Written by Noah A Darnell
Part of my life in the student publications’ office is the student newspaper.
And, as warm and fuzzy as the phrase “student newspaper” might make you feel, I assure you it’s quite solid. It comes out weekly on Fridays – mainly because my university of 6,500 isn’t quite big enough to generate a constant flow of news like my last school’s daily —“The Red and Black”— at UGA.
Effectively, you could think ofThe Bisonas a news magazine printed on newsprint.
But, I assure you the lesson for today comes not from any braggadocios claim of, “Hey, look at me in the paper!” Today’s thought is brought to you by the old adage, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Or maybe the equally profound, “Always take your camera with you, because its hard to take a picture without it.”
This illustration photo of the Christmas decorations on campus ran on the front page of the Dec. 4 issue of the Bison.
From a strictly technical standpoint, and pardon the nerdy-ness for a moment, this photo falls in the medium difficulty level. It’s an high dynamic range (HDR) rendering of seven images (ranging from 45 seconds to 1 second) compiled three different times at three different HDR exposures. Then those three are superimposed on top of each other and balanced. So really there are 21 images used to create the final product.
As I said, a fairly complex image and about 30-minutes worth of work after taking the photo.
It’s sharp. It’s colorful. It has interesting composition. It looks “different,” which is one of those things for which we, as photojournalists, must strive for these days.
What would be the total opposite of this image? One that’s grainy, not very sharp, horrible color?
How about one taken on a camera phone?
And yes, this ran in the paper, too, as a “Weekly Window,” the space typically reserved for a unique or artistic image for that week.
The picture was taken, edited and prepped for print in my Droid phone.
Though I’m talking from a photojournalist’s point of view, if you subtract the “photo” part and use that smartphone as a word processor instead of a camera, you get one sweet powerhouse of a reporter.
You could report — typing what is happening — from the field. Like the famous radio announcer who watched the Hindenburg burst into flame, crying, “Oh, the humanity!” over the radio, you could be live typing it. Twitter is a rough-edged version of what I’m talking about, but you could potentially be typing back to someone in a newsroom who gets it up on the webpage as its happening.
Thus stands a fact of our modern world of journalism. And, in my mind, its just another testament to the fact that this profession is just so cool.
A dozen articles per day are written about the downfall of newspapers, the consolidation of magazines and the ilk, but I’m really not discouraged by all that. Something about today’s Bison gives me hope for the future. When two very different images are published at the same time and, though one is front page and the other is on 2a, they are both given fairly equal play in size and dominance on the page.
However, one was taken with a professional DSLR and the other with a cell phone. Yes, the citizen journalist is on the rise, but why should the professional journalist not fight fire with fire. If the average Joe is making newsworthy images with his cell phone, should not the professional journalist ever miss the shot because he doesn’t have his big camera bag with him at all times?
If the photojournalist is built on idea that you have to have the professional equipment and that makes you professional, then we are in for a sad awakening as more and more people are able to make the “professional-looking” image with a simple cell phone.
As a photojournalist, you can typically your access to special events and behind-the-scenes moments to your advantage. Always. But never forget that most things happen out in the open. Most images are serendipitous. And you can’t take a photo without a camera. You can’t see copy online without writing it first.
The technology is available, we just have to put it to good use.
And just likethat HTC commercial, “It is the only thing you own that is always within arms reach.” And, “It’s the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing at night.”
The new age of smartphones are a formidable foe to the journalist and photojournalist, but only if the journalist sits around feeling sorry for himself because his job is being threatened. I say, “What a great description of a photojournalist’s camera!!” or “What a great description of the journalist’s notebook!”
Why? Because the best camera — or notebook — is always the one you have with you.
