AP Hires out Staff Photographers

The good folks over at PDNPulse (here) wrote about the AP hiring out their staff photographers for freelance work.

From one point of view, it sounds like a good idea. From another, a bad one.

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On the good side - the AP invests a great deal of money, time, and infrastructure to have their cadre of staff photographers. However, in some instances, those photographers are idle, and/or not used to their fullest potential. Why not allow another news organization to book them for an assignment? It is a smart way to maximize their assets (yes, a photographer is an asset of an organization) to maximize revenue and yield.

On the bad side - once this program goes well (and it likely will), there is no reason that the AP cannot task a freelancer who earns $200 a day, and grants all rights to the AP, to an assignment that would be done for a corporate/commercial client for $2,000 or more. Heck, WireImage charges $5,000+ and hires a photographer for a few hundred dollars for the same deal and then post the images on their site, why not the AP? But, where's your piece of that higher dollar? Nowhere, if you signed their contract!

So, it's good, and it's bad, but in an era where every outlet is trying to stay profitable, I can't say it wasn't expected.
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iDisplay - Wireless Client Viewing on Shoots

When I first saw the iPad, I thought it was pretty cool, but essentially an oversized iPhone. It wasn't until I was chatting with a friend who was a bit in the know, that I realized that it could be used as a second screen with my laptop, on shoots in either the studio, or on location, and that sold me.

The application to use is iDisplay, which is pretty slick. Below is an example of how it can be used for wireless viewing by the client, while the laptop and camera are tethered

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Often I take the laptop digital workstation on shoots and have a 30" monitor next to the workstation but that means that the client is peering over my shoulder, or the shoulder of my digital tech. Instead, the client (and their client in many cases) can be away from the shoot, and watching the images as they are coming in.

The downside is that there is a bit of lag-time, but not too much. If you're shooting fast and furious, it may not be the best, but if you are shooting at a more deliberate pace, it would be no problem at all. The only other downside is that while the monitor is set to vertical only, the current version of the software doesn't allow you to rotate the iPad, so horizontal images are only viewable vertically, meaning they show up smaller (but still full image area), within the iPad when viewed vertically. The company tells me that the next version should allow you to hold the iPad horizontally to view horizontal images using the full screen of the iPad too. for $4.99 on iTunes, it's a small price to pay for this functionality!

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