top of page
Jane Ripps
Managing Editor, ODYSSEY Media Group
photojournalism
Working as the Social Media Coordinator my freshman year, I recognized that photos are the biggest component of engagement on our platforms. Although I have limited experience in photojournalism, I have worked closely with photographers throughout my time, specifically in Variety, to produce photo essays. As a whole, this area is one I look to explore more, specifically human interest photography such as the "Murals in Athens" photo essay featured below.
caption writing
Above: TREND: Present tense, past tense, "quote." Attribution.
This formatting is the the first step in creating a caption that tells a story, but it isn't the key. For me, my process in caption writing is centered around the quote, and the rest follows.
step one:
When I pick a quote, I look through my transcription for something informative and moving. I need the reader to be able to jump into the conversation without my context of the rest of the interview. To the right, I have taken a quote from an interview I did with science teacher Valinda Miller at my high school during Black History Month. I picked this quote because it was personal, and made the reader feel something in only a few lines.
“I think Clarke Central is the epitome of diversity, (but students) don't see a lot of African American teachers,” Miller said. “African American students need to see more people that look like them to show them that you can do whatever you want to do. You can be the President of the United States, you can be a teacher if you want to, you can do whatever. I think that when students see more people that look like them they also perform better, especially if (they’re in) a minority group.”
step two:
Now that I have my quote, I like to focus on the past tense sentence that sets up the information. This is where I need think like a reader. I ask myself, "How can I make this sentence informative, NOT repetitive and flat?" In this specific scenario, I wanted to connect her love for teaching with her quote to lead into the Black Excellence aspect of the caption. I like to use prepositional phrases such "Through x," because it adds a certain element to the caption that doesn't make it feel rushed.
Through her experiences in the classroom, Miller has found her love for not only teaching Biology but being a role model for students of color.
step three:
With the "meat" of the caption put together, all that is left is to identify the picture and subjects. I like to think of the first sentence of a caption as a mini "Who, What, When, Where, Why." This helps me address all of the elements that readers need to know leading into the story.
Science department Co-Chair Valinda Miller sits at her desk in Room 180 on Feb. 2.
All done!
The most important idea to keep in mind when writing a caption is that is a story. You don't want it to feel rushed or for the writing to fall flat, because you only have so much time to rope in your readers into caring. When I wrote this scene my freshman year, I was new to caption writing. However, I recognized that I was telling a piece of someone's story, and every word should be intentional.
photo essays
For our first issue of the 2023-2024 school year, I took on a photo essay that showcases a few hidden gem murals we have around Athens, Georgia. I accompanied a photographer and showed her my vision. We worked together to help the story come to life.
_JPG.jpg)
Before we took photos, I knew I wanted this mural called "Hot Corner" as a full two-page spread in the magazine. Because of this idea, our photographer Aza Khan took a wide shot straight on so it could fill up the pages.
_JPG.jpg)
achieved with collaboration
Our hardest mural to photograph was "Breaking Barriers," which was a juxtaposition mural. We couldn't back up enough to capture the whole image on one shot, so we played around with sideways shots. However, I thought that I could just juxtapose them together in the magazine if we got two separate close ups of each side, and this way the details of the mural are evident.
The last mural we had trouble capturing with was "Hope." Because it is in a parking lot, we had to work around the cars. This eliminated the option to do a wide shot of the whole wall, and so Aza and I thought it would be cool to do a vertical picture which I planned featuring on the cover page. Just like my plan, it ended up being the first page of the layout and set the tone for the entire photo essay.
learning from failed attempts
DSC_5252_Original
DSC_5379_Original
DSC_4958_Original
DSC_5252_Original
1/5
When I was a freshman, I attempted to do a photo gallery on two varsity basketball games happening at my school. I was inexperienced with shooting events, and hid in the stands the whole game instead of going down to the court and getting the shots I needed. On top of this, I didn't take enough photos leading to the gallery being unpublishable. However, instead of accepting defeat and letting my photos go to waste, I learned from my mistakes and even turned my photos into a juxtaposition for an editorial I wrote. As a student journalist, it takes failure to succeed. From captions to leading, everything comes with time and practice, which was a lesson a learned from this.
NSPA pre-convention notes
In Nov. 2024, I attended a photography pre-convention class at the National Scholastic Press Association Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I learned a lot about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and more of the settings of a camera. Afterwards, we set off to take photos in the city of Philly to put our skills to use.
bottom of page