Archive for the 'photojournalism' Category

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Defining a line and when to cross it is a tough call for photographers, journalists

Published on January 29, 2010 in photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Journalists are taught to be a “Fly on the wall” observer who records but doesn’t make the news. Well, that’s nice in theory and there are times when journalists should be just that, but there are other times when a journalist overcomes the shyness of the observer and ends up getting involved.

Here are two examples…

The Sun Journal newspaper reported that photographer Russ Dillingham was credited with helping police capture 35-year-old Norman Thompson as he tried to flee from local police and federal agents.

via News Photographer Tackles, Apprehends Fugitive on the Loose -

And in the recent coverage of Haiti’s Earthquake recovery…

Several media ethics scholars have criticized the broadcast and cable news networks for allowing their medical correspondents to be shown performing emergency treatment in Haiti.

via Contactmusic.com

The way I see it is that it’s more a matter of the purpose of the journalist’s intrusion into the story. If it is to get more viewers or to promote the journalist’s company or commercial interests, then I think it is completely inappropriate. If it is a human responding to a need or reacting to a situation, then I’m really quite accepting of the intrusion. It should still be reported clearly that the journalist was involved, but I don’t see this as a case of unethical behavior. I see it as human behavior kicking in. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see that journalists out there still have humanity’s reactions working in them!

Remember Kevin Carter? He became notorious for not getting involved after he left an emaciated Sudanese girl under the watch of a vulture after photographing the pair in Africa. Even after winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1994, the things Carter saw especially in Africa be came too much for him to deal with and he took his own life.

While I worked as a journalist/photographer for the Fort Scott Tribune, I found myself feeling like I new all the details but I could do little to make a difference. Yet, those time when I did “only” right about things, the encouraging words of a reader or the public official who later told me of the response they received after an article I wrote were excellent reminders that even an unbiased report can stir people to action simply because a journalist did his or her job…informed the people.

Thoughts?

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Dave Black’s insightful review of the Nikon D3s

Published on January 27, 2010 in photojournalism and Tech. 0 Comments

In another one of his great Workshop posts, Dave Black reviews the capabilities of the new Nikon D3s digital SLR.

A new standard of high ISO has been set and the D3s is the undisputed king. Not only are its clean High ISO levels 1 and 1/3 higher than a D3, but I believe the D3s handles the shadow areas cleaner and with more edge detail as well. The ISO setting of 6400 is now a cleaner and almost noiseless reality

via Dave Black Photography – Sports Photography Worldwide.

He says the new Auto ISO features and tight rendering at even high ISO settings make this a great camera for the photographer whether you’re on the sports field or shooting in intimate candle light at a wedding.

Check out these images from Black’s blog demonstrating detail that this camera can retain even at ISO 12,800. Pretty sweet!

Dave Black also gives some tips on how he banded two Nikon SB-900 Speedlights together to make his own powerful handheld flash. See images of the results on his blog.

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Improve on the important things

Published on December 12, 2009 in marketing and photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: .

I think APAD has an excellent point when it comes to self improvement.

I feel like photographers can really get caught up in tinkering with all the marketing material and periphery that goes along with being a professional photographer because, let’s be honest, it’s quite difficult to “improve your craft” and a lot easier to improve your letterhead. via APhotoADay Blog.

We can spend a lot of time improving our packaging but fail to improve our product. This builds great expectations among our customers but can lead to dissapointment if our actual product isn’t up to par.

It’s kind of like buying a boxed tube of toothpaste at the store. I expect the tube inside to be roughly the size of the box. When I open it and find that there’s a spacer inside to keep a small tube of toothpaste from rattling around, it doesn’t matter to me that the label said the right number of ounces. I still fee wronged because I thought I was geting more.

It’s fine to improve your marketing and packaging, but never neglect improving your product. It’s better to have your clients go away thinking they got more value than they expected than have it be the other way around. Why? Because people share their experiences. When something underwhelms or overwhelms them, they tell others, and word of mouth markeitng is one of the most powerful marketing tool around.

What are you doing to improve your craft/product today?

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Publicly available space photos from NASA

Published on November 21, 2009 in Nature and photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
NASA photo: The Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off in 1986

NASA photo: The Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off in 1986

Do you need a photo of a planet or of the Space Shuttle Challenger taking off? No need to send your friendly freelance photographer to space on some Russian rocket. You can turn to the source that American citizens have been funding for all sorts of interesting space projects…NASA.

Their easy search system, gives great access to all sorts of cool images of space ships, nebulas, planets, etc.

From what I can tell these photos are available for public use…and even for commercial use.  Here’s how NASA’s Site describes acceptable use of their images,

NASA still images; audio files; video; and computer files used in the rendition of 3-dimensional models, such as texture maps and polygon data in any format, generally are not copyrighted. You may use NASA imagery, video, audio, and data files used for the rendition of 3-dimensional models for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages. This general permission extends to personal Web pages.

This general permission does not extend to use of the NASA insignia logo (the blue “meatball” insignia), the retired NASA logotype (the red “worm” logo) and the NASA seal. These images may not be used by persons who are not NASA employees or on products (including Web pages) that are not NASA-sponsored.

NASA should be acknowledged as the source of the material except in cases of advertising.

I’d check into all the details before trying to sell them and if you have questions about using them in advertising you can see the  NASA Advertising Guidelines.
When it comes to those commercial purposes, NASA has pretty simple guidelines…

If the NASA material is to be used for commercial purposes, especially including advertisements, it must not explicitly or implicitly convey NASA’s endorsement of commercial goods or services.

NASA photo: Earthrise

If a NASA image includes an identifiable person, using the image for commercial purposes may infringe that person’

s right of privacy or publicity, and permission should be obtained from the person. Any questions regarding application of any NASA image or emblem should be directed to:

Photo Department

NASA Headquarters
300 E St. SW
Washington, DC 20546
Tel: 202-358-1900
Fax: 202-358-4333

It’s nice to see that the millions of dollars that go into space programs not only generate technology advances but provide the people with really cool photos… like the classic earthrise with the moon in the foreground or the double jet nebula:

The Twin Jet Nebula as seen by the Hubble Telescope in Dec. 1997

The Twin Jet Nebula as seen by the Hubble Telescope in Dec. 1997

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Tools for cleaning a DSLR camera sensor

Published on November 15, 2009 in photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Serious about photography or not, if you have a digital SLR and you ever change lenses, you’re going to get some dirt on the sensors. Check out this Belkin product for cleaning yoru camera sensor. With the Belkin Sensor Scope you can see where the dirt is at BEFORE you stick something in there to try and clean your CMOS or CCD sensor!

YouTube – The Imaging Resource at PMA 2007:Delkin Devices Sensor Scope.

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Freelance photojournalism work

Published on November 12, 2009 in photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

My freelance work from a recent project for The Washington Times. Shot with a Nikon D200 using a Sigma 70-120mm 2.8 lens.House on Lake Michigan Ave.

Mr. Pohlen owns and lives in this house in Grand … – Washington Times.

Interior of the house

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PhotoJournalism: Get model releases

Published on October 21, 2009 in photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Mark M. Hancock gives the best description and easily understood info about model releases for photojournalists that I’ve seen yet.  This is definitely worth a read.

The biggest benefit of a signed model release is the subjects’ knowledge they signed a release. In other words, once the subject signs the release, they’re aware it exists and aren’t going to try to sue because they know they signed it.

read the whole article at PhotoJournalism: Get model releases.

What’s been your experience with or without model releases?

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Connections build the foundation for freelance work

Published on October 21, 2009 in missions and photojournalism. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Connections are vital to building any sort of freelance photography business. Through various contacts, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot for a variety of organizations. Here’s  a story and photo shoot I did for the North American Mission Board in 2007.

North American Mission Board Missionary Ken Wilson

Looking over Scriptures before preaching during a recent Sunday morning service, associational missionary Ken Wilson reviews a verse as his family and other church members worship in song at the Thunder Bay Baptist Church in Alpena, Mich. (NAMB photo by Michael Shead)

Looking over Scriptures before preaching during a recent Sunday morning service, associational missionary Ken Wilson reviews a verse as his family and other church members worship in song at the Thunder Bay Baptist Church in Alpena, Mich. The Week of Prayer for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions is March 4-11. The offering goals is $57 million–100 percent of which is used for missionaries like the Wilsons.

via Great Michigan outdoors a natural for NAMB missionaries.

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Ethics in Photojournalism

Published on February 18, 2009 in photojournalism and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .

I’m reading over a variety of examples of ethics breaches. Check these out:

The LA Times published the following image which turned out to be a composite. Click the image to see how it was made. Read about Brian Walski’s image here.

Here’s how Time and Newsweek handled O.J. Simpson’s mug shot in 1994. Time dodged the edges and his face to make it more striking, but not as accurate.

See more examples of stinky journalism here.

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Don’t come back without them.

Published on March 28, 2008 in photojournalism. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Whatever you are covering, there are three shots every photographer should bring back to the newsroom: The overall shot, the medium shot, and the close-up. These are your must haves.

The overall shot

Often a wide angle or expansive shot that provides an overall view establishing the scene. This image let’s the viewer see how the subject(s) is/are oriented in relationship to the whole scene.

Take a street festival for example…the overall shot may show the expanse of the street lined with vendor booths and crowded with people with a perspective from a high vantage point. This image lets the viewer see how big this event really is.

The medium shot

This shot is the basic story teller shot. It lets the viewer see the subject close enough to view their actions but not so tight that they are secluded from their environment or people they are interacting with.

Back to the street festival example…the medium shot may show a street vendor interacting with a customer and leaves enough environment to place the interaction at the festival.

The close up

This shot pulls out details that support the other two shots. By narrowing the field of view, it forces the viewer to come closer and, in effect, enter the scene themselves. A close up gives the viewer that personal view of even small details that make up the whole of the scene.

In the street festival, the close up may be the sticky fist of a child holding an ice cream cone and framed by an equally sticky face or the intricate carving of an artisan’s craft.

By making sure you’ve got these three covered, you’re going to have a much better chance of coming back with not just one image that “works” but getting a story in images that will help you show what you saw and keep your editor happy.

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