Joshua Spaman's Photojournalism Blog

For this assignment roll, learning to find features was the focus. Not a daunting task for previous classes such as COM 2100, News Reporting, where there would be a predetermined type of feature. Some examples included city council meetings, classmate features, or local events. One of the main issues that came up with choosing this event was finding one where I could not only tell a story, but also be able to capture pictures of an intriguing story. There is always something mildly misaligned from the normal happenstance of society, but would that draw interest? Having previously worked with the South End, I was able to assist in capturing the Wayne State University homecoming game with relative ease. Obtaining the credentials necessary to attend the event as a photographer was not difficult, all it required was filling out a simple form and sending it to the team’s media relations manager. The game itself started out relatively well, the weather looked somewhat concerning but i...

Cameras exist as recording devices, whether it be for personal or professional use. People use them to capture memories, convey feelings, communicate information, the list goes on and on.  As development furthered for them they have become more accessible to the everyday person with easier automatic settings and auto-focus. Even with these additions, it still remains that the user must learn the settings to be the one taking the picture, not letting the camera instead.  Learning to shoot using manual settings can seem daunting, however the individual mechanics are not that complex. The basic three a photographer needs to grasp are shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. All three control light in differing ways, but all interact and support one another. ISO, or International Standards Organization, is a tool to a increase the camera's sensitivity to light. It can be a double-edged sword in the case that at higher settings, it could add grain to the photo which may damage th...