Guiseppe Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrates the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy CoughlanLU student Olivia Malick flies the drone under the guidance of Guiseppe Barranco. Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrated the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy Coughlan
An interesting new technology shift that is creeping into journalism is the use of drone photography. On Oct. 3, the new Lamar University student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hosted Guiseppe Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, to demonstrate the process. Barranco has been using the drones for around six months after getting licensed. He said that once one has passed the test, one is two-thirds of the way toward being a pilot — minus the actual flying experience, of course. But in terms of safety and legal regulations, the principles are the same. A good group of students, and few LU staffers, attended the talk and demonstration which was held in the Quad (thankfully, the weather cooperated after a few weeks of almost daily rain).
The photos below were edited from almost 200 I shot. This blog post also serves to educate the students in my photojournalism class on the concept of editing down the images to pick a few that show the event in its totality. While there are no actual shots from the drone in this set, it certainly whetted the appetite. Now if only I can find room in the budget for a University Press drone….
LU student Vy Nguyen flies the drone as Ricky Adams, left, Guiseppe Barranco and Kaitlin Vu look on. Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrated the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy CoughlanLU student Vy Nguyen flies the drone as Stephan Malick, left, Guiseppe Barranco and Eleanor Skelton look on. Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrated the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy CoughlanGuiseppe Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, talks about the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy CoughlanLU student Ricky Adams flies the drone under the guidance of Guiseppe Barranco. Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrated the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy CoughlanGuiseppe Barranco, Beaumont Enterprise photo editor, demonstrates the art of drone photography in the Lamar University Quad, Oct. 3. The event was hosted by the LU student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photo by Andy Coughlan
Andy Coughlan was born in Brighton, England, and has lived in Texas for more than 30 years. He is an artist, journalist, playwright, director, actor, cartoonist and educator. He is editor of ISSUE, an award-winning arts magazine. Andy's blog, "English with a bit of Texas" has been named best independent blog for the past five years by the Press Club of Southeast Texas. His play, "A Single Drop," was named audience choice best play at the 8x10 Play Festival.
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