Teaching Women Reaching Togo – Storytellers Abroad Missions Multimedia Workshop

photo by Jeff Raymond

A week ago today I was stuck in the Accra, Ghana airport waiting for Delta Airlines computer system to get back online so that we could return home after a week in Tsiko, Togo, West Africa.

It was a good week of capturing stories of the work being done with the help of Association of Baptists for World Evangelism missionaries. We were staying at the Hopital Baptiste Biblique guest housing while working on stories that have all been the result of the hospital.

Jeff Raymond organized the Storytellers Abroad Missions Multimedia Workshop with the help of Pat Davision and myself.

Over the next few weeks I will share some of the stories done by the students. Today I want to share what Hannah Strayer captured.

This is Hannah Strayer capturing her story. [Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/640]

Hannah's story is just below here. Take a look at what she captured in just a week while in Togo.

Under the teaching of ABWE missionary, Rebekah Poteat, Abra Sakpa has been learning Bible study methods and is using them to teach between 20-25 women about the Bible. Her vision in learning and teaching the Bible is that she might teach other women to teach women to teach women so that the farthest corners of Togo might be reached with the Gospel.

We still have openings for the Honduras Multimedia Workshop taking place this October 29th to November 5th. Deadline to apply is August 30, 2016. Click here to learn more.

“Can we talk here?”

Photo by Hannah Strayer, Storytellers Abroad participant

In the words of Joan Rivers, “Can we talk here?”

First, if you lost your job and are looking for a new job go and have lunch or coffee with a successful pro. Take the time to ask them, “If you were I what would you do?”

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens,  ISO 7200, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

Also scrape together enough money to pay for that lunch or coffee, because it will most likely be the best money you have spent in a long time.

Second, learn to listen and try and hear what people need and learn how to position yourself as the solution to their problems. Too many times new freelancers are doing all they can to tell a potential client what they do. They just talked themselves out of any work. If you talk about how you are a great square and they needed a round solution you can see how you lost the job. It is better to listen and hear they need a round object and figure out how you could be a round object.

Jeff Raymond talks through Stacey Schuett story during our Storytellers Abroad Missions Multimedia Workshop in Togo, West Africa. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens,  ISO 25600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]

Third, if you get a call about a job opportunity–pause and think. Your objective should be get the job offer and then decide if you are interested. Don’t be the guy who before hearing all about a job is turning it down. Now all the reasons you have for turning something down may very well disappear had you just shut up and listened. There is a very good chance they may offer you more money or something else that helps address your needs, but because you are so smart and already knew why this isn’t a good fit just lost a great opportunity.

You never know who is watching. As I was shooting this another photographer was photographing me. [Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/320]

Fourth, let’s just say you screwed up on anything, call that person and apologize. If you don’t know what you did wrong just call them and say I think I made a mistake with you and I don’t know what I did, but would love to learn from you so I don’t make that mistake again. Your willingness to eat some humble pie might just reopen a closed door.

Photo by Hannah Strayer, Storytellers Abroad participant

Fifth, many people could go to etiquette classes for adults. You maybe sabotaging your efforts by the way you dress to how you eat your food for example. The more you know the better you can be at shaping your brand.

Here are some key factors that prohibit professionals or an organization from achieving its potential level of success include:

• Poor verbal and non verbal skills towards other employees or business partners
• Rude and distracting behavior in the office and during meetings 
• Failing to appreciate employees for their contributions and poor communication
• Inappropriate attire and inappropriate behavior 
• Poor manners on the phone and via email 
• Embarrassing business and social faux pas

Let me just say my wife has educated me a great deal on some of what I call overlooked social faux pas. She has helped me so much in navigating etiquette.

Proverbs 1:1-33 ESV

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, ...

Now we all still make mistakes, so learn from them. Hope this helps you think about your objective of finding work.

Colossians 4:5-6 ESV

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Making Emotional Connections with my Camera in West Africa

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 1400, ƒ/1.4, 1/200

I really enjoy meeting people and find children around the world capture my attention the most. I think it is because of their curiosity and that when I smile I get a response.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

Now my two favorite lenses to capture these emotional connections are the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G and the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art. Since both of these are very fast lenses of wide open apertures of ƒ/1.4 and ƒ/1.8 then you can capture just the person and especially the eyes and let everything else go out of focus.

My mentor Don Rutledge is the one I heard most often referring to the power of the eyes. He said these with the "Windows to the Soul."

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 8000, ƒ/4, 1/100

Now I have learned through the years that the angle from which you photograph a person can greatly impact what you are saying and in my opinion determine how much of an "emotional connection" you are able to make with the subject and the audience.

I blogged about the topic earlier. Here is that blog post.

While I commented in that blog post that seeing eye-to-eye isn't always best, I do tend to look for this when I am trying to connect the audience to the subject as their equal.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/320

Now getting eye level with a smile is always expressive, it isn't the only face expression that connects with the audience.

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/400

Also it is important to mention that it is the eyes that do most of the smiling in those photos that are truly showing joy of seeing you.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 1100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

Now while this little boy isn't sure of me with that expression, the expression really does capture the innocence of the child. I can just see in the face the question of who are you and can I trust you?

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/2000

The other thing that happens when people look at you without a big smile is there appears to be a silent dialogue going on with the audience. I think this type of an expression is quite abstract. It makes the audience want to fill in the dialogue.

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 8000, ƒ/4, 1/500

To me a photographer's demeanor helps to elicit responses from people. I know this because when I am in a cross cultural situation like this in Togo, West Africa I don't speak their language. All I am doing is using body language and face expressions to get reactions to me from people.

I jus felt welcomed by these guys as they were driving closer to me down this dirt road.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

How can't the toughest person be melted by this little girls presence and expression?

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 1100, ƒ/1.8, 1/1000

Hey the smile will always get a great reaction, but remember your audience and you need more to your life than just one emotion. Learn to explore with your subject. Don't be afraid of those uncomfortable expressions as well.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 4000, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

Often the beginning of the relationship with a subject may start like this before I am able to build the trust that lets me be able to get behind those off putting expressions.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 2800, ƒ/1.8, 1/200

I have one tip that should help you get better emotional connection photos. Be vulnerable with yourself and open with the subjects. Take your time and remember that you must first learn to serve your subject with your willingness to give rather than take.

The only way I know to express this is I think of this as giving a hug with your eyes. Just like you would do with a new born child, be expressive and show the excitement of being in their presence.

If you are patient, kind and a loving person to others then the odds of you capturing the "Decisive Moment" where there is an "Emotional Connection" is possible.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G,  ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

Storytellers Abroad to Togo West Africa is wrapping up

Hannah Teramura is working on voice over for her video. The man doing the voice over is a Ghanaian who lives in Tsiko, Togo and works with the Hopital Baptiste Biblique. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 5600, ƒ/8, 1/100]

What a week this has been. I am now flying back to Atlanta by way of JFK airport in New York. By the way we had around a four hour delay. Not sure right now on which flight I will take to get back to Atlanta. It appears I will miss the scheduled flight. It was delayed, but not as much as my flight.

During this week with Storytellers Abroad Missions Multimedia Workshop I have worked with Pat Davison and Jeff Raymond as we led ten students through their stories.

This is Cy Hayden another one of the students interviewing his subject with the help of Mrs. Gail on translating from French to English. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/125]

Each student would do a pre-interview with their subject and then a sit down interview. After we reviewed it most everyone would do a follow-up interview to help fill in the holes of the storyline.

Pat Davison is working here with Liz Ortiz on the left and Keziah Khoo. Each student spent a great deal of time with Pat going over their stories. I also met with each student. We would help by helping them through the storyline process and helping them understand how to use b-roll more effectively to tell their stories. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 7200, ƒ/5.6, 1/125]

Each of the students then spent a lot of time massaging their stories in Adobe Premier.

Stacey Schuett on the left and Hannah Saxe on the right are working hard in the classroom on their projects. [Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art,  ISO 1000, ƒ/1.4, 1/125]

One of the students was Stacey Schuett who had been in the Atlanta Ballet and even lived near me during that time in Roswell, GA. We believe that my family saw her dancing in the Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker when she was in Atlanta.

That was such a cool thing to discover and really made the world seem that much smaller.

Another surprise was Wilson, on left, and his friend coming to listen to us a couple times. They are local and part of the YWAM base there. Wilson had been to Kona, Hawaii and we had a lot of friends in common. Keziah another student and he had taken the same film classes in Kona, but just different times. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 8000, ƒ/5.6, 1/125]

The students all stopped on Saturday night and we showed our stories in whatever stage they were in to the missionaries and to the subjects before we left the next day.

Everyone gathered who was in the stories or part of the Baptist Hospital in Tsiko, Togo, West Africa to see our progress. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 7200, ƒ/4, 1/100]

Since we started doing this workshop in 2014 with our first workshop to Lisbon, Portugal we have had two students decide to do this as a full-time career in missions. We have had a few others who have done more trips to tell missions stories using multimedia. Some of them are exploring this as full-time career as well.

Here is our team. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 100, ƒ/8, 1/200]

Check out Storytellers Abroad for our trip next year. We are going to Lisbon, Portugal again and will have the date posted soon.

If you want to do this even sooner you can still join me in Honduras for a similar workshop. Here is that link.

Words of Encouragement – Be strong and courageous

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 3600, ƒ/8, 1/100

Most everyone in our Storytellers Abroad workshop was feeling worn out and stressed yesterday. Everyone including the instructors were learning new things and also dealing with the difficulties of living in a 3rd World Country of Togo, West Africa.

We could not just jump in a car and type in the address that we wanted to go to in our GPS as we would do back in the USA.

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 2800, ƒ/4, 1/100

Pat Davison was added to our team when James Dockery was unable to come on this trip. Pat has show us a few tricks that has made my life easier and helped to improve my workflow with Adobe Premier. Pat also taught us many other ways to help tell a story using visuals than I have been using.

We knew from our projects that had been produced that we wanted to raise the bar a little higher. This trip we all worked harder to use new techniques in teaching of the content to get the students to do a better job of getting better quality b-roll.

We taught the many different ways they could use their tripods to steady their cameras. The b-roll definitely got much better.

Since more of the students were shooting more video than in the past the time to do this versus still photos takes more time. More time when you are already in a 3rd World Country and dealing with the frustrations of everything taking longer put all of us into a stress overload.

Michael Cheatham, chief surgeon at Orlando health and who coordinated the Orlando shooting medical response is here with us in Togo working at the Hospital Bible Baptist. He led our devotional yesterday and his words for us were just what we needed.

He shared how his pastor friend sent him the morning of the shooting this bible verse:

1 Chronicles 28:20

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

Hearing how his team needed encouragement and that God is with you was so comforting to us all. Today we will share the storied to the community that we have been working on since Sunday. We are still feeling the stress and hope by our time tonight that most of the students will feel a sense of peace with their projects.

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 800, ƒ/9, 1/200

We are looking forward to sharing the stories today. Now wherever the project is tonight we will show it, so it is a work in progress. Next week the students will add a few finishing touches and then we will be sharing them with the world. Stay tuned.

Nikon D5 takes on Togo, West Africa

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/2500

The Nikon D5 is really performing well here in Togo, West Africa. I don't have a lot of technical things to share this time for a blog. I just wanted to share some of the photos I have been getting which is really me sharing the people of Togo that I am meeting.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/125

I have been pleased with the Dynamic Range of the files.

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/400

I am loving doing portraits with the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/800

I also love shooting with the Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art lens. I love shooting both of the lenses wide open which gives such a selective focus that the subject really pops out from the background.

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/2500

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/500

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 800, ƒ/4, 1/4000

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 1400, ƒ/1.4, 1/200

Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 4500, ƒ/4, 1/100

Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 1400, ƒ/1.4, 1/200

Travel Photography Tip First Things First

Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/1000

This week while teaching in the Storytellers Abroad Workshop here in Togo, West Africa I have noticed some trends that most students make.

Every day we assess the trends of common errors and address those each day. One of the most common themes that almost every day starts with is taking care of the technical before trying to capture the content.

Allison Waller, a student in the Storytellers Abroad Workshop, has all these Togo children fascinated with her camera.  [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens,, ISO 3600, ƒ/4, 1/100]

Before you start shooting pictures or capturing video you need to take care of the settings on your camera.

Here is a short list of things that I recommend that a person check before capturing the content.

1. Set the camera resolution. 
1. Stills – I use RAW, but just be sure you have made a conscience choice.
2. Video – I often shoot today in 1920x1280 24 fps. Again be aware what settings you use. With video you need to be sure all the cameras you use are on the same resolution or editing will be a problem.
2. Set ISO – Use the lowest ISO possible to still get a sharp image and well exposed
3. Set Aperture
4. Set Shutter Speed
1. Stills – Pick shutter speed that works with the focal length
2. Video – Use shutter speed double the fps.
5. White Balance – I recommend always using a Custom White balance
6. Video Sound 
1. Microphone close as possible to the person 
2. Set Audio Recording level
3. Always use closed headphones to listen for sound issues

Once you take care of those technical settings then when you start shooting the content you are collecting will be useable.

Pat Davison, professor from UNC School of Media/Journalism, is teaching interviewing techniques using a translator during our workshop in Togo, West Africa.  [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 1800, ƒ/8, 1/100]

[Nikon D5, Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 DG Art, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/100]

Protecting my New Nikon D5 Cameras

Price $39.95

I can tell you a few of the downsides of buying a new camera. First of all when it is new there are changes that will be necessary.

One of the changes I had to go through was not having my EasyCover for the Nikon D5 to protect it for a couple of months. I just got mine last week. I bought two for the two cameras. I even made one different than the other so I could know which camera I was shooting with. This helps when I need to know which camera I am shooting with due to a few things. One may be I set up one for video and the other for stills.

Another reason maybe one is set for studio flash and the other available. There are many reasons you may need to know or remember which camera is which.

One of the cameras has the camouflage and the other is black.

The great thing about getting a new camera is all the improvements and EasyCover also made improvements over the Nikon D4 cover.

At first glance it may look very similar, but they did listen to users and found that the Nikon D4 cover made it difficult to see your buttons. When Nikon made the Nikon D4 they improved it by creating backlight inside the buttons so you could turn on a light to see which is which button, but the EasyCover covered them and you could still push them, just you lost this cool enhancement.

Now you can easily see your buttons on the Nikon D5. There are just a few that they kept covered as you can see above.

Here is a link from EasyCover to help you find the store in your country that you can purchase your Nikon D5 cover.

Now for those of you who shoot with a different camera they make many other covers including lens covers. Check out all their covers for cameras here.

This is one of the best investments anyone can make for their camera. I like to describe it as similar to my Otterbox for my Smartphone. It protects the camera.

Now if I can just get Pocketwizard to update the firmware for the Flex TT5 & TT1 for the Nikon D5 I will be thrilled.