Reuters photographer Jose Miguel Gomez was recently covering the 121st anniversary of the National Police in Colombia when he spotted a cadet lying face down amidst her peers. He photographed the apparently unconscious policewoman with his 400mm lens for five minutes before she was finally carried away, and wondered why it took so long for help to arrive.
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Last friday, Dayton Daily News photo editor Larry Price received instructions to lay off half of his photo staff. Rather than follow through with the order, Price — a 35-year veteran photojournalist and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in photography — decided to sacrifice his own job instead, resigning from the post this past Monday. Ginger Christ of the Dayton BizBlog writes,
In his 35 years as a photojournalist [...], Price has seen the industry shrink, watched as newspapers cut their workforce and all but eliminated photography departments in efforts to consolidate and cut costs.
“I’ve watched this happen in newspapers year after year now. I’ve had many, many friends that have been affected, many stellar journalists,” Price said. “These people are my group. They’re my friends. They’re my colleagues. I’ve asked so much of them in the four years I’ve been here. Every time, they’ve stepped up to the plate and delivered. It wasn’t a decision I could make in good conscience.”
Price is also troubled by the fact that newspapers abandon photojournalistic quality when photos don’t help increase profits, saying, “the bottom line simply is not as important as what information can convey to people in helping them make decisions.”
(via DaytonBizBlog via The Click)
The journalism industry is going through particularly tough times, with revenue from ads and subscriptions declining considerably.
However, during the harshest economic climates, innovative ideas flourish more than ever, and news outlets are tapping into the power of convergence: mixing forms of communication to create multimedia packages that deliver stories that are accessible by the “Web 2.0″ generation.
Fortunately for photographers, visuals are an integral part of the multimedia wave.
Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to check out our August post on some of the best newspaper photo blogs out there, as well as some of the multimedia features on most newspaper sites, like the New York Times, SF Gate, the San Jose Mercury News, and some college newspapers, including my alma mater, the Daily Bruin.
Many sites feature audio slideshows, which are one of the simplest and easiest forms of multimedia storytelling–if you’ve got the right tools and elements:
Whether you’re photographing a family holiday, sporting event, or documentary news, try to shoot a variety of images from different angles of different moments. Take close-up and wide photographs.
After the shoot, pick photos that have a narrative or chronological order of events and happenings.
Use a digital recorder that can transfer sound files onto your computer. I usually use a MicroMemo attached to my iPod video (ancient, I know). I’ve also had some hands-on time with the Olympus DS series, which capture very crisp audio. The higher end model, the DS-61 has different modes to capture directional sound, which is very useful when recording specific types of sounds such as ambient noise versus a single person speaking.
When recording audio, find a quiet place to capture interviews and voices, to reduce distracting background noise.
Audacity is a free audio editing program that can be used to cut, edit, splice, and record audio–all very straightforward.
You can also use programs like Adobe Audition for more in-depth editing.
Several publications use Final Cut Pro to put together an audio slideshow. iMovie also can do the job.
For fast production and ready web publishing, try Soundslides. A free demo is available on the site.
Soundslides is a very intuitive program for uploading photos and audio, and adjusting timing points and transitions. It also has a feature for exporting to web if you have an FTP set up.
Share your project on your website. If you don’t have one, check out Weebly.com to make a free customizable site.
Check out some of the links above and explore a bit for ideas.
One of my favorite examples of the simple, yet powerful integration of photography with another medium is the package by New York Times, One in 8 Million.
The project tells one story each week, focusing on one central character, someone you might brush shoulders with on the subway of New York. The subject describes, in his or her own words, anything from their own personal struggles, triumphs, daily life or something that defines them. The images work to visually capture the story with a timeless quality, in black and white.
Together, the two mediums form a very intimate local human-interest story that fosters a sense of community–which is quite an impressive undertaking considering the expansiveness of New York City.
If you’ve got a favorite multimedia site or an audio slideshow to show off, share a link!
Image Credits: Shure SM58 by laffy4k, Shot Glass by S. Su, rage by murplejane, IMG_0864 by emkladil
It seems like more and more newspapers are launching photoblogs on their websites. It’s an awesome idea, since each of them has a constant stream of high quality work pouring in from their photojournalists. Keeping up with these photoblogs is great for both getting your daily dose of photographic inspiration, and for keeping up with the current events happening around the world.
Here are some top-notch newspaper photoblogs you can follow:
The Big Picture is a photo blog for the Boston Globe/boston.com, entries are posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday by Alan Taylor. Inspired by publications like Life Magazine (of old), National Geographic, and online experiences like MSNBC.com’s Picture Stories galleries and Brian Storm’s MediaStorm, The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery – with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting.
A photo blog by the Sacramento Bee multimedia staff.
Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting the finest and most interesting visual and multimedia reporting — photographs, videos and slide shows. A showcase for Times photographers, it also seeks to highlight the best work of other newspapers, magazines and news and picture agencies; in print, in books, in galleries, in museums and on the Web.
Welcome to Collective Vision, your opportunity to get a little closer to the Statesman photographers whose work you’ve admired throughout the years. Here you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite images and some photos we were unable to fit onto the pages of the Statesman. You’ll get insight into how the photographers practice their craft and thoughts from the photojournalists who create the stunning images and videos. We hope you enjoy this inside look, and we welcome your comments.
Certain newspapers have really good photo websites, but display the photos in periodically posted galleries rather than as a photoblog. Here are some websites that I omitted from the list, though they’re pretty darn awesome as well:
Know of any others? Leave a comment and I’ll update this list!
