Environmental Portrait: Holly Pitalo

Holly Pitalo, stylist by day barista by night, brews and creates latte art with coffee at Si Como No,
a Salem coffee shop. Holly's love for coffee reflects in the drinks she makes. Between clients and shifts at the coffee shop Holly enjoys her days outside with her dog Tulip.

Holly Pitalo

Blog Forum III

Two portrait subjects I have in mind are Holly Pitalo and Heather Diaz

Holly is passionate about hair and coffee; living as a stylist by day and a barista by night. She is best known for her hair coloring skills, beautifully transforming any head of hair. Anyone can see this talent of hers will take her far in life. She doesn't stop there, working as a barista at a local coffee shop, her love for coffee reflects in the drinks she serves. Her confident and positive attitude makes her easily likable and her down to earth personality makes her relatable. A great place to capture her would be in her salon, possibly in her hair chair, or at the color mixing station. Good props would be a hair color brush and bowl, or sheers. Holly has colored my hair, I have her number, and I'm sure she would be more than happy to.

Heather Diaz MD is a family medicine specialist. Running a clinic, caring for sick patients, healthy patients, pregnant moms, delivering babies, a mom of 3, a wife, and a feminist, this lady is nothing short of a hero. The best environment to get her in would be an exam room or her office. An obviously good prop would be her stethoscope. Having her sitting in front of a piece of medical equipment would work as a great prop as well. Dr. Diaz is my OBGYN and our family care doctor, thankfully I have her personal email, I'm hoping if she isn't too booked I will be able to get some time with her.

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Now that I have committed to photojournalism for a few weeks, the best photo I have taken so far, in my opinion, is this photo of Kelly Skaer. It's the best so far, because, the angle was nice, her smile was natural, the lighting was great, somehow not getting a shadow on her face, under her hood.

Photography is fairly new to me, Ive never used a camera other than the one on the back of my iPhone before this class. With that being said, I feel as though my worst photo, unfortunately is, this one of the lovely ladies at the LBCC Earth Month Event. The lighting is not great, I could have tried a few different angles to find the right lighting. I was nervous trying so many angles, running around them, that I would distract them and then they wouldn't be as invested in this conversation.

Confidence, photography basics, and camera knowledge is my weakness. The more photos I take the more comfortable I feel behind the camera, the less awkward I feel asking to take someone's photo. I'm not familiar with how to 'read light', or what the best angles are. My framing skills are an aesthetically pleasing Instagram photo, which tends to be slightly staged more often than not. Because I'm not familiar with camera setting and basic photography knowledge, but I am surfing the internet for information on camera functions and purpose to help. Any improvement with these dilemmas will improve my photography skills.

News/Feature Event: Earth Month at LBCC

Unusual Recycling is what all the buzz was about at this booth during 

the LBCC Earth Day Celebration on Thursday, April 19. 

Melinda Sorte (far left) collects preloved shoes and gifts them to those in need. 

Students learn about the vast benefits of an eco friendly Telsa.

Owner, Brian Reed displays his car in the courtyard of the Albany campus.

Students gather around this booth to get their hands dirty.

Every dollar donated to pot flowers goes towards scholarships for Linn-Benton students. 

Blog Forum II

The photographer I have chosen for Photographer of the Week is Pulitzer Prize winner Javier Manzano. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 18. He worked for Rocky Mountain News as a photojournalist until they closed in 2009, sense then he has been freelancing. Specializing in documentary film and still photography, he is currently based in the Middle East. The images he captures are strong, and give this overwhelming rush of emotions. You are instantly transported to that time, and given a closer look to situations of war and conflict that we, as U.S. citizens, are mostly shielded from. Manzano is well known for his coverage of the country's drug wars in the Afghanistan and Syria. However, a large focus of his work focused on border crossing issues.

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After reading the prelude and chapter 1 of Lyndsey Addario's "It's What I Do" I couldn't stop there. It's the first non-textbook I have read in awhile. The intensity of the prelude sucks you into her beautiful, exciting, adventurous, and dangerous life. A photographer in the middle of war, capturing glimpses of this world unfamiliar to me, and at suck risk that she might not live to tell them. She's brave, ambient, driven, and wonderful. I really like this book. What impresses me about her is, at the start of chapter one she starts with a backstory of her parents and her life as an eight year old, and as the story goes on, and she ages, getting her first camera, studying abroad, she seems so aware of herself and her surroundings. What impresses me most about the book is how the story is told. It paints her story so vividly, as if it's a memory replay and I'm standing along side her.

When Addario talks about photographic the mothers who's children disappeared during the Argentina's Dirty War, she expresses she didn't know what it took to have good composition in a photo or how to read light. Each week she returned, showing that persistence is key. Taking what didn't go so well the first try to adjust and try again. The assignment with the transgender-prostitutes she doesn't use her camera at first, Addario gets to know them, gaining their trust. This shows that warming up and getting to know a bit about who or what your photographing, pays off by being able to get closer, more intimate.

My favorite quote, so far, is "I didn't wring my hands with seemingly enormous decisions. I just saw the door and went through it." It further shows her venturous and 'take life by the bull' personality, which I admire. I can't pick just one of her photos and say its my favorite. I look at a photo of a mother holding her baby, dehydrated, and being offered food from children and it bring tears to my eyes. Then there is another image she has captured, men with guns, rage in their face, open desert and a car burning behind them. The angle at which this photo is taken, the contrast of blue sky and the deep black smoke, all captured so perfectly. Looking at this photo you are told the story of men who are fighting to protect what they have. I can't choose just one of her photos, maybe if I didn't know a little bit of the story behind them I wouldn't register just how impactful this picture is and I could choose a photo based on aesthetics; but I can't. 

Humans of LBCC II

Aubrey Ball

My all time favorite teacher would be my high school teacher. She's always there for her students, making sure that everyone knew that you could go to her for anything. She's younger than most other teachers, who talks about herself, making her more personable and easy to talk to. She became more of a friend instead of a stranger. She is amazing at what she does, I still go to her this day for anything I need help. My favorite memory with her is senior year, we took a field trip, and talked the whole day, and she helped me to see a lot.

Bailey Sprague

My favorite hobby is working on my truck. Ever sense I was really young I've always been obsessed with pretty much anything with wheels and a motor. I remember going to my grandpas and playing on the tractor when I was little and my dad teaching me how to work on his pickup. Now, I've used all that knowledge to work on my truck and thats why I'm going into engineering.

Blog Forum I

Hello, my name is Samantha, I am a mom and a student. After having my son I was fortunate enough to be able quit my job to stay home and be with him. Shortly after my son turned two I decided to enroll in Linn Benton to finish my associates, so I am currently finishing the last bit of courses I need to have an AAOT. I took Intro to PhotoJournalism because I need art credits and the course description caught my interest. I don't have much knowledge or background aside from instagram but I would really love to know what it takes to snap a good picture that tells a good story.

I hope by the end of this term I have knowledge of the qualities that make a successful documentary photo. I want to have the ability to use a camera to create a documentary image/photo. Lastly, at the end of this term I hope to understand the contribution of photojournalism.

Earth Day is coming up- what are LBCC humans doing to better our planet? Photographing and interviewing those who are celebrating at the courtyard lunch and activities on the 19th from 11-1.
Moms on Campus- with Mother's Day approaching, interview moms, inquire and applaud their grit.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month- interview Phi Theta Kappa, Alena Santos. Help advocate for the victims of sexual assault.

Humans of LBCC

Kelly Skaer

"A mom of six kids, my boys are 13,11,10, and 8 any my girls are 4 and 20 months. I married into a a community that doesn't support women going to college or working much outside the home. When the marriage ended, court ordered no contact, mainly because of physical abuse. I knew it was time to do what I had always wanted to, pursue a degree and get myself a little career going to support my family."

Amerika Rojos

"I grew up speaking Spanish, it wasn't until I entered preschool that I was taught English. My parents taught me Spanish because they didn't speak English well and because they wanted me to be able to communicate with the rest of my family, especially my grandparents. Growing up, we were only allowed to speak Spanish at home, with the exception of when our friends came over. Being Bilingual was tough at first, I used to really struggle with reading. At home I was being taught how to read in Spanish while at school it was being taught in English, frequently mixing the two. Now that I am older I really appreciate my parents for forcing Spanish upon my siblings and I because it has been helpful and I think its a cool quality to have"