Graduation Day

Class 050-16, our newest batch of MCs, is about to graduate. They've been here for about six months but the pain is almost over. 

These young squidlets have been hard at work, producing print and broadcast news and features stories, recorded still and video photography, and created graphic designs, all using the Adobe software suite.

I'll see you in the fleet! (Your grad video kicked ass, by the way.)

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Sea Trials

The final test for MC students is sea trials, a 4-day event simulating life on a ship. They're hit with a nonstop barrage of jobs, designed to keep them  on their toes.

Seaman Janine Jones is required to produce a feature story in a very short period of time. MC2 Gordon and I are being interviewed about life as a secdef videographer 

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Group shot!

Class 050-16 is doing their end-of-year group shot. It's all done without any help from the instructors. This can feel like herding cats. Seriously though, taking a group shot is an important skill to have out in the fleet. You WILL be asked to shoot large groups of VIP visitors and entire departments.

The number one thing to remember is that you, the photographer, are in control. Don't be afraid to give the group orders, no matter what rank they are. Be polite, but firm.

It may feel awkward to shout commands, but if you don't, you could end up with a crappy photograph with no chance for a do over.

Looking good MCs!

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MC Perspective: Photo stories

Photo story by Seaman Janine Jones.

Students at the Defense Information School who make it to photo class usually rejoice, because they SURVIVED WRITING!!! News and feature writing give problems to the most people, but photo can be scary for some, and not for the reason you'd expect.

APPROACH ANXIETY: The fear of speaking to strangers. In order to complete these assigned photo stories, students must find live human subjects to shoot. Typically they're dropped off in Annapolis, DC or Baltimore, and have one day to complete the assignment.

This is terrifying for introverts.

Seaman Recruit Janine Jones is definitely not an introvert. She took the time to send in some field footage of the students working, along with the finished product.

Seaman Recruit Perla Peters at El Toro Bravo. Photo by SN Janine Jones.

JONES: The first attempt by Peters was at an ice cream place that had their freezers break causing the ice cream to melt, so they weren't going to be open that day. Thankfully the owner also owned a lobster roll place that she was able to shoot at.

Peters gets caption info at El Toro Bravo. Photo by SN Janine Jones.

It's not enough to take photos of people from afar. Students need to speak with them to get crucial background information. This info is placed in the photo story, so the audience understands what they're looking at.

It's important to go back to the client and give them a copy of the photo story. Many students don't do this, and it makes it harder for future photographers to do stories on the business.

JONES: A lot of the businesses we approached had bad experiences previously with other classes shooting there.

Seaman Kevin Leitner at Kilwin's in Annapolis. Photo by SN Janine Jones.

JONES: We are required to have ten different images that tell a story to create a layout with two short paragraphs.

Seaman Kevin Leitner at Kilwin's in Annapolis. Photo by SN Janine Jones.

I AM YOUR EYES: The trick is to capture the subject in his or her natural environment, without getting in the way.

SR Kyle Moore putting in work at Capital Teas in Annapolis. Photo by SN Janine Jones. 

A good smile can go a long way to winning over nervous subjects.

SR Kyle Moore's photo story

SN Kevin Leitner's photo story


Great job everyone and thanks to SN Jones for the information!