President’s Blog

Flyer image by Mark Turner

Outstanding work from the Brooks Institute School of Visual Journalism is being featured now at the Ventura County Arts Council Collegiate Exhibition. The exhibit runs from March 5 through March 31 at the Ventura County Government Center located at 800 South Victoria Blvd in Ventura. (The exhibition is located in the Main Administration Building, top floor of the Atrium Gallery.) The public is invited to a reception scheduled for Thursday, March 18 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

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The latest book from Graphic Design faculty member Barbara Obermeier, Photoshop Elements 8 For Dummies, will be making an appearance in episode 10 of NBC’s Parenthood this season. (Barbara just signed an agreement to allow them to use a copy for this hit show.) The show airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.  Episode 10 should air in about nine weeks.  The book is co-written by Ted Padova.

Barbara Obermeier is the principal of Obermeier Design, a graphic design studio in California specializing in print and Web design. She is the author of more than a dozen books.

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Brooks Institute’s School of Professional Photography unveils its certificate program in Wedding Photography and has begun enrolling students to begin in May of 2010. This 24-credit certificate program is designed to be completed in four sessions over 32 weeks, preparing students to successfully pursue and/or further careers in the wedding photography industry. Students in this program will gain knowledge of advance photographic techniques, lighting strategies and workflow processes as they relate to the wedding environment and flow.

“The wedding industry in the last 10 years has changed dramatically,” said Tim Meyer faculty member at Brooks Institute and professional wedding photographer. “This program is designed to give certificate recipients a competitive edge by offering tools to better understand the marketplace and to enhance their photographic technique.”

Graduates of the certificate program will be trained to approach weddings with artistic vision and demonstrate proficiency in the art of visual storytelling. This program emphasizes the skills required to work within varying wedding environments as well as the discipline necessary to work with this specific clientele from start to finish.

The Wedding Photography Certificate program is open to professionals looking to expand in their field and high school graduates ready to get a taste of what the world of wedding photography has to offer. All classes from the Wedding Photography certificate program are transferable into the BFA program at Brooks Institute if a student would wish to continue his/her studies. Those interested in learning more about the Wedding Photography Certificate program can contact an admissions representative at (888) 276-4999.

Wedding Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) will be offering a scholarship to this Brooks Institute’s Wedding Photography certificate program. To be considered for the WPPI scholarship, photography students attending WPPI 2010 need to provide WPPI judges with a portfolio of at least 12 images, an essay on the topic “why I want to be a wedding photographer,” and no more than three letters of recommendation from people in the portrait/wedding industry.  For more information about WPPI visit www.wppionline.com.

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Alumnus Alexander Haessner was recently profiled on Germany’s TVNTV for his participation in New York’s Fashion Week 2010. Since graduating from Brooks, Alexander has made New York his home.

http://www.tvntv.de/public/newyork.mov

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Left to right: Yao Shiguan, Professor & Vice Dean of Teaching, Administration Division; Xiong Ying, Dean of School of Foreign Languages; Dr. Roger Andersen, President, Brooks Institute; Kuang Guozhu, President, Dalian University of Technology Photo Credit: David Litschel

The three visitors from Dalian University of Technology were accompanied by Yuhsun Edward Shih, Ph.D., Director of International Admissions, Colorado Technical University, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The purpose of the visit was to meet with Dr. Roger Andersen and David Litschel, Vice President of Academic Affairs, to discuss ways in which the two institutions could cooperate in the future. Plans are to follow up with another meeting in March.

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Left to right - David Litschel (VP of Academic Affairs), Richard Anderson (co-author, Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook), Peter Krogh (author, The DAM Book - Digital Asset Management for Photographers), Chris Broughton (Brooks Institute faculty member), Dr. Glenn Rand (Program Director of the MFA Degree in Photography Program at Brooks Institute). Photo credit: The Paradise Cafe

Richard Anderson and Peter Krogh, best known for their work on an award to ASMP from the Library of Congress for their work on a definitive workflow process for digital photography, gave a presentation to students and faculty this past Friday morning and held a roundtable discussion with Brooks Institute faculty members in the afternoon about methods of integrating their methodology into college curriculum. Richard’s and Peter’s work for ASMP and the Library of Congress can be seen at http://www.dpbestflow.org.

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Rick Rickman at reception for "The Wonder Years." Photo Credit: Nina Gomez

Brooks Institute faculty member Rick Rickman’s photographic career has taken many twists and turns. Rickman’s ability to remain flexible and his willingness to seize opportunities as they appear have allowed him to follow this luge-like course that now lands him on assignment at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. This marks his 14^th year photographing the Olympic Games.

“When I first started photography, I was strictly a news hound. I love the excitement of news. Later I did my stint with combat [photography].  When I think about what’s been happening with my career, it strikes me as a bit ironic because I never really had any interest in sports photography.  Personally, I’ve always been drawn to sports because I ran competitively most of my life, played volleyball with some pretty amazing teams and love to surf.  However, the covering sports aspect of my shooting has been somewhat accidental.  I think I’m just good at it because my hand-eye coordination has always been pretty good and my timing is pretty sharp as well.”

Just as the Olympic athletes do, Rickman will rely on his years of training, sense of discipline and physical aptitude to overcome the many challenges that the Olympic Games present for photographers.

“In the past, going on almost 40 years of this kind of coverage, the one thing that poses the most challenging equation is the number of photographers who are credentialed to cover these competitions,” said Rickman. “The number of photographers has increased exponentially and it makes capturing unique images increasingly harder. The other major challenge is staying focused on the important aspects of the games themselves. Each Olympic Games has a flavor that develops. There’s a sense of energy that carries the mood of the games forward. Think of Mexico City, Munich, LA, Barcelona, Beijing, Albertville. Every location has its own character and unique events that shaped how each Olympic Games was perceived. A photographer has to tap into that character to help bring coverage to life.”

For more information about Rick Rickman and to view his work, visit www.rickrickman.com and www.newsportphoto.com.

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Go behind the scenes of film production with Brooks Institute students David Graves, Matthew Bobbitt, Robert Woodward, Robert Deltour, and Andrew Hreha. See Huxley Park behind the scenes Episode one: The Beginning.

Visit Huxley Park.com each Wednesday for a new ”behind the scenes” episode and follow the production from beginning to release!

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Photo Credit: Ana Aguirre, Blake Grimmer, Sara Kirkendoll, Jenn Sakamoto, Nick Trochil

Our students’ creative skills are often put to the test. The “Big Set” assignment in our Commercial Photo 2 class is part of our Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography degree program and is a great “big” example of the sort of challenges our students are presented with. In addition to thinking creatively, assignments like this offer students the opportunity to work as part of a team, set goals, establish timelines and deadlines, and develop a portfolio quality image.

Professional Photography student Blake Grimmer gave us the “what’s what” about the photo that his group created to fulfill the “Big Set” requirements.

What were the requirements for this class assignment? There had to be at least three people in the image, we had to build the entire set ourselves, it had to feature some kind of beverage, and the scene had to appear like it was shot at night.

Who was you instructor?
Mr. Rob Winner. He is the man.

The subject is pretty creative – how did your group come up with this idea?
We just brainstormed as a group and tossed around a bunch of ideas together. We wanted something comical and smart.

How long did it take to build the set?
We spent about a day and a half building and getting everything just right. Putting the walls up and then lighting it all probably took up most of our time. But it was a blast.

How long did it take to coordinate/set up the shot?
Not long, everyone that we asked to model said yes on the first try. It was all pretty easy. Everything just fell into place. I think we got super lucky.

What was it like to work with such a large group of subjects?
Not bad at all! We chose our subjects well, I guess. Also, we were very prepared. We knew what we wanted in the shot and we had everything ready to go once our models arrived, so the actual “shooting” took less than ten minutes.

How long did post-production take?
About four to five hours.

Do you have any advice you can offer to future students who will work on a “big set” project?
Get in a group with people who are team players. I think that was our group’s greatest advantage. We all shared the work and we had fun the entire time.

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