Thoughts about Nikon D7000

Frankly speaking, when I first held the Nikon D7000 in my hands, I was overwhelmed with the amount of functions of the camera. However, after a few attempts on operating the Nikon D7000, I learned that it was rather user-friendly. The basic elements of taking a photograph such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO were rather simple and accessible for an amateur like me. I always thought that  I had to manually adjust every element when taking a desired photograph by using a DSLR. However, I was impressed with the auto functions such as the auto ISO and the anti-shake function. Although we are not advised to put everything on auto mode, I believe that the auto functions actually helped beginners like me in achieving my desired shots. Not to mention, I like the fact that the Nikon D7000 is lightweight which means less tiring when needed to go around to take pictures. As a beginner in photography, I truly enjoyed  the learning process of taking pictures using a professional camera. The attempts on taking photographs using a DSLR has sparked my interest to further venture into professional photography. I am excited to find out more on what a DSLR could offer such as the advanced functions and modes.

Besides learning about the Nikon D7000, I realized that that using a tripod helps improve the quality of the photographs. Prior to the lesson, I perceived assembling a tripod as a difficult task because the locks and screws were unfamiliar to me. After a thorough guide on how to assemble a tripod, I realized that it was rather simple. I learned that using a tripod is essential in capturing a perfect photo, especially photos of small objects close-up. This is because minor movements will cause unintentional blurry image. Therefore, the use of tripod helps increase stability and prevents blurry photographs. In the lecture, I learned that tripod is significant when it comes to capture fast movement such as racing car. In order to capture a clear image of a moving object, the camera needs to be still. Thus, the use of tripod will contribute to a still camera because it is merely possible for our hands to be perfectly still when capturing an image.

Intention and Anticipation.

I would like to kickoff my first blog post on what I intend to learn from J2150. Firstly, I wish to pick up professional photography skills. Being an amateur  whom only capture photographs using my iPhone, I anticipate to expand my skills in photography with the equipment provided by the journalism school. I am equally excited to lay my hands and explore the professional equipment such as the fancy Nikon D7000. By the end of this course, I wish to gain knowledge by knowing the appropriate apertures, lighting and angles for every photograph. Apart from expanding photography skills, I am eager to use the software that are required for this course such as Photoshop and Adobe Premiere. In all honesty, I have never explored any of these software and I believe the skills acquired will help me improve myself as an aspiring journalist. Additionally, I believe this course provides an opportunity to explore the world of multimedia and its impact on journalism. In this contemporary era, I am convinced that the knowledge I obtained on multimedia will benefit my career in the near future. 

On the first lecture in lab, we learned about headlines and cutlines. From the lecture, I learned that headlines should be short and sweet. The purpose of having short headlines is to help audience in understanding the general content of a story. Apart from being short, headlines are meant to capture audience's attention. An attention catching headline encourages audience to further read or watch a news. Therefore, a straightforward headline is better than a long-winded headline. On the other hand, cutlines are descriptions for photographs. I learned that cutlines can be written with the guidelines of who, where, what, when and why. Without cutlines, a photograph could be portrayed from various angles, and it is merely possible for audience to identify what the photograph is portraying. Therefore, cutline plays an essential role because it serves a purpose to assist in describing a photograph. 

All in all, the first week of lab classes turned out to be decent. I anticipate to gain more knowledge and skills in multimedia journalism through this course.