Mark E. Johnson – Page 247 – Visual Journalism

July 30, 2009

Called Out by a Reader … Wrongly

The Reader’s Representative Journal at the Los Angeles Times got a question from a reader pertaining to a photo they had published and suggesting they look into it. Turns out, there’s nothing wrong with the image – it was made with a 400 mm lens and a 2x converter, which means it was shot at a focal length of 800...

Ethics & Legal

July 17, 2009

Video Workshops at Home

We all know friends and colleagues who are worried – will their paper survive, will they survive the next round of cuts … so how do you prepare yourself to either find a new line of work or keep your current one? If you’re a (youngish) dinosaur like me, who grew up with Tri-X, Fujicolor and F3HPs you need to...

Advice & Learning/Multimedia/Tech Talk/Video

July 16, 2009

Life.com Looks at the Klan

Jon Vibe spotted this … Life.com has a selection of photos from Anthony Karen’s upcoming book, “The Invisible Empire: Ku Klux Klan.” The editors refer to the photos as “unnerving,” so you know. There is a good discussion in the captions about gaining access and trust.

Good Work/Photojournalism

July 14, 2009

"The future is in the user"

So says Khoi Vinh in this New York Review of Ideas story, “Black, White and Read Online.” Can user interface design save journalism?

Graphic Design

July 13, 2009

Burnett, Again, from 1969

The new York Times‘ Lens blog is kind of rocking my world … today they have up a set of David Burnett’s images from the 1969 Apollo 11 launch. Burnett, being the genius that he is, didn’t shoot the launch – he was a young Time magazine shooter and wasn’t going to get that gig. So he pitched the idea...

Craft/Good Work/Photojournalism

July 12, 2009

Bound to Happen, I Suppose

So, there’s this whole legal wrangling going on about Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster – the Associated Press claims the illustration is based on one of their photographs. Except now the photojournalist who actually took the photo is claiming it isn’t AP’s – it’s his. This should be fun …

Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal

July 11, 2009

Mountain Workshops

One of the best photojournalism workshops out there is done by Western Kentucky University every fall – the Mountain Workshops. Info to apply is now online, along with some of the past work. It runs in late October, definitely worth the road trip. Spend some time with the stories and you’ll see why it’s legendary.

Advice & Learning

July 11, 2009

Style, In Great Light

New series on the Washington Post called “Scene In” that looks at personal style. First segment is shot at Dupont Circle as a series of person-on-the-street interviews, which could have gone horribly awry – but didn’t. Very clean, great details, gorgeous light and composition and a nice pacing, assisted by some nat sound music. And I love the way they’re...

Competitions/Tech Talk/Video

July 9, 2009

Reuters Handbook Now Online

While many of our word colleagues are excited about the public release of the Reuters Handbook of Journalism, I wouldn’t expect many to start deviating from the more widely used Associated Press Stylebook. For us, though, there is a very nice page on what you can and cannot do with photographs. I’m still processing a few bits of it, but...