13 May 2009

The Platypus Concept

For the first time ever, I read an entire story about a television photojournalist in my National News Photographer Assoc. (NPPA) magazine.  
I usually just scan over the stories involving video shooters because, well, I'm a still shooter; I only want to soak up the information I deem beneficial to me. But that philosophy doesn't apply anymore. 
Newspaper photojournalists these days are now shooting and editing video for the web, as well as continuing to lug around our bulky Canon Mark IIs on each shoulder. Not only are we shooting digital stills and capturing video, we're also recording audio using wireless mics and digital voice recorders. So now we're broadcasters, too. 
You couldn't have convinced me five years ago we'd be multi-tasking this much. At first, I was hesitant to grasp the platypus concept, but I have to admit: I like it. It wasn't long ago I was excited to be shooting with a digital camera and transmitting from my car via a lap top. Now, we Blade photogs can add skills in Soundslides, Audacity and Final Cut Pro to our resume.
Learning how to shoot video and capture audio has been a challenge for an old newshound like me, but I've accepted that challenge for two reasons: 1) I don't want to get left behind, and 2) I teach Intro to Photojournalism at Owens Community College and am tasked to prepare the next generation to take my place.  
The following video is an example of what I'm talking about. It's a recent story about the fear of rising crime in Toledo due to fewer police officers on the street.  I shot it with a Canon FS100 (yes, tv photogs make fun of our baby video cam) and produced it for the Blade website. 

1 comment: