It’s Not the Camera, It’s the Photographer

Since digital photography became available to the masses, camera companies have always made consumers believe that the more mega pixels a camera has, the better the camera. As photographers carrying around large Dslrs all day, we tend to get a lot of people who says, “That’s a big camera. I bet it takes nice photos.” And that’s what a lot of people are led to believe, but megapixels have nothing to do with what makes a great photo.

So for this week the Post photographers collected up images they’ve made when they didn’t have their Dslrs on them, but came across a scene or moment that caught their eye so they used what they had: their phone or pocket camera.

As you’ll see from the images below, it’s not about the camera, it’s about the photographer. Knowing, from experience, how to see light, color and shape in any given scene and composing these elements in the frame in a pleasing way while waiting for a moment – that’s what photography is all about. It’s a dance between you and the world. The photographer moves in a scene until they subtract and arrange things in their frame to where it pleases the eye and then they wait paitently for that perfect moment to click the shutter.

Check out some of the photos our photographers made with their phones and point&shoot cameras below:

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Jason_Chow

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Katharine_Egli

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Dustin_Lennert

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Dustin_Lennert

 

 

 

Aiding Athens: HAVAR

This is the fifth and final installment of our Aiding Athens multimedia series. Post photographers Katharine Egli and Brien Vincent documented the story of HAVAR, a nonprofit support group that provides aid to developmentally disabled people. Building Bridges Adult Center, an affiliate of HAVAR, offers its consumers a place to cook, paint, sing and hang out with other members of their community all while working on skill development.

HAVAR home aid offers much the same along the lines of skill development. Residential aides like Sherri Bail help consumers learn basic life skills like how to do laundry, when and how to take certain medicines and how to balance their budget.

To learn more about HAVAR and how it helps members of our community click on the link below to see the article by Stefan Malmsten:

 http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/place-grow

Here is the link to our final Aiding Athens Multimedia piece produced by Katharine Egli, along with other photos from the project by Brien Vincent and Katharine Egli:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/aiding-athens-havar

Aiding Athens: Nelsonville Community Center

This is the fourth installment of our five-part series called Aiding Athens. Post staff photographers Sam Owens and Brien Vincent went out to photograph the story of the Nelsonville Community Center, a place where community members can come and socialize, get a free meal and also a helping hand because of the hard work and purpose of the center’s director, Rhonda Bentley, and everyone who makes the center a place for those who need it most.

Check out the photos taken for this project below and see multimedia piece by the Post Multimedia Editor Erin Corneliussen:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/aiding-athens-nelsonville-community-center

Article by Ryan Clark:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/aiding-athens-nelsonville-community-center

Aiding Athens: Last Chance Corral

Today in The Post, we run the third installment of our five-part series on nonprofit organizations in Athens County, “Aiding Athens.” It features Victoria Goss, the owner of Last Chance Corral, which has been taking in foals and unwanted horses since 1986.

But with the current state of the economy, Goss said, the Last Chance Corral and other nonprofits like it are in a “catch-22.” Many people are finding they can’t afford to care for their horses, which increases the need for the corral — yet because of the economy many people no longer have the “discretionary income,” to help support the corral’s efforts.

But Goss and many volunteers help keep the foals and horses that are at the corral healthy until they are adopted. And though it requires a strenuous amount of time and work, Goss says she wouldn’t trade her job for anything.

“My eyes pop open every morning. I am excited to get out there and do what I do and see the progress in these animals and the progress in the facility,” she said. “You know, every time we make it function more smoothly that means there’s more time to put into the animals.”

Listen to Goss in her own words and find out how to help the Last Chance Corral: read the story by The Post‘s Assistant Managing Editor Alex Stuckey and watch the multimedia piece by Director of Photography Dustin Lennert below.

Article: http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/life-foalest

Multimedia: http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/aiding-athens-last-chance-corral

Aiding Athens: Sams Gym

Today in The Post, we run part two of our Aiding Athens series. Sam Jones, a 71-year-old Bando kickboxing champion, has been keeping kids off the streets of Glouster by teaching them how to box. The gym is one of the only free places for kids to go and practice sports outside of school, and Sam ensures that the students who go there keep up in their studies at school.

Sam’s Gym was started by Sam Jones’ father and grandfather and is free and open to the public. Though the gym is rundown, its character shines through with pictures of present and past boxers, along with photos highlighting the history of Glouster and Sam’s life. Through Sam’s coaching, he trains his boxers not only to be good athletes but to have good character. Sam’s offers those who visit the gyn an alternative route than the one they find on the streets, where drugs and violence are a reoccurring problem in Glouster. The gym is like a second family unit for those who come, and inside the ring, they learn about more than just boxing — they learn about life.

See some of our photos from The Post Director of Photography Dustin Lennert and click on the links below to see the story by Staff Writer Olivia Young and the Aiding Athens multimedia piece by Multimedia Editor Erin Corneliussen below:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/crowning-life’s-champs

 

Aiding Athens: Friends and Neighbors Community Choice Food Center

In our five-part “Aiding Athens” series, our reporters and photographers have teamed up to tell the stories of various non-profit organizations in Athens County who have financial need. In our first installment of the series, Post reporter Pamela Engel writes about the Friends and Neighbors Community Choice Food Center, a food pantry located near Coolville.

Here’s a bit of info about the pantry from today’s story:

Soon after (its founding in 2002), the pantry moved to its own building in Lottridge, a small town near Coolville. Donations — food, clothes, money, furniture, household goods — keep the pantry going, but the 40-by-40-foot space is not big enough to accommodate the growing need.

“We pretty much outgrew the space 15 minutes after we moved into it,” Roberts said. “It has been a steady increase in clients. We’ve never gone backward.”

Friends and Neighbors needs $80,000 to open a larger location in Coolville. So far, the organization has just $12,000 toward that goal.

We sent Post photographers Robin Hecker, Sarah Kramer and Ross Brinkerhoff out to the pantry, and below are some of the images they captured. And here’s a link to the multimedia piece from Friends and Neighbors by Post picture editor Gwen Titley:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/aiding-athens-friends-and-neighbors

Matt Hatcher: Putting a Face to Homelessness

Post Staff Photographer Matt Hatcher spent time over Winter Break starting a project on the Homeless in Columbus, Ohio. With such a delicate subject matter, it took time for Matt to gain their trust and understand there story. Check out Matt’s project in progress below:

For as long as I can remember living in Columbus, I can remember seeing the city’s homeless residents as well. It has always seemed that no matter where you go in Columbus you are sure to see them standing at traffic lights holding signs, walking down the sidewalk, or taking refuge under an over pass.

Over the break I decided that I wanted to do a story on the issue. With freezing temperatures and other harsh winter conditions, I felt that there wasn’t a better  time to capture the struggles that these people face everyday.

The first step I took was to contact a handful of homeless shelters around the city and explain to them my idea.  The first two shelters I contacted felt that the people they took care of wouldn’t especially care to have their pictures taken.  However, after contacting a shelter named ‘The Open Shelter” the person in charge, Kent Beittel, I felt that my story was a great idea and was more than willing to help me.

For the next week I went to the Open Shelter, which is located on Mound St. in Columbus, and just sat around and talked to the people without taking a single shot. At first their was an air of mistrust and suspicion, lots of people asked why I had a camera and what I was doing, and a few people avoided me saying they didn’t want their pictures posted anywhere. After a few days of visiting and socializing with those who frequented the shelters, I began to make connections and gain their trust. The next week I felt confident enough to take a few frames.

Soon after, I began visiting other shelters and talking to other homeless residents. Two days before Christmas I photographed a Christmas party for less fortunate families.  This included a free meal, and a trash bag full of toys for each family for Christmas.

Although this is a project still in the making, I feel that the images I have captured help give a little insight into shelter life and different programs to help out those in need.

Theme: Ice

The weather this weekend brought Athens an unexpected ice storm that encased everything from the sidewalks to the trees in a layer of ice. Ohio is known for it’s dramatic shifts in weather, and this storm was no exception. With this overnight shift to an icy winter wonderland, the Postphotographers decided to go out and capture the fleeting ice-covered environment.

The next day, the temperatures rose and the melting ice plummeted from the trees like rain back to the ground, giving another perfect example of the power of the photograph as a tool to document the world around us. The photograph goes from being a window into how things are to a look at how things were as time goes on — and the weather is a perfect example of that.

Check out how our photographers saw the briefly ice-covered Athens in the photos below:

Theme: Winter

Once a week the Post photographers try and challenge themselves with a theme to photograph. It can be an idea, emotion, object or direction that they will challenge themselves to convey in a photograph.

Check out how our photographers chose to convey ‘winter’:

Joel Bissell: Behind the Scenes and on the Ice

Post Photographer Joel Bissell follows the Ohio University Hockey team around for his photo story class. Joel chose to shoot hockey to improve his ability to shoot the sport, but he’s continued to follow the story after his class in order to constantly improve. Check out Joel’s photo story below:

A tradition was born along the Hocking River in 1958 when the Ohio University hockey team laced up their skates and took to the ice for the first time. Since then there have been over 1,000 players playing in more than 1,000 games. These men have won over 65% of their games, countless league championships and three national hockey championships. Today the 18-member team is playing in the 53rd year of Bobcat Hockey. The Bobcats are coached by Dan Morris and play in Bird Arena. In the words of the team’s first MVP, Bill “The Sheik” Gurnick (goalie from ’59 to ’65), “My life was changed for the better because of my hockey experience at Ohio University. My academic performance, social life and personal development all improved as a member of the hockey team” Gurnick stated.