Welcome back to school!

I will continue to update our blog, so do come back for more updates.  As this blog’s upload storage limit of 20MB is almost up, this will be my last post on this website. Nevertheless, please feel free to search through the archive as there are lots of enriching learning materials on this website.

For further updates, please visit http://www.learningthemedia.wordpress.com

Thanks for all your support and see all of you there at our new blog!

Warmest Regards,

Patrick  

This is a self-enrichment article on photography. As I believe that all of you have a fundamental knowledge of photography, I will choose to bypass the basics and proceed straight to the analysis of photos.  I will primarily be focusing on portraiture photography.

In addition, although the technicalities of photography are deemed to be crucial to most professional photographers, I will like to prioritise the factor of composition (Please click here for a brief introduction to composition) over the rest (such as ISO speed, aperture settings, shutter speed etc) for two primary reasons, the first of which is the fact that you will probably be bored and dozing off by the time I am done with all the technicalities.

The other reason lies in the aspect of your roles and responsibilities. Being a writer, you are responsible for your reader’s understanding of the articles that you are writing. As such, the element of composition is crucial to achieving this objective. All other elements and technicalities are secondary.  In fact, in a real-life scenario, photographers – especially news photographers – usually do not have sufficient time to control and/or adjust the technical aspects of their camera since they are often caught in the heat of the action. What’s left is often merely the art of placing all essential elements in the photo in a manner comprehensible to their readers (i.e. composition). And this is often a split-second decision. You will probably face the same scenario in most instances, such as taking photos of singers on stage where every moment counts.

However, I am not sidelining the technicalities of photography but merely putting them aside for now. Should you have any enquiries in these areas, do feel free to email me about it.

Now, let’s get back to the analysis of photos with emphasis on the composition and in a way, the photographers’ storytelling skills. I will like to begin the analysis of photos with two photos, as follows:

• Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” (Please click here for the image): This image probably evokes nurturing feelings in us. Society has often regarded males as the protector and provider of the family. However, this photograph has only included a mature lady and two children huddled close to her, thus leaving the possibility of the existence of a husband (or a family provider) open to interpretation. Viewers are only left with the individuals in the photos to work out their interpretations. From the clothing of the individuals in the photo, they seem to be impoverished. The wrinkled and dry skin on the mature lady’s face seems to reinforce this. Both the children have turned their faces away from the camera, thus the viewers are almost compelled to focus their attention on the lady’s facial expression, which speaks of desperation and of loss.  From a metaphorical perspective, the fact that the children are facing away from the lady seems to imply their reliance on her and the fact that she is looking ahead reflects her determination and acceptance of life. 

As the readers’ eyes scan the photo, their eyes will probably fall on a sleeping infant on her lap. So, there are three children and not two! Feelings of empathy will probably increase at this point.  It’s interesting that as photographers, we are able to spring some surprises on our viewers as well. As to the ways that you are able to achieve this, it’s up to your creativity.

• Giuseppe Pasquali’s “2 singles 3 couples” (Click on the photo here):  This photo is beautiful because it uses the concept of symmetry. What’s even more beautiful about this photo is the use of not one but various layers of symmetry.  Notice how the singles and couples are seated on benches that are nicely aligned with the curve of the road. Note also the converging pattern between the curve of the road with the downward-inclined line on the wall in the photo. From a metaphorical perspective, one can interpret the two lines as the coupling of singles towards marriage. Note also the use of shadows in the photos, which also form a nice symmetry along the curve of the road. The man in the foreground along with the lady on the second bench from the left completes the picture with a touch of singlehood.  Together with the few couples that line the side of the road, the image speaks of romanticism and lifelong relationships.

For practice:

Exercise 1 (Identifying elements of interest): Try to practice taking photos and selecting those that you find appealing personally and analyse them in details. Ask yourself why do you find them so memorable and show these photos to your friends. Do they share the same sentiments?  If most of your friends like the photos as much as you do, ask them to identify the elements that make them attractive and memorable.  Do your friends share the same reasons for liking the photos as yourself? If so, you have hit on something. Save the photo and tagged a note to it with your comments on the reasons for the photo’s memorability. Use it for reference when you next embark on a trip to snap some pictures.

Exercise 2 (Observing body language of subject(s)): Now, emotions and body language are never mutually exclusive, which means that they go often go together. If a person is happy, he or she will not slouch. If a person is angry, his or her body will be not be relaxed but tense. Thus, when trying to capture the emotions of someone, we should observe their body language.  Try to increase your observation power when you next walk along the streets. Look at the people around. What are they doing? Are you able to assess their actions and what are their states of mind as they go about their lives? A strong observation power is a quality that all if not most great photographers have. And it will be good to hone this skill over time.

Exercise 3 (Anticipation):  Anticipation is another quality possessed by most photographers. This is especially so when capturing images of human portraits or even group photos. Why do we need to anticipate when capturing portraits or group photos? Because we want to capture emotions. And we want genuine emotions. Have you noticed how someone – especially those whom we do not know well- whom we want to take a shot become stern or act unnaturally when they realised that someone is taking their photos in a public event (assuming that you are an event photographer)? There are many reasons for this such as shyness or introversion or merely the fact that they feel that they are not photogenic. But let’s not digress. What we want in a portraiture photo is the person “in the moment”. That is, when they are laughing, they are really laughing. When they are deep in contemplation, they are really thinking about something. This is what makes portraits of individuals or group so powerful and memorable. Thus we need to anticipate. If a group of participants are waiting for the results in a contest and when you know that this group will be among the winners, focus your camera on them and get ready. Once they have realised that they have won, they will most probably jump with joy. This is the moment that you should capture. If you were to look at the winning entries of photojournalists, you would have realised that most of these winning entries have captured “in the moment” shots of such people or groups, usually set in historic moments. In your photo-taking journey, try to anticipate moments of people and then capture these images. If done successfully, these will be among the most beautiful images you will ever capture. Try it and see.

I understand that this is a lot of hard work but as in most things in life, success in photography comes only with constant practice and self-reflections. Now, here is something interesting: we share the same basic emotions, which is happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, joy etc. Now photos are usually a good medium to use when it comes to expressing emotions (just have a look at how global photojournalists achieve this with great effect with their photos). We can thus express our emotions through photographs and enable our viewers to see the world through our eyes. Try it and see.

Exercise 4 (Understanding details in photographs):   I will like you to take pictures with more details than what you perceive your viewers will be able to capture when they take their first look at your photos. In another words, I will like you to capture images with vivid details, such that your viewers will feel compelled to look at the image more out of necessity than by choice. It can be a photo of parents and kids playing at a carnival or merely a “densely populated” image. Try to practise taking photos that makes the viewers’ eyes linger a moment longer than expected on a photo thorough a composite shot. This will prove useful to you when you capture images during a festival where there are groups of people celebrating. This is more challenging than it sounds, so do practise often.

Exercises 5 (Use of proxemics): Now, I will like you to take some photos but instead of clamming everything together, try to select your subjects of interest that are placed far from one another. Experiment with angles and distances. Take numerous shots of your subjects of interest and see which image is the best. It will be good to note that when it comes to photography, distance is your friend. How you determine the distance depends entirely on what you want to portray in your photo.

Exercise 6: (Colour versus Black and white):  Why is it that some photographers have often chosen to display their photos in black and white? What is the distinctive feature that black and white photos have that colour photos lack?  I will like you to take some photos in black and white as well as colour. Capture the same shots so that you are able to do a comparison. What’s so special with black and white photos and under what circumstances should they be used? I will leave it to you to find out the answers but here are some clues:  observe the use of light and shadows.

Photography is an art and will always remain as an art. The only way to improve is through constant practice.

Have fun!

Dear students,

Here’s wishing all of you a happy Hari Raya Puasa!

P.S.: For the original “landscape” version, please go to the URL below:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2900100839_c77fc482cf_b.jpg

Warmest Regards,

Patrick

I believe some of you might have already heard of Tony Buzan, the man who is most commonly associated with the use of mind maps. However, what’s not really known about him is the fact that besides the renowned “mind map” technique, Tony Buzan has also introduced to us other methods of recall that is invaluable to us. I remember reading one of his books and was interested in a technique that improves our recalling abilities. I will like to call this technique the “movie” technique since it employs the use of mental moving images.

Before I discuss this technique, I will like you to have an awareness that almost all of us think visually and not linguistically. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s consider a simple example. Look at the following scenarios and think of your own experiences:

• Celebrating your birthday parties
• One of the more memorable days in your secondary school
• One memorable outing that you have with friends

Now, what comes to your mind first? Is it images or text (as in words and sentences)? I am quite sure that it’s images. It is rarely that someone recalls any incident with words in his/her mind like this: “I see many friends in my house and my mum comes out of the kitchen holding the birthday cake…” In this instance, what someone sees is almost always a flashback of the entire scene happening simultaneously in images and not linearly in words (as what we usually do when we write an article or read a book).

Knowing that our minds think and recall using images rather than words, you can put this to good use in your presentations by stringing the points that you wish to present together and turning this into a movie. Hence, I call this the “movie” technique. This is most helpful to those who present using scripts but on the whole, it is useful to all of you. However, as most of you are using presentation slides, you will not find this technique helpful as you are able to read the points from the slides. Still, I will like you to learn this technique in the event that you have to present without any slides in the workplace.

So, how do you use this “movie” technique?

Say, you have several points to present for a particular presentation, as follows:

• Respect
• Curiosity
• Understanding

Now, try to visualise a scenario for each word. For instance, you can imagine a boy facing an old lady and speaking gently to her (indicating respect). Subsequently, he notices that the old lady is holding a plastic bag in one of her hands. He points at it and asks her about the bag’s content (indicating curiosity). When the old lady chooses not to answer his question, the boy merely nods his head and stop questioning her (indicating understanding).

You can always use a different story and you can always craft a story that is in a different order (such as highlighting ”curious” first, then “respect” and then “understanding”). When it comes to this technique, flexibility and creativity is key. Try practicing this technique to remember the points in the order that you want and before you know it, I believe that you will remember the points in the order that you want. From here, you merely have to elaborate on your points and provide examples accordingly.

You can even use this technique when you need to buy a list of items. Just visualise a story linking all the items that you wish to purchase and you won’t even need to bring a shopping list. Try it and see.

Happy practising!

I hope that all of you have a great semester last semester. For this current semester, I hope that all of you will have a great time making new friends on your academic journey towards excellence. It will be an interesting semester as I believe that all of you will get to learn more about your diploma-related modules. So, have a great learning experience.

For the classes that I have facilitated for the last semester, I will be seeing some of you again sometime soon in class. For the rest of you, see you in school sometime.

Have a great semester next semester!

Warmest Regards,

Patrick 

I believe that there are two causes of groupthink, one of which is due to the personality of specific individuals who take on leadership positions and control the direction that the team is heading. For such instances, it is difficult for any one of us to change the personality of someone. What we can do is advise these individuals on the situation and explain to them the benefits of teamwork (such as the benefits of having more interesting ideas from every teammate). If the issue persists, do inform your facilitator.

The other cause of groupthink is due to the fact that there is no member within the team that is assertive enough to find a direction. Hence, the team moves in a direction upon the first suggestion put forward by one of its members. Such cases are rare but it does happen.  When groupthink surfaces in such situations, team members can encourage each other to discuss further before deciding.

Regardless of the situation, we should avoid groupthink whenever possible.

I have noticed that there is a tendency among some of you to stop midway in your speech when you are presenting your points in class. Below are a few observations that I have made when you are unsure of your points:

• Give up trying to find a way to complete your sentence
• Informing your audience that you are unsure of how to continue
• Abruptly end your sentence with words that you find appropriate with no further elaboration
• Seek assistance from your team mates
• Stay silent and wait for your team mates to take the initiative to either help you or present their points

While I understand that all of us do encounter challenges while presenting, I will advise you not to give up too easily on the elaboration of your points. Being a presenter who can speak well is a skill that can only be improved through practice over time. The five approaches that are mentioned will not help you to improve in this aspect. One of the things that you can do is to be more confident of what you are presenting, which can be achieved through good preparation before your presentation. Try to familiarise yourself with what you are presenting. Then, rehearse your speech several times before your team presentation. During your rehearsal, do say out what you are going to present in your own words. You might like to seek feedback from your good friends as well with regard to your presentation. This will give you more familiarity with the presenting materials and improves the fluency of your presentation. 

However, this is not enough. The most important factor is still missing: confidence.

You must have confidence in yourself that you will do well. Having the thought that you can be a good presenter is not enough. You must take steps and make the effort to achieve what you want to achieve.  For a start, always make the effort to finish all the sentences that you are presenting.

Remember, confidence is important in all aspects of our endeavours in life. If others are not there to give us confidence, we need to instil confidence in ourselves.

The day when we are truly confident is the day when we will excel.

As the semester comes to a close, it’s great to see all of you improving as students. This is especially so when it comes to taking the initiative to present your points of view and your thoughts in class. It’s very encouraging to see the quieter students being more vocal when you present your points. On the whole, well done!

I hope that this semester has given all of you an insight into media studies. I hope that all of you will bring your enthusiasm with you into the next semester and have a great learning experience as well. During the vacation, it will be great if you are able to put in the effort to read about the trends of media developments. This is especially relevant to those of you who intend to pursue professions in the media sector. The media is constantly evolving and it’s crucial to keep track of what’s current happening in the media landscape.

I will probably see all of you in class or in school next semester for another round of learning.

In the meantime, enjoy your vacations!

Warmest Regards,

Patrick

The media industry- like all other things in life- is constantly changing. And as media professionals in the near future, it will be good for all of you to be adaptable and to be able to cope with changes.

It’s also good to get an experience of working with deadlines as several professions in the media industry  (such as journalists, writers and editors) do require one to work under such conditions. Many media professionals love their job and the reason that they are able to excel in their line of work is primarily because they have the passion to do it and working with deadlines often provides them with an adrenaline rush  to see their valued work come to fruition.

It will be good to realise that media professionals work towards what their target audience wants to see and read, and not what the media professionals themselves want. Understanding this perspective is crucial to the success of media organisations and subsequently, the media professionals themselves. 

Below are some of my thoughts on the areas that that all of you are able to develop:

-          Writing Style: Develop a strong curiosity of what is happening around you. Develop a strong thirst for knowledge. Identify the trends in the media industry. What do media consumers want? During your leisure time, keep a personal journal and pen your thoughts frequently. This practice is similar to what you have been doing for your reflection journal. This will help you improve your writing style. So, do develop a writing style of your own. Most successful writers have a distinct writing style. You can be one of them.

-          Photography / Page Design and Layout: Browse through all types of magazines and mentally “digest” the images on the various pages.   Observe the various angles that images are captured. Do you see a pattern? What are the common types of photographs? Subsequently, take your own pictures and develop your own style.  You can also cut out photographs from your used magazines. Gather the photographs together and base on a theme of your preference (such as “Courage”), selectively choose the photographs of the same thematic element by putting them together and separating them into sets. Now move one set of photographs to a piece of A4-sized paper and move the photographs around on the piece of paper.   Practice moving them in different directions and at different angles. Try stacking one part of a photograph on another. Tile them at different angles. Which of these arrangements have a stronger visual feel/appeal? Why? Doing all this will enable you to seek out common patterns in images, familiarise you with the art of photography as well as improving your foundations for page design and layout. It’s interesting to note that a single, well-selected photograph is impactful. However, having several photographs of the same thematic elements  arranged in  an appropriate and creative way adds a lot more punch to the message that you want to convey to your viewers/readers.  

For page design and layout, there are 6 primary factors that you need to take into considerations:

-        Emphasis   (e.g. placing a dark image on a white background etc)

-        Contrast   (e.g. using strong colours of different contrast to draw the viewer’s attention)

-        Balancing (e.g. Ensuring that the elements on the page are all balanced. That is, there should not be a situation where there is five images on the left side of a page while the right side is blank)

-         Alignment: (This has more to do with text than images, such as aligning the text left, centre or right)

-         Repetition: (Repeating visuals elements such as lines, font type, font size etc. has the ability to enable the readers to retain the information that they have read or seen)

-         Balancing:  (Such as the rational way of aligning the photographs from left to right)

A great visual layout and design usually fulfils all the abovementioned 6 factors. Do also build up your knowledge of typography. Changing the font types can also change the impact of the message. 

Consider this photo:

This image is captured very well. However, if you look at the photo carefully, there are two primary subjects of interest. And most photographers will usually opt for one. If not , the viewers will be confused as to what the photographer wish to tell his or her viewers. In this case, is the subject of interest the parallel pillars/long walkway on the left or or the train on the right? One of the most common mistakes that photographers make is in making viewers decide where to look. More often than not, the photographer should decide for the viewers (unless it’s a scenic shot whereby the viewers are invited to appreciate every aspect of the image).

In this instance, I personally feel that this photo should look best in a “portrait” rather than “landscape” format because of the parallel structure to its left. In addtion, the parallel pillars/long walkway should be a better subject of interest (there’s no wrong or right answers. Everything is based on one’s aesthetics preferences) as the part of the train to the right of the photo looks dull, despite the colour red which is usually striking. Therefore, I will choose to crop the image of the train on the right, leaving the image in a “portrait” format like this:

Now, we will have an image with one primary subject of focus.

As mentioned previously, there are no right or wrong answers. Cropping is merely the effort of the photographers to align what the viewers see with what they see.