News photography gives students hands on experience

This semester, ten students have had the privilege to be in the first news photography class at Austin Community College taught by an experienced local newspaper photographer at the Rio Grande Campus.

News photography I is an introductory photography course taught by adjunct assistant professor Kelly West, who also works as an Austin-American Statesman photographer.

This is ACC's first photography course that is credited toward the associate of arts degree in journalism.

"We spend some time learning the technical part of digital photography," West said. "My goal is to increase students comfort level managing all the technical controls on their cameras, so they can begin concentrating more on composition and storytelling."

"Since it is a news photography course, students learn a lot about visual storytelling, and most of the assignments involve taking photographs of people," West said.

Students interested in taking this course in the future can currently enroll in the spring semester's course which will take place from 10 a.m.- 1:20 p.m. every Friday at Rio Grande Campus.

"I plan to keep teaching the course as long as ACC continues to offer it, revising the content along the way to reflect changes in the news industry," West said. "I can offer students a solid understanding of the kinds of skills they need to develop to make themselves marketable."

The course does not have a textbook, and instead

students are given weekly photography assignments to complete featuring topics such as capturing motion and understanding photo composition.

West said, drawing from her daily experiences at a newspaper, that technologies are changing constantly and the current textbooks can be obsolete soon.

The news photography course is open for up to 12 students to enroll in and this semester's course, with two sessions a week, started with 11 students.

"The students I've had this fall have been great about giving me honest feedback on the course, so I've modified assignments and lectures to try and meet their needs as much as possible," West said. "I will miss my current class — it's like we all went through boot camp together, so I feel bonded to them."

News Photography student Ashley Udell said that she feels more comfortable with her camera with the skills has learned in this class.

"I love photography," Udell said. "I think people are more interested in things that are happening in the world and they can be represented also with words and good storytelling."

Another student in the class, Adrienne Dever, said that this class is part of her plan to graduate in Advertising with a double major in photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

Before the course, she was afraid to talk people for photos; now, she has no fear.

"This class is going very well and I had a lot of fun," Dever said. She applauds West for being a great instructor and feels ACC should continue this photojournalism class in future semesters.