NPPA Convergence

By Elissa Ewald

How do I get better sound? Darren Durlach gives you tips for how to collect audio on the scene of a story that helps viewers experience the story.

“I would rather have better audio, better sounds, better characters than better images.”

Gear (What Darren uses)

ME66 Sennheiser Shotgun mic

Lectrosonic-UCR 401

Lectrosonic-um400a transmitter

JVC noise cancelling headphones

On the way to scene, conceptualize with your reporter. Discuss audio or moments to gather so you know what to look for when you get there.

Start shooting anything that is going to go away. The first thing you want to do is capture the visuals and audio that you’re not going to be able to get later on.

Ask yourself, are there moments?

Duck Pin Politics

Mission of Hope (Part III)

Use your wireless mic. “Go fishin’” for good character sounds and nat sounds.

You need to gather sound in the moment, because the moments are what make stories memorable. Making the most of a moment means getting good sound.

Just like you shoot tight, medium and wide pictures, there should be tight, medium and wide sounds.

Use natural sounds to transition your piece from one part to the next.

Audio springboard—can serve as a creative lead into a story.

By: Frances Micklow

Presented by Sarah Bates and Warren Peper, The Post and Courier

How we’re getting news is changing. Getting news used to be a lecture, now it is a conversation. The move is going to interaction to create that conversation between the audience and the news sources.

Video needs to have a purpose, it must be compelling, entertaining, informative, and worth watching. It shouldn’t go up just because you have the capability.

Man on the Street

Use the different aspects of the paper (video, articles, etc) to work together and cross promote

Post and Courier has paired with Comcast to put together a 30 minute news show called In The News with The Post and Courier. Produced and used to show news and draw readers in.

TV is there to do TV, it’s finding a different or better way to provide the readers with the information, but using some tools from TV to do it.

When you’re moving the Titanic, remember it takes time. Even two or three degrees can be a big change in the long run.

Have to find the balance with the amount of time you can spend on different stories. Spot news needs to go up quick, longer format (i.e., man on the street) can be more flexible with time.

“Keep it simple stupid”

Have to hold our selves to a higher standard than YouTube, anyone can throw information up on the internet and people with watch it. You still have to take the time to get good audio and video, it still has to be clean.

Think beyond what newspapers have always thought about.

Newspapers need to be more open to promoting their own personalities. Don’t let the faces of newspaper be completely invisible, it is ok to promote.

It’s not always the produced videos that draw in the most hits; it is often time surveillance tapes, dashboard cams, 911 tapes. Papers have to realize that these things are available to them too if they have the technology and capability to work through it and get it up online.

The capability for video is much more accessible now, so newspapers have to take advantage of it. Not everything has to be network quality but it has to be professional.

Push your featured videos and photo galleries to the top of the page so to better promote the good things your paper is putting together.

You have to prioritize the videos that you shoot and put up on line.

You don’t want the numbers to drive what you cover.

by Elissa Ewald

Darren Durlach discusses his video techniques and how to improve your video storytelling and capture your viewers.

“Storytelling is about getting the viewer to care.”

In maximizing the story, as a photojournalist…it’s your job to get out of the way and let the story tell itself. You don’t want to do anything to distract the viewer from the story.

Quickest Way to Dress up Your Storytelling

-shot variety: not just tight medium and wide, remember shots with foreground to give depth, high angles and low angles, “zoom with your feet” (depth of field), exploit repeated action, never edit two similar sized shots in a row, make your tight shots tighter and your wides wider, fill your frame

“C’mon Son” water main break story

“I think one of our jobs as photojournalists is to show our viewers the world in the most unique way possible.”

Soldier Salute

How do we get the viewer to care?

-personalization

-people care about the story when they relate to the people involved

-find the story in the story

-if you find someone interesting then most likely your audience will find them interesting

-talking heads are boring

-check back in on the character if you can

Mission of Hope

Angels for Irma

How do we involve the viewer?

-action-reaction

every action has a reaction

reaction is what the viewer at home relates to

Sweaty Buttery Teamwork

-The most valuable tool in your physical toolbox is your wireless mic

The mic adds an entirely new dimension to reaction–suspense

video of reaction without sound and you’re looking at a stranger, but if you add the mic they become human

efficiency is king-shoot ‘n move (unless they become a pivotal character)

Special Piece of History

use “active interviews” which look like b-roll and keep the story rolling

White Smoke, Black Smoke

“Moments are what you look for in stories. Moments are what’s important.”

-Moments don’t have to be big. If it compels you then it probably compels your audience.

-Don’t be frustrate when you miss one

-Establish trust from the beginning and people let you in

-Every story has moments.

“McNatra”

Snow Wrap Up

and lastly…have great endings!

-The ending is more important that the opening. It is what leaves the viewer with a feeling.

by Elissa Ewald

Stanley Leary shares some insight on how you can improve or build a successful business in photography.

Find the entire presentation at http://www.stanleyleary.com/marketing.pdf

“Corporate clients are looking for, first and foremost, someone who can solve the immediate problem.”

To be successful in the business side of photojournalism, you need to make sure not to get too focused on making your portfolio or website perfect, but you also need to concentrate on meeting clients, listening and asking good questions.

Need to develop a business library to help you deternine how to run your photography business.

Suggested Books:

Pricing Photography

Truth Needs No Ally

Best Business Practices for Photographers

The Photographer’s Guide to Negotiating

The Photographer’s Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion

Photographers Market

Sell & Re-sell Your Photos

Professional Business Practices in Photography

You need to also be reading what your clients will be reading.

Suggested Software:

Quicken

fotoQuote Pro

Outlook or Entourage or another database program that works for you

shootQ

Know your cost of doing business. (NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator)

Network. Go Where your Customers or Prospects go or are likely to be.

Five Things for Success:

(1) Persistence

(2) Being Nice

(3) Whom you know (Teachers, Coaches, Facilitators, Mentors)

(4) Skilled in Craft

(5) Talent

Scott McKiernan presents 5 Years of DOUBLEtruck magazine.

By: Frances Micklow

Presented by Craig Walker, The Denver Post

Ian Fisher: American Soldier

Started with two subjects from Bear Creek High School. Began following Troy, interviewed and took photos for two plus weeks. One day Craig Walker noticed that Troy had changed, and he told Walker that he didn’t want to join the army anymore “You know all those questions you’ve been asking me?”

That’s when they began following Ian Fisher. They followed him everywhere. Graduation, parties, Army recruitment office, on the bus and plane to Atlanta for basic training, to Iraq, everything.

“This is not supposed to happen. I knew it would be difficult, but this is not supposed to happen,” Walker said to his editor Tim Rasmussen when the story took a turn. “That’s the story,” said Rassmussen. “Follow the story.”

“I’m scared and I want to go home” –Ian

Sometimes you make a picture that you didn’t know you had. A good photo editor can help you find them.

Build a relationship with your subjects, gain their respect and trust.

The story became a story of a boy growing up more than just the story of a soldier.

The story isn’t going to go where you think it is going to do, but you have to follow it.

Always follow the story.

by Elissa Ewald

Greg Smith discusses some need-to-know business practices if you want to succeed in your career as a visual journalist.

Why are you here?

Are you here to make big money? To seek fun and fulfillment? To make a difference? To make enough money for long enough that you can have a fun life and make a difference?

Greg’s Mantra for making better pictures

-look at the light

-fill the frame

-grab the moment

Rule of Thirds for business

(1) Look for opportunity

Ask yourself who you want to be, who needs you, where are they, how do you reach them, and with what tools and channels?

Key tools and channels: website, printed portfolio, social marketing, face-to-face networking, direct and email, cold calls

(2) Fill the niche

-Show and explain what you can deliver

-Be prepared to deliver it professionally

-Deliver beyond expectations (but not too far)

-Be a professional in all situations

Digital Standards for arching, delivery and reproduction

-understand and follow UPDIG

-understand and implement professional workflows: dpBestFlow

-protect the value of your images for you, your clients and history with complete, proper Photo Metadata

Others: IDEAlliance, IPTC, JPEG, and LOC’s NDIIP (Digital Preservation)

(3) Grab the profits

-know your costs

-follow the rules

-know your value

-know your market

-negotiate effectively

-collect

Focus: Preparing to Profit

Understand your costs

Understand licensing, contracts and copyright

Determine value

The NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator

Copyright Basics

-you own it the instant you make it

-…unless you are an employee

-…or you sign a work-for-hire contract

-others must license use.

-practical enforcement requires registration in the US

-copyright is under fire

Why register your copyright?

-enables statutory damages, court costs

-separate published and unpublished

-can batch register (any # unpublished)

-register published in 90 days and get protection from 1^st publication

-new electronic registration saves $

=registration date is when CO receives

Contracts concerns

-A contract is an agreement between two parties, and is, by definition negotiable.

-It’s what’s on paper that counts.

-Multiple papers, estimate to invoice—there needs to be a paper trail for every contract.

-Contracts should protect against possibilities.

-Small party should no indemnify big.

-All changes must be in writing.

Stock Licensing Models

-rights manages

-royalty free

-microstock

-rights ready/PLUS Packs, etc.

-PLUS makes rights managed easy

Licensing basics: Ask what medium? What size? What placement? What circulation or # of impressions? How long? What region? What market?

Determining Value

What is the use, the quality, the expedience, the reliability, the panache, the negotiation, and the market of the content you are providing?

What are good sources for pricing information?

Your colleagues

Professionals you respect

FotoQuote and other pricing guides

Getty and other image distributors

PLUS to define licensing

::WARNINGS::

-work for hire (w/o paycheck & benefits)

-microstock

-spam solicitations

-dangerous indemnity clauses

-slow- and no- payers

-offers for “exposure” and “access”

-Contests that collect extra rights (Learn about your rights and which contests to avoid)

-undercutting good markets

-Not including full metadata

Solutions?

Consider client’s perspective, offer creative compromise, offer unique vision and stories, do something else, assign yourself to your projects, or… marry well.

By: Elissa Ewald

Garrett Hubbard from USA TODAY gives some tips on how to improve your video interviewing techniques.

Developing Trust

The extent to which you can get a good interview is the extent to which your subject trusts you.

25 years after Beirut

Part of overcoming interviewing challenges is planning ahead so they don’t become excuses.

The Interview

Batteries and memory!

Attend to the audio

-What does the room sound like?

-Wireless handshake

Attend to the Lighting

-separation and detail

Compose the frame

-compose for context

-minimize set up and complexity

-keep the eyes 1/3 down from the top of the frame

-avoid chairs that rock

-use compositions that work wide or tight

Interviewing

-get name/spelling/title first

-complete statements-you need them!

-avoid short-answer questions, instead use compound questions to get complete answers

-have a conversation…but keep your noise to a minimum

-leave handles…the pause that makes editing possible

-ask “Is there anything else?”

Other pointer

Don’t talk while your subject is talking!

No talking or noises of affirmation while the subject is talking!

Silence is golden

Curious dog stare

Asking the Same Question

If you have multiple characters telling the story, ask them some of the same questions. Makes it easily to transition from character to character when piecing together your story.

If you’re interviewing a person and your camera is on a tripod, try conducting your interview with your person framed on the left and you standing to the right of the camera to increase visual variety. Or let your subject know that you may ask questions multiple times and quickly change camera angles and frames each time you ask the question.

24 Hours in the ER “Opinions of Reform”

By Frances Micklow

Presented by Meghan Lyden, Denver Post

One of the biggest struggles with multimedia is organizing all the content.

Things to consider: style/philosophy, form of content, content gatherers– who is going to get the content? Who takes the best stills? Who knows how to do good video?, content editors—who knows how to edit everything? time period—how long do we have? Will we need/get a little extra time? design, presentation—do we want it online? On facebook? Partnership—who’s help do we need? What can’t we do and who can?

Childhood Poverty

Start with a story board and ask questions. What content do we have? How am I building this? How will things relate? How will I name all of my content? Who are we shooting? How will I best organize everything?

When the pictures start coming in, the takes are edited out and the edited folders are looked at in their entirety. Each photographer spent about a week with each of the families. Organize the content in a way that seems to make the most sense. Do the audioi first, make the story as interesting audio wise as possible. Know your visual the whole time, then fit them together.

Trashing the Truth

You’re not always going to have the best scenario to work in, you don’t have to follow the same organization that you would in print. With Trashing the Truth, the multimedia was given material to put into the story. They had the reporters who worked on the story in the first place help draft a script for each of the sections to help tell the stories.

Ian Fisher: American Soldier

What’s the style of this project going to be? What does this kid do? What does it mean to train? To come back? Did we want action video? Who do we have to gather the content? Who is going to edit it? How long was it going to take? What do we want the design to look like? How do we organize it all? There were hundred of thousands of photos, so over the years the photos would be edited, talked about and pulled for paper and online content. Then they were brought back to the storyboard. Made a time line of Ian’s life—the only way it made sense was to do it chronologically. Took the time line made by the reporter and merged it with the tapes and interviews. Everything was logged and put into a transcript.

You have to organize everything in a way that makes sense the best for you and go from there..

Multimedia doesn’t always have to have a print component for it, make the time to do the projects. Set a goal, ask the questions, be ambitious.

“Show them, don’t tell them.”

By: Frances Micklow

Presented by Stanley Leary

How to pitch multimedia to corporate and how to work with business people.

Advertising can be a good thing, think about it in a different way. It’s not all bad. Think about it as telling stories. Realize what you do well and market it in that way. Tell the story of your client instead of the news story; you don’t have to change everything. Advertising is becoming story telling.

Apply what you have learned in the photojournalism to make the advertising look and feel real, create real moments. You’re only changing a few things.

Make sure you show clients you have multiple skill sets. Find out what the corporation’s problems are and help them fix them. Get to know these people and do your research. It takes time and it is not easy.

In today’s market the video is the driver of the industry– everyone is using it. But you can use other tools in order to better serve the company. They may have a small bandwidth to share a video, so show them soundslides.

You have to understand how to use different skills, you have to offer clients more than pushing a button on a camera. You have to make the company to think uncorporately. Don’t focus one being great, be different—it gets people’s attention. By bringing a photojournalists approach to their problem or work, you bring something different.

Remember that you are constantly branding yourself. Have a good attitude because people are always watching you. People will hire you for more than your portfolio, you have to carry yourself well. Qualities corporations value:

Appearance—dress for the occasion, not for your proficiency. This is more than clothes, this is your entire appearance (camera bags, shoes, etc.)

Attitude—listen. What does the client need? Be flexible.

Technical proficiency– baseline (know how to take photos/video, high quality product), client’s capabilities (how will your product be used? Can you suggest ways they can use your work to help them achieve their goals?), Mac/PC (you need to help them with issues using your work)

Leadership presence—be a strategic thinker, see patterns where others see complexity, observe people’s style, motivation, way of thinking.

Business acumen (your knowledge of business)— the inclination to use resources and the propensity to add value to products and services, which leads to profit.

Look to SERVE: see the future, engage and develop others, reinvent continuously, value results and relationships, embody the values.

Remember that it is not about you. They are not your stories, they are their stories. Friend them on facebook or follow them on twitter to find out abut them.

Be continuously learning. Learn new equipment, new programs, new methods.

Visual journalism is the new journalism. Know visual. If you can’t take a visual and break it down emotionally and understand why it works, you can’t articulate to your client why your work is the best fit.

Online notes from the presentation

By: Frances Micklow

Presented by Steven Masiclat

We use news for its social networking opportunities

The use of non-voice data applications has grown significantly over the last year.

We expect wireless connection and we get pissed when we don’t have it. We expect the information from the cloud to rain on us all the time.

The volume of the information grows and the variety of information sources increases. velocity of information speeds up, venues change—times and places to experience media enlarge , vigilance–attention to information and media expands and contracts, vibrant—immersive qualities of media are more compelling—gamming; augmented reality, valence—relevance of information improves as customization/search tools emerge, vivid– social networks are more evident and more important as “coping” structures.

We take for granted that we need to be connected.

Book Suggestion: Chaos Scenario by Bob Garfield

Because the network is pervasive, news is pervasive. Most people use more than one platform for news (4-6). Platforms have converged online: 68 percent of internet news consumers have watched video news stories, 62 percent watched live feeds, 48 percent emailed stories or news videos

33 percent of cell owners get news on handhelds. Types of news: 26 percent weather, 25 percent brows headlines, 18 percent check news apps, 16 percent sports, 13 percent traffic, 12 percent financial info, 11 percent news alerts by email/text

For the audience, news is personalized. 67 percent of all American say they only follow specific subjects, 28 percent of Internet users have customized a news page and 42 percent say customization is an important web function to them.

For the audience, news is a social experience.

We enjoy talking about it, we feel like it is a social or civic obligation to keep up with the news, we rely on the people around us to tell us when there is news we need to know.

People use news as a social currency: People share links to news stories, get news through their SNS use, follow news organizations and journalists on SNS

The behavior is headed towards the cell phone distribution of information.

The mobile phone layers so much more information than before.

Book suggestion: Let Go to Grow

“We are social animals and other people are hell to deal with.”

Get more info

Blogged by Emily Karol

Presented by Scott McKiernan

How do you get people to send you to do stuff? Projects licensed, financed, seen

You’ve got to get the ball rolling, a series of small elements to add to a larger whole

Visual storytellers

Websites aren’t going to make your business but it will help you get work (like a business card)

Business card: specific to energy of work (color, tone, etc.); keep it simple; include photo on the back; type face (older, needs to be larger than 6-8 pt.);

Movies are a great way to learn to position and market your story: trailers, as an example, engage and want to see more

Consistent promotion: trailers, single image, book

Print on demand: small editions without costing a lot; do a chapter

Pulitzer winners: did more than beyond their staff piece; everything is a layer

Project: elevator pitch, show them the beginnings

Got to build an idea, doesn’t just happen in one second

ask editors questions and listen to people, don’t assume with all business practices

best questions: what more can I do? what else needs to be done? (building a relationship)

who would you recommend? who else should I go see? (write a note, genuine)

engage and get ideas going: things that you care about and do your research about the publication

keep it simple and attainable: why they should care? trailer, chapter, etc.

collaboration with editors, not just about you

*Find 10 publications that you want to do work for: cerebral stories and eye candy

look at 3 issues of a publication, look at credits—how are they sourcing their pictures and see who’s taking the pictures

Buy Communication Arts

Sustainable amount of clients: 3-4 “whales”

Goals: short term, medium term, long term (big picture)

think about the big goal, where will you be 10 years from now?

keep it simple and honest, “what are you gonna tell grandma?”

you have to act decisively, not impulsively (sleep on it one night, but don’t leave it to 2 days, a week, etc.)

be consistent with your goals and strengths

*Know your strengths

empowering as a photographer to be a part of the decision process in post-production

single vision, consistency

make a relationship with editor/client, you’ve become their problem solver

give them fresh and new; don’t just rely on your “best”

*suggested goals: get 3-4 “whales”/clients; find 10 publications

by Elissa Ewald

Joie Chen of Branded News discusses the opportunities in niche audience online channels and how these options illustrate the changing industry for visual storytellers.

A lot of what’s happening in television news (as it shifts to online media) is that there is something fundamentally incompatible between legacy television news viewership and online viewership.

The web news culture is a large democracy. You choose what it is you want to know about. This spreads out audiences and makes it difficult to sell advertising, which would usually be attracted to large broad audiences that would watch an entire newscast.

Instead, we need to focus online news on niche audiences—smaller audiences that are highly invested in a particular topic.

Oklavision

Integris Cancer Institute

In traditional television, you put your content out there and wait to see who will view it. With niche audiences, you are looking to create content specific to an audience already chosen.

If we want to tell stories, the industry is changing in a way that we need to find new ways to tell them. From the business side, these niche audience sites offer job opportunities to people who can tell visual stories well, because sponsors are willing to pay for it.

Sponsors need to know in the beginning that, when hiring journalists for online news channels, they will tell the good stories and the bad stories, otherwise the information will have little credibility with the general public. What they are paying for is not public relations. Also, ideally, viewers need to understand the context in which they absorb their news information (sponsors, advertisers, etc).

“I’m not sure if what we call objective journalism can even be called objective anymore.” -Chen

Questions it raises: Is it journalism if it’s single sponsored? Is there a problem with selling your stories to niche audiences that have specific interest in the topics you cover? Are we no longer journalists or are we now just visual storytellers? Is it less “journalistic” than programs which accept sponsorship for their pieces on traditional broadcast channels?

Blogged by Emily Karol

Moderated by Sean Elliot

Panel:

1) Richard Ellis

2) Stanley Leary

3) Greg Smith

4) Stacey Pearsall

5) Mike Roy

Where did you learn about business?

MR:

Almost immediately downhill, survived 2 rounds of lay-offs but not the 3^rd

Previous experience in marketing/PR: learn how to manage yourself in that environment, very similar in managing freelance career

Rolodex to fall back on

SP:

You on;y get back what you put into it

Sheer drive and energy got me through without that knowledge

Healthy rolodex of friends to help through process

Learning the hard way, what works and what doesn’t

Still a learning process, things are changing

Very adaptive of what’s going on, staying abreast

GS:

Started newspaper in 1982, learned business then

Working with national PR firm, large multi-national corporation

Everything was changing

Went out on own in 1995

Business practices committee for NPPA (research and attention to detail)

My own business is disaster area quite frankly

Not in debt, understand our situation, not banking a lot of money but I live a very good life

Avoid the negative

SL:

Cutting grass as teenager, putting grass in car

Having other people who have gone before me sharing their mistakes so I can learn from them

Support system of people around you, not in this business

Working for yourself is a risk

RE:

Everyone does it (business, part of human nature and capitalism)

It doesn’t mean that you’ll do it well, that’s where education has to come from

Learn and read as much as you can

PPA: business course, running a photography business

Passion for a business, people will take advantage: divorce your passion and creativity from your business ability to succeed

MR:

The emotion behind it is very rarely discussed

Self-medicating, trying to figure out what to do

Started talking to people that mattered to me

Fortunate, still don’t have any debt

Fact that I didn’t have to force myself into taking a different job, allowed a smoother transition to freelance

Having face to face time is very important

Calling people that I’ve stayed in touch with

SP:

Keeping genuine friendships with people

It’s a give and take, like a marriage

I’ve worked hard and been very honest with the people I’ve worked with

I try to stay in that neutralize zone, small community

SL:

Rolodex: paramount to success, life line to jobs

The people that struggle the most don’t have more than a 1000 names

Friends can only hire you so many times

If you keep rolodex same size, you will be out of work

Ones not hiring me, doesn’t mean they’re not referring you to other people

RE:

Rolodex not the ultimate solution, everyone is going through the same struggles (people moving in and out of the newsroom all the time)

If it has people who are friends, share ideas—not feel as alone, develop new path if you have to with help from those people (ex: wedding photography)

GS:

Exploring other channels, social media

I don’t know if it’s a solution, I have learned this much: you have to get together

Pepper with 5:1 ratio of shoot-out to people and links, become a valuable information source—people will look to you

Expert for people

Social media: copyright issues

If I care about a photo, I won’t put it on Facebook but I will share a link to blog/gallery

Stay current and be out there

Postcards and emails are just annoying, don’t do that

Set up a relationship, so they want to receive those emails

SP:

I don’t take the time to watch TV, I work

“Do I need to have this extra TV show, or should I be up on blog, etc”

SL:

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance…”

Have to read outside this industry in order to have exptertise on other things

Find niches and passions that you have that aren’t photography, become expert

Learning from failure

SP:

Make friends from life

Had a hard time saying “no” not working to make money

Tough line in being too generous and being a good friend

Still battling with that one

SL:

Not positive enough in everything I say

You’re only as good as your last project

Always think how it sounds to client

How can help client succeed and not just you

MR:

Stay on top of invoice

finances

RE:

Make sure you save money

Going into business costs a lot of money

Being willing to say “no” to business (if it will hurt you in end)

GS:

Say “no” to one kind of work and take another kind of work

When you start saying “no” can become “deer in headlights” frozen

Perfection is enemy of good, good enough is enemy of great

So much easier to stare at screen rather than making calls and getting portfolio shown

SP:

Local Chamber of Commerce

Trade system, still getting quality imagery out of it

Look down road

Diversifying photography: learned how to think outside of box

Diversity: Editorial, Commercial, etc.

SP:

Self-fulfilling editorial, personal

GS:

We are comprised and have conflicts of interest, we have to be very careful what we’re comprising

We have no choice because market is forcing us to right now

Balancing acts that forced to deal with

Key to surviving: be honest with yourself, careful with how your present yourself

Doing what you love to do? Doing what you have to do?

MR:

Doing what I have to do more than love to do

Doing more business than shooting

Its not shooting, its running a business

Shooting is a similar portion of what I do on a day to day

SP:

A lot of business management rather than shooting

As long as I’m doing something in photography than I’m happy

SL:

Can become overwhelming, you forget to market yourself because you spent too much time shooting

Certain projects that are business related, market so you will keep getting jobs

RE:

You’re only going to shoot all the time if you’re on staff

Shooting a lot of travel stock: post-production is hugely time consuming

Shooting is smallest piece in terms of labor put in now

I’m doing what I love, but a lot of what I do is to keep me doing what I love

Rates

MR:

I don’t really quote a price, even if you’re on staff—collect as much information as you can before giving a price

GS:

Best business advice I’ve gotten: “I’ll get back to you”

Got to close at some point, but get as much information as possible

Is photojournalism a hobby or profession?

GS:

Real question for entire industry

RE:

Separate passion from business, best practice business

Audience:

What you are doing at the end of the day is that you are producing a product

Producer: takes responsibility for a project and carries it through to completion

Position yourself as producer, people you are dealing with look at you in a different way

Question: what will it cost the client for you to produce what the client needs?

GS:

Look at negotiating issues, networking, business

What do you bring to the party?—that’s soul searching

Why hire me? And not someone else?

Often it’s the manner in which you operate, not usually the best photographers but the best business person

Niche

MR:

I don’t look at myself as a niche photographer

If I do have a niche, its that I like making money

SL:

Debates on generalists v. niche

There is a place for the generalist, but the generalist needs to have something that stands out whether its personality or something else

Large number of people rely on portfolio, but a lot of people are capable of shooting what I shoot—what makes you unique

Talk about what you can do for your clients, know what your strengths are

SP:

Important to find hobby and passion out of that

If you’re not making the money that you used to, at least be happy about doing it

SL:

Corporate: hire character more than hire skills—it’s how you carry yourself, you’re in their territory

Closing advice

MR:

After getting laid off I had a lot of anxiety, took a

Take some time off and regroup if you need to

The grind will get to you for sure

I always feel better afterwards

“Avoid the anxiety”

SP:

Don’t degrade your work and your self-worth

Survive by further educating yourself

Surround yourself with other positive people

“Keep up your chin”

GS:

Take time for yourself

“Balance”

SL:

Learning a servant role

Listening a lot more than talking to client

“Become the problem solver, become valuable for client”

RE:

Don’t allow yourself to become bitter

Stay positive

You chose to get into this industry, don’t carry a chip on your shoulder about it

Be flexible: multiple jobs throughout your life

“Consider it an honor to be in this industry”

Suggested Reading (become an expert in business, negotiating, niche markets)

ASMP Bible

Pricing Photography

Fast Track Photographer

NPPA Photographer’s Toolkit

by Elissa Ewald

Steven Masiclat dives into the different factors that affect whether or not your content is found on the web.

When we metatag, we are making the news we create as fit as we can for the web environment…but this isn’t just about metatagging. This is about all the factors that make your media web accessible.

Contextualized

Means that your content situated within a series of web structures

-html

-served by databases

-has a presence that is calculated

Components of your online context (what makes it a network object): head and title tags, meta tags (keywords and descriptors), intra-site ranking(page rank algorithm), structured text, inbound references, intuitive interface

…All of these things work together to determine whether or not your news item is seen or not.

The issue with the text that we use is that there is polysemy. One word can have many different meetings and have hundreds of different associated images. On the web, there is a gap between the images and videos and the words used to describe them.

The map or graph of possible contexts for a word (for example the word green is associated with words like color, apples, environment, policy, etc.) is too large to be accurate. Therefore, we layer on additional data layers like external page links. The associated meanings of a word are turned into a mathematical representation so that it can be used to determine importance or relevance in a web search.

Common sense approach: When thinking about words to describe your work on the web, map them out. Are the words commonly used together to describe your topic? Will the words you use to describe cloud the meaning of your topic or piece? If the words on your mind map are closely connected, it is safe to use them together, but if the words are on opposite sides of the map and are not connected, using them may make it less likely for your content to be found.

What does this mean? Be careful what you write.

The algorithm used to determine the importance of your media will measure the semantic differences between the terms used. High correlation with low semantic difference in taken to mean useful, high-quality data, whereas a large number of terms, repetition, low-correlation are a sign of low-quality data.

Context for SEO

No jargon. No excessive technical detail. Use words that your audience will use. Titles should be directional and clear, tell your audience where they are on the web, and how to navigate the page. Your keyword text should be clear and simple as well. It should use words that your audience will be looking for on your topic.

Connected

…through links. When people link to your video in a contextual way, it improves your PageRank score.

…through contextualized links. If many people link to the page, add comments and link-backs, the page becomes large validated referant. (ex. Google Bomb) People could, in effect, change the semantic meaning of a phrase by thousands of people linking that phrase to a particular image.

Connected multimedia is…

-video people react to and comment on

-content people can freely use to help make a point

-available for a long period of time from a stable source (a permalink)—it stays connected. The longer something is online, the more links it can collect. The more links it collects, the more fixed the meaning of you media becomes.

-a subset of your total online portfolio or YouTube channel, photoblog or flickr-type page

Customer-centric

People need to be able to get to the media in a sensible way

People want to get media from sources they trust (they look at things their friends like, recommend or email to them), through this people experience the content not the ownership.

In other words…

-Video travels best over social networks or through trusted sources

-People generally don’t look for video news, they assume it will come to them. (Lee Rainie study)

This means you let people share, post links, and re-tweet your content. You let them distribute the content.

Cheap

How do you make money doing this?

-the problem of realizing value for work is systemic.

-the mass audience is gone.

-the audience that’s left is a large collection of very small niche-interest groups that are likely geographically disparate.

News is not amenable to long-tailed cost-recovery. News is the most valuable when it is timely.

What do we need? Masiclat suggests a content distribution network that can easily and cheaply syndicate your content on Social media sites, as well as online news organizations to syndicate to their sites.

By: Frances Micklow

Presented by: Damon Kiesow, Nashua Telegraph

With so much of the cell phone market being taken over by iphones, androids, and other smart phones, people want news, sports, and entertainment everywhere they are. How do you get the viewers to come to your media site to get this information?

Mobil Video:

34 percent of U.S. cell phone users use their phone for recording video, 20 percent watch video, 16 percent post photo or video online

The mobile news room:

5 stages of Newsroom Tech adoption:

denial, delay, unhealthy obsession, outsourcing, integration

Figure out what the market in your area is for mobile journalism, and build mobile tools (apps, text messaging, on line use) accordingly. Is your staff keeping up with your mobile site?

Twitter is worth a second look. Use social media, it is free and reaches a huge audience. Facebook reaches 100 million users in the US. Foursquare can help locate your readers so you can target the news and information that they are receiving on their phone (maybe they only want information that encompasses a 2 mile radius of their house).

Set up a Mobile plan: audience, technology, revenue, support

Mobile is for real. We don’t know anything…yet. Have a plan so you know when it failed, failure creates experts. Copy the best industry ideas, but, understand why they worked (if they did). Keep pushing.

You have to translate what is a toy into what is a tool.

Presentation by Bill Frakes and Laura Heald

Blogged by Emily Karol

“Just have to keep after it,” Bill Frakes

“Who you work with and spend time with will make a huge difference to your career,” Frakes

Straw Hat Visuals Production

Arriva-Derby

Interesting solutions:

Aerial shots, put in position 9 hrs before race starts

Set camera to wake up, fires once every 10 seconds (radios didn’t work)

1347 pictures during race

Kentucky Derby

Remote allocations (41 remotes, 70 other years)

Weather situation dictated how many remotes

calculate arrival time and calculate error

shooting the Olympics: used Mac, automated remotes—run 40-60 cameras by yourself

Rights restricted events, like the Kentucky Derby:

You are a guest at the event, abide by restrictions/rules

41 seconds of video on web (allowed to contractly show)

Respect people’s space, invited guests (speaking/getting audio from grooms)

Harris Bircher, Veteran, Pearl Harbor (Under Fire)

3-4 hours to shoot, day to put together

Rack focus, 600mm lens on rail lens

Must learn how to manually focus

Last scene: fluid head used, important shooting video

Lost his legs as result to injuries at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor: man standing next to Harris clinging to the side of ship while harbor is under attack says he can’t swim. Harris responds, “well it’s a good time to learn” (jumped off ship and swam under burning Arizona, 600 meters)

Addicted to NASCAR

80 million views

NY thought making fun of NASCAR fans, NASCAR thought making fun of them

Only time asked to change video after sent in (“where are all the pretty people?”)

Missy

“Something I just needed to shoot,” Frakes

Not sure they were going to make money from it, people bought after fact

“We didn’t do it because we wanted to sell it, but because I needed to get it out.

If you can fall in love everyday, then you can be good at,” Frakes

Music Video: Finland/Backyard Babies—Abandon

how it’s done

Most watched music video in Europe in the last 6 months

“Taking advantage of our skill set—using remotes” (side stage), DSLRs

became an editing nightmare, but we had all the raw material

one rehearsal, one live show

Opening: Baltic Sea (frozen over)

Australia: All over, Down Under

MECHANICS:

Workflow:

Complicated process that changes every time (tight deadline), not a lot of time to be nitpicky

“Have to let the process evolve,” Frakes

First thing: edit audio (Final Cut and Aperture 3)

Laura takes audio and video/I take the stills (attune to strengths/faster)

1) go through raw photos (Frakes)

2) video and audio (Heald; soundtrack pro or audacity)

3) pair down photos as a pair– Wack: 10,000-1,000 (look at together)

Timeliness: day after derby 10 million views, 4 days after a couple thousand

“Ongoing process, no right or wrong way to do it, how you feel comfortable,” Frakes

Teamwork mentality:

2 people could do double the work (encourage newspapers to do this)

take on larger volume of work

educate people about working together, use as an advantage not a crutch

Aperture 3:

Simple, quick, fast

Not doing an manipulation, get it right in camera (makes post production easier)

Get it right in camera bc on deadline

Bulk shoot Saturday and Sunday, goes to press Monday morning (Sports Illustrated)

Has all the imaging tools (brushes, etc.)

Business and Passion:

SI-staff photographer, no matter how much work we do we get paid the same

Didn’t get into this to make money, got into it to make photographs

Don’t be foolish, maintain copyrights to everything

Advertising projects, sell to those people (giving them a product that us and film crew would have to do, video and stills—1 set of expenses, triple or double pay)

“We try to do something that no one else can do,” Frakes

In and out as cheaply as can (Jacksonville, overhead 200% less)

Financial, downsizing equipment from managerial standpoint:

Do as much as possible to keep costs as low as can

Kentucky Derby—paid less than $100 for hotel rooms

Expenses were a quarter of what they would have been

Ship FedEx 3 day (cheaper)

Didn’t fly into Louisville, but into Cincinnati (cheaper)

Put resources into cameras not amenities

Point out how you saved money to your boss

Archiving

93 terrabites of storage in office

archive in Aperture 3, video files (more robust)

back-up in multiple sources

just have to be organized, “if you do the work on the front end, it’ll pay off on the back end,” Frakes

Multiple notebooks

1) light: sketch it out, what it’s doing, why its doing that (replicate it later)

2) story idea: as much info as possible, where, why, etc.

3) production: Kentucky Derby—drawing 4-6 months in advance, camera placement; continue to go back to it

Still v. Motion

Some things require motion, just feel it out (no hard and fast rule)

More of an editing question than a shooting question

Sports events are scripted (not by us, but by the event)—shoot to the script

Documentary a lot more low key (paired down and unpredictable)

“If you’re not doing this because you love what you’re doing, you shouldn’t do it,” Frakes

In college, spent all his money on film and paper rather than buying new pants and shoes (holes in them)

“I don’t spend money on something that I can’t afford…I never go into debt,” Frakes

by Elissa Ewald

Seth Siditsky of the Newark Star-Ledger gives a rundown of documentary style video journalism.

The Star-Ledger has been doing video since 2005 in the photo department. Started as the magic pill, “If you all just do video, we’ll make thousands of dollars.” That didn’t work, and in 2008 they pulled the video out of the photo department and started a video department.

Now, as far as visuals go, all of the 17 photographers on staff are now video capable.

Three main bubbles of video done at the Star-Ledger:

-Mini documentary style

-Ledger Live

-Sports

Daily video examples—stories like this can be found wherever you are, and can be a good diving off point if you’re looking to get into video.

Mountain Bike Racing

90 year old goes to high school

Mix of stills and video: Former boxing champion now homeless

Entirely videographer generated: Red Knot migration

Longer, more intense video project: Chain of Life

Whether it’s a long story or a two-minute documentary style piece, you still need to be thinking about long, medium, and close-ups that you would in still photography.

All your video should still be considered beautiful images—“The fact that it moves is just a bonus.”

by Elissa Ewald

Bob Malish from Canon goes into the basics of flash, and how, with a little bit of knowledge of how to use a wireless flash system, you can set yourself apart from other photographers.

Why Use Flash?

One of the best things you can do to maintain your image quality in a low light situation with the camera that you have is to know how to use strobe.

Pop-up Flash

They’re convenient, but…

-relatively low power

-fixed coverage angle

-direct illumination only

-harsh lighting quality

-prone to red-eye

-uses camera battery

-usable distance range: approx.10-15 ft.

Shoe-Mount Speedlites

-More power than popup

-More flash/lens separation

-AutoZoom Head (24-105mm)

-Bounce and swivel

-Diffuser, bounce card built in

-Auto + manual exposure

-AF assist beam

-Compatible with wireless system

-Built-in power supply

-580EX II Accepts external power for faster recycling

Studio Strobes

-much more power than other flash units

-usually separate power packs

-typically AC-powered

-flash heads often equipped with modeling lights and cooling fans

-exposure is usually manually controlled

Canon Tutorial External Speedlite Controls–gives a tour of the wireless functionality of the Canon Mark II

The E-TTL II flash metering mode is probably what makes sense for most people to use because it takes into account the ambient light available as well as the flash settings.

Flash Exposure Lock gives spot or partial spot illumination.

1st curtain Sync flashes when shutter is completely open.

2nd curtain Sync flashes right before shutter is closed.

Hi-Speed Sync mode pulses flash and is best for high ambient light situations and will help control your background.

The ETTL system is designed to give you better fill flash.

Speedlite Ratio Controls

There’s a lot of people out there now trying to make pictures, so it’s the knowledge of things like flash that will help to set you apart and really help your business.

by Frances Micklow

Presented by Damon Kiesow

Tools for:

Research– getting there, finding sources, learning more:

• Google maps
• Yelp
• Foursquare
• Everybook
• Gowalla
• Layar
• SeeClickFix

Reporting:

• Skype
• Google Voice
• Owle Bubo (not free): case, interchangeable lens, external microphone
• Audioboo: instant podcasts
• VC Audio Pro ($5.99): 3 track audio editing
• EyeFi: transmit from camera via WiFi

Editing:

• Photohop
• PhotoGene ($1.99)
• QIK Video Camera ($1.99)
• ReelDirector ($7.99): basic video editing, sequence building
• 1^st Video ($9.99): basic editing, sequence building
• JayOut
• Drop.io
• iTimeLapse
• Zamzar.com (converts between file formats)

Publishing:

• WordPress
• Dropbox (file sharing)
• PixelPipe: automatic upload of media to email, blogs, FTP, and more
• uStream: live streaming with DV camera or cell phone
• Twitter
• CoveritLive: Live group chats/newsmaker interviews

Community:

• TinyChat.com
• LinkedIn
• MySpace
• MocoSpace
• YouTube
• Delicious
• Flickr

Mobile journalism is about journalism.

by Elissa Ewald

Stacy Pearsall discusses her life experience as a photographer for the United States military and the programs offered at the Charleston Center for Photography.

Pearsall’s entire family has been involved in the service, and Pearsall joined the service at 17. After about four years, she was assigned to the first combat camera squad.

“It gave me an independence I didn’t have before and an autonomy I didn’t have before.”

Went on many tours of Iraq where she did aerial and combat photography.

She photographed war. She photographed intense battle and war.

During her last tour in Iraq, she served in the Diyala province.

“I found that, inside, my most important role was to document these soldiers who may not be alive tomorrow.”

After a spine injury, she was no longer in the military and began to look for a new job, and started to work on ad campaigns. She began to photograph for armor companies, and found other situations where she could use what she had learned on the battlefield.

“I took what I learned in the military, all the tactile, and applied what I learned on the battlefield to the ad campaign.”

“Birth Control Glasses”—did a piece on military prescribed glasses.

Worked on South Carolina’s Palmetto Portraits Project

Started photographing veterans at the local Charleston VA, which was eventually used in the VA building.

Met Oprah and participated in the Warrior Games with wounded veterans from both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Started the Charleston Center for Photography that teaches photographers at every skill level and host guest instructors for classes and workshops.

Pearsall has started to work on multimedia pieces: New Army Basic Training and the Warrior Games.

by Elissa Ewald

Todd Baer, freelance International Correspondent and Producer for Al Jazeera English, discusses basic writing techniques he has practiced when putting together video pieces and writing scripts for television news.

How long should your video be?

You have to look at the story, and ask, “How good is the story?” Also, “How long can the story be and still be compelling?” You have to make sure that you’re not just married to your footage and married to your characters—if this happens, stories tend to run to long.

If you can say what you need to say in shorter time, do it. “My general rule is that shorter is better,” Baer said.

Mentions story he just completed on a World Cup Soccer Player

http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/worldcup2010/2010/06/2010612121247979113.html

“Television is a medium that has to move.” One of the qualities of an internet viewer is that they want to view something and get their information faster.

Tips on Writing for Television…

• Laser focus—What is the story really about?

You need to find what the story really is and knowing what to take out.

• Use simple language—Remember that you are writing for the ear, not the eye. If you have to go and look a work up, so will your audience.
• Three parts—Being, Middle, End. What is my opening shot/closing shot?

Writing to Video—

“Write to the Corners” This means writing to the video and not over the video. Make sure that what your story is saying coincides with what the viewer is seeing.

Don’t fight the Pictures—

“Don’t tell people what they are seeing, they can see what they are seeing.” Charles Kurault

Newspaper v. Television

Seeing and Hearing the Story- Television gives viewers the ability to see and hear the impact of the story, so we have to show them what happened and let them listen

Emotion- Television is emotion, pictures and sound. We have the ability to take viewers to the scene, therefore we should

“Television is all about pictures and emotions. What can be done in television that can’t be done in the New York Times? We show.”

Television lets people experience the chaos, hear the emotion, see the conflict. Really good writers do this, but in television you can actually show them the pictures and take it one step further.

Downsides? Oftentimes, you cannot go as in depth to a story because you only have a certain amount of time. There are also things that you can describe in text that may be too disturbing to show images of on the evening news.

Make sure that when you’re writing for television, you use short declarative sentences. If you can’t say it in one breath, your sentence is probably too long.

Rules of Threes: If you’re going to describe something, trying and find three things to say about it.

Ex. –Gaza is a land scarred by war, immense pain and despair.

–At the home where Balwant Bi Tandel lived, his family is experiencing such agony, such despair, such heartbreak.

This helps the pacing of your story.

Always Write in The Active Voice. Who did what?

Natural sound—Let your script breathe with meaningful breaks for natural sound.

Shows an example piece produced on Haiti for Al Jazeera after reviewing script: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/20103128049138411.html

Young Gazans use sports to escape conflict: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHtxBLTXlT0

Obama’s grandmother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUmmGKYpPo

Video pieces are moving toward one-person productions. Today, camera operators need to be writers, and writers need to be camera operators. Everyone needs to do a little of everything, so that if possible, the piece can be produced by a single individual

by Frances Micklow

Presented by: Garrett Hubbard, USA TODAY

“How to tell our video stories well and how to make them as good as we can possibly make them”

Focus and how it will help your edit. You get your assignment and it is all you, a solo video team. You have to find your focus before you step out the door. Ask yourself questions:

What is the video idea? Can you state the focus of the video in one sentence? What are the themes? What is the visual style? Who are the “characters”, who are the voices, who is going to move the story along? Balanced, are both sides represented? What kind of shots will you need? What questions should you ask? Nat-sound documentary? Voice-over? Stand-up?

“make no mistake, video is hard. It is not easy”

Set yourself up for success before you even start. Make sure the assignment is best fitted for video. Time must be maximized. Video for the sake of video is “boring, lame, a bummer, etc.”

Things that make for good video: Characters, visual, relevant things happening

Things that make for bad video: Events, assignments that aren’t photos, it happened four years ago, talking head video, city council meetings

Working with a writer:

Use what they know but don’t rely on them. Research the issue and the voices before hand and do it at a different time than the reporters. Educate the reporter on why you need to go at a different time

The Interview:

Plan ahead so the normal challenges don’t become an excuse. Pay attention to what the room sounds like. Ask two questions in one, a compound or double pump question, so that people will give you good quotes.

Some videos viewed during the session:

YouTube to Hollywood

Fathers for Life

by Frances Micklow

From Damon Kiesow’s presentation …

LESSONS LEARNED:

Turnover = hire for skills

Involve everyone

Remove production barriers

Share the business plan

Encourage failure

Good, not perfect

Improve repiadly

Have fun

Tell good stories

What is journalism today?

The conversation began with each of the panelists

giving their basic definitions and understandings of news and journalism, all centering around a basic point: telling stories.

Todd Bear: “its exercising our right to tell everybody what’s going on. It’s very important, its telling stories, gathering facts… possibly the single most important profession in the world”

Seth Siditsky: “when it comes down to it, we’re telling stories.” We have the ability now to do it in multiple forms, each one allowing us to tell the story.

Tim Rasmussen: “its about the people who create the stories.” “They are so passionate they can’t let go of the story.” “Understanding the world, ourselves, and others” “Great photography can change the world”

Scott McKiernan: “We are at the most visual time in history.” “it’s a huge responsibility.” It’s a great responsibility, but its also a great honor”

Sarah Evans: “the challenge is marinating the image integrity across media”

Mickey Osterreicher: “I have concerns about being a photographer in this country” issues: “people with camera taking pictures must be doing something wrong trying to define in a legal since what a journalist is—shield laws” “WHO is a journalist” If everyone is a journalism, which is starting to be the case, legally, no one is defined as a journalist” too broad to be defined by law. With bloggers, it is almost an impossibility to legally define the journalist

Spinning off of this question, they dove into the topics of what makes a journalist.

—

Q: There used to be only a few pictures of each event. Now, editors have hundreds of pictures to look through and have to decide now, what is a good picture?

SMcK—Two things that have changed dramatically, even though there are more pictures available—the big things are uniqueness and value. Major publications who used to care about uniqueness don’t care as much

TR—Spot news shots taken by a passerby of a one time accident are different than images taken by a journalist with heart going to tell a story, however it is still import that we hold these amateur shots as closely to the same standards as the working professional

—

SE—From a management perspective, why hire someone to shoot pictures for a chart when you could have someone on the ground for longer getting a more in depth stories for less of your budget?

—

Q: Is it harder to get news organizations to open there pockets for good pictures?

TR—You have to fight for it sometimes, be willing to sell some rights to them , but not give all your rights away.

—

Marketing vs. Journalism

TR– . Pursue whatever they believe in in the fullest. Follow something you care about. Every story he told about a story he worked on, he started with “they sent me for this one thing, but I saw this other thing, and then I went back on my own time”. Follow the stories. The awards don’t make it, it has got to be the goods.

TB– We’ve got to market it and keep our promises.

—

TR– “There is no magic pill that will save you. People have to do what they have to do to keep the camera in their hand, but remember how it felt when you first held the camera in your hand. Remember that day, remember that moment, and how it felt—always be that photographer, whoever that is for you.”

We’re minutes away from launching … the opening introduction and first panel, plus several other presentations throughout the conference will be live-streamed.

With a little more than a week to go, things are falling into place nicely. If you haven’t registered yet, take a look at the schedule – there’s a little something for almost everyone in there. We’ve looked to put together a mix of technical, practical and theoretical training to help folks at all stages of their multimedia experience.

Our plan is to have folks live-blog some of the sessions – mostly to make you a little jealous if you’re not there, but also to help those who did attend remember some of the details of the presentations.

Welcome to the official blog of Convergence 10. The NPPA will be posting live from the event in Charleston, SC beginning July 8, 2010.

The National Press Photographers Association’s annual educational event, Convergence 10, will take place this year in the historic port city of Charleston, SC, at the Francis Marion Hotel, from July 8-10, 2010. Convergence 10 will be 3 days of valuable, practical and inspiring education, focused on improving visual journalists’ skills, marketability, and ability to succeed in today’s competitive still, video and multimedia environment. Special emphasis will be placed this year on online visual journalism, as well as the business and revenue side of the industry for both freelance and staff visual journalists. Workshops planned for Convergence 10 will cover, in addition to many other topics, still photography, videography, multimedia, editing, storytelling, business practices, online journalism and the equipment and software used by today’s cutting-edge visual journalists.