Oakland May Day Education
As a former Oakland school teacher with two children in the Oakland public school system, I can sympathize with the families who protested on May Day. Five OUSD schools will close next year; communities will be displaced. Children will be forced to attend different schools. If our Spanish immersion public school were closing, I would be protesting too. Instead, Melrose Leadership is moving into one of the “closed” schools and a charter school is moving into our current site.
Urban school districts must balance many unfair choices. School closures seem especially unfair since the disruptions will ripple throughout the district for years.… Read the rest
Sacramento Press Conference
How should journalists cover traffic accidents? Should journalists cover every aspect of a murder trial as if it were a sporting event? What is the impact on families each time journalists trivialize tragedy? How can journalists tell richer stories without becoming lost? After several years photographing families whose children have died, I am still asking the questions. I included the photo gallery from Monday’s press conference for further discussion.
Imapct Teen Drivers asks teens and adults to drive safer, but the organization does something more complicated. The organization recognizes the humanity of law enforcement officers while supporting grieving families. Both themes are difficult for journalists to cover. Impact Teen Drivers also acknowledges that distracted driving accidents affect an entire community.… Read the rest
Portfolio Presentation at National Convention
At the 2012 JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, Mark Murray and I presented a photography portfolio workshop. We have presented thirteen portfolio workshops at the last twelve JEA/NSPA national conferences starting in Nashville, Tennessee. (We have also presented at other conferences separately.)
At last year’s Anaheim convention, we presented with Jim McNay. Jim is an influential photojournalism educator who helped us create the original presentation. I can trace most of my photography relationships to Jim. Jim also connected me to Grant Morris the photographer who allows Mark and me to use his college photography portfolio for our presentation. Grant was a student at Brooks Institute and the Eddie Adams Workshop.… Read the rest
Photo Story with Dave LaBelle
On Saturday, Dave LaBelle and I presented a workshop at the 2012 Spring National Scholastic Journalism Conference. This was the first time that Dave and I presented together although we have critiqued and judged photo competitions several times. At the last three conventions, the Journalism Education Association introduced a photo story category. Dave and I noticed that contestants did not seem to understand how to create compelling stories.
Students were submitting groups of photos that were often related, but missed important elements. While structure is not the most important aspect, it is not inconsequential either. As I stated during my presentation,
“Saying a photo story is about structure is like saying a good written essay is about having five paragraphs.”
A good photo story changes the participants, including the photographer, but also the viewer and the subject.… Read the rest
San Francisco Adobe PhotoWalk
Adobe hosts Photowalks to promote their products and users. At their March 2012 San Francisco Adobe PhotoWalk, more than 200 photographers walked around the SOMA District finding photos. The walk started and ended at Adobe’s San Francisco offices.
PhotoWalks are a great opportunity too see differently. When I attend photowalks, I force myself to watch others and take different pictures, such as the whimsical self portrait of the statue above. I also force myself to learn something from other photographers, and if possible, teach something to a person who might know less than I do.
You never know what you might see at a photowalk.… Read the rest
Snowy Days at Shaver Lake
Do you believe digital photography is easier than film photography? What makes digital easier?
Digital cameras store information that many photographers would write in a notebook or on the back of printed photos. The shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO information is stored automatically. The above photo is mostly about shutter speed. After taking photographs for twenty years, I already know that the shutter speed was at least 1/250, but there are many times when I learn something from the exposure information. I also save time, because I do not need to record the data.
Depth of field and shutter speed are the same with digital photography as film photography.… Read the rest
One Hundred Days of School
When Melrose Leadership Academy students walk into kindergarten on the first day of school, teachers talk Spanish about 90% of the day. For the first few months, some students are confused, but quickly students acquire language. Perhaps because of our school’s success, our community ignores that our students also learn other subjects. Melrose Leadership students must learn the same content standards as other public school students.
The one hundredth day of the school year is one example where students learn an important number sense math lesson. This year, my second child has participated in the ritual. Students enjoy playing with the different items.… Read the rest
MLA 2012 Winter Performance Expo
On January 25 and 26, the Melrose Leadership Academy community assembled for the Winter performance expo in Oakland, California. Students danced, sang and played instruments. Kindergarten students through 8th graders danced traditional Mexican dances, such as ballet folklorico. Parents and educators helped students prepare.
Before the expo, students dressed for the performance. Once dressed, all the students shared the same “backstage” area. The bigger kids teach the smaller children. The adults teach the children how to prepare and learn. Meanwhile, the children remind us why we invest our time helping them grow.
Because the school continues growing, the organizers added a second January show.… Read the rest
MLA Community Bridges Student Dance Expo
Today is the first day of the Melrose Leadership Academy music and performance expo. For the kindergarten students and parents, this week will be their first of many music and dance performances. Since MLA added the elementary school Spanish dual immersion program in 2009-2010, there have been four previous performance expos hosted by MLA and the Community Bridges program. During the first two, I did not photograph much of the event. Last year, I was prepared. To prepare some of the new parents and potential MLA parents who may attend our school next year, I created this post.
In January 2010, the first kindergarten class danced in a circle.… Read the rest
Melrose Leadership Academy 2012 Classroom Expo
My two children attend Melrose Leadership Academy in Oakland, California. Our school is well known for it’s successful dual Spanish immersion program. Soon, we might become known for regular evening family events.
Moyra Contreras, our principal, exemplifies our school spirit. At last night’s Classroom Expo she visited each classroom and spoke with all the families. Back to School Night and Unity Night are different than the the Classroom Expos. Classroom Expos are also different than the school wide expos which happen next week. We meet early and often.
During the Oakland Unified enrollment period, I have helped with parent information tours.… Read the rest
JEA High School Photography Portfolio Presentations
Have you ever walked into a room and felt as if you belonged?
I remember the first time I saw Mark Murray and Bradley Wilson. We attended a national convention for the Journalism Education Association. There were about six thousand other people, but I figured I would know these two for a long time. At that convention, Bradley asked if could help critique photography portfolios. The simple meeting led to the creation of a popular workshop that has informed photography portfolios.
When Mark Murray and I created our workshop, photographers submitted prints on matte boards. At our first presentation in Nashville, I photocopied handouts from Pulitzer Prize winning photographer John Kaplan’s book Photo Portfolio Success.… Read the rest
Photo Story Presentation with Dave LaBelle
Somehow, I have done it again.
I have found another partner to create an important presentation for the Journalism Education Association. Just as I have done at previous national conferences with the photography portfolio presentations, I have partnered with an amazing photography educator.
In addition to being an award winning photographer, Dave LaBelle has educated many Pulitzer Prize winners. Dave has also written important books on photo ethics and story telling. Despite his accomplishments, Dave is friendly and modest. He is one of the most approachable people I know. At JEA conferences, his sessions are usually packed. I assume that a few hundred people will attend our photo story session.… Read the rest
2011 Self Published Photo Book
2011 was a productive year. I told meaningful stories and affected lives. One of my projects was the Mother of Angel Friendship Network. In February, a magazine published my article and photo essay about the support group organized by mothers who have lost children to death. It is a subject that is often ignored, and the article has helped more people find support and comfort.
I continued my personal project with the mothers’ group during the year. In August, I used Blurb’s new ProLine paper to self publish an excellent book. Combining my experience, the subject matter, and the new Blurb product, this is probably my best book. To see my collection of Mother of Angel photos, visit my gallery collection.… Read the rest
Photo Booth and Facebook Tagging
The last two months, I have transitioned from my old TypePad blog to a new WordPress blog. I am still sentimental about my TypePad blog, but I wanted an application that would continue improving. With my new BryanFarleyPhotography WordPress blog, my images are sharper and my posts are easier to locate on the internet. While I have been learning WordPress, I have spent hours staring at widgets, plugins, themes, statistics, code, categories and so many other options that I wondered if I would ever solve my problems.
Then I saw photos from a makeshift wedding photo booth and it did not matter.… Read the rest
Sonoma County College and Career-Ready Fair
The high school graduating class of 2012 has already applied to college for next year. After November 30, many universities will not accept applications for Fall 2012. Does this seem early? I am still baffled by the early admission date, even though I attended college and worked as a college admissions representative… and helped start the Sonoma County College Fair.
I was even more surprised by the November 30 deadline when I was a high school senior and I missed the deadline.
My personal experience helps explain my dedication to the Sonoma County College Fair. My senior year, our school did not have a college counselor.… Read the rest
Reflections on the JEA-NSPA National Conference
Twice a year, the Journalism Education Association and the National Student Press Association host national journalism conferences. Several thousand students, educators and professionals attend each convention. For those four days, it is easy to reflect on the conference and believe in the future of journalism.
At this year’s conference, veterans and newcomers inspired the students. Vadim Lavrusik spoke to a couple thousand attendees. Lavrusik is Facebook’s Journalist Program Manager. He is also 25. Before he worked at Facebook, he was the Community Manager and Social Strategist at Mashable.
Dave LaBelle, photographer and educator presented at the conference. LaBelle has authored two books that have defined how photographers cover photojournalism.… Read the rest
Fresno High Senate Stogie Bowl
The Fresno High School Senate is the oldest club of its kind in the country. Founded in 1890, The Senate honors tradition, academic excellence and leadership. Even though we play an annual football game, athletic ability is not a requirement for membership. The Senate is a group for education leaders and mentors. The football game is just one of our many traditions.
I have written about the Stogie Bowl in 2009 and 2010. To see the photos from previous years, visit the old blog posts.
To see this year’s photos, click on me.
Most of the current participants were not born when I played my first Thanksgiving game on November 22, 1984.… Read the rest
United States Flag
On Veteran’s Day this year, I searched through my archive for United States Flag images. Before I started looking through several thousand photos (well, close to 20,000), I assumed that I would find more pictures. I was wrong.
Fortunately, I found a few surprises, even if some of the flags are barely visible. (And I have been finding more surprised after I originally posted this gallery.) The photo above was taken on November, 16, 2011 in Minneapolis from a SkyWay.
The American Flag Photo Gallery
There are many guidelines about the proper treatment of the United States Flag. Many Americans violate the code unknowingly.… Read the rest
Sacramento State iMet Reunion Research
This is my first featured post using my new integrated blogging platform and PhotoShelter website. For much of the last two weeks, I have wondered if the photo below was a self portrait. Now, it is a reminder that new technology is never as scary as it first appears.
The photo above was taken outside a reunion of education technology leaders. We met in Sacramento to celebrate the first twelve cohorts of the Sacramento State iMet program. (To learn more about the program, please read my old blog.) Some might call our gathering a reunion, and it was a reunion.… Read the rest
Hello world!
… and on the 8th day, God created WordPress. Hail to the Muse!
Until WordPress existed, nobody could say hello to each other. At least, nobody could say hello to the world. Next thing you know, corporations will become people, Books will have Faces, and Soviet satellites will fall from the sky.
For those of you who have never created a WordPress blog, the first post is already titled, “Hello World!” I kept the original heading. I also added a PhotoShelter photo gallery of the county/pop band Lady Antebellum. About a year ago, Lady A released a single with the same title, but without the exclamation mark.… Read the rest
