Category: Thoughts & Theory

December 6, 2011

Training Our Audience

Let’s face it, most of us know that video is an awesome (though not all-encompassing) story telling tool. There are some things it just does better than stills or words. And we’ve watched a couple waves of the-future-is-video, oh-no-no-one-is-watching-it came and go now. So, which is it? A massive time suck and drain on our time and financial resources? Or...

Categories Journalism/Multimedia/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory/Video

December 2, 2011

Amputation is Not the Answer

Here’s my big thoughtful piece for the week – you can’t cut you’re way out of a hole, that only makes the hole deeper or wider. You have to build your way out of it. As readership declined and advertising disappeared, so many news organizations started slicing away to make the bottom line palatable for the investors. It didn’t work....

Categories Business & Industry/Journalism/Thoughts & Theory

November 18, 2011

What Photographers Should Care About

Over at GoingPro, Scott Bourne writes about the things we, as photographers, should and should not care about. This … this is a topic I could go on about for days. Here are a list of things I could not care less about: Cameras Lenses Flashes Software Computers Social media Megapixels Filters Plugins Photoshop actions Workflow However, there are things...

Categories Craft/Journalism/Photojournalism/Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

November 17, 2011

Past as Prelude

David Hobby has a great post up over at the Strobist about emulating those who inspire you to help you learn technique. Has me thinking about a whole new class of assignments that look to the past to help teach the present and inspire future innovation.

Categories Craft/Thoughts & Theory

November 13, 2011

After 42 Years, Bill Luster Retires

Heather Graulich has a piece up on the NPPA web site looking at the retirement of a legend, the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Bill Luster. Congrats, Mr. Luster – but keep shooting.

Categories Craft/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

November 10, 2011

Videographer Shot by Oakland Police

The video below is pretty shocking. Scott Campbell was recording Oakland (California) police officers who were at the Occupy Wall Street protests when … well … watch the video: The Huffington Post has the story, along with a link to an interview Campbell did with Keith Olbermann. The Mercury News also has an interview with Campbell. While Campbell was not...

Categories At Work/Ethics & Legal/Thoughts & Theory/Video

November 3, 2011

Why I Won’t Do Weddings …

According to a New York Times article by Joesph Berger (reproduced at MSNBC.com), one Todd J. Remis of Manhattan is suing H&H Photographers because he is not happy with the photos from his wedding. Which took place in 2003. And ended in a separation in 2008. Then a divorce in 2010. Mr. Remis is demanding the wedding photographers pay $48,000...

Categories Business & Industry/Thoughts & Theory

November 2, 2011

Visual Issues in Wisconsin

Two items have crossed the transom this afternoon, both out of Wisconsin, oddly. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that one of their photographers was arrested today while covering a rally near the University of Wisoncsin-Milwaukee campus. The rally was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. And the Green Bay Press Gazette has published an editorial lamenting the lack...

Categories Ethics & Legal/Thoughts & Theory

October 31, 2011

Mona Simpson’s Eulogy for Her Brother, Steve Jobs

The New York Times has published the eulogy Mona Simpson delivered for her brother, Steve Jobs. Beautifully written. I love this part: Steve worked at what he loved. He worked really hard. Every day. That’s incredibly simple, but true. He was the opposite of absent-minded. He was never embarrassed about working hard, even if the results were failures. If someone...

Categories Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

October 30, 2011

How to Be A Critic

David Saxe over at Black Star Rising has posted four simple rules for critiquing other’s work. It’s a good list. Because I can, here’s my companion list for being critiqued: Be Aware of Time: Depending on the environment you are in, you may have get a long critique or a short one. If you’re doing evening portfolio reviews at a...

Categories Advice & Learning/Business & Industry/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory