(Photo by Ken Bennett) The UPAA Board at work in Utah, November 2019
Mid-Year Board Decision Announcements
Blog
(photos by Rhett Butler) Jonathan Rhett Butler (He goes by “Rhett” and yes, Gone With the Wind fans, that’s really his middle name!) is a University Communications Photographer in the News Services office at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He is a former newspaper photographer who has been at ECU for two and a half years and a UPAA member for just over a year. His Campus Environment photo “Foggy Morning” was voted Best in Show in the October 2019 Monthly Image Competition.
Quick tech stuff—camera model, focal length, exposure data, lighting used (if any):
•Canon EOS-R
(photo by Don Rogers) 'Benificence' is a bronze statue on the campus of Ball State University. It is referred to by students as "Benny."
This is a longer version of an article from The Contact Sheet, the UPAA annual magazine. It is the first of a new occasional series of member profiles, where we learn a little more about the staff and campuses of our member institutions.
(text and photos by Kristen Grace) Kristen Grace is a staff photographer and digital asset manager at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History. In February of 2019 a photo from a self-assigned story in Mexico won Best in Show in the Monthly Image Competition. The success of that project led to another self-pitched chance to accompany UF Florida Museum staff members on a research trip, this time to Costa Rica.
It never hurts to ask… again and again.
(text and photos by Justin Hayworth) Justin Hayworth is the photographer at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. His photo in the General Features category, "Deep Space," was voted Best in Show in the September 2019 Monthly Image Competition.
Quick tech stuff—camera model, focal length, exposure data, lighting used (if any):
Canon 5d Mark IV; Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 @15mm
Exposure: 30 seconds @f2.8, ISO 3200
Briefly go through the process of how the photo came about: Assignment or found/self-assigned?
Text and photos by Nate Edwards/BYU
I have been asked on many occasions how I edit my photos and what my process is. We felt like it was a good idea to make a video that will walk you through four different editing scenarios in order to share some tips and tricks that I have learned over the years to help my photos come alive.
A lot can happen in a decade. Ten years ago, Vincent Laforet and the Canon 5D Mark II had just sparked the DSLR video revolution in earnest. The D3s had just been publicly announced as the newest Nikon flagship model. The DJI Phantom 1 drone was still 4 years away and Sports Illustrated was still a weekly magazine...
Ten years later many UPAA members have gone from still photography-only to multimedia jugglers. Every new DSLR does 4K this and 120P that...Drones are everywhere...
Photo by Ken Bennett, Wake Forest University
The Board wants to remind everyone of announcements and decisions made at the 2019 Symposium. Member input is very important to the board and we use your ideas to help make decisions for the organization. The initiatives listed below come from your input. Please email ideas to Mark Carriveau prior to October 15 for inclusion in our agenda at the Midyear Meeting on November 1st.
Board and Business Meeting Summary of Decisions
Text and photos by Sanjay Suchak
Sanjay Suchack is University Photographer at the University of Virginia. He had a once-in-a-career opportunity to cover the implosion of Virginia's former basketball arena, University Hall, commonly known as U-Hall.
When I first arrived on Grounds (we call our campus Grounds) I couldn’t help but notice this large and looming structure. It was so out of place at a university where white columns are de rigueur. It looked like a clam or a spaceship, its white paint on the rubberized concrete roof peeling, the mid-century architecture so out of place.
(Photos by Nate Edwards) Nate Edwards is Photography Manager at BYU Photo. Nate’s photo “Steeplechase at 1/40th” was voted Best In Show in the June 2019 Monthly Image Competition. It was his third Best in Show winner of 2018-19.
Quick tech stuff—camera model, focal length, exposure data, lighting used (if any):
•Camera: Canon 1DX II
•Lens: Canon 70-200 f/2.8 II (shot at 170mm)
•Aperture: f/5
•Shutter: 1/40
•ISO 640
Text by Shannah Montgomery, University of Georgia.
I’ll never look at a rusty oil barrel the same after this week.
(Photos by Matt Cashore) Matt Cashore is senior university photographer at Notre Dame. Matt’s photo “Mosquito Buffet” was voted Best In Show in the May 2019 Monthly Image Competition.
Quick tech stuff—camera model, focal length, exposure data, lighting used (if any):
•Nikon Z6
•Nikkor 105 2.8 AIS manual focus lens on a FTZ adapter (coincidentally the same lens used for the March 2018 MIC Best in Show)
•1/160 sec, aperture recorded as f/2.8 but I think it was more like f/16 or f/22. I didn’t have the Non-CPU lens info set correctly.
(text and photos by Matt Cashore) Matt Cashore is senior university photographer at Notre Dame and the editor of the UPAA blog and magazine.
I first tried a Sony mirrorless camera (A7rII) at the 2017 Symposium. My impression in one word: Confusing: “Wha...? Why did the viewfinder shut off?” “What in the world does this menu setting mean??” “Is the in-body stabilization on or off??” It wasn't the camera's fault, it was my unfamiliarity with mirrorless in general. Too much new stuff at once. New menus, new buttons, new terms...EVF? IBIS? WYSIWYG? Oh my!
2009's Nikon D300s next to 2019's Nikon Z6
As the academic year ends, so too does the budget year for many UPAA members. Hopefully that means acquiring some new gear or at least replacing well-used gear with newer gear and the benefits of newer tech.
(photo by Jaren Wilkey) Text by Jaren Wilkey, manager of BYU's photo office
One of our favorite lighting styles is butterfly lighting, where the key light is front and center above the subject. We use it quite often, especially when we are photographing dancers and athletes. Due to the fact that most of our assignments are on location we always have the challenge of safely shooting butterfly lighting on set.