Photojournalism
In my early years on The Oracle, I was hesitant to get creative and use the camera equipment to its full potential. Each button and setting on the camera, along with the accompanying Adobe skills, felt daunting and easy to mess up. I only wish I had jumped into photojournalism sooner. Photo journalism (like broadcasting) is the intersection of visual arts and journalism, which was exactly what I was looking for. The interdisciplinary application and ability to portray emotions so clearly enhanced my stories. Whether it was photo essays or singular featured images, I always felt particularly proud when I got the “perfect” shot. Additionally, teaching myself how to get comfortable with the camera and editing software was a valuable lesson in tolerance for adversity and independence.
Photo Essays
In this Photo Essay, I captured the junior class who held a Fall Festival to raise money for their prom. From capturing games to baked goods, this was one of my first pieces where I was relying on visual elements to tell the story of the event. Throughout this process, I manually adjusted the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO depending on the type of photo I was taking. Additionally, the light was changing over the course of the event, so I had to make adjustments depending on that.
In my Big Story about the rise of Pickleball, I included a photo gallery to highlight the impact of Pickleball on Archer’s campus. A 10th grade fitness class had an entire unit devoted to learning how to play the game. Through my images, I aimed to highlight how Pickleball fostered community and joy in this class, as it does for many people worldwide.
Photoshop
Without altering the journalistic integrity of a photo, using Adobe Photoshop to enhance lighting and create better framing is an essential part of photo journalism. In general, we strive to have camera settings that minimize the need for photoshop; however, the process of using photoshop can be fun and creative! On The Oracle, we adhere to using 3x2 cropping. An example below demonstrates how I use photoshop to adjust levels, contrast, and cropping.
CAPTION: An upper school student walks in the front of the school, wearing a transgender flag on their back. In President Trump’s inauguration speech, he declared that “there are only two genders: male and female.” During this time, transgender and nonbianary Archer students aim to educate the community and fight against gender inequality.