Vitale a number of opportunities. She was able to step outside her normal photojournalistic practice, travel to remote areas of the world that most people have never seen, and find a new outlet for her work. “It’s so interesting how it’s this domino effect, because once you start with one project that’s outside the lines of what your traditional role was, they sort of build on each other,” says Vitale.
The Visual Science Lab: Don’t optimize your purchase, optimize your technique:
Here’s the secret that drives lens junkies crazy: All good lenses are great two stops down from wide open. Almost without exception. Take a 14-24 Nikon and compare it to an Sigma 10-20mm lens and at f5.6 or f8 you’ll probably be amazed to find that they are pretty darn close.
THE AFTERMATH PROJECT War is only half the story, | duckrabbit – we produce beautifully crafted multimedia:
Many of the photographers I admire work the aftermath. There’s little glory to be found in it, but as the now struggles to reconcile with the past, how we record the aftermath will shape the future, whether blood binds itself to blood, or hope.
Media Offer Cash For Interviews In Jaycee Dugard Case:
When Robinson asked what they were doing, a British reporter told Robinson his deadline was coming quickly and offered him $2,000 if he would quit talking to everyone else and provide them an exclusive showing of his backyard.
Under Pressure, Photo Festival Drops Text From Gaza Exhibit – PDN:
Organizers of the Noorderlicht photo festival have removed a text essay about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an upcoming photo exhibit, blaming pressure from the Associated Press, which supplied some of the pictures.
PDNPulse: One Year Later, Iraqi Photojournalist Remains in Military Prison:
Iraqi photojournalist Ibrahim Jassam remains in a military prison in Iraq a year after his September 2, 2008 arrest. U.S. officials insist he remains a security threat, despite an order last year by an Iraqi court order that he be released.
Photographing Gaza – do pictures speak of politics? | David Campbell — Photography, Multimedia, Politics:
It seems AP threatened to withdraw their Palestinian photographers’ work or purse legal action against the exhibition organizers. Outraged by AP’s attitude, Franklin withdrew the essay and left the photographs without accompanying text, while Noorderlicht charged AP was acting contrary to any principle of free speech.
Leave it to big business and old thinking to try and control Social Media. In a report released this week the NFL has revealed their plan for a Social Media Policy. One of the new rules of the policy would prohibit players or anyone representing them from posting to social media networks during a prohibited block of time spanning from 90 minutes prior to kick off to 90 minutes after game time. This new rule applies not only to players but also to coaches, team personnel, and officials. The media has also been put on notice.
Leica’s Flat and Fast Panasonic Pancake Lens | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:
Leica shows just how small a lens can be, if you have a camera with a half-sized sensor and no big mirror-flipping gap between it and the lens itself. This is the new LUMIX G 20mm ƒ1.7 ASPH, and it aptly belongs to the class of lenses called “pancake”.
A Pair of Loners: Photos, Friendship and Figuring It Out in Delhi | Raw File | Wired.com:
The photojournalist has long been known as the lone wolf, traveling solo to the far-flung corners of the world to document experiences few are capable of seeing. By function, it’s often a solitary quest, lonely and alienating; rarely as romantic as the photographs make it appear.
So it’s significant when a couple of fledgling photographers meet at a card table in New Delhi, far from their respective homes, and form a friendship. Even more so when, two years later, those same photographers, Adam Ferguson and Zackary Canepari, score almost simultaneous covers of Time magazine and The New York Times.
Panasonic DMC-GF1 Hands on Preview: Digital Photography Review:
We’ve been playing with the GF1 for a month or so now (and have had a full production sample for a couple of weeks) and I have to say that, even before we start the formal review process, we’re very impressed with it indeed. When we reviewed the Olympus E-P1 we commented that it was a camera you’d buy with your heart; with the GF1 there’s now an option for those who like to buy with their head, too. We’ll be bringing you a full review as soon as we can, but for now here’s a preview and extensive samples gallery to keep you going.
Panasonic Micro Four Thirds ‘Rangefinder’ with Leica Lenses | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:
The main differences between this and the Olympus EP-1 Pen are the looks (plain, black or colored aluminum instead of fancy faux-leather), a pop-up flash (the Olympus has none), size (the Panasonic is “artistically flat”). Other standard features include image stabilization, face detection and HD video recording and ISO of up to 3200.
But the best feature goes almost unmentioned in the press release: The camera can be fitted with Leica lenses out of the box
Must See: A New Kind of News – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
A new genre of reporting — the Web documentary report — will be formally recognized this year at the world’s most influential photojournalism show, Visa pour l’Image, in Perpignan, France. An award will be given Wednesday to the best of nine entrants, winnowed from more than 100. It is named for the news channel France 24 and the news radio station RFI. Watch this post for an update.
Meanwhile, I’ve chosen four English-language nominees to highlight.