Two possible sources for the environmental portrait                                 and mug shot assignment

Environmnetal Portriat # One

Rafael Valazco is the owner and operator of Valazco's Lawn Service.

Every Wednesday he arrives at my house to mow the lawn, trim bushes and trees, and weed the flower beds. He does this with out fail, no matter the weather.

He has a bright yellow enclosed trailer that he pulls behind his pick up truck full of yard care equipment. The red lettering boldly proclaims his business name and information.

He works hard, gets dirty and always has earplugs on. He is a bit gruff looking but when he smiles he has dimples and beautiful straight white teeth. 

He allowed me to take some pictures of him riding one of his lawn mowers (he was insistent on using that particular one even though it is too big for out little yard. He pulled it out of the trailer specifically for me to shoot him on it). 

The mug shot was taken against the side of his yellow trailer. 
It was a good background that highlighted his olive colored skin and dark black hair. 

Environmental Portrait # Two 

I am very keen to do my main environmental portrait on a person who makes their living fishing. I have contacted several fishing charter boat companies in Yachats, on the Oregon coast, with my request. 

On Sunday, accompanied by my faithful dog Skye, I will off to the coast to see what photos I can obtain! 
I believe we will have many types of props to choose from. The boat itself and also rods, reels, and other various equipment used for ocean boat fishing.

Even though I learned that environmental portraits do not mean to take photos of someone outside in nature, both of my choices seem to reflect that anyway. However, it is with a more specific end in mind to shoot a poised portrait reflecting a persons job or passion.

Ahoy matey!

Week 2 OverAll, Medium and Close Up

Feather enjoys eating a treat of alfalfa hay at theLBCC Horse Center.

Cindy Gooch (in fuchsia jacket)  keeps watch over her riders in the LBCC Horse Center arena.

Nicki Sinfield gives her horse Marshmallow a cool rinse at the LBBC Horse Center barn.

Week Two Review Ideas

Frozen Yogurt may not be the most exciting of a topic for a review. However, I found a place near the LBCC campus, called LimeBerry that is a bit unique in the frozen yogurt world.

Another review I am interested in doing is on the book, "The Rosie Project", by Australian Graeme Simpson. It is the debut novel about a man with autism, whose life is upended by the meeting of a woman named Rosie.

Reviews are personal. No matter if the writer is trying to explain something to a large audience, it is still something that comes from a personal perspective.

Here is a review of a similar type of book entitled "The Summer Before The War", written by Helen Simpson.
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/24/471343375/shadows-haunt-a-lovely-season-in-summer-before-the-war

While the story starts out simple and infused with place and time and weather, with snappy dialogue and witty remarks, the reviewer soon lets the reader know that things are more serious and difficult.
I wanted very much to go to this little place, walk about and see what the reviewer tells us might be found there. I also know that life is not always that way, gentle and kind, and cared about what might be happening to the characters.

I was drawn into this review because without revealing the plot twists, it still told me what the book was about. The reviewer explained a bit of the setting and even gives some characterization examples, while keeping the reader wondering. As a potential reader of the book, I want to feel confident that I am interested in the book or subject yet able to explore its depths on my own.
The review gives a quote from the book that offers that kind of information.

"The contrast between pastoral peace and the violent chaos of war is what gives this novel its heft."

The most notable aspect of reviewing a book review showed me that it is not a book report. The reader does not want to know the details, plot twists and or even worse, the ending. They just want to know if possibly they might find it among their particular interests and then read it for themselves.

I look forward to reading this book!

Forum 1

oops! I see now that I failed to submit this assignment.  uh oh...is my usual response to my dog losing her ball in the bushes. But like her... I always manage to find the way. And while I may not collect the points associated with it, I can come around around full circle just for the fun of it... let the ball roll, investigate what else is out there, and bring it on home.

Week 2 Topic Two Finding Feature leads....

Taken from page 79 in the PHOTO Journalism textbook by Kenneth Korbe`:


1. Get on the mailing lists of organizations- the more the obscure the better! 
When potential free advertising comes their way, most business's, organizations, clubs and groups are more than happy to provide requested information about themselves. Then I would follow up and show up!

2. Take the time to stop ( whatever you are doing, driving, walking, flying, ect.) if you see a situation that lends itself to a feature. 

Maybe I am a busy body, or nosy, or just care about what is going on around me. Perhaps I am highly tuned to some electrical pulse that seems to make me notice odd details and then wonder how or why it is that way. Or I simply just appreciate it for what ever it is. Nonetheless, I have been known to ask questions. A lot of questions. 

MY PLAN TO FIND FEATURES by this method is to be myself! Only more so! By doing more follow up to my curious nature, I already am encountering new opportunities and situations in which to ask people questions about themselves, which, with an open mind and a polite friendly nature, can take me to some unexpected places...

The other thing I really need to do is be able to shoot early morning and evening. So, another part of my plan will be to go out during these times and look for photo story leads.

Week 2 Topic One Diane Arbus Facts

I have selected Diane Arbus for my Photographer of the Week assignment.

Diane was born into the Jewish family, Nemerov, who were wealthy New York, Fifth Avenue department store owners.

She started her photo career with her husband Allan Arbus in the advertising and fashion industries.

She committed suicide at the age 48 in 1971.


The most striking features of Diane's photos are they are almost all in a square format, black and white, and portraits.

Her claim to photography fame is that her portraits tended to be of the unseen, deformed, outcast and outer fringes of society. 

The Almost Secret LBCC Horse Center

                                         

Nicki Sinfield gives Marshmallow a cool rinse after their work out together in the arena.

 Nicki Sinfield strides across the LBCC Horse Center arena wearing a black tee shirt that says, “Heels Down & Eyes Up”. It is good advice for anyone sitting in a saddle astride a 1,000 pound horse.  Nicki is a student in Jenny Stroobands’ horse management class. The Horse Center is somewhat of a secret at LBCC. Many students do not know it exists, partly because it is not located on the main campus. But just a mile down 53^rd St. is a big red barn, riding arena, stables and pasture pens full of horses. Several of those horses are pregnant and expected to foal in the next six to eight weeks.

The Horse Center has several purposes. Because its daily operations are not funded by the school, horse owners from mostly the western parts of the U.S. can board their horses for a fee at the center. Each semester the students are assigned a horse that they will work with all term. Besides being taken care of, the young horses are trained by the students to wear a halter and bridle, saddle, walk, trot, canter, and follow stop, go, turn and back up commands. Dana Sanders is one of the students. 

“I thought I knew a lot about horses but they have taught me more here than I ever knew," said Sanders. 

She is referring to Jenny Strooband, who heads the program, and her barn manager Cindy Gooch.

Strooband was hired in 2002, the same year that LBCC purchased the Horse Center property that they had been leasing since its inception in 1984. That was when Jim Lucas ran the Agriculture Science Department and saw a need for practical experience in Equine Management. 

There are two degrees offered through the Horse Center program: Associate of Applied Science which also overlaps with Associate of Science in Equine Management. This is a good place for pre-veterinarian students to get started while the former is a two year program geared toward obtaining employment directly into the horse training field.

Another important activity that generates income for the center is breeding. Currently there are four stallions from which the students collect, process, and ship semen around the country. Jenny explained that there are quite a few horses here with very high pedigrees. People pay money to obtain the semen of these stallions to then artificially inseminate their mares.

All the students admit that the class is labor intensive. When the horses are in the stalls, they have to be cleaned out daily, besides twice daily feedings. Just lifting a 25 lb. saddle onto a six ft. horse can be daunting. It’s hot and dusty in the summer, cold and muddy in the winter. Most of them have been either kicked or nipped by a horse. Some even get thrown off. But the students all agree that Jenny and Cindy make everything worthwhile. They infuse all the activities with passionate enthusiasm. 

In fact, Jenny said, "I have the best job on campus". 

She loves what she does and it seems to infect everyone, including the horses. It is rather like a large extended family. Because horses are highly social beings, living at the center allows them to see, hear, smell and talk to each other constantly. When there are 4-8 horses turned out together in the arena during training it could almost be like going to class with your friends. Only a bit more aromatic!

Horses are strong animals yet can be very gentle. They are usually patient and even playful. But sometimes, just like humans, they can get a bit cranky. I witnessed a bit of this when visiting the center. A young girl was attempting to mount her horse, using a step stool for just that purpose, when he pulled away and she got her hand caught just enough to give her a hard pinch. That’s when Whitney Whitaker stepped in. 

Whitney said as she walked towards the arena gate, “I plan to be a horse trainer so doing things correctly is important”. 

She then helped the girl start the exercise over from the beginning.

Nicki’s horse this semester is Marshmallow, a three and a half year old appaloosa. But it is not her first horse or even her first class. She loves it at the Horse Center so much that she re-enrolled after finishing the first time, got hired to help Cindy look after the horses when the students are not there and even lives in the small living quarters that were built after the 2002 purchase.It is a testament to the kind of commitment that is required to care for these magnificent beings.

http://www.linnbenton.edu/current-students/student-support/departments-and-divisions/agricultural-sciences-department/gardens-and-centers/horse-center/horse-center

Jenny Strooband

http://cf.linnbenton.edu/mathsci/ansci/stroobj/web.cfm?pgID=1050