Author: Mark E. Johnson

December 20, 2007

DotCom go BOOM*

Okay, this started as something fun … The Richter Scales posted a paradoy song and video about the second coming of the Internet bubble. It’s catchy, it’s funny (especially for those of us who sort-of survived the first bubble) … and the original apparently used some copyrighted material without the permission of the owner. I started to scan through the...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Multimedia/Tech Talk

December 20, 2007

"Our Hidden Poor"

The Chicago Tribune has an audio slideshow by Kuni Takahashi looking at the hidden poor of Illinois. Nicely shot, the transition/text frames are well designed. Simple, elegant. Worth spending seven minutes with.

Categories Good Work/Multimedia/Photojournalism

December 18, 2007

Stand Ups

Robert Capa said, “If you’re pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” I guess that may not apply to television news … [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chKKm-IWgQ&rel=1]

Categories At Work/Business & Industry/Good Work/Tech Talk

December 18, 2007

Flash Duration

File under Geek Alert … some of what you need to know about flash duration and sports photography, courtesy of Shawn Cullen over at SportsShooter.com.

Categories Photojournalism/Tech Talk

December 18, 2007

How To Publish When There's No Power

After the ice and snow storms that blew through the midwest last week, a lot of smaller publications were left in the dark. With no power in their offices, and possible no access to their presses, how were they supposed to get the news out? Several papers picked up everything and headed home where they had power and continued to...

Categories At Work/Business & Industry/Journalism

December 14, 2007

Travel Edit

Photo District News has a 10-photo feature up on travel photography. They talked with Travel + Leisure photo editor Whitney Lawson about a recent shoot by David Nicolas, looking at what images were accepted and rejected and, more importantly, why.

Categories Advice & Learning/Good Work

December 13, 2007

Books the Working Photojournalist Should Own

A brief, and expanding, collection of non-photo photo books. These are about people, about the craft and about vision. ______________________________ Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon – This is the book that made me want to be a journalist. He was a college professor losing his job and his wife, so he headed out in an Ford Econoline plumber’s truck...

Categories Advice & Learning

December 12, 2007

"The Ninth Floor"

MediaStorm has posted an audio slide show by Jessica Dimmock looking at the lives of heroin addicts who used to live in a ninth floor apartment in New York City. Access is what this is all about – Dimmock has manages to make her subjects so comfortable with her presence that she is there for everything. (And, I will warn...

Categories Good Work/Multimedia/Photojournalism

December 11, 2007

And I thought Iowa was the Corny State …

But, apparently, curators with the Wisconsin Historical Society are cornier. They have a collection of vintage postcards titled, “Exaggerated Postcards, 1900-.” I assume that means they’re still working on the collection. But who knew corn could break a wagon? Or be ridden like a horse? Or that it could take a whole train car to move one ear of corn?...

Categories Advice & Learning/Ethics & Legal/Good Work

December 7, 2007

Is Photography Dead? Or Just Being Beaten to a Pulp?

Two recent pieces worth looking at … In the New York Times is a story about Richard Prince’s “art” – done by rephotographing famous ads and printing them large. Fair use? Copyright violation? No one’s sure yet. Up next is a piece from Newsweek titled, “Is Photography Dead?” Which … well … no, it’s not. But author Peter Plagens has...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Thoughts & Theory