tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post795015952811184516..comments2024-03-20T00:37:30.189-04:00Comments on Photo Business News & Forum: Unvarnished RealityJohn Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16941161605443479300noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-34211657333807707092007-08-14T18:47:00.000-04:002007-08-14T18:47:00.000-04:00I don't believe citizen photojournalists will hurt...I don't believe citizen photojournalists will hurt staff positions at all. You need staffers to cover the things citizens could never cover such as features, illustrations, longer term stories, etc....I'm more worried about the overall news industry and its impact upon journalism jobs. I've seen more photojournalists cut from the staffs due to papers losing readership and advertising. And with more and more citizen photojournalists sending in photos, won't the industry call for more photo editors to sort through them all? I'm not worried about the citizen sending in photos. It will actually help our industry. I'm more worried about the citizen never reading the news at all. Of course, if you're a freelancer for a major daily paper you better not rely so much on your spot news making you your money anymore.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-25567623064936001022007-07-24T03:20:00.000-04:002007-07-24T03:20:00.000-04:00This will be all fine and dandy until someone deci...This will be all fine and dandy until someone decides to hack the system on a real scale. <BR/><BR/>Someday, somewhere, someone will stat creating fake images that papers/TV will grab and sell under. Only after some time, will it be noticed and then an uproar will arrive, by that time it will be too late. What little credibility left will be lost.<BR/><BR/>As to someone coming into this field this late in the game.. I do not think it is a bad idea. Here is why, simply Chaos creates opportunity. For the old, well there never was a promise of life time employment, this is after all not a works program. <BR/><BR/>For you new kids, well you have time in your favor to make something good out of this. Again Chaos breeds opportunity and change, that is your "IN."<BR/><BR/>Chris PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-5835459700943068622007-07-23T14:18:00.000-04:002007-07-23T14:18:00.000-04:00Why should photographers be immune from the same "...Why should photographers be immune from the same "cheap is good" crap that any other craft has had to deal with since the industrial revolution?<BR/><BR/>How many of us own hand-made furniture or clothes made by an independent craftsperson working on contract? Not even 10% of the population I bet. <BR/><BR/>Undoing that trend is going to take a cultural revolution that seems to be the opposite of where most consumers want to go. And I doubt most people who read the paper are likely to care where the images came from, any more than most of us are willing to only buy the items of our daily lives from sources that support individuals rather than the companies that profit from buying their work at the cheapest source.<BR/><BR/>Again I am not saying NO ONE cares about these issues, just that the issues that affect photojournalism are the same general ones that affect any craft. If you want to survive as a craftsperson (substitute "artist" if you like) you have to find your market and follow it as it changes.<BR/><BR/>Look for niche markets and developing trends and carve out a space for yourself or you're done, whether you're a photographer, painter, or cabinet maker.Ben Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11575274306869760175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-57345947736916560732007-07-23T10:43:00.000-04:002007-07-23T10:43:00.000-04:00Funny that I see this entry today. Today's LA Time...Funny that I see this entry today. Today's LA Times front page images much be one of these freebie images. I saw it and thought to myself "What an awful image, must be a screen grab off some YouTube feed. Wonder why they couldn't get a real photographer there." It shows that the new standard is no standard at all--just use whatever drops into their laps and is free. The editors seem to have forgotten the maxim "You get what you pay for."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-49188202552658143032007-07-23T09:26:00.000-04:002007-07-23T09:26:00.000-04:00I have been saying for the last five-years we are ...I have been saying for the last five-years we are watching the death of professional photojournalism and newspaper/magazine photography and this just confirms that feeling. It doesn't take a rocket science to figure that out.<BR/><BR/>I believe most of it has to do with papers and magazines trying to cut cost without consideration to quality or credibility of their product. How quickly these editors, managers and publishers have forgotten the powerful picture that professionals have brought to them in the past that made their papers or magazines.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-41981634372027572552007-07-22T15:33:00.000-04:002007-07-22T15:33:00.000-04:00EdI agree with you, and I too have been ripped by ...Ed<BR/><BR/>I agree with you, and I too have been ripped by my colleagues by predicting; as you have been doing, that the death of photojournalism is almost upon us.<BR/><BR/>I wish my feelings about this were wrong; but I've seen many changes in the groups of photojournalists that work in the city where I work, and this change is occuring in at a rapid pace.<BR/><BR/>Where there were once numerous photographers working for magazines, newspapers, and for wire services; there are now less than 1/2 left. I'm sorry to say that this is really dishearting. It seems that the powers that be have decided to use more freelancers and SPEC shooters and the days of the contract photographer and staffer are pretty much over. <BR/><BR/>This leaves a void that is going to filled by whom? Well I'm almost certain that It's not going to be someone with many years experience who charges over $250 per day, because the agencies and other outlets are not going to pay anywhere near that much. So how how does a professional photojournalist afford to live on less than $250 per day with maybe 1 to 3 days shooting during the week if they are lucky?<BR/><BR/>This is the question that I need to have answered, how do I make a living as a photojournalist when there are people on the street willing to do this for free?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-59444888868357527002007-07-22T02:08:00.000-04:002007-07-22T02:08:00.000-04:00Jonathan, you are missing the point. The whole po...Jonathan, you are missing the point. The whole point of the writer is to get across to you, that the celltographers ARE doing your job, and that their work IS being treated as if it were legitimate journalism/photography. Beyond that piddly little detail, I have a stronger question. This one is for Dave, and is in no way shape or form meant to be combative, or inflammatory. Dave, do you feel that you are somehow working to perpetuate this state with the site that you are running, which I might add is free? You are teaching something that has been in the past , considered by many (including myself) to be a black art? Something that one needs to go to school for, not something that can be felt. I have learned more about photography from your site than I could ever hope to learn from a school. The end result, I have bought seven thousand odd dollars worth of camera equipment, and am being considered for a job in the media based solely on my skill. Isn't this what the elite is afraid of? One amateur having the determination to bridge the boundary to Pro? And while we are at it, what makes a Pro? I have seen plenty of amateur shots that look professional, and I have seen more than enough "pro" shots that look worse than mine did when I started with a Powershot A80. Like all other things, this is a field where you must adapt and overcome. People want new, refreshing things. We have to find the combinations. I will use as an example the first thing that anyone shoots with a macro lens. A flower. Yeah it is really purty, but how many flower shots does it take. Google "flower macro" See how many results show up. I got 2,380,000! That is a lot of shots. Try this one "cute puppy" 3,720,000. One has to look past all the other stuff and find a creative insight, one that will set their images apart, and make them noticeable. Framing, and lighting are the two most key elements. Any idiot can make a proper exposure. I have a $2000 camera that will do it for me. It is however, hard to make all of the elements come together. It is a brave new world. Information is more than prevalent, it saturates the very fiber of our existence. It is up to us as photographers/photojournalists/<BR/>artists/professionals to use our better and superior understanding of the elements that comprise our trade to ensure our survival. Perhaps we should guard the information that we have on these elements a little more closely. Before I digress, I will make a point. I have watched the comments on the strobist site very closely. It seems that there is a very small gathering in the group that knows what Dave is talking about, but the majority are always scratching their collective heads. These head scratchers are not pro's, but people like me that came here to learn how to do this sort of thing, with no schooling backing them. If you are afraid for your job, perhaps this is not something to teach. It made a pro out of me. Jut one more person saturating the market, and vying for recognition. I asked a friend that has been shooting for 15 years about this site, and he told me that it was a great source, but I should have already known how to do a lot of this stuff. Since I have been making butchered shoe cords, I have seen almost all of these principles used in his work. All that he lacked was the technical know how to make a 20' shoe cord without a bunch of the stuff that MPEX has. I figured out how to do it with $18 dollars worth of stuff from Wolf Camera. Getting off track, the point is merely thus, The world is changing, move with it or go extinct.Brandon Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14968525899087360451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-68888137161016342082007-07-21T17:38:00.000-04:002007-07-21T17:38:00.000-04:00The use of the copied images of the Virginia Tech ...The use of the copied images of the Virginia Tech victims on the Time cover, is not unusual or new.<BR/><BR/> Publications have always needed to use copied or sent in images of people who are no longer around to be photographed, to illustrate tribute articles. While it dose mean that a photographer was not commissioned to shoot the cover on this week's edition, this shouldn't be seen as a threat to the industry, because a new image wouldn't have been a viable option in this case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-58542338431642256262007-07-21T17:23:00.000-04:002007-07-21T17:23:00.000-04:00From a practical point of view, there is something...From a practical point of view, there is something to be said for using the images by so-called citizen journalists, to cover some hard news events. A passer-by with a camera-phone who comes across an incident as it happens and manages to snatch a snapshot picture, is likely to be there before a staff photog could be dispatched to the incident. The image they get may well be inferior in quality, but it exists, and is available to be used. <BR/><BR/>This is a valuable resource to the newspapers, in these situations, but all such pictures are is snapshots. <BR/><BR/>Bernie the Dentist can take a snapshot of an explosion shortly after it happens in the street. He has the advantage of happening to be there and having his camera phone with him as it takes place, but how would he cope with the task of illustrating more involved photo-stories or features?<BR/><BR/>A photojournalist's skill never did stop at just having the technical ability to take a photograph of something happening. There is also an acquired ability to tell a story, to sensitively pick out the details in a whole scene and to work with the people who are caught up in the event, perhaps to find an alternative angle. <BR/><BR/>There is also still a place for the great skill technical skill of taking strong, creative quality photographs. <BR/><BR/>The image used to illustrate the article, which shows passers-by using camera phones to photograph the incident on Lexington Avenue, is credited to Reuters photographer Chip East. The photojournalist has found another angle to the story by showing that the passers-by are unfazed by the potential danger of the steam, and are keen to stop to take pictures. <BR/><BR/>Most people these days can write and use a word processor, but that dose not make them a writer or journalist, and dose not give them the skills they need to create a literary masterpiece, or produce a balanced and un-defamatory article. <BR/><BR/>The same thing must apply to photography, mustn't it? Surely a quality publication will always hope to first illustrate their pages with dynamic, strong, visually interesting and informative quality pictures, before resorting to fuzzy, badly composed and irrelevant camera phone images?<BR/><BR/>There are now many ways for your average Joe (or Bernie) to partake in the media. Joe can make films, and upload them to Youtube, Bernie can blog, and I can write comments on blogs! <BR/><BR/> I see this as little threat to TV, film, or the writing of book or magazine articles. <BR/><BR/>The accessibility of these mediums to the general public is an interesting cultural phenomenon, but as long as the viewing public has standards and tastes, and the need to be inspired by quality, there will always be a demand for skilled professionals in these fields.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7553278593406733377.post-15971082690904025922007-07-20T19:09:00.000-04:002007-07-20T19:09:00.000-04:00Cute as a button<A HREF="http://web.mac.com/aaronandpatty/iWeb/What%20the%20Duck/THE%20VAULT%202_files/WTD130.jpg" REL="nofollow">Cute as a button</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com