The Josh Project founders teach at-risk youth about swimming, water safety

Tankeeya D. Butts

    Tankeeya Butts is the executive director of The Josh Project, a non-profit organization that teaches at-risk youth how to swim, and water safety to prevent drowning.   

    The Josh Project holds a special place in her heart because it was founded and named after her brother Josh, who drowned because he did not know how to swim.

     As well as her work with The Josh Project, Tankeeya is a single mother of two teen boys and active in her Zumba exercise class. Tankeeya said that through her work with The Josh Project, she has found a new respect for swimming as a sport.  The next thing Tankeeya would like to learn is how to sail a boat.

     As an added bonus for Toledo, Wanda Butts, Tankeeya’s mother and founder of The Josh Project, has been nonmated for CNN’s Hero of the Year. 

   According to the Josh Project website,  CNN voters can log on to CNN heroes website (online or on their mobile devices) to cast ballots for their favorite Top 10 Heroes up to 10 times a day, every day. Votes can also be shared on Facebook and Twitter. The Hero with the most votes will be named CNN Hero of the Year, and receive an additional $250,000 grant.

What is news?

News is anything that is important to or affects my life. Although news doesn’t just apply to what affects my life but also to the lives of my readers, and the public as well. News can be as simple as the final score of a softball game or a sudden uprising of the people, in a country, half way around the world. My mission as a photojournalist is to capture those events through my camera’s lens and present those images to you the public. I do this for two reasons: one to document history as it unfolds and two so I may inform other members of the public to the change in the world around us

Getting more comfortable with camera operations

An example of leading lines. The blue lines of the sculpture draws the viewer into the background.

    We all have seen them, and most likely have done it ourselves. Tried to capture a moment with our camera and have the photo ruined by poor lighting, or bad focus. 

    Almost anyone can buy a camera, put it on auto and take a photo. The skill of a photographer is knowing the when how and why to use the camera’s setting to achieve a desired mood, tone and look of a photo. 

    By learning about the different rules and elements of what makes an image pleasing, you can control the viewer’s eye and make them see what you want them to see and focus on in your image. 

    It’s all about the photographer controlling the camera and even the light around him to create that perfect image.

Example of shallow depth of field.
The memorial statue in downtown Toledo is in focus,
but cars and courthouse in the background are blurry.

This is an example of stop motion. The water pouring out of the fountain in front of 1 Government Center in downtown Toledo seems frozen in time.