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(photos by Matthew Modoono and Adam Glanzman, Northeastern University)

Pay attention to the MIC for even a little while and you can't miss the consistently creative portraiture out of Northeastern University. The two staff photographers at the Boston school, Matthew Modoono and Adam Glanzman, have won accolades for their portraiture, as recently as this past MIC, in fact. They were kind enough to do a breakdown of a few of their portraits and give a little behind-the-scenes as to the techniques involved.

(Photos by Derek Eckenroth) Derek Eckenroth is a staff photographer at Bob Jones University. Derek’s photo “Lightning on Front Campus” was voted Best In Show in the September 2018 Monthly Image Competition. 

Quick tech stuff—camera model, focal length, exposure data, lighting used (if any):

•Canon 5D Mark IV

•16mm

•ISO 100

•f/11 25sec (bulb)

Briefly go through the process of how the photo came about: Assignment or found/self-assigned? Any unique logistics in making the photo? What sort of post processing (or not)?

Text and photos by Jay Drowns

Jay Drowns is Photography Manager at Utah Valley University. In 2018 a UVU assignment in Alaska provided Jay with an opportunity to do what is a bucket list item for many: Visit all 50 U.S. states. He describes how being a university photographer put him in a position to both serve his campus and broaden his own horizons.

Our mascot is the wolverine. The designer for our Prospective Student Services and I batted some ideas around. Among the ideas was a mailer to the students that talked about the characteristics of the wolverine.

(photo by fellow recent retiree Robert Jordan) Kurt Stepnitz at the 2017 Symposium

Kurt Stepnitz retired in early May 2018 after 37 years at Michigan State University. Kurt has earned many UPAA awards, including the Master of the Profession award as well as being named a Fellow of the University Photographers' Association of America. Holly Whetstone of MSU wrote the following of Kurt’s 29-year association with the MSU College of Agriculture & Natural Resources’ magazine Futures and kindly gave permission for the article to be re-published on the UPAA blog.

Photos and text by Glenn Carpenter, Moraine Valley Community College

Look at any of Nate Edwards’ or Jaren Wilkey’s studio action photos and you will notice one dominant characteristic: Tack-sharp motion. At the symposium we discussed this and came to the conclusion that you can spot an image made with Profoto lights a mile away.

Story and photos by Ken Bennett, Director of Photography, Wake Forest University

While medium format digital solutions have been around since the transition from film, they have historically been both very expensive and difficult to use outside the studio.  That’s changed.

The “Triple Play” began at the 2013 Symposium at Elgin Community College. The idea: Give three different photographers 15 minutes to shoot a typical assignment and watch each photographer’s approach to the job. The idea was an instant hit, but also a bit of a zoo, as all the Syposium attendees watched live and in person, a gallery of 75+ people chatting and following photographer and subject from location to location. It was a little crowded, a little noisy and amped up the pressure on the participants.

As the Triple Play became a regular part of the Symposium schedule, the format was modified and tweaked each year to find the sweet spot of letting the audience watch the process without being intrusive to the participants. The 2018 format was the most innovative yet: Wake Forest multimedia director Mike Shaw videotaped each shoot, which allowed the photography to happen quietly and privately, with Symposium attendees watching the process afterward. The added bonus of the latest format tweak is that the Triple Play can now be shared with those who could not attend the Symposium.

The assignment? A familiar one for every university photographer: Environmental portrait.

First up was Patrick Hinely, Photographer Emeritus at Washington and Lee University:

(Photos by Adam Glanzman) Adam Glanzman is staff photographer at Northeastern University. His photo “Track Coach” was voted Best in Show in the June 2018 Monthly Image Competition.

How did this job land on your calendar?  Client request, your idea, or a combo of both?  

(Text by Matt Cashore; 2018 Symposium group photo by Lauren Martinez Olinger; All other photos credited to photographer when metadata was included in the file)

The 2018 UPAA Symposium in one word?

Unprecedented. 

The 2018 UPAA Symposium at Wake Forest had several ‘never befores’:

•More new attendees than ever

•Greater percentage of women members than ever

•Most Pulitzer prizes represented by our speakers (okay just one speaker, but c’mon!)

Jay Drowns is Photography Manager at Utah Valley University. Jay’s photo “Goga” was voted Best in Show in the May 2018 Monthly Image Competition.  This is Jay’s second “Best in Show” award this year. Read about his first here. (All photos by Jay Drowns except where noted)

Hi again!  How did this image come about?  And just…tell us more about how goat yoga works, exactly...

Lukas Keapproth is staff photographer at Loyola University Chicago. The following is a re-posting from Lukas' personal blog. Text and photos by Lukas Keapproth

Back in early March during a brief meeting of our Marketing and Communication staff to gameplan for our March Madness coverage, we said to ourselves, “Wouldn’t it just be great if they win that first round game?”

For Loyola to make the tournament at all was historic—this was their first trip since 1985—so the decision was for me to travel with the team, documenting what it was like for Loyola’s first team in 33 years to go to the tournament.

Todd Paris is recently retired from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a UPAA Master of the Profession awardee. Todd’s photo “Baja Sunset” was voted Best in Show in the April Monthly Image Competition. This was Todd’s second Best in Show this year. Read about his first here. (All photos by Todd Paris)

Hi…again!  Congratulations on another Best in Show.  Retirement is going well for you photographically!  Tell us the circumstances and tech specs behind this winning photo…

Tourney Time

(Text and photos by Eric Bronson)

(Photos by Matt Cashore) Matt Cashore is Senior University Photographer Notre Dame. Matt’s photo “Discovery” was voted Best In Show in the March 2018 Monthly Image Competition. 

How the image came about:

I crave feedback which challenges me to think harder about my work.  I don’t mean social media “likes” or other applause. While that is important in many ways, I want relevant and candid feedback from experts. That’s surprisingly hard to come by. 

“While widely published in digital and print formats, View Finder presents my work, for the first time, solely as individual, stand-alone photographs.”

Lyndsie Schlink is Senior Photographer at Illinois State University. She recently organized a gallery show of her work. She describes the process of editing 15 years' worth of images into a 15 print exhibition. (Photos and Text by Lyndsie Schlink)

The Exhibition Process