Talking with students about the 5 Ws and 1 H used to mean that the news lead most certainly was the topic at hand. No longer. Talking about the who, what, when, where, why and how could also mean you’re discussing the writing of in-depth captions for your yearbook.
To most of us who produce the yearbook, club and organization pictures are significant because they show what your campus offers and what activities students participate in throughout the school year. To handle such a monumental task, we hold a club picture day on campus to get these important shots for the yearbook. Here is a plan to help you run your picture day smoothly.
To illustrate the use of these focal lengths in a typical classroom setting, I visited Rob Davenport’s science class at Platte County High School in Platte City, Mo. The students were testing the weight-bearing strength of their recently built Popsicle stick towers. Very simply, I was trying to tell a classroom story while using a variety of lenses to show what can be done at your school for your yearbook coverage.
Students readily understand the power of having a camera in hand. They see that it can make people do one of three things: hide, mug, or go on with their business but direct their activity to the camera. I teach my students that with power comes a responsibility to be above reproach at all times. To this end, my students are given lessons in manners and protocol when out of the class and on assignment.
Much teaching time in photography – especially on the high school level – is spent on looking for the right moment to shoot. But examining the fl ip side of that concept – what not to shoot – may be just as helpful in pursing good images, so that photographers understand what does not work, what has been overused or what may put us on shaky ground legally or ethically.
It does not behoove the modern yearbook adviser to exercise extreme control over the middle school photographer. Granting permission to shoot the scenes as they see them can afford fantastic results. Better still, encouraging artistic license will ensure a yearbook that is thoughtful and exciting for the consumer.
Capturing sports photographically has always been one of, if not the toughest, assignment faced by any photographer. For some students, the challenge is welcomed. For others, just the word sports puts fear into their hearts. However, patience and practice can help any photographer become less afraid of the dreaded sports assignment.
Check out the latest single lens reflex cameras – either film or digital – in your local photo store and most, if they come with a lens, give you a small zoom – such as 18- 55mm or 28-90mm. Manufacturers are banking on the consumer wanting the variety of the zoom. Gone for the most part is the standard 50mm lens, the one that most duplicates our own vision. With these new zooms comes the challenge of how to use the varied focal lengths effectively.
Whether we have a pleasant or a horrible experience creating a yearbook is not influenced by our quality of layouts or photographs. Most of us can even accept it and carry on if our page software occasionally does not behave. What really makes you despise or love this whole process is how organized you are.
Walsworth congratulates the students from Walsworth schools who have won awards in the National Scholastic Press Association’s Picture of the Year and Design of the Year contests.