Some of these may make it into the final story. Some may not. But I like them for what they are.

[picture coming soon]

I spent much of the last week hiding in the back of a dark room watching pictures go by and listening to someone announce “Out. Out. Out. Out. Out. In. Out. Out. Out.”

Yes, it was the best week in photojournalism at the University of Missouri – CPOY judging week.

We saw thousands of images in singles, stories, portfolios and multimedia presentations get voted out of the running to be considered the best of the best, with only about 1% of entries making it through to the second round of judging. A handful made it to the finals, winning awards of excellence and the coveted gold, silver, and bronze awards.

For Picture Story class, I made sure to sit in on the picture story category and an entire day of multimedia sessions. Each has to deal with the issue of storytelling in an effective manner, either through single images or a multimedia presentation. The two categories, while quite different in presentation and final product, have very similar requirements for what constitutes a winning project.

First, they both need to have a solid story. Moving, compelling, heartbreaking, joyful, and intimate were just a few of the words used to describe the stories which ultimately won in each catetgory. A project could have beautiful images, but if there is no story to support the photographs, the judges voted it out. I saw many stories in the first round that I would have voted in just on looks, but the judges saw past that and knew the story may not live up to the visual skill.

Alternatively, even when the imagery was not quite as technically adept as the other entries, a story went on to the next round if it moved the judges. I saw this in the final Multimedia category, in which there were three very polished video-based projects from the News21 program and one individual story “The Great Wide Open” about an adopted boy and his unique family situation. The adoption story was pointed out numerous times by the judges that it did not stand up to the same polished look as the other three stories, yet it won a bronze award because of the intimacy and unique storyline presented.

The judging of the categories was quite harsh, with the panel voting many entries out within only a few images, never quite reaching the end of the photographer’s edit. In picture story, I didn’t mind it so much. It was quite obvious whether or not a story was strong because we could see all the images presented as thumbnails together. Although we didn’t get the captions for all the stories, we could see if the visual story was strong.

However, in the multimedia judging, all I wanted was to see the second round selects in their entirety before voted into an awards round. The judges only watched maybe 30 seconds of the project until they got to the final rounds. While I agree that we should not have to watch the entire project due to time constraints, I think that there were a handful of projects that were voted out just because the intro was more than five seconds. One of the projects I really wanted to see in its entirety was “Growing up Girl”, which was voted into the first round of selects, but cut before the awards of excellence round. Although I agree that the beginning was a bit cheesy or TV-esque, I really wanted to see how the photographer took their winning photo story and turned it into a multimedia piece. There was so much that I thought could be expressed with audio and video and we didn’t get to see it because the judges were so caught up with the introduction.

What does this mean for the next generation of picture stories and multimedia pieces? I’m not sure. Every year is so different, yet so similar. It’s hard to know if your work will rise above the rest, because you can’t know what the rest will look like. I think that the most rewarding part of this competition is watching the work go by and listening to the judges make their remarks about the winning (and non-winning) work.

And hopefully, I’ll be able to use this new perspective in my work for the coming year. All I want is one ‘in.’ They’re worth more than gold.

And the countdown to November 15th* begins . . .

[*Which is when I will start stalking my phone and email incessantly to find out if I'll be a White House intern for my master's project.]

Words cannot describe how I feel about the Missouri Photo Workshop. This year was my third, and I know deep in my heart it will not be my last. Perhaps my photos of the day can maybe begin to explain it.

Thank you, Macon, for being so receptive to us. And thank you to everyone who makes the workshop run. May it continue for many more years to come.

Sophomore Tanner Brundage looks for his mother’s car on Sept. 16, 2010 outside of Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, Mo. This was the last time his mother needed to pick him up at the end of the day, as today was his 16th birthday. Immediately after school, he took and passed his driver’s test.

While typical high school boys are involved with the traditional team sports offered by their school, such as football or baseball, Tanner competes in team roping for Missouri High School Rodeo and cowboy mounted shooting with Show Me Mounted Shooters. He began riding horses almost four years ago, and discovered roping after some of his riding friends started lessons with Mark Jobe, a roping instructor in Jefferson City. Many of the teens who compete in Missouri High School Rodeo grew up in rodeo families, but Tanner’s family has only recently been involved. “We’re kinda the rarity,” his mother Kim said. “We’re not the only ones, but most have been doing this forever.”

Tanner waits for his best friend Spenser Epple, 15, to finish putting on his collared shirt – the only dress requirement for this particular rodeo – at a small family rodeo on Saturday, Sept. 11 outside of Vienna, Mo. The boys live across town from each other but see each other regularly in classes at school and at roping practice in Eugene, Mo. every Thursday night.

Gary Kueffer, right, holds tight onto the rope around the calf’s horns while Tanner attempts to catch its heels  during an open team roping session at a small family rodeo on Saturday, Sept. 11 outside of Vienna, Mo. The open event allows combined teams of varying ages, letting teenagers compete with the more seasoned adults. Tanner prefers to compete as a heeler, which he says is the more challenging position in roping. He said that according to Mark Jobe, Tanner’s instructor, “You need to be a better roper for the heels, and a better horseman for the head.”

After spending the afternoon competing about six inches of mud, Tanner takes a hose to clean off the tack on his 12-year old horse, Cochise. His friend and neighbor Macy Randolph, 13, patiently waits for her turn, as her earlier attempts to gain control of the hose led to Tanner dousing her with water. While high school rodeo is not an organized team sport, many of the teens in the Jefferson City area practice together.

This is where my subject’s horses live, but the horse here is actually his sister’s. (My picture of the day before starting to work on this project.)

My subject in action at a small rodeo on Saturday. He uses these small summer rodeos as practice for High School Rodeo.

Second half of shooting will be on Thursday. More to come.

When the football is this large in the frame on your 70-200mm lens, DUCK.

It bounced just to the left of me, flew back up to hit Jeff Lautenberger in the hand, and then veered straight into a TV guy’s camera above Jeff’s head.

It’s always an adventure on the sidelines of a football game.

Before classes start, an incoming freshmen tradition is to participate in the Tiger Walk. The band, Marching Mizzou, plays. The deans of the school speak. The basketball coach riles everyone up with a rousing “MIZ!” And with a countdown, the kids sprint up over the little hill, through the columns, and finish at department tables set up with banners and piles of Tiger Stripe ice cream set up in front of Jesse Hall.

It’s supposed to signify the entrance into Mizzou and the start of their college careers.

In four years, these kids will be slowly sauntering away from Jesse Hall, up over the hill and through the columns, not running but barely able to inch forward and start their lives as graduates.

Tradition is huge at Mizzou. Some may call it lame, but for most – it’s just a way of life here.

Welcome, class of 2014.

There is a delicate balance between theory and reality in chemistry, as a formula that works on paper may not behave in predicted ways when applied to actual experiments. For instance, Depakote, commonly known as valproic acid, is synthesized through several chemical processes, some of which are difficult to produce due to variances in temperatures or pressures or in efficiency of the reactions. “This synthesis works in theory, but the trouble is in getting the conditions right so it works in reality,” said Phil Silverman, the lab coordinator for the University of Missouri’s chemistry department.

***

To me, the image looks too dark for the effect we were going for in the lab. Here’s what I think would look a little better. I’ve moved the white point up so that there’s a bright white in the frame.

I searched and searched and searched for multimedia projects that really stood out to me, and realized that everyone else is going to show work from fantastic photographers well seasoned in the field. While these are great projects, the quality is so stellar it may seem unreachable. So instead, I want to show the class that we can create some really nice work at our level, too.

Here are a few fantastic projects by Missourian photographers from this and last semester.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/multimedia/video/2010/03/29/boone-life-missouri-monk/ (Caitlyn Emmett)

http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2010/02/04/job-cleaner/ (John Schreiber)

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/02/15/boone-life-down-barber-shop/ (August Kryger)

http://vimeo.com/10454664 (Mito Habe-Evans)