Another one down…

...meaning one more thing off the bucket list.  For years, aye decades, I've wanted to serve on a jury.  Never quite understood the comments from folks who would do anything to avoid it.  Now I've spent plenty of time IN courthouses and IN courtrooms - just never doing the deed. I've gone to countless arraignments …

Disengaging from being paid to work…

I'm retired...meaning not working for pay. But there's no way I can give up doing what I love most, which is shooting and producing videos. I've had to come up with a plan...a philosophy...so I can continue my love without compromising my ethics...and here it is, subject to revision. 1. If you have a budget …

Do Not Go Gentle…

...into that good night.  A poem read in high school that stayed with me... Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked …

Digging into the archives 5.5.16

Yep...I must be bored.  Again.  Decided to go back in time and start re-posting some of the oldies but goodies.  Shake things up a bit and maybe re-find my love of writing by getting some inspiration from when it all clicked. So we'll begin with two from 2006.  My first blog posting. Hello world! Plus …

Invisible work…

Videojournalism or reporting visually can make you highly visible.  There ya are:  camera in hand, mike out.  You're gathering news to put up...somewhere.  On the web, on TV, whatever. So folks see you with that gear and think, "Hey, I can do THAT!"  Piece of cake. That's the visible part of your job. The invisible …

The lies you tell yourself…they lies they tell themselves…

As House infamously says, "Everybody lies." One of the "lies" of journalism is that journos are neutral - they don't take sides.  They are objective. Realistically objectivity is bullshit. The difference between a professional journalist and a crazed blogger on a rant is a sense of their own weaknesses and an attempt to be fair. …

The importance of a presence…

...on the web, that is. Lately I've been mentoring students and a few newbies to both videojournalism and video production.  Frankly they're all pretty much rank beginners with the basics and a dream of getting better.  And of course, they all have a website showcasing their work. But. The websites are pretty much shotgun, not …

Crushing dreams for being realistic?

We all have dreams. A better life. Being thinner, richer. Sometimes material things. Sometimes something else. Hopefully though we all have a way to balance our dreams with the real world and not spend life wallowing in regrets. When I look back at my life I see that many of my dreams never materialized through …

How do I choose a camera?

Dangerous ground...especially if you don't know enough to know what you should be looking for. This blog posting is for those who want to stretch their knowledge and move beyond simple P&S (point and shoot) folks who just use their cameras to take family photos or video or LAMIGABEC! (Look at me - I've got …

Victim or perpetrator?

I follow Carlos Miller's Photography Is Not a Crime blog for a reason. Ninety-nine percent of the time photographers are harassed due to either ignorance about First Amendment rights by law enforcement and other agencies or at times those agencies or employees deliberately ignoring the rights of media and citizens. First - the media has …