Star Wars Day

This past Saturday was Star Wars Day at the Higgins. When I arrived to take photos, the line to get in was way out the door! All the museum guests looked like they were having a great time with the Star Wars characters who visited from the New England Garrison of the 501st Legion and Alderaan Base of the Rebel Legion. The Higgins Sword Guild and Doshi-Kai Kendo Dojo also joined in for some lightsaber demos. The helmet in the last photo was passed around during a presentation on creating plastic armor. Very cool!

Last Day

Today was my last day as an intern at Higgins. The staff surprised me with a get together over pastry to thank me and wish me luck in the future. Many thanks to them from me as well! Furthermore, this evening was the opening reception and ribbon cutting for the new Castle Quest gallery, which I photographed as usual.

Though there were some challenges throughout the semester, I'm happy I had this opportunity to work with everyone. I also really enjoyed all the events held at the Museum and hope I can continue to photograph these as a volunteer. If/when I do, I will most likely keep updating this blog.

Sword Class

As I mentioned before, I attended another sword class to shoot some different weapons, techniques, and students.

At one point, there was a group of students trying the class out for the first time.

Trebuchet Contest

The Museum held a trebuchet contest this weekend. For anyone who does not know, a trebuchet is a Medieval siege device and a type of catapult. Teams built their own trebuchets and were judged on accuracy, coolness, etc. As usual, I was there to shoot photos.

 

More Photos

While I was at the Museum for Robin Hood Day, I stopped by the sword fighting class. I'll be going again this Saturday to see some other weapons/techniques, but until then, here are a couple pictures from last time.
The first one was used for a brochure about the classes.

Journal 7: The Overall Experience

At the beginning of my internship I set a number of goals for myself. These were not very specific and included gaining real-world work experience, photography experience, improving communication with visitors/staff, and gaining any skills in general. While shooting photos this past week for some Museum events I realized how I had achieved some of these goals.

One of the things I noticed was how easily I could go up to people for photos. I was not as nervous shooting people close up as when I first started, and I became better at asking for photo releases. At the beginning, the Museum Director asked me to focus specifically on people's emotions when photographing and I know I take more of these shots now than a few months ago partially because I am more comfortable. It is easier for me to speak with other staff members as well, not just visitors.

Since I have shot several events throughout the semester, I had the chance to try different methods to find something that works with the space. The challenges of the different rooms in the Museum lead me to think of different things to try when shooting and therefore helped improve my photography skills. I have seen other staff go over why certain images work and others do not, giving me a better idea of how and why certain photos are chosen for different purposes. For example, recently one of mine replaced an older photo on the Academy of the Sword brochure put out for visitors. Libbie pointed out a few reasons for why it was chosen over the old photo, which gives me an idea of more things to think about when shooting.

Robin Hood Day

This past Saturday was Robin Hood Day at Higgins. All the guests I talked to said they had a great time, and the staff/volunteers did a wonderful job acting out the story of Robin Hood all day. I was there to shoot some photos, although I didn't get as many as I would have liked. Nevertheless, here are a couple to provide a glimpse into the day:

The Sheriff of Nottingham wasn't too happy with Robin's antics during Prince John's retelling of the Robin Hood story.

Quite a few of the Merry Men and citizens of Nottingham got together for the Sherwood Sing-a-long, including Robin himself (center), Maid Marian, and the captured Prince John (far left).

These young ladies joined in on the fun too:

Journal 6: Codes of Conduct

The Higgins Armory Museum follows both written and unwritten policies for conduct and ethics. The "Employee Handbook" provides a brief statement on staff “conduct and appearance,” mentioning professional dress and respectful interaction with visitors. There is also an “Employee Code of Ethics” written specifically for the Museum, and extra guidelines for individual departments, such as Development, which are not included in the handbook but available elsewhere. These are straightforward policies that focus on fulfilling the Museum's mission, respect, loyalty, honesty, and confidentiality.

Please understand that I am choosing not to post the rest of this journal entry since these are private policies not available online.