it's going to pan out. Several others are doing similar, but better stories, so I decided to just find something completely different. So today I'm listening to the bear and i heard a great breaking news story. Apparently there is a new law that says if you get banned from any one of the fourteen bars in Portsmouth, then you are banned from all of them, for a period of up to a year. This law went into effect Friday, September 19 when two people refused to leave a bar and called the owner "vulgar names", according to Sgt. Corey MacDonald. These violations are known as "trespass notifications", which even if not signed, like in the case already at hand, are binding. The names of the two people and the bar have not been disclosed.
I think this is a great new story opportunity. This is a big step for the Live Free or Die state, especially since Portsmouth is locally renowned as a college town, and thus, a drinking town. I could talk to the officer and see if he would cooperate with me and give me some names or locations. I think this should be a good one.

First Impressions Last the Longest

So here's my first photo. I thought this was the best one, out of only about 4, that I took. I liked it as it naturally was, but I downloaded picasa and I ended up having a ton of fun with it. I realize that this picture is pretty bright, which on a white backdrop looks pretty harsh, but the backdrop of my blog is dark so I think it should look alright.

I saturated the color in this photo so that the image of Jennesa would be seen clearly through the glow effect I put on it. The natural lighting in front of Ham Smith was brilliant at the time of the photo, so I really had a lot to work with. I really like this photo actually, I'm proud of it. I know the top of the arc over the doorway is cut off, that was my fault when taking the photo, didn't notice it until I looked at it on the computer. But I think it came out alright despite that. Doesn't this just look like a movie poster, or the cover of a book or something?

Autumn is just around the corner, and what says fall more than a beaming Jack 'O Lantern on the porch? Well according to Bill Toll of Emery Farm in Durham, mildew does.
Toll recently told the Concord Monitor that the heavy rain and cool temperatures of the summer have taken a toll on his pumpkin patches. Mold and mildew are common for pumpkin patches, but Toll said this year was especially harsh.
This could take a toll on the local festivities as Halloween lurks beyond the horizon. As children we carve scary faces into the skin of the pumpkin and bake and eat the seeds. As we get older we begin to smash and blow the state's official fruit up with fireworks, but I still love the seeds.
This seems like a great opportunity for a multimedia story. In an already stumbling economy, a blow to a pumpkin harvest would likely significantly increase the price. Around a college campus, that could be a problem for Bill Toll. My goal will be to get out and see what people are still doing with pumpkins, despite the raise in price. There will be people who have gotten them for free from their dorms or around campus, but I should still be able to get many pictures of painted and carved pumpkins. Also, Halloween inspires costumes, and alcohol (which tends to go hand-in-hand with Halloween around here) inspires really great costumes, so there could be potential for some great video and/or audio there as well. I'm sure I should not be short of material in this town. I hope that people will be interested in checking it out.

First is the Worst, Second is the Best

So here I am coming out with Blog #2. I've looked over some of the multimedia sites on the blog and I must say that I'm a bit taken back. Mediastorm was really incredible. This site uses photos, videos, slideshows, and audio to help tell stories. I watched a bit of "The Ninth Floor" and "The Marlboro Marine" and I was captivated. The articles are interesting, but the photos really bring the articles to life. Seeing that marine's face covered in dirt and sweat, or the junkie, decrepit and bloody, does more justice than any paragraph could. You've always heard "a picture's worth a thousand words", but I think a picture's worth a million words.
After seeing how professionals work with different facets of the media, I am excited to be embarking on that same journey. I hope to soon be able to be a better reporter by being able to utilize tools such as cameras, video cameras, audio recorders, and the internet. But as for now, I think I'll stick to my blogging.

First time, long time

So despite numerous years of making fun of "bloggers", that is exactly what I've become. Needless to say, this is my first blog, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I guess I'm supposed to talk about myself, so I might as well talk about my e-self.
Facebook member since the summer of 2006 (even that I hoped never to be a part of-but...), never a Myspace member, never had a live or dead journal, never had a photostream, photobucket, or flickr account. I know how all of these things work, I've just never had my own account. I've also never subscribed or paid much attention to any particular blog, but I am aware that they exist, and I know what they are supposed to do. Never really had a need or a want for a blog until now, which explains why this is my first real experience with one.
So i guess overall, I'd say I'm pretty decent on a computer. I know there are some real hardcore computer experts out there, so I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I don't type with two fingers either. I've used iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, I know how it all works, just never been an expert at any of them. This will be my first experience of regularly posting anything (even pictures on facebook!) online, and I look forward to it, as I do most new things in my life.