I did this one a bit later, obviously, but I’m so glad I did, because some of my findings I have found very interesting.

When I first started this project, one thing I was looking to find was the opinions of students, hobbyists, and professionals in photography on the creative eyes.  Whether they thought it could be taught, or it was just something you were born with.

To be quite honest, I thought I already knew the answer before I did any research.  I had expected to find that hobbyists’ felt that you had to be born with that creative eye, but that students’ felt that you could learn it.

What I found through my subjects was the complete opposite.  After interviewing the student photographer, Rebecca Rainsberger, I was a bit surprised to find that she felt that had to already have that creative eye to be a photographer, because she was a student.  Given, I know that this is probably not the opinion of all student photographers’, but I still found it interesting.

Not only that, but it was even more intriguing after comparing her interview to the hobbyist, B.J. Bumgarner’s, interview.  I found this interesting because B.J. felt that you could be taught that creative eye.

Next, I decided to throw a third twist into it.  After interviewing the professional photographer, Marion Hutchison, I discovered that she felt that you were able to do it either way.  You could do photography already equipped with the ‘photographer’s eye’ or you could learn it as well.  It was interesting to see these views, simply because they were so much different than I expected.

I also realized that all three of these photographer’s began in different time periods.  Marion’s studio was opened in 1992, a completely time of photography than today, where you used film rather than digital, because digital cameras weren’t widely available in this time (they weren’t available for consumer use until early 1994).  That said, her studio was opened in ‘92, but she and her then-husband, Max, had been doing photography for sometime before that.  B.J. began becoming interested, roughly, in 2000.  By then, digital cameras were readily available to the public, but to get a ‘good’ one, it was pretty expensive.  Rebecca told me that she really got interested in photography her junior year of high school, which was 2005.  Despite the fact that it was only a 5 year jump, the technology for digital cameras had a massive progression in this time.

It makes me wonder if these two factors area related.  If the time period, and equipment that was available in that time, changed the person’s opinion of the creative side of photography.

I was really happy with the way my WA4 came out.  It was amazing how difficult it was for me to piece all of the audio strings together, but it was also a very rewarding challenge, because it was something I’d never done before and I feel it really paid off.  I’ve gotten one interview done so far, and have three more scheduled.  I was really happy with the first interview I got, which was with the hobbyist photographer, B.J. Bumgarner.  He and I have known each other for a long time; for as long as I can remember.

He’s the person who first introduced me to more ‘professionalized’ photography.  Sure, I’d taken pictures before with little disposable cameras in which my thumb was usually in 3/4 of the pictures.  But B.J. introduced me to something so much greater, something that I can truly say I feel in love with.  An absolutely perfect art that completely shows off the wonderful things that God has provided for us.

I’ve collected a good bit of field notes thus far.  Field notes have been a pretty fun thing for me, mainly because I’ve just been able to get that much deeper into the field of photography, getting to understand it better, learn how to capture images better.  It’s made me a better photographer.  I’ve learned more of the scientific end of photography, which comes in handy with the manual settings of a camera.  How much to open the aperture, how you should adjust the shutter speed, etc.  I’ve gotten some amazing pictures, which is super effective for my project, and exciting as well.

Because my topic sort of changed, my annotated table of contents is sort of re-morphing at the moment, and I’m still working on getting it written out, as of this date.

For my WA4, I interviewed a good friend of mine, and hobbyist photographer, B.J. Bumgarner.  I’ve known B.J. for nearly 11 years now (wow, just realized how long it’s been!) and he and I are really great friends.  He’s been there for me through a lot of stuff.  He’s my legal guardian if something happens to my parents.  Whenever we had our huge ice storm in Paris back a few years ago he lived with us.  He’s basically the cool older brother I never had.  (Which if you know me is quite humorous, because I actually have an older brother.   Love you Kinsey!)

I decided to interview him, because he was my inspiration for doing photography.  I’d always liked playing with cameras, doing a little point and shoot, but B.J. is the one who really turned me on to professional quality photography and photography equipment.

I plan to do WA4 in the form of a video, taking audio from our interview and clips that are either photographs that he’s taken, he’s helped me take, or photographs describing things that he’s talking about in the interview.  I already have most of the clips that I need, I just have to piece them together.

In the last RJ, I sort of had the wrong idea about coding.  I saw it more as coding different articles rather than different themes that are being produced in my research.  My information is still sort of scrambled and I’m still processing, but I’m sure I’ll come up with some more.

Annotated Table of Contents

1. Burchinal, Heather.  http://www.heatherbphotography.com/
   Local photographer in Paris, Texas, that runs her own studio.
2. Swain, Tara.  http://www.taraswainphotographyblog.com/

Photographer located in Paris, Texas, that is asked for all over Northeast Texas, from Paris to Dallas and even in Oklahoma.

1. Bumgarner, B.J.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/homer4k

Friend of mine in Paris, Texas, that uses photography as a hobby, also the person who really got me interested in photography and guided me, a.k.a. my mentor.

1. Bumgarner, B.J. Questionnaire

Because of conflicting schedules, this is just a quick little questionnaire we did over email to get some information to help.

1. Martin, Jessica.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessiboo/

Some of my photography, not the best, but it hasn’t been updated in awhile.

1. Digital Photography Magazine
2. http://digital-photography-school.com/

Website used by B.J. Bumgarner to further his knowledge for photography.

Codes:

1. P – Photo
   1. P1 – Hobbyists Photos
      1. i.      P11 – Paris Hobbyist Photos
      2. ii.      P12 – Commerce Hobbyist Photos
      3. P2 – Professional Photos
         1. i.      P21 – Paris Professional Photos
         2. ii.      P22 – Commerce Professional Photo
         3. Q – Questionnaire
            1. Q1 – Hobbyist Questionnaire
               1. i.      Q11 – Paris Hobbyist Questionnaires
               2. ii.      Q12 – Commerce Hobbyist Questionnaires
               3. Q2 – Professional Questionnaire
                  1. i.      Q21 – Paris Professional Questionnaires
                  2. ii.      Q22 – Commerce Professional Questionnaires

One – Page Analysis

To be honest, I’m really nervous about this project.  I’m thinking about widening the spectrum to anyone that uses a camera, what they use it for, and why they use it, and really try to read into people’s uses for photography.  I still plan to look into the professional aspect as well, sort of using three spectrums: the professional photography, people that do photography as a hobby, and then just the normal student who carries a camera with them and captures events.  I want to try and get a read on why people appreciate photography, and if they don’t, why they don’t.

I’ve already collected one questionnaire, I’ve found several websites of local photographers, both professional and hobbyist, and know how I can get access to more, and am really excited to see how this project spans out.  I think I originally made my project a little too narrow, just trying to focus on professionals and hobbyists, when really, that’s just a small portion of the population, and doesn’t really gather enough information on the community itself, whether it be Paris or Commerce.

I think next I need to really get in the field, using myself as a subject.  I think I’m going to drive around town, both Commerce and Paris, and just find what I can capture, and take notes as to what sprang out at me, why it intrigued me, and how capturing the picture the way I did really changed the image.

I also like that I use myself as a subject in this project, because it not only brings me information about the communities I’m involved in, but it also enlightens myself more about myself.  I know I love photography, but I think as I study this project more, observe more, and really immerse myself more in photography, I will really begin to understand more about photography itself and why I truly am passionate about it.

Expanded Field Notes from today’s events, a Panel on Writing, giving by a few local authors.

Four speakers:

• Otha Spencer – Professor of Journalism and Photography
• Bobbie Purdy – Wrote memoir of growing up, member of Silver Leos.
• John Hanners – Former head of Mass Comm. and Theatre
• Jim Ainsworth – Grad of TAMU-C.  Wrote books on Finance and Historical novels.  Wrote an account of his experience on a trail drive from Commerce to West Texas.

Panel on Writing and Publishing Local History

Introducing: Jim Conrad

John Hanners:
- Why he writes what he writes:
He is a trained theater historian and ties that into local history.

“We are our stories, we are people connected by our stories.”

He writes about things that he finds interesting, a “very selfish enterprise”

Attracted by individual motivation.  Parts of that come from theater training.

Practices micro-history.  Produces “biographical snapshots.”  Long on detail and very short on economical comment.  A firm believer in the geography of place.  We are a part of a connected chain that is the University.

The people who have walked these streets before us, driven these roads before us, they are parts of us.  We are occupying spaces that have been occupied before us.  He wants to know who they were, why they were there.

Ex.  Tom King, millionaire.

Ex.   Velma Patterson: tried in 1936 for murdering her two young daughters here in Commerce.

Ex.   Captain Rhea – Rays Creek.  Family man with a beautiful wife, four children, and killed a Shaunee boy and his family and stole their horses.  In 1848.  He was hung from a tree on Dunbar Creek for fear of the Shaunee’s retaliating.

Finds social villains more interesting than social heroes.  Believes he’s searching for some kind of atonement.  Discovered 20 years ago that his grandfather rode and worked with Frank James, an outlaw.  So he feels that when he looks at villains, he’s trying to figure out what ‘made his grandfather tick.’  Feels he’s doing atonement for his grandfather.

Otha Spencer:

- “You are the author of your own life’s story.”
Most of his writing has been history, because he feels it’s not for the present generation, but for generations to come.

Graduated from GHS in 1938.  Got his bachelor’s in 1941.   Got his masters in 1946, and his PhD in 1958.

Always been interested in history.

Wrote a weekly column for the Commerce Journal for 8-10 years called “Bits and Pieces.”  Was part of a Hurricane Reconnaissance Groups, where they flew through hurricanes.  Wrote a story called “Flying the Weather,” that told the story of flying through the “Great Atlantic Hurricane.”  He was then sent overseas when Japan was trying to take over China to do weather reconnaissance.  Wrote a book about it called “Flying the Hump.”  Was a great range of mountains between India and China.  Stationed in India and flew weather recon down by the Bay of Bengal.

Latest book is “That Lonesome Whistle,” talking about the Cotton Belt Railroad.  Was there from 1889 to 1950’s, when they were put out of business by eighteen-wheelers and personal cars.

Also wrote a story about offset printing called “Staley McBrayer and the Offset Newspaper Revolution.

“If you want to write a book, please get an editor.”  Even Ernest Hemingway and Mark Twain had editors.

Jim Ainsworth – Becoming a writer for him was totally out of the question.  He saw it more as a dream on his ‘bucket list.’  Finally wrote a book in his 60’s.  All kinds of books are available about contacting publishers.  Was writing on how CPA’s became financial planners.  The same year the original ‘dummies’ books came out he wrote a book on how to become a successful financial consultant.  Believes that stories heal and inspire.  Made a 325 mile wagon trip across Texas trying to uncover the story about 50 year old biscuits his father had.  Wrote a story called “Biscuits across the Brazos,” in 2001.  That’s what inspired him to write more.  Wrote a book also called “In the River’s Flow,” which are stories about his family and how ordinary people react to extraordinary events.  Then wrote a sequel called Rivers Crossing, which was more fiction than non-fiction, but still includes some true stories.  Finds it interesting how “truth can be stranger than fiction.”  Wrote a third book called “River’s Ebb,” and is working on writing a fourth called “Homelight Burning.”

Bobbie Purdy – 1967 graduate of the University.  Baby writer.  Did it more as a hobby.  Was precipitated by her 92 year old mother and her mother’s brother who had remarkable memories.  Jumped at the chance to take a class on the writing of memoirs.  Was encouraged to put a name to whatever she was writing.  Found a picture of her dad in the cotton patch.  Titled her memoir, “One Generation From the Cotton Patch.”  After the class finished, they formed the “Silver Leo Writing Club.”  They submit their writing to be edited and invite speakers to tell about writing experiences and publishing experiences.  Wanted to preserve for her children what it was like growing up in the 40’s and 50’s in Fannin County.  Found that you don’t have to plan to publish to write.  You can write just to enjoy it.  Never expected to publish, but have written two stories aimed at young readers.  Reading an excerpt called, “This Little Pig Went to Market.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

I really enjoyed the panel today, and I think the main reason I enjoyed so much was because I love to write.  Novels, short stories, poems, a little bit of song writing, and here lately I’ve discovered my love for playwriting.  So listening to local writers right here in Commerce gave me some hope, because I’ve always felt I wouldn’t be able to be published, simply because I’m from a small town.  It was interesting to here their reasoning for writing, and it also helped me discover my own reasoning behind writing, most of which is because I just enjoy writing novels.

Second set of field notes:

“No Experience Necessary,” session on writing short, 8-10 minute plays.

I walk into the Performing Arts Center, luckily something that is somewhat familiar to me because I’ve been taking Introduction to Theater this semester with Jim Anderson, the proposed speaker.  Unfortunately, his wife has been hospitalized, but Gary Burton will be taking his place.

At first, I was a little leery to show up in the first place, class had been cancelled this morning because of his wife’s illness, so I wasn’t sure if we would still be having the seminar or not, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.  So I found the room number set down for it, and waited.  4:30 came around and still nothing.  Finally, I heard a few voices down the hall talking about whether anyone would show up for this, so I set out on an adventure to find the voices.  I came upon a Mr. Gary Burton, who politely showed me to the room that we had decided to move it to.

It is currently 4:39 p.m., and so far, it’s just me here.  This was actually somewhat of a surprise.  I had never been much interested in theater in high school, but decided to take it in college for fun, and found it to be quite interesting and enjoyable.  When we were prompted in our class to write a short play, I was so excited, because I love to write short stories just for my amusement, and figured turning one into an 8-10 minute play would be a breeze.

Boy was I wrong.  It’s not hard, per se, if you know what you want to write about.  The most difficult part is lengthening out the plot, making sure you get out all the information you want the audience to know through dialogue.  Stage directions are somewhat useful as well, but the biggest part of it is expressing it through a character’s dialogues.  Ten pages for a short story is a breeze for me, but a play, using only dialogue and a few stage directions, is hard to stretch out for ten pages.  Dialogue goes a lot faster than a story, where you have to explain inner feelings of every person, and minute details like the color of the walls, what the people are wearing.  But when you’re actually visualizing that, on stage, it’s unnecessary to include that in dialogue, destroying a lot of your “filler” for your story as you convert it into a play.

We’ve decided to wait a little longer for “stragglers,” but right now it’s 4:44 p.m., and still no signs of anyone else interested in the art of writing plays.  So it looks like it’ll just be me and the speaker, something that I wasn’t expecting and am certainly going to take advantage of.

At 4:46 p.m., someone else finally shows up.  So it’s just the two of us and our speaker.

Promptly at 5:00 the prompt will be available on the website.

IF YOUR PLAY IS CHOSEN, IT IS NO LONGER YOUR PLAY.  IT’S THE DIRECTOR’S PLAY.  GET OVER IT.

We go over formats, a sample play.

The format is extremely important, because the way the format is setup, plays are roughly 1 minute per page.  So if you have ten pages for your play, the play should be roughly 10 minutes long.

We are confined to three actors and must take place in one location with continuous real time, meaning that we cannot have any time skips.

We go over “The Six Elements of Drama,” as defined by Oscar Brockett, after the original in Aristotle’s Poetics.  Luckily, we’ve gone over these in my Introduction to Theater class, so this is nothing new to mean.

Exposition – the revealing of past events or important information the audience should know in a small set of dialogue.

Music: interpreted as whatever you hear on stage, whether it be actual music or SFX.

We also covered “Notes for Playwriting – 14 Basic Story Principles.”  Which basically breaks down the play into bits.  (This is more needed for someone writing a one-act, which is a 40 minute play.)

We also go over some character notes from Sam Smiley’s Theater textbook.

“Plays are built around conflict.”  – Gary Burton

Conflict, character, plot, and action – 4 major points of playwriting.

ANALYZING:

This is probably one of the most rewarding things that I have done in my college career, and also one of the most fun.
I received my prompt at 5:30.

It had to be in a confined space, with exactly 3 characters, including the color red.

I had so much fun with this.  I wrote about 3 neighbors in an apartment building who get stuck on an elevator, one of them is highly claustrophobic.

I was sort of worried about this, because for someone reason…I almost felt that it was too romantic when I sent it in, but it was too late.

I checked my email all throughout the, knowing that I wasn’t going to hear until about 3:00, but I thought maybe they’d get done early.  At about 2:30, I still hadn’t heard and was about to give up, get in my car, and go home.  Just before I shut my laptop, I hit the refresh button one last time, just in case, and there the email was.  Sitting in my email inbox with the title, Congratulations, 24-Hour Playwrights!  I opened the email and shrieked with glee when I found that they had chosen mine to perform that afternoon at five.  I rushed up to the Performing Arts Center, excited to watch them rehearse my play, and was thrilled when my theater professor, Jim Anderson, told me that he loved my play.  For those of you who don’t know, my theater professor is friends with James Earl Jones, a.k.a., DARTH FREAKING VADAR.  This boosted my ego as a playwright by about 600 percent.

Seeing something I wrote performed on stage was a completely new thing for me, and to be truthful, I loved the feeling.  To see people laugh and truly be entertained by my writing, was truly inspiring.  Something that I feel I will definitely be doing more.

I did this as part of the Week on Writing, something that I did just for class.  But I was surprised to find something that I was good at, that I enjoyed.  Taking a story and breathing life into it.  Putting actions to words and seeing those actions right in front of me.  Seeing how these actors has taken it and put a completely new spin on it.  Truly amazing.

Reading “I Can Read and I Can Write,” was really interesting.  It really showed literacy from a whole new perspective.  We take literacy and education for advantage.  We take reading, writing, and math for advantage as something we’ve always known.  We don’t exactly perceive calculating things and reading words “fun,” because we’ve always had it.  It’s nothing unusual to us.  But to Lee, learning to read an write at a later time in his life, this was a whole new thing for him, and being able to read the words that had been around him constantly for years had to be quite an amazing thing.  To see all of these things that didn’t make sense to him for his entire life, and suddenly understand them.  I can’t relate to that, but I can imagine it like moving to China and learning Chinese until you’d lived there for a couple decades.  You were always around the Chinese language but never understood it, and now that you’ve learned it, everything makes sense now.

I also enjoyed reading the family history section.  All throughout my life, my parents have told me stories about my family, and about them growing up, and even retelling things that have happened in my lifetime, when I was too young to remember.  I’ve always loved listening to family stories, learning more about my family.  When I was in Girl Scouts, we had to do a report over pioneer women, and I couldn’t decide who to choose.  After talking to my mother, I learned that we were related to Florence Nightingale, and learned that “came to prominence during the Crimean War for her pioneering work in nursing, and was dubbed “The Lady with the Lamp” after her habit of making rounds at night to tend injured soldiers. Nightingale laid the foundation stone of professional nursing with the principles summarized in the book Notes on Nursing. The Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses was named in her honor, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday.”

To learn that someone like this, who was a huge inspiration to so many people, was related to me was a truly inspiring thing in my own life.  To see that my own family members made a difference is a larger inspiration for me to make a difference.

I plan to attend the Writing Local History: Panel of Experts on Tuesday from 1-2, the On Being an Artist: Daily Affirmations and Gang Jargon from 1-2:30 on Wednesday, and the “No Experience Necessary: A 24-Hour Short Play Competition and Festival” Workshop on Wednesday from 4:30 – 5 p.m.

I plan to take notes on writing local histories and on being an artist because they will both help with my project, and I plan to submit the Short Play that I write for the festival.  I hope to gain some information on local history in Commerce and a little more on the art program here at TAMU-C.  I also hope to learn more about writing plays, partially because it will help in my theater class that I’m taking, and also because I love to write fiction, which can easily be turned into a short play.

Analysis of Fieldnotes:
I took down fieldnotes for two different places.  The first was The Club and the second was the drama department.

One thing that really interested me was the diversity of people and activities in the club.  People of all ages, races, and genders gather there and do everything from studying to sleeping to just hanging out and watching T.V. However, The Club also brought me to the realization that this is definitely not high school anymore.  Being a commuter, I’m really not at the university all that much, so between classes I hang out in The Club to study or catch a quick nap or hang with some of my friends.  In high school, if you listen to music it’s taken up, you’re not allowed to have a laptop or cell phone, and if someone hears you using profanity, you’re in major trouble.  College is so much different.  Listening to music in the club that has profanity in it has really awoken me to the fact that I’m an adult now.  Despite the intrigue of it, it’s also a bit disturbing to me to see how culture has impacted our generation.  I was brought up in a Christian home, and I’m not saying I’m perfect, no one is, but I’ve never been exposed to so much…culture shock in my life.  It’s very intriguing to see how everyone’s bringing up differs the way they act.

Taking field notes on the theater department also became interesting for me.  It completely broke my theater stereotype; people in black clothes, mostly feminine men, very quiet and sort of introverted, mostly Caucasian people.  All of these stereotypes were proven wrong just by observing my theater class.  There are all types of people in theater, which I also think brings about a diversity of culture and different genres of playwrights that come along with those cultures.  For example, in class Tuesday we ran through a play in which students had to be able to read Spanish somewhat fluently.  It was cool to see that side of some students that I didn’t even know knew Spanish.  It made me realize that everyone brings a certain part to the theater and makes it whole.

In response to Everyday Use by Alice Walker:  (Box 13)

I feel that Dee sees the cultural artifacts in the story more as ‘what’s in’ right now.  It’s obvious that she’s going through the phase in which homely, handmade things are ‘in,’  like when her mother tells her to choose different quilts and she pops off with, “I don’t want those.  They are stitched around the borders by machine,”  like because they’ve done something by machine rather than by hand they’ve completely lost their value.  That’s how she sees everything in the story.  As ‘art’ pieces.  She talks about using the lid of the butter churn as a centerpiece, because her aunt’s husband whittled it.  She decides to do something with ‘artsy’ with the dasher, because her aunt’s first husband whittled it himself.  She also sees the benches of worth because her father made them himself.  When she was a child, none of these things mattered, because they weren’t what was ‘cool’ at the time.

However, I think that the narrator sees them all in a different light.  She sees them in a useful sense.  She sees the butter churn and examines the grooves in the handle and remembers all the times butter has been churned it.  She also uses them as a reminder of her past.  Rather than seeing the quilts as whole pieces worth something, she sees each individual piece of it’s worth.  The small piece of a Civil War uniform, her mother’s dresses, her father’s paisley shirts.  The quilts are her past, a way to preserve her history.

I feel that Maggie sees the artifacts with the same eyes her mother does.  The only time you really see her view is with the quilts.  But rather than knowing each individual piece of the quilts, she sees it as a reminder of the women who taught her to quilt.

Questions on Page 218 of Literacies in Context in accordance with Gold’s article Where Brains Had a Chance:

A. (Space) Where is (are) the location(s) in which this analysis took place?  The archives in the Gee Library at TAMU-Commerce.

B. (Actors) Who are the members of this group/subgroup as represented in this article?
Dr.  Leonidas Mayo; a strict man who began a rural college, but despite his strictness was a loving man whose goal was to teach those willing to learn.

C. (Activities) In what activities do the members of this group or subgroup engage?  Teaching, running a university, disciplining students.

D. (Acts) Describe one or more of the “single actions” within an activity (as described in response to the previous question.)

Mayo rejected ‘normal’ teaching practices.  Rather than just serving to males of higher class who could afford it, he served to males and females of any class, low, high, or middle, and rather than forcing them to pay tuition, if they had a yearning for learning (J) he allowed them to work for their tuition.

E. (Objects) What are some of the objects used as a regular part of the activities in which the members of this group engage?

The University

F. (Events) What are some of the related activities as carried out by the group?

Teaching methods.

G. (Times) When do these events take place and how long do they generally take?
During each school year, as long as you were willing to learn.

H. (Goals) What do the members of this group or the group as a whole want to achieve/accomplish?

Mayo wanted to open his college to anyone willing and open to learn, no matter their sex, and provide everyone with a good education, despite their financial instability.

I. (Feelings) How do members of the group feel about the events or activities (as described in response to some of the previous questions)?

Mayo felt that everyone should get an education, not just people who could afford it.  Knowledge should be free and open to everyone.

Questions for my Research Proposal:

A) What is your major research question(s)? What do you aim to discover through this

research?

- Using interviews, I plan to compare the views of hobbyist, professional, and student photographers.

B) What is your proposed research site and how might this choice help you answer your

major research question? What background on your selection process can you provide?

- I plan to use extensive interviews.  I plan to interview a hobbyist, a professional, a student, and myself, and compare how our views differ.    I know my professional and hobbyist personally, and I’ve heard great things about my student photographer.

C) What sort of access do you have to this community?
-Because I’m a commuter, most of my information comes from my hometown, Paris.  But I’m tying in the Commerce community by interviewing a student from the University.

D)  Where and how will you conduct your research?

-  I’m taking field notes on a few photography “walk-arounds” that I’m shooting by myself, and I few that I shoot with my hobbyist.

E) How will you go about obtaining those all‐important permissions? Who will you approach

and why? How will you approach them?

-  I plan to approach a hobbyist, B.J. Bumgarner, a professional, Marion Hutchison, and a student, Rebecca Rainsberger.  I emailed Rebecca, because I had no previous relationship with her, but I talked to Marion and B.J. personally, because they’re close family friends.

Where is the literacy?
- When I first started this project, I knew I wanted to do photography, but I had no idea of how to tie it into ‘literacy.’  After talking to Dr. Carter and just thinking by myself, I realized that there is a literacy in photography.  It’s how photographers view the world.  Composition, art.  How we can look at something normal in the world and rather than just seeing that something normal, like a tree, we see a piece of art.  We see how we can shoot that from the right angle and the right cropping, and it can be a beautiful piece of art.