The end result

Overall I believe the project pulls together all of the skills we have learned over the semester well. All the little elements add up into a larger overall product.

The only major issue I had with the class was the technology. It was unfortunate that we had so much difficulty working with the equipment so often. If the technology had worked as planed I believe the class would have been much smoother and been far less frustrating for students.

Personally I do not like blogs, and this was a challenge for me. It was mostly a practice in forcing myself to do work I did not particularly want to do, but that is not a slight on the class.

Pulling the project all together

The editing process can be long and tedious, but with the proper planning beforehand it can be a painless process. Ensuring that information collected via recording is properly organized as much as possible during the interview process will make post production much faster.

Remembering important parts of the subjects being interviewed will also decrease the time needed to process the audio and video. Once editing the most difficult challenge was pacing.

Ensuring that the video and audio match or demonstrate what is being discussed is important. Also knowing when to use certain transitions and how long to pause between elements to get a desired sense of flow is an important story telling element.

During my editing process nothing surprised me. I was organized and had a clear goal in mind which enabled the project to come together quickly and smoothly.

Organization key to a well crafted story

Tracking down sources did not present a critical problem. However, the process of capturing them on video with some unification from video to video was difficult. Creating a series of procedures to follow at the beginning and end of each video was an easy way to ensure that a similar presentation was acquired from each source.

Learning to plan out a story arch or figuring it out as the interviews are being collected also helps out greatly in postproduction. It is easier to edit and craft the story when the basic story line is already determined. Also remembering good quotes from some subjects make it easier to filter through all of the interview material and not having to keep going back listening to it.

Being organized and going in with a clear idea is critical advice, but also being flexible to changed in the story is necessary. Things wont go exactly according to plan, but having one to start off of is better then none at all.

Finding Paul DeBolt

Paul DeBolt has been a fixture at Contra Costa College for more than 15 years as both journalism advisor of the student publication The Advocate and as the Comets Women’s Basketball coach. Both programs under his guide have become successful traditions of excellence at the college.

He works closely with all of his students ensuring that not only do they prosper in his programs, but progress strongly throughout academia as well. His hard work and dedication to his students is in turn represented through their accomplishments.

The profile on DeBolt will include multiple multimedia pieces including an audio slideshow, video interviews and video presentation of him. A story will also be included to offer other details not covered in the multimedia.

The value of a bad team

Contra Costa College forward Juan Carlos Vargas (20), blue, attempts to get by Merritt College defender Johnathan Guerrero (4), white, during CCC’s 4-2 victory over Merritt at Contra Costa College Friday, Nov. 6, 2009.

For 16 years soccer was a intigral part of my life. At the age of 6 I played my first soccer game under the West Contra Costa Youth Soccer League with my father as the head coach. The sport consumed my life all the way through high school, where as a freshman I played on the varsity squad.

Part of the reason I made the varsity team was that only approximatly 20 people tried out for the Hercules High School soccer team, but its more fun to imagine that I got there on skill alone.

For 16 years Soccer was the only sport in my life. I dedicated myself to it. And it taught me many important lessons, particularly about losing. In all the years that soccer was part of my life there were only a handful of times it was actually on a successful, winning team.

The biggest low of my soccer career was in High School when we went without a win for the season. It sucked. Sports are ment to be enjoyed, win or lose, but winning is a lot more fun.

Now, four years after my final high school soccer match I understand that experiencing that low has allowed me to gain a better foothold on my future. It taught me that things wont always be the way you want, but that win or lose it is about learning from the experience. I still hate losing, but now I take every loss as a learning experience and without those terrible years of soccer I would not be where I am today.

The photo above was shot with my Nikon D70 with a 70-200mm f/2.8G Nikkor lens exposed at 1/600sec and f/2.8, at ISO 600.

Advocate takes Austin

The capital dome in of Texas in Austin stands above the skyline. Texas is the only state in the union able to fly the state flag at the same level as the American flag and can also field it's own standing army.

The staff of the Advocate, Contra Costa College‘s student newspaper, left their home in the East Bay to attend the Associated Collegiate Press national convention in Austin, Texas. The yearly convention, held from October 28 to November 1, is a platform for colleges from around the United States, Mexico, and Canada to come together and learn about journalism.

The convention held a variety of workshops and contests for over 500 college students to partake in.

The Advocate had been nominated for the ACP national Pacemaker award for the 2008-09 publication year and their Photo Editor Isaac Thomas had been nominated for photo story of the year. The Advocate went on to win the Pacemaker award as one of five two-year schools chosen to receive the award out of 12 that were nominated. Thomas also captured third place out of the six nominees in the photo story category which had entries from both 2-year and 4-year institutions.

Not only did The Advocate capture the Pacemaker, but also picked up two best in show awards. One for 2-year broadsheet specialty edition and for non-specialty edition.

Click here for sideshow.

Passion through sports

Mustang's Middle Blocker Jericka Foster (4) spikes the ball while Comet Hitter Efaraima Danao (22) atempts to block it during the Comets lose in three straight sets on Firday, Oct. 23, 2009.

Over they four years I have spent working on photography the one thing I have taken more pictures of than anything is sports.

For as long as I can remember I have been playing sports and because of that my mind is constantly stuck in the state of a competitor. Unfortunately my athletic abilities were good, but nothing amazing and with the conclusion of high school the opportunities for me to play large organized sports dwindled.

Yet the desire to compete remained. When I first began photography I always wanted to cover sports. Eventually at a point that was all I did.

Sports were a constant where many other assignments were variable. When an assignment came to cover a soccer game, there was a good chance you were going to see people play soccer where a feature photo may not turn out exactly as planned. More then just the consistency though is the emotion involved. Athletes are athletes because they want to play, they want to be good, and they want to win. The results in seeing people push themselves in ways that may never occur in another environment. Sports can offer a complete canvas of emotion, from pure joy to breaking down in tears. Sometimes sports offer a window into a person that can not occur in any other setting and is part of what makes people love them so much.

The photo above was shot with my Nikon D70 with a 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G Nikkor Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ns exposed at 1/200sec and f/2.8, at ISO 1000.

Chef Sampayo returns to teach

Chef Lourdes Sampayo shreds cheese over shells for a pasta casserole at the Three Seasons Café at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif. Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Sampayo has been a chef for 6 years and teaches cooking on the side.

Chef Lourdes Sampayo has honed her craft as a professional chef over the past six years and found time to give back to the program that taught her by becoming a teacher.

The Three Seasons Café at Contra Costa College is home to the college’s Culinary Arts Department and sense being revamped with the introduction of Nader Sharks as the Culinary Arts Department Chairman the program has flourished and brought on many new instructors such as Sampayo.

After serving as a professional chef for 5 years Sampayo decided to return and teach at the school that taught her, while continuing to work as a professional chef. She teaching night and weekend classes as not to conflict with her work schedule.

“I love cooking,” Sampayo said.

She would even teach for free, she said.

Working at Contra Costa College isn’t for the money, but to share her knowledge with others who share her passion for cooking.

Unfortunately with the community college system being hit with budget cuts along with all of California the Culinary Arts Department has had to cut back. Sampayo lost of three classes she usually teaches this semester and is fighting to keep the remaining two for next. As of now though her future in teaching at Contra CoProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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a College is in question.

The photo above was shot with my Nikon D70 with a 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G Nikkor lens exposed at 1/200sec and f/3.5, at ISO 600.

Fighting to save higher public education

With educational budgets being cut and fees on the rise students organized a protest at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 to show their dismay at the current situation. A crowd of about 50 people turned out to add their voices to the growing concern over the state of higher public education in California. All levels of the higher education systems are being hit, Community Colleges, California state Universities and Universities of California.

Community colleges have been forced to cut available class despite increased demand due to an increase in student population and are considering a unit cost increase. CSUs have already undergone two fee increases and are dealing with Furlough days. The University of California system has also had to cut classes and is looking at a tuition increase for next fall that would push the UC tuition cost about $10,000 per year.

Click here for slideshow.

The sacrifice of an editor-in-chief

Holly Pablo, the current editor-in-chief of the Advocate, has sacrificed a lot to tackle her leadership role for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Holly Pablo gave up her admittance to San Francisco State University in order to remain at Contra Costa College for an extra year to serve as editor-in-chief on the college’s student publication The Advocate.

The 21-year-old natural writer decided it would be best for her to remain at the community college for anther year because of the opportunity the Advocate presented.

Despite running unopposed for the position Faculty Advisor for The Advocate Paul DeBolt believed that she was the most qualified person on staff for the position.

The photo above was shot with my Nikon D70 with a 50mm f/1.4D Nikkor lens exposed at 1/60sec and f/2.8, at ISO 600.