Final Photography Story

 LBCC prepares to host its annual "Tate of the Harvest," festival put on by students involved in the co-curricular culinary arts program. After meeting each Tuesday over the course of the term, Athena Petterson (left) and Soren Skinner (right) carve poached pears and shape bread in preparation hours before the banquet begins.

Some of the staff members help the students transform LBCC's Commons into an elegant banquet scene with the chosen designs by the students that complement their "fall" theme. From name specific placement cards to the live violin music, the students coordinated, designed, and tested every detail for LBCC's Taste of the Harvest.

After guests arrive, the students in the back kitchen snap into action by plating several of each of the three courses so that servers my quickly and efficiently transfer them to their carefully counted guests. They use a pre-planned guide to help them plate the selected dish with options of a gluten-free course as well.

 With three carefully selected courses chosen by the students involved in the cocurricular culinary arts program, a beer pairing compliments the main course of pork roulade with wild Oregon foraged mushrooms, and pumpkin spice bread pudding. Beers are pre-poured during the banquet for the servers to bring to the dining hall as requested by each guest.

Before the dinner, the guest patiently waits after being guided to their assigned seat in the tastefully decorated commons area on LBCC campus. Many of the guests include friends, family, donors, and regulars from the Santiam Resturant.

After ten weeks of planning, the servers and the cooks serve their guest's the last of the three freshly prepared dishes made from ingredients from local farmers' markets picked out by the students. The guests enjoy the final dessert which includes poached pears gram crust with gan du jor with ice cream topped with a candy cane cap.

Week 10 Favorite PJ Photo

The photo I have pictured here has to be one of my favorite photojournalism photos that I took this year of Miriam Edell working in The Veterans Gardening Club. The contrast between Edell's monotoned gray coloring allows the colorful flowery background to stand out even though it is not the focal point of the photo. Another reason I believe this is my best photos is it is clear that she is in and working at a garden. Also, the expression on her face as she looks down at the plants appears to be concentrated and focused. I took other great photos thought this course, however, they don't capture the emotion and answer the five W's as well as this photo does. Photojournalism is real, untouched photo that describes a genuine story with authentic emotions. In addition to revealing true events, photojournalism differs from paparazzi and other forms of photography by using a camera without sugar-coating or shape-shifting a story to appease an audience by giving people or places a biased persona.

At the start of the term, the nicest camera I've ever used was a one-hundred and twenty dollars 2001 cannon digital camera. I had little to no idea how to even turn it on this new Nikon D3400. After the tenth week of taking this class, I am considering pursuing photography further by purchasing my own Nikon. I now know what to look for while I'm shooting, and have learned several techniques on how to make your subjects comfortable before sitting down to take a photoshoot with them which then pushes for a more authentic photoshoot. I am now more comfortable getting in the scene and taking close up shots of my subject rather than standing ten feet away from them or the event. More times than not I've found that people who are working on something such as gardening, a dance for a dance club, or a local that sells handmade hats for a living, are MORE than willing to talk about the work they're doing and to show off the pride they have in their work, so there's no reason to miss a good shoot by being shy or uncomfortable.

The three goals I wrote down in week one for this photojournalism was to understand the basic functions of the camera, to be able to shoot fast pace action, and to develop the ability to shoot different environments.

I now realize that my first and second goal goes hand-in-hand. By learning the different functions of the camera I developed the knowledge of how to shoot in different environments from outside shooting pure farmland to a fast-paced game of table tennis under florescent lighting. I learned where to stand when my lighting is limited, as well as techniques I can use to have the ability to use the lighting to my advantage. I've also discovered how to use the lighting to capture the mood I want for the event I'm shooting.

The "sports event" assignment pushed me to discover other features such as the "sports" function on my camera in addition to shutter speed. By capturing over 200 photos of a 45-minute shoot I also learned that not every photo you take will be a "winner." More often than not, you have to dig through your shots to get a quality photo.