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Ken Kadwell

Jrn 445: A Job Shadow with Melanie Maxwell

Have you ever met someone that left a lasting impression? Well I have, and not long ago. Sent out on a multimedia job shadow assignment by Kent Miller, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. After multiple phone calls and nothing concrete, things were starting to look bleak. That all turned around with an e-mail from Melanie Maxwell regarding a day of kids making slime. To say the least I was intrigued.

Maxwell has a well rounded background with a B.F.A in Photography and a B.S in Photojournalism, both from CMU. She has worked at several newspapers and is currently working at AnnArbor.com as a photographer/videographer and owns her own business,Melanie Maxwell Photography.

Something that stood out to me right away while shadowing Maxwell was her attention to detail and multitasking capabilities. When pulling up to the first assignment before even getting out of the car she commented on the number of windows the building had and how much light they would provide for us. Shortly after getting inside it wasn’t long before she commented on the location of the heater and how it worked in our favor.

During the assignment she had her phone out about as much as her cameras but it wasn’t to talk. Using her iphone to capture audio for backup in-case the camcorder didn’t pick it up was the technique used several times, and then immediately e-mailing the files back to herself for later use.

As a photographer I have heard the term, “shoot and move, shoot and move,” a time or two and apparently so has Maxwell. Constantly on the move never getting settled in she covered every angle and documented every detail.

Along with being an amazing journalist she has a natural born talent to be a great teacher. During her rounds when possible she would stop to explain what she was doing and why. This added a lot of insight on how things worked because at times when it might have looked like she was checking a text, she was really sending audio to herself in an e-mail.

After the first assignment was over we headed back to edit. The learning didn’t stop there as I was in shock at how fast she was able to organize photos through her system. “Half of it is figuring out how not to waste your time,” she Maxwell as she cut and pasted file names altering a digit or two.

While editing the video take she brought up some very good points that I previously hadn’t thought about. While playing the same section over and over during the edit to get it just right, I thought it seemed understandable. Yet she mentioned, the amount of times we had listened to it and to someone listening to it for the first time, they might miss some of the message.

Trying to keep viewers tuned in for the credits? Maybe try what Maxwell does, include a clip at the end of the credits as a payoff for watching them. Something funny or worth seeing but might not have fit in the video for various reasons.

She also discussed how a stories natural flow should have an effect on how long photos are up. A high energy story would have a faster paced sequence of photos where as a slow maybe sad story would be noticeably slower.

My thoughts on being a multi-media journalist, it certainly looks to be a fast paced think on your feet type of job. You never really know what to expect as Maxwell said, “You can’t plan these things.” It’s true, you don’t know what is going to happen during your story but instead observe and react. I personally think that is a good thing.

With today’s technology a multi-media journalist’s work station could be anywhere. I like the thoughts of that as it seems to offer some freedoms as long as you tend to your responsibilities. As long as you get your assignments done you make up the composition of your day, coffee break anyone?

Before we parted ways Maxwell told me how lucky she is to be working in this field. Meeting so many people and being able to tell their stories is a great way to live and after watching I have to agree. It’s been said before and I’m sure it will be said again that a journalist won’t grow to be rich, but rather rich with life experiences. I can’t imagine a better life and I hope one day I too will be as fortunate as Maxwell.

A Day with Melanie Maxwell from Ken Kadwell on Vimeo.

Additional Shots:

Studio Portrait:



Moriah Clover indulges in one of her favorite pastimes during a studio portrait lighting exercise at the Wightman studio Sunday, November 28, 2010.

Lens (mm): 46
ISO: 100
Aperture: 14
Shutter: 1/250



Photo Illustration:


Eating a healthy and balanced breakfast is a great way to jump-start your day. Unfortunately about 25% of the population skip breakfast even though it is commonly regarded as the most important meal of the day.

Lens (mm): 120
ISO: 100
Aperture: 16
Shutter: 1/250

Jrn 420: Reshoots

Painting with Light:


Clare resident Jesse Wild summons a sinister creature from the dark depths of the unknown.

Lens (mm): 45
ISO: 100
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter: 20



Still Life:


Milk and cookies are a match made in heaven that may bring back memories from late night snacks to the night before Christmas.

Lens (mm): 55
ISO: 100
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/250



Location Lighting:


Moriah Clover spins around showing off her lighter side in an attempt to warm up during a location lighting shoot at Nelson Park Saturday, November 27, 2010.

Lens (mm): 20
ISO: 100
Aperture: 4.0
Shutter: 1/40


Moriah Clover finds a quiet corner to settle down and read during a location lighting exercise at Park Library Saturday, November 27, 2010.

Jrn 420: Photo Illustration

The goal of this project was to create a photo illustration using Photoshop to convey a theme.

Caught up in toys Clare resident Matt Connor sits in the turret of a G.I Joe Battle Wagon assisting a couple Joes capture another in the Wightman lab Friday, November 19, 2010.
This photo illustration was created by first setting up the G.I Joes and taking a shot of them without Connor. Next take a shot of Connor by himself sitting in a chair at approximately the same angle as the turret is facing. Keeping the lights in the same position to try to make it look as natural as possible Then re-size him to approximately the size of a G.I Joe and using the magnetic lasso tool to get an outline of him cut him out of one photo and paste him into the photo of the G.I Joes. Erasing his lower body was necessary to make it look as if Connor was actually sitting in the turret.

Caught up in toys Clare resident Matt Connor is held captive by G.I Joe toys in the Wightman lab Friday, November 19, 2010.
This photo illustration was created by first setting up the G.I Joes and taking a shot of them without Connor. Next take a shot of Connor by himself, re-size him to approximately the size of a G.I Joe and using the magnetic lasso tool to get an outline of him cut him out of one photo and paste him into the photo of the G.I Joes. The lighting setup remained the same to try to keep everything looking similar but the main difference was that the G.I Joes were set on a table.

Light Setup:

Jrn 420: Still Life

For this assignment we were to create a still life using everyday items but trying to put an interesting, dynamic twist on them.


For my first shot I wanted to do something simple and somewhat elegant. Placing three bell peppers in a diagonal line all facing the same direction with increasing degree of color. I wanted to use the light to show off the curves of the peppers


Lens (mm): 200
ISO: 100
Aperture: 9.0
Shutter: 1/250



For my second shot I wanted to put a twist on how we see food. I was trying to create an intimacy between the bell peppers to show how some individuals feel about food, they love it!

Lens (mm): 195
ISO: 100
Aperture: 9.0
Shutter: 1/250


Lighting Setup:


For my lighting setup I used the dome diffuser as the main light above and behind the bell peppers and a side light diffused by an umbrella with Moriah Clover using a white board to bounce some light back in on the side. I shot with a Canon T1i using a a 70-200 2.8 lens.

Outtakes:

Jrn 420: Painting with light

For this assignment we were to go out and shoot two completely different situations where we use lights to paint a photo. We could use flashlights, lighters, candles any source of light that we could think of to create the photo we wanted. Using a strobe to freeze our subject when they were in the pose we wanted them in and then immediately using our desired light source to try to create something fun and interesting. This project was by far one of the most fun and thought provoking projects I have ever worked on. I hope to continue painting with light even after this project is done. I am hoping to post more images later on about this as I feel I can improve drastically.



Clare resident Jesse Wild summons energy out of the ground during a painting with light exercise at his residence Sunday, October 24, 2010. Wild was more than enthusiastic after seeing some of the results. "I really like how this one turned out," said Wild.

Setup: We used a tripod and set the camera exposure for 30 seconds to give us a decent amount of time to play around. After turning off the lights I would use a wireless remote to trigger the camera to start the exposure. Once the camera started exposing I would use a Canon 580 with a blue gel to flash Jesse freezing him in place. After that we used two large Maglites to paint a scene.

Lens: 24
ISO: 100
Aperture: 8
Shutter Speed: 30 seconds



Central Michigan University senior Ken Kadwell in the most epic fight of his life against his evil clone in the Wightman studio Saturday, October 23, 2010. Kadwell thought the exercise was a lot of fun but also very challenging by himself.

Setup: For this shot that I did by myself I used a tripod with with the camera set at 30 seconds to try to give myself as much time as possible. I used a wireless remote to trigger the camera to start exposing. I had a Canon 580 on a light stand with a pocket wizard attached to it while I held onto the other pocket wizard to trigger it once I got into the desired position. After flashing myself I would pick up the Maglite near my feet and start to paint. Overall very fun, and very challenging!

Lens: 40
ISO: 100
Aperture: 100
Shutter Speed: 30 seconds

Outakes