That’s All Folks! Final Thoughts on the NAU “Behind the Image: Guest Blogger” Project

Featuring the 24 NAU students who acted as Guest Bloggers on this blog since April 30 (their photographs in alphabetical order):
First row (left to right): Joseph AL-Ruwaished, Ashley Carlson, Caitlin Chesler, Areina Contreras, Olivia Franco, and Ryan Gelb
Second row (l to r): Trent Heimerdinger, Paul Hurd, Allison Jourden, Donna Kelley, Shelby Lynch, and Chris Martin
Third row (l to r): Kelsey McHugh, Ty McNeeley, Rachel Richmond-Woodward, Daniel, Riebe, Jamie Shrader, and Ali Springer
Fourth row (l to r): John Thompson, Carlye Townsend, Matt Valley, Meagan Wakefield, Carolyn Wood, and Wuke Zhou

That’s all folks!  It’s a wrap on this year’s Northern Arizona Universtity’s Intermediate Photography students “Behind the Image:  Guest Blogger” project.  Let’s take a minute to give them a well-deserved round of applause for sharing their photographs and stories with us!  Great job one and all!

I’m most thankful to the students for tapping into their individual backgrounds and passions – whether it be travel, beloved pets, people who inspire, moving natural scenes, or intimate details of the world around them – to present a broad variety of visual message.  At a time when we’re inundated with iconic and cliche images, these guest bloggers have proved and reinforced my belief that creativity is still alive and well in our industry (something I also feel is required of us if we wish to see success down the road as visual artists).

To the participating students, what did you think of your blogging experience here?   Would you do it again?  Would you do anything differently in hindsight now that you’ve completed your assignment?  Thank you for being awesome Guest Bloggers and keep up the great work in the future!

I am also filled with endless appreciation for NAU Photography Instructor, Amy Horn, who helped coordinate this real-world assignment with her class.   It’s truly a pleasure to work with someone so dedicated to her students and to facilitating the learning process in photography.

Many thanks to those who took time out of their busy schedules to comment on the photographs and stories!  For those of you who haven’t had the chance to review them, find the 24 “Behind the Image” write-ups by clicking on the “Guest Blogger” in the Categories box on the right-most column on your screen.  Then, feel free to add your thoughts in the Comments section below anytime that’s convenient for you!

While you’re at it, let me know what you thought about this year’s project overall by leaving us a comment on this post, as I value your opinions tremendously.  What did you like about the photography as a whole?  Did you get new ideas?  Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks again everyone!  Until next time!