You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2008.
Twenty-six total from what I’m hearing and all over the place…both KMAX and KOVR. A couple of reporters, two photogs, engineers, sales. Most of the photo staff made it through…but one of my old shooter-buddies didn’t. Marty Hernandez – a veteran with an infectious smile and love of life and news. He took the buyout and is moving on.
This apparently is a CBS edict – make cuts and try to save the ship. That ship is gonna have to grow wings and fins and feet in order to compete in the new world.
Blogging is a vast and intimate community. I’ve made friends in places I hadn’t heard of before entering this unreal world. And I’ve linked to people I admire and had my own blog linked to some pretty remarkable places….from high schools to universities to folks who seemed to find a useful tidbit in my ramblings and musings and…well, now to Broadcast Engineering. Now that was a mag I perused when still in the industry. I’m not saying I understood it all – it was about the deep end of the techo-scale. The folks who can rip apart a station and put it back together. But I’d skim through occasionally and pick off what I could.
So in return for the link – I’ve added them to my blogroll. Also cleaned out or fixed a few links that weren’t working, eliminated a few, and have posted who is on the blog and why.
2-pop is a virtual filmmaker community. They have a great forum where you can ask questions or just cruise and get answers. Plus gear for sale/wanted.
Adm & Alison are two vibrant still photogs and their blog features photos – they try to post every day. Ranges from thought-provoking to personal to news in Northern California.
I added Newsvideographer the day Angela Grant set it up – one of the most worthwhile VJ sites on the web.
B&H Photo is a no-brainer. Mecca.
B-roll is a TV photographer site with forums, jobs, gear and a great place to listen to the pulse of broadcast shooters.
Bringing the Fun Back by klncreations – a woman I admire immensely, she spent 25 years on the streets shooting broadcast news. We’ve partnered a few times. Her site is very uplifting.
British Videojournalism by Andy Dickinson – What’s going on overseas…in Europe? Andy keeps an eye on it all and has a complete overview on editing systems he wrote a while back. Love his low-key humor.
Clifford Oto – local photog for the Stockton Record who blogs about his daily work.
Daniel Sato – a student PJ/VJ who is fresh to the world with an eager mind. A younger newsies views.
Digital Juice – resource for all things quirkly – offbeat stuff and video editing tricks. Some inspiring and funny demos.
Eclectic overview of the media – Howard Owens – ya love him or hate him. Proponent of the low-end/lotsa video argument and also on top of very nearly everything related to newpaper changes.
International Videoreporter Ruud Elmendorp – a Dutch VJ who works freelance primarily out of Africa. I’m loyal to him because he made the very first comment on my blog AND his storytelling rocks.
Mindy McAdams – Queen of Flash and online journalsim.
Multimedia Shooter by Richard Hernandez – THE site for still photogs trying to keep up with changes in the industry.
National Oceangraphic and Atmospheric Administration – Keep an eye on weather in real time by radar anywhere in the US.
Photojournalism – Mark Hancock showcases his work and explains.
photokaboom – a photography teacher and reviewer.
Poynter Institute – Just because.
Radio Television News Directors’ Foundation – Some good educational resources for teachers and students.
San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association – been a member since 1978
Student Television Network – brings middle and high school students together once a year at a conference and supports sound teaching of video, journalism, broadcasting
teachj – for J Teachers – my favorite journalism teacher blog
think-news – shameless self-promotion. The carrot on the stick that keeps me going I want a reflective news site with meaningful stories…but am so caught up in work and life I can’t contribute as often as I’d like to.
think-training – shameless self-promotion again. This one may go down in flames…I had high hopes of doing VJ training but the reality is that attitudes, economics, and changes have made it difficult.
University of Georgia Photojournalism – perspectives of a college professor
US Geological Service Earthquake – see earthquake information very nearly as they happen. Location and size. Whoops – there’s one right now!
Viewfinder Blues by Lenslinger – daily reality check by Stewart Pittman/everycameraman with a mouth and attitude to match.
WordPress.org – my blog supporter
Well, I didn’t get out the door to shoot the sun on the day of the spring equinox yesterday…seemed like it was off a bit and besides I was already in downtime mode. I did it the night after instead…and this is another lesson on light. To really be good, you need to know when the light will be where you want it to be.
No – you can’t tell the sun to appear at the certain point on a certain day…but if you’re aware of where the sun (or moon) falls at different times of year, you can anticipate and prepare your shoots. Some of you with less than the required amount of news ethics may ask, so what – I can Photoshop whatever I want where I want. You can stop reading and skip to another blog right now. For those of you WITH news ethics…think about visions you’ve had of certain locations with light falling from the north or south…and what time of year/time of day might be best to revisit and shoot that site?
Too many times we work with the light that is there. At times we supplement it. At times we create our own lighting. But sometimes just letting nature take over results in some stunning images.
When I worked my one year as a production manager for a cable TV company, I’d mention waiting until a certain time or month to shoot local sites/businesses and get “the look.” That look said it all – hey, just go out now and shoot the sucker. If we needed it then and there, fine. But if we were archiving or working a few weeks/months out – I’d wait.
In the winter, the sun shines on the south sides of buildings. In the summer it hits the north side. Morning is sunnyside up for the east and evening is sunnyside for the west.
Example – the storage silos at the Port of Stockton sit right on the water. The shot looks kinda crappy in the winter…with the silos backlit. In the summer the sun shines on them across the water for a much more pleasant view.
So take a look around and get your directions straight and consider the seasons and when you can be there for that one single perfect moment.
Moms get caught up in all kinds of stuff…so yesterday INSTEAD of working on the taxes, I spent time on campus as the official teacher in charge of the school’s Winter Guard (of which third daughter is a member). Part of that time was invaluable. Word is the campus may be wired soon – which means my kiddies may be able to do the daily bulletins during second period every morning.
I finally opened up the unused control room where all the cables and gadgets have been sitting unused for the past three years and cabled nearly everything back together. We can now switch from two cameras, a DVD player, and a mini-dv tape player and record directly to DVD or min-dv tape. Gotta take care of audio cabling next…which should be a snap.
Lesson planning is next (for those of you not in teaching, this is the foundation – kinda like reporter notes – which allows teachers to walk around the classroom spouting knowledge in an organized manner – think of it as an hour or longer live shot in a cage with wild animals). Have to introduce my two advanced students to the gear first so they can help me with the other 30+ vidiots. All this when we return from break in a week and a half.
Spring is in the air and there’s a lot going on here at the (not quite a) farm too…one batch of chicks rescued from a demented mama hen who took them for a stroll in the middle of a storm. A new fair goat. The demon mama hen from hell (she goes after your face if you get within ten feet) is broody on another batch of soon-to-be feral chicks (not if I get my way). Seedlings in my excuse of a greenhouse. Nettle up to the hips in the garden area…and plans to chop it down and begin planting next week.
And at sunset I plan to go out and shoot the sun in perfect alignment with the road. After all, it is the spring equinox.
Angela Grant’s Newsvideographer.com is becoming a regular meeting place for like minds from all media. Today there’s a post from a name familiar to those who haunt the media Internet – Stewart Pittman aka Lenslinger.
Lenslinger blogs on Viewfinder Blues and has a way with words that few print people can equal. Plus he’s a veteran of the one-man-band, a regular VJ with attitude.
I commend Angela for grabbing him…her site is headed towards becoming what is sorely needed in this time of traumatic transition – a meeting place for anyone and everyone who truely loves news and visuals.
When I first started shooting (film circa 1974) I noticed something strange I hadn’t really noticed when shooting stills. The quality of light seemed different as I travelled. And at the time I thought it had something to do with air…which makes sense in an “I’m not a scientist” type of way.
My career with weighty news cameras began in California’s great Central Valley…hot and flat in the summer and a prehistoric rainy bog in the cooler months. Then (oh great day) I got sent to Mecca (every photog’s dream city of San Francisco) one day for a quickie and the air was…well, not like the flatlands. It seemed cooler, heavier, cleaner.
Over the past umpety-ump years I’ve been all over and sensed the same thing. Now part of this can be attributed to actual climate conditions. The air is cooler near the ocean…thus my perception that my film seemed cooler. The air in Oklahoma City seemed charged (and that was one charged story on Ground Zero of the Murroh Building). Not to mention the checker board weather that week. The air in Australia seems relaxed and mellow. The air at the top of Mt. Whitney in summer is thin and sharp (so was my video). The air in Moscow heavy.
Moods come with location…but terrain and how light bounces has part in this mystery.
The Central Valley in summer is hot (mid-90’s to 110). The land is flat and light bounces right back up at you. We were inside a giant nature-made umbrella with little in the way of shade. As progress (and a kazilliion developments, malls, buildings) has moved in, the quality of light has changed.
San Francisco is surrounded by water…which reflects and bounces in a different manner. Cooler, yes because the water is not the flat land of the valley. There are tall hills and taller buildings. There are cool vales. There is fog and there are clouds.
Each location has its own personality and light and air which contributes to the mystic (or not). It affects the visualization…how you see and shoot. What should you learn from this? Don’t take preconceptions with you. Breathe in the air, look at the light before shooting. And let the mood, like little cats’ feet, become part of you.
Multimedia Shooter is back. This is a link via a link via a link. (Thanks to Angela, Mark, APAD)
Mikes
One of my favorite resource books for teaching video is
- Single-Camera Video Production
by Robert B. Musburger (Focal Press). I have the second edition…better remind myself to update it to the 2005 book. It has very clear explanations of how stuff works. Was giving my beginning broadcasting class an overview of stuff that goes with cameras this past week and used the comparison between human senses and cameras/mikes. I know this is probably a bit out of date, but I’m sure human senses are still winning. According to Musburger,
The human eye can focus from nearly the end of the nose to infinity instantaneously. The eye can adjust to light variations quickly and can pick out images in light varying over a thousand times from the lightest to the darkest.
The human ear can hear sounds varying in loudness from 0 decibels to over 160 decibels.
In comparison the camera (in this 1999 edition) can only reproduced light variations at a 30:1 ratio and the best mikes reproduced sounds no louder than 60 decibels. And speaking of mikes (finally she gets to the point)…that’s the focus in the post.
Cameras come and go. Other gear can last a lifetime. I had a mike when I worked at KOVR that I swear dated back to the days of newsreels. An ElectroVoice…really couldn’t tell the model due to the dings and scratches. It was heavy and looked as if it were used in hand to hand combat…and it wouldn’t die. Now that’s a mike for you. After I left news I went out and bought myself its little sister (or great-granddaughter) which I plan to pass it on to my grandkids.
So let’s look at microphones. There are some basics you’ll need to know. If you harken back to an earlier post you can get an idea of the three general types of mikes and when to use them.
Here are some mikes that have caught my eye for one reason or another…let’s start with shotguns (a term that in one sense makes sense – you are shooting with it…but in the sense that a shotgun sprays a scene it is totally inaccurate…these puppies are unidirectional and very focused). Remember, one of my requirements is that I can attach equipment to the camera…not the camera to the equipment (keep it smaller than the camera).
Sennheiser MKE400
Sennheiser shotgun mikes were a standard in news….rugged and capable of reaching out and pulling in sound. With today’s small VJ camcorders it is a wise addition…it actually fits and doesn’t protrude into the field of view. At total length of about 5 inches including mount, this should nicely fit the profile of your camera and Sennheiser’s superior sound sure beats your built-in mike. Can mount onto your camera’s shoe and comes with a short coiled cable to plug into your mike input. Uses an AAA battery and runs around $200…and for only about $50 more you can pick up the furball windbreaker.
Clip-on mike
AudiopTechnica ATR35 – a small clip-on mike with a twenty foot cord, giving you plenty of room to back up and wander. Problem is, as with most consumer mikes, is it has a mono plug so you’ll need to pick up an inexpensive adapter for a few bucks and you’ll record to both channels.
In addition to the above, there are some standards in the industry. The ElectroVoice 635 stick mike. XLR connector…so you’ll need adapters or a special cable to drop it down to the mini-jack size for your camera. Lasts a lifetime for around $120. Sennheiser ME66/K6 shotgun….with the better models you purchase both the power module and mike capsule. The power module can take a variety of capsules, depending on your need. Cost is around $400 but that’s just the beginning…you’ll need a shock mount, wind screen, and more. Problem with both of these mikes is they overpower my HV20 in size, although they work nicely with the older JVC DV300.
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