This iconic photo was taken in 1985 in Armero, Colombia by Frank Fournier of the Contact Press Images. The subject is a thirteen-year-old girl named Omayra Sánchez who was trapped under the debris, rubble, and water after the Nevada del Ruiz volcano erupted and destroyed her town. Omayra was trapped for three days before she died. Rescue workers were unable to save her because her legs were pinned to a point that nothing could be done. Frank took the picture in the last day if not hours of her life. This photo caused major controversy because when it was published, Omayra had already died and because it showed how the Colombian government failed to aid and warn its citizens of the eruption. The government had known previously that an eruption was possible and did not warn the citizens or evacuate them.

For the last month, we have been working on the A-Z Project. This was a project where we had to go around and capture images that displayed certain rules. We had to follow rules such as vertical, blurred background, unique angle, and others. Along with that, our assignment was to take 26 pictures, and each one had to begin with a letter of the alphabet. I liked the diversity of our photos that were required, but I did not like how long it took to get all of the photos for the project.

HIDE AND SEEK: This is a picture of Claire Gundlach. She was laying on her sweatshirt and it was a really neat angle with only her eye showing. In black and white, it really helped to accentuate her eye. I named it Hide and Seek because Claire was attempting to hide from the camera.

QUIET: This is a picture of a butterfly that I captured outside the school. I like this picture because it follows the rule of thirds, has a nicely blurred background, and allows the movement of the butterfly to be seen. I named it Quiet because butterflies are silent creatures.

LOUD: This picture I captured at our school's Battle of The Bands competition. I loved how the shadow of the drummer was cast on the wall and you could see some of the equipment in the foreground but not the actual person. I named it Loud because Battle of The Bands was an extremely loud event to be at.

Today in class, we learned the handy technique of the self timer!

Rule nine: Watch the light. Lighting is one of the most important things when it comes to taking great pictures. Be sure to watch out for shadows that are cast on the face by the suns light. Th best times to take pictures are right before sunset and sunrise.

Rule ten: Be a picture director. The positioning of people in a photo is very important. Do not be lazy and just take a picture. Instead, take the extra minute or so to rearrange your subjects in order to create a better picture. This will make your photos be drastically improved.

Rule seven: The rule of thirds or move it from the middle. The rule of thirds is simple. Imagine that the picture you are taking is divided by a tic-tac-toe grid. The aim of this is to center your focus on a point of intersection on the grid. For example if you want to take a picture of a person, then you should make it so that their facial region is on one of the top intersections of the grid. This technique helps to make the subject stand out and be more dramatic.

Rule eight: Know your flash's range. It is extremely important in photography to know how far your flash can reach. If you take a picture where the subject is too far away, then they will come out very dark and you will not be able to see the subject. You can check your owner's manual so that you know the exact distance you should be from the subject. This knowledge will allow you to take great photos that are lit perfectly.

In 2009, Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard died while serving his country in Afghanistan. On the scene of his death was a photojournalist working for AP, that photojournalist managed to capture Joshua's last moments through their lens. The death of the soldier is horrible, but things like death and injury happen everyday during wars. When AP released the photos of Joshua Bernard's death to the public, it was a controversial move. Many people thought it was unfair to the family (who had asked for the photos to not be released), but I believe that everyone deserves to see and know what it is truly like in Afghanistan. I understand that the family is in pain from his death, but hiding the real world from the people of America will keep people from understanding how much soldiers are risking for their country. Photos from the tragedy of September 11, 2001 are another example. Although the men and women dying are other people's parents, brother, sisters, and friends, the rest of the country needs to realize just how big of a deal the event was. You cannot get that type of understanding by reading an article because the family would not let the photos be published, it goes with the saying "you have to see it to believe it," and photos are the perfect choice for that.

I believe it is the ethical standards of the media to print what is the truth. Hiding the truth and making everything seem like it is fine and not as bad as it really is, is wrong. It is a form of lying, and lying to the country is not the type of values that the United States of America were founded on. The media also needs to learn to moderate their pictures and make sure they are not printing photos that are too gory or violent. Getting the point across about tragedies is hard on anyone who's loved one is the victim, but if the media stopped printing all the photos of those people who suffered, then no person would be able to comprehend the magnitude of the horrible events that effect people everyday.

Rule five: Take pictures vertically. Vertical pictures are best for many subjects, especially tall ones. It helps to focus in on the subject with as little background distraction as possible. For example, if you were taking a picture of a tree horizontally you would have to walk pretty far away to get the whole tree in the photo. This would create a lot of empty and distracting space to the sides of the tree, and that is not what you want, so try taking the picture vertically instead.

Rule six: Lock in the focus. This creates a extremely clear picture of a subject that is usually off-center. In order to achieve this follow four quick steps. (1) Center the photo (the subject does not have to be in the middle). (2) Press the shutter halfway down. (3) Re-frame the picture to have the focus more on the subject (while still holding the shutter button). (4) Take the photo by pressing the shutter button all the way down. This will create a very sharp foreground with a blurry background that will show off your subject.

Photojournalism is the visual reporting of facts about the world, and being able to take those facts and make them simple and interesting for any IQ level. Photojournalism is a hard, tiring, dangerous, and unglamorous job. You are on constant call 24/7, a photojournalist is on the job at all times in the day because the news NEVER stops. In every photograph, a photojournalist must capture the entire sentence about what is going on (the subject, verb, and direct object). Photojournalism gives you the ability to change the world ad bring light to darkness. It allows people of every culture and language to connect and comprehend that one inspirational photograph.

Photojournalism is a form of journalism that uses images to tell about news and other stories instead of words. A photojournalist is a  mix of a photographer and a journalist. A good photojournalist is able to take some aspects from each profession and create an image that describes everything. They are able to transport you to the scene of the picture and make it feel like you were there, living those moments, instead of you looking at the moments through a photograph. For many people, it is hard to tell the difference between photography and photojournalism, but there are some big differences. The main one is VERBS. This may sound crazy, but a photojournalist really focuses on capturing photos with a verb that is very clear. They are not focusing on a subject or noun, but on the action that is going on. This ensures that the picture will be able to tell a story just by looking at it, with no other explanations for what is going on. Occasionally a photojournalist wants to photograph a noun such as a portrait of a person, but it is in order to tell story. The differences between photojournalism and journalism are a little more easy to comprehend and visualize. The big variation between the two is that photojournalism is with photos and that journalism is with words and paper.

Rule three: Use flash outside.

Flash is helpful in the dark, but also in the sunlight. When it is bright outside and shadows that the sun create hit a person's face funny, you should use a flash. This will eliminate most shadows and make them stand out more.

Rule four: Move in close.

Use macro mode to get in close to objects so that it takes up the whole screen. Fill the whole viewfinder in order to do this. Filling it creates a dramatic photo and gets rid of any background distractions.

Rule number 1: Get eye level with the subject.

The means, you must get down to their level. Seeing eyes in a photo help to make it "more intimate". The subject doesn't have to look at the camera like if you are photographing someone in action, but you should at least be in the same planes as them. The best shots won't be sitting in front of you, and you may have to move down to get the best shot.

Rule number 2: Use a plain background.

When you take a photo with a messy and unorganized background, it can take away from the subject you are trying to photograph. If you make it so that you subject is on a plain, simple background then they/it will be more emphasized. Also be on the lookout for tree branches and any other objects that might appear to be sticking out of the subject, and make it look like they have an extra set of limbs.

This is the collage I made for photojournalism. It is of important places in my life such as Idaho, Camp Champions, and the first school I went to when I moved to Texas, Hunters Creek Elementary. I have soccer and basketball, the two sports that I play religiously, on the collage as well. The living things are my family, friends, and dog because they all mean so much to me. Nutella is one of my favorite snacks. Harry Potter is my life. And Avatar is the best movie ever created. Everyone of the pictures has a good representation of me connected with it.