Category: Thoughts & Theory

September 8, 2011

Finding Your Audience

All of the students in our (recently renamed) Visual Journalism emphasis are required to have a blog set up AND to post to it on a regular basis. Their target audience, though, is me. I read it, I critique it and I comment on it. The hope is that they’re sharing it with others, in which case this post by...

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

September 7, 2011

More Signs You’re Really a Photographer

Peter Phun over at Black Star Rising has a fun post on 15 More Signs You’re a Real Photographer Now. I like number three quite a bit: It’s no longer enough to make pilgrimages to all the natural wonders of the world; you now obsess over being there at sunrise, sunset, moon rise and eclipses. And my wife is probably...

Categories Craft/Thoughts & Theory

September 4, 2011

Prepping for a Career or Prepping for Life

Every now and then I have to remind the students in my photojournalism courses that I am not there to make them into photojournalists, that I am not giving them career training. They look confused until I remind them that the purpose of a university education is not to get you a job, but to make you into a productive...

Categories Business & Industry/Ethics & Legal/Journalism/Thoughts & Theory

September 4, 2011

Totally Getting These …

PetaPixel is selling sheets of camera stickers … I just ordered mine. No idea what I’ll do with them, but they’re kind of cool.

Categories Tech Talk/Thoughts & Theory

September 1, 2011

Sure, I’d Love to Volunteer, But Let Me Ask You This …

Emails, I get emails. And phone calls, too. Sometimes letters, but not often. Mostly emails. Dear Prof. Johnson, We are holding a banquet/function/event next week and would like to provide your students with an opportunity for experience in shooting this. We think it will be a great opportunity for them to learn more about photojournalism. While we can’t pay, we...

Categories Business & Industry/Thoughts & Theory

August 25, 2011

Nothing Lasts Forever, Except for What You Make

Here’s a weird pairing of readings for your lunch hour … Scott Bourne over at Going Pro is talking about changes, things disappearing and what will last forever. Which, according to him, is not your business but what it produces. There’s some comfort in that. And once you’ve pondered that, take a run through Jonathan Blaustein’s tale of his visit...

Categories Business & Industry/Journalism/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 12, 2011

The Apocalypse is Nigh

For years, I joked that the job I really wanted was Photo Editor at the Wall Street Journal because, well … they didn’t run photos. I envisioned walking into the daily budget meeting and the editors going around the table talking about their pitches for A1 and, when they got to me, I could just say, “Not yet.” Well, now...

Categories Craft/Photojournalism/Thoughts & Theory

August 11, 2011

What’s Your Clipboard?

This is a stretch, I’m going to tell you that right up front … Skip Cohen, over at GoingPro, writes about the Key Traits of the Photographic Icons. He talks about how you need to build confidence, but not let people know that your confidence is a little shaky. It reminded me of this great scene from The Paper, a...

Categories Advice & Learning/At Work/Thoughts & Theory

August 9, 2011

Are YOU Backed Up?

If you’re on staff somewhere, you have an automatic YOU back-up. If you don’t show up for work*, there’s (hopefully) someone else who will take care of what you were supposed to do. But what if you’re a freelancer? Skip Cohen writes over at GoingPro about having a backup for yourself. We photojournalists carry back-up cameras, lenses, cards, hard drives,...

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

August 3, 2011

Newspaper Nail Art

I’m going to get in trouble for this but, honestly … I think this is kind of cool. (Thanks to PartyLikeAJournalist.com for the lede.)

Categories Good Work/Thoughts & Theory/Video