Individual final project with Owens Radiology Program

An x-ray of a chest with bullet wounds. (Photos by Sam Ricker PHO245)

   It's almost the end of the semester and that means everyone is hurrying to finish final projects and study for exams.
   The final project this semester for the photojournalism class was an individual Soundslide presentation. The stories were supposed to follow with the beats we covered earlier in the year. However, I decided to change my program to get a wider view of the programs at Owens. Lucky for me the Radiology Program was more than happy to help me out. I met Melissa Trombly, a student who showed me around the radiology department. She let me interview and photograph her with a patient, who was actually another radiology student.
   Trombly also pointed out to me how radiology can be similar to photography. Both use words like exposure for their images. Both also have had to deal with film that has become updated into the digital world.
   The presentation process is a long one. There are two separate programs that are used, Audacity and Soundslides. Audacity is a sound program that allows to you to edit your interviews, cut, paste and add sound.
  The other program, Soundslides, is a program that connects the photographs and the sound into a presentation. Soundslides allows you to arrange photos, lengthen or shorten them and add transitions and movements.
   The whole process takes a while to finish, and you need to be patient and allow yourself time. It's not a simple job that can be done in two hours but when its finished you have something that you really can be proud of and show off.

Radiology student, Melissa Trombly looks over x-rays on the computer.

Melissa Trombly, a radiology senior poses for a photo with a radiology shield.

                                                                                                                                                                

This photojournalism class has been quite an experience, I have learned so much and had experiences I will never forget.

Burned: Arson field trip to the Central Toledo area

A white picket fence surrounds what once was the American dream burned to the ground. (Photos by Sam Ricker PHO245)

Steps lead to nowhere after an arson claims a home in Central Toledo.

   The final projects are in full swing in Owens Community College's photojournalism class.
  Our class took a field trip to the Central Toledo area to photograph arson sites on November 28th. The job for us students was not only to photograph these houses but to find witnesses or neighbors to interview,  then a soundslides production.

   The class was broken up into three sections. A sound team to collect interviews and work in a sound program called audacity, an editing team to collect and edit photographs and put them in sound slides, and a caption team to write down information to make the captions and put them along with photographs.

An abandoned home can be the perfect opening for an arsonist to enter and destroy.

  The class started out at a house that was burned to the ground, only rubble remained. A neighbor who lived across the street was kind enough to talk with our sound team students and gave us valuable information that we could only of obtained from witnesses like her. The rest of the class worked on photographing the house and the surrounding area.

   Leaving the first house we also visited houses that were still standing, these houses showed us just the amount of damage that can be done from arson, not only to one home but to the houses next door as well.

  On our final stop the class witnessed what appeared as the American dream burned to the ground, a white picket fence surrounding a pile of rubble. A man who lived in the neighborhood talked with our sound team and really gave us information we could have never known. He told us about all the abandoned houses in town and how easily they are vandalized. I now kind of understand how houses can be forgotten about and torched. 

  This project was one of the largest photography projects I have had to work on. It was a difficult challenge, and took a lot of courage but it was also something I will never forget and learned so much from. 

   I think arson deserves much more attention and notice so others can learn and maybe try to fix this problem.
   The final project from Soundslides will be given to rustwire.com, a website that focuses on areas like this in both destruction and beauty.