Official Deadline Clock, St. Louis Post-Dispatch newsroom, St. Louis, Missouri. Photograph copyright Erik M. Lunsford

The NY Times published a bleak article on the state of photojournalism, and you would think the walls were crashing down after finishing page 2 of the online article. Take for example this quote:

“Newspapers and magazines are cutting back sharply on picture budgets or going out of business altogether, and television stations have cut back on news coverage in favor of less-costly fare. Pictures and video snapped by amateurs on cellphones are posted to Web sites minutes after events have occurred. Photographers trying to make a living from shooting the news call it a crisis.”

A crisis? Yes, a crisis! Layoffs for staff photographers, shrinking print space and budget (and time!), an apathetic attitude for quality and accuracy, and a horrible economic climate all contribute to the perfect storm of a struggling field. We’re pretty much at the brink of do-or-die, and the view down below is the quintessential dark abyss.

“The problem is that news photography is finished,” Ms. Riant said. “Gamma wants to go back to magazines and newsmagazines. We will stop covering daily news events to more deeply cover issues.”

That’s a mixed bag. It’s obvious that news organizations either produce the daily news content or distribute it to someone else. If the industry goes to an online pay model, then moving to cover deeper issues with intelligent storytelling gives readers a reason to pay for access. Think about this NYT article I’m writing about. It applies to me, interests me, and with that my willingness to pay. We are used to paying for a print subscription, and we’re used to free online access. Why should we receive free online access for the same information in the paid printed material? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?  Moreover, I can get the daily news anywhere (think AP), but it’s the in-depth, local, and specialized information that matters to me. That I will pay for because it helps me as a citizen and a consumer make better choices and stay informed.

“The business model is not working today,” she said. “So without some changes, it won’t work tomorrow.”

See above.

“Photographers are producing plenty of great stuff, but now the media seem interested only in celebrities,” he said. When Michael Jackson died, it wasn’t part of the news, it was the news. How many photographs of his funeral did we really need?”

Give that man a Blue Moon beer for getting it right. Moreover, I know even my colleagues in the industry feel the same. It’s one thing to cover the event properly, it’s another thing to squeeze the last bit of blood from the turnips.  The question remains — how many newspaper web clicks or television rating increases were directly tied to the MJ news? The inherent double-edged sword lies in the fact that those web clicks do equate into real dollars that pay real salaries — so how does that balance? Rob wrote on Aphotoeditor about the tyranny of click-counting via an article by Andrew Sullivan. Here’s a direct quote:

“It’s possible to post stories that make people who come to a web site more likely to click, yet may make them less likely to come back to the site, and certainly less likely to pay for it.”

And then as if a homage to the daily news content argument above, Andrew adds:

“For much of the weekend the top story on the Journal’s site was that a helicopter and a plane had collided over the Hudson River. No kidding! Why would I pay for a home page that crams that story down my throat when every other news site is doing the cramming for free? There’s a lesson here about the tyranny of click-counting. “

Yep, give me a slow website that requires ten clicks for every piece of information that you find everywhere else and you’ll dial in a lot of clicks. However, you may also dial in many visitors who won’t return because the site practically begs them to leave and never come back. It’s unfortunate, but those clicks are crucial. Maybe it’s about creating sites that are easy to navigate and applauds design rather than shoving clicks and ads down peoples’ throats. In addition, that specialized content that you can’t get anywhere else? That’s the Golden Goose, right?

Some more from the NYT:

“Ten years ago, Dirck Halstead, who spent 29 years as a White House photographer for Time magazine, wrote in Digital Journalist: “When I speak of photojournalism as being dead, I am talking only about the concept of capturing a single image on a nitrate film plane, for publication in mass media.” Visual storytelling has itself been around since the Stone Age, he noted, and “will only be enhanced” by the changes now taking place.

Revisiting that column last month, Mr. Halstead wrote that, if anything, conditions today were worse than he had predicted. To be a photojournalist today, he wrote, “You have to be crazy.”

Think about the markets for a moment. Fear and greed drives markets. Often we lose hope and cash out in the market when our dollars drop faster than a Six Flags ride. It’s the opposite on the way up — everyone wants in long after the real money has been made. I have a rule-of-thumb that I’ve learned the hard way over the years. When all hope is completely lost, the bottom has passed and things head north.  Have you noticed your portfolio a few months after the financial breaking point? It is most likely higher now. In my opinion, the same rule-of-thumb applies for our profession. When you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel due to a hopeless myopia, then it’s a possible push for the turning point in how we do business. The ones that invest now will reap their rewards later. It’s easy to jump off the same cliff that everyone else is doing, but it’s a lot more difficult (and far more rewarding) to stay on the positive track. We have to do something different, and maybe this is the catalyst for change.

How about this thought? Think less about layoffs, budgets, and space crunches. As the article said, we have zillions of web pages in need of filling. The opportunity to present work in new ways is richer than ever before. Sure, we’re going to have to one-man-band it at times, and we may not like that idea one bit. Try shooting a video, writing a story, shooting photos, and creating a gallery all from one assignment. Sounds horrible, right? Surprisingly, it’s richly satisfying, because you’re in control of the content. You don’t have to dump b-roll and go and see how it turns out in the video player later. You can be in charge of that. Hate that one editor’s editing choices? Fughetaboutit! Here is your chance to drive the presentation. You are the only limitation and obstacle standing in the way, and once you realize how truly gifted we are as visual journalists and storytellers, then it could be the bottom of something heading wonderfully up.

I tend to think that video was the right choice for this subject since I could use repetitive movements of the park’s water features and moving sculptures to carry the natural sound transitions, and having the chief architect talk about the park’s impact added some good insight and information. There were times while shooting this piece that I yearned for the still camera, especially when you look at how the art interacts with people. I’ll save those opportunities for later when the light is nicer. That’s the trouble with daily newspaper assignments carved around the schedules of multiple photographers. Sometimes you just have to shoot it when the light is at its worst.

Here’s the article written by critic David Bonetti in the Post-Dispatch, along with the video at STLtoday.

It’s amazing, when you actually ponder it, how quickly time passes. The meeting of two eternities, past and future, as Thoreau would say, is so undoubtedly fleeting.  Three weeks ago, I embarked upon a cross-country trek to Jupiter, Florida, on assignment for the Post-Dispatch to cover the St. Louis Cardinals during their spring training. Possibly the least knowledgeable staff photojournalist on St. Louis baseball, (yet I’ve managed to cover a variety of professional sports at their peaks) I couldn’t help but constantly analyze the reason the paper was sending me to shoot daily video of a team that I knew little more than the whereabouts of seat sections in Busch Stadium. Now I have returned, scarcely what feels like a few days, truthfully now a quasi-valid voice and quite more knowledgeable about the team, unquestionably a three week drills course in learning.

Pitching Drills, St. Louis Cardinals spring training, Jupiter, Florida. Photo by Erik Lunsford

I left St. Louis in the dreariness of a cold and foggy morning, on route via car for the two-day drive to Florida. I contemplated, over my Panera breakfast sandwich, why would they (“they” somehow being a nebula of editors who must have sat around the conference table and concluded I was the best – or at least a reasonable second or third choice) want me to go? I concluded that they wanted a fresh set of eyes, someone who (hopefully) would tackle it with great enthusiasm.  Alternatively, maybe it’s because I know the area having lived there.  Or…or, maybe no one else wanted to go…the spring training video assignment is traditionally known as a three week pile driver that leaves you running (not walking) to get out of there alive.  I can see why the previous video photographer last year at camp was itching to leave after a few days. Either way, I was driving 70mph to get there.

Stomping the Clay, keeping the fields perfect for play with Roger Dean Stadium groundskeeper Johnny Simmons

The first day of camp, known officially as the day “pitchers and catchers report,” was also known unofficially as the day I was dropped into a parched desert with little more than a canteen.  I had to recognize players arriving in their cars – be it Bentleys, Chevys, BMWs, or the “standard” Pontiac rental car, and record video of them.  Not having the slightest clue on what the players looked like out of their uniform (thank heaven for jerseys), I gave myself no other choice but to let the video camera run untamed, recording everyone in sight.  By day’s end after workout, conditioning, and basic drills I easily swallowed an hour of tape.  That would cost dearly in post-production, consuming the majority of my evening on the editing deck.

Erik preparing the mic for Cardinal Brett Wallace. Never a fan of the headphones, but the sound quality is magnificent. Photo by Chris Lee.

Over the next few days, I learned the ins-and-outs of practice field etiquette, how to grab the players before or after practice, and where not to go and who to avoid.  Slowly the players and coaching staff learned of me (as the greenest rookie around), and interviewing and shooting became more painless.  The schedule was consistent – 7 am until 2 pm daily, so timing wasn’t an issue.  What I found out, quickly I might add, was how to take the advantage. Some of the seasoned TV and radio reporters grilled the players, putting them on the spot and sometimes cornering them into answers. This made grabbing players after their interviews more difficult, because ultimately their answers (regardless of my rookie questions) were more heavily guarded and fortified behind a castle of facial stone.  Therefore, before the morning workouts, I grabbed them first, and with my newbie questions and demeanor (let’s not forget we all have to start somewhere, especially on the video side), the players became increasingly accessible to me – especially, I might add, with the incredible help of my new favorite reporter, Post writer Derrick Goold. I cannot confirm it, but I think the going thought in the clubhouse was that if you interviewed with Erik, it would be the easiest interview all season.  I did not mind – in fact, I encouraged it.  There was no need for hard-hitting answers in my video pieces.  I wanted broad, scene setting soundbites with just enough meat to carry the piece.  Veteran Ryan Ludwick had it down.  The younger guys (and easier to grab) were always willing.  One player even came out and sat down at my interview chair just because he wanted to.  Fantastic.

Over the course of training, I was assigned to shoot a peculiar new thing called “raw video.”  It consisted, primarily, of using a Nokia N95 cellphone tethered to a shotgun microphone and armed with AT&T’s 3G service.  What seemed great on paper – the ability to send quick video (and volumes of it) with no editing right to a audience (which surely is holding its breath waiting in dire anticipation for it) – was in fact from experience an unmanageable, difficult little beast that made for shaky videos and poor turnaround.  Apparently, there is not adequate 3G service in Jupiter (it is a different planet of course) to send videos properly, so the unfortunate results boiled down to untimely delays and horrible sound from the ever-constant Florida wind.  In some situations, the little camera is a blessing and a tool for constant content.  Other times, it just strikes out like a slumped hitter.

Erik on assignment, Jupiter, Florida. Canon XH-A1 in left hand, fighting with AT&T service in right hand with Nokia N95.  Canon G10 strap dangling from free Canon EOS bag (admittedly lame, but it takes weight off the back.) Photography by Chris Lee.

As most of us who worked in Florida certainly know, it’s hot, regardless of the seasons (all two of them, dry and wet).  However, I loved feeling the warmth of the sunshine again.  It was the polar opposite of my recent snow piece, and soon I was in a groove, loving every minute of shooting using moving pictures and sound.  I reveled at the opportunity to mic up one of the coaches (see drills, above), or concentrating on features around the team that made great stories.  Traditionally, the motto for video length uses the “patience meter” or some period near a minute those viewers could withstand watching.  While some of the polished pieces orbit the minute mark, others were let to roam more freely, like the groundskeeper piece that centered on a documentary approach, soaking up the 2-minute spot.  While editing was the essence, I wanted the experience, using a variety of footage to bring the viewer into the drills or clubhouse scene.  The finished products were by no means at the level Travis Fox shoots at, but they do confidently incorporate a little of my varied vision into a longer form short.

It may be guessed that being away from somewhere can help one become more focused.  It’s true! Working alone away from the newsroom, aside from a few staffers who joined me on assignment, was miraculous for my mental health.  Think of a cooped up family dog on a walk.  All the stress of being indoors, of inside the fence, melted away with each passing step.  Aside from being shackled to the phone (I prefer to work alone with only little communication), I found the experience refreshing, if not exhausting for working with nary a day off for weeks.  (which, by the way, I’m catching up on that rest and relaxation now)
[See post to watch Flash video]

Storming the gates,  St. Louis Cardinals’ fan day at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.
Locals say there is a beach in Florida, but I haven’t seen it – or at least for more than a few moments at a time. Certainly, I wished that there was time to drape open a beach towel and lay on the warm sand, but in every instance the video came first.  If it wasn’t pushing raw video through the chute, then it was polishing a forged piece into the morning video player. Alas, company time doesn’t allow for that kind of rest, and it’s reasonable when someone else is accepting the hotel charge.

On the last day, the Cardinals opened to Florida for their season opener. It couldn’t have been nicer weather or atmosphere. Days before I honed my novice video skills back from the mental basement and put them to work. The gravity of leaving weighed on my shoulders. That last night, I received an 11th hour call to stay a few more days (almost literally, an 11th hour call), but my body ached from fatigue. Although my mind was alert and focused (with the help of constant Starbucks Matcha Iced Geen Tea Frappucinos), it was time to leave.

The next morning, I packed my bags in the heat of the Florida concrete jungle day, and drove back to St. Louis, narrowly missing a rash of winter weather through the Atlanta area. Looking back, I accomplished my goal – creating video that I find acceptable enough to call my own. It is, again, not the perfect collection, but they come closer to using a different medium to tell the stories that are timeless in timeless settings.  I shot and edited the best I could on deadline, and that, my dear reader, is time I feel worth spent.

Please enjoy a few of these videos that I have hand-selected as some of my favorites from the excursion. For a complete list of videos, including the “raw” take, please visit the Post-Dispatch’s special section for spring training videos at www.STLtoday.com. For a few more favorites, I recommend video game mapping, photo day with Getty photographer Doug Benc, and baseball conditioning with Cardinals’ cook Chuck Rowan.

Finding the perfect bat. Maple or Ash?

But in the minds of many print photojournalists, TV’s justifications for setting up shots represent a slippery slope – one that starts with the relatively innocent staging for editing purposes, but can eventually descend into changing the nature of the story.

Melissa Lyttle and Heather S. Hughes weigh in:

“Who let them (video) into our clubhouse without making them play by our rules… namely, having some ethics?” – Melissa Lyttle.

Well said. As we are constantly asked to produce more and more visual content in the medium of video storytelling, it is crucial we do not let ourselves ethically slide. We’ll have to work even harder and focus our priorities to manage all these new tasks; but we cannot — and I stress cannot –  take even the slightest shortcut for saving time or making the process easier. I’m curious to know if any print newsrooms are ethically eroding as they mature with video.

McCain supporter concedes, O'Fallon, Illinois.

The above image was taken with my Canon 1D Mark IIn camera. The tiny G10 let me focus on developing a good still photograph for the print edition without compromising the quality through a video frame grab.

For the next few weeks I’ll be using this lovely little camera for all of my video assignments. It’s an experiment we’re trying and one I hope succeeds. Stick around for a full review and samples. I’m curious of your immediate impressions based upon this short video.

I’ve had this conversation before with my colleagues at Canon and Nikon. Both companies are interested in our thoughts and expectations for new equipment, and I’m thrilled they’re listening. I’m excited to see what Canon will unleash with the next 5D variant. Hopefully it will have a video option and an external mic port (the fatal flaw with the D90 is the absence of a mic port) plus a clean file at 6400 iso for dark courtrooms and night sports.

What kind of options would you include? I think an iPhone-esque touchscreen instead of the traditional (and newer VGA) LCD could be a possibility. Think about reviewing your photos with finger movements or changing settings on the fly instead of navigating multiple menus. You could enter captions and tag files for wireless transmitting. A manual lock keeps your nose from changing settings when looking through the viewfinder.

How much video in a DSLR do we need? Full HD? Web-size only?  What’s the intended application? Is the video a sign of future integration or just a tech fad?

With declining budgets in the newsroom, will we be able to continue buying the highest end camera bodies? I think a weather-sealed 5D is the perfect application for a news photographer. It costs less and you can always keep some 1D Mark III (or whatever comes after that) cameras around for sports apps. Full-frame is important (to me), and a sweet spot 12-14 megapixels is perfect for spot news enlargements. For pure flexibility, let’s condense all of the variety RAW formats into one (think DNG) format for an easy workflow. On any day I’ll deal with CR2 and NEF files, and it becomes tiresome to switch back and forth from converters.

So, I’m genuinely interested in your feedback. Be aware that friends from the “big two” are readers of uncommons (thank you!) and open to suggestions. What would make your “perfect camera?”

There is almost too much here to see at one sitting, so either clear out your schedule for an hour or bookmark it and come back, because it deserves your attention.

Well said, although when Jorgen passed me this link a few days ago, he said:

Truth is, I’m secretly hoping you blog about it so more people check it
out.

There is nothing wrong with highlighting good photography, especially the confidence boost you get after watching Bruce Gilden’s video — the man is like a shark — he just lunges and shoots — I love it.

Video copyright WNYC

In the meantime, the videos are well produced (I don’t notice the video length or maybe it’s because I’m actually interested in the content). Either way, it’s well worth a long visit and you’ll walk away inspired. Thanks for the link Jorgen.

There was a long and humbling pause when I noticed that Jörg Colberg took mention of uncommons. This comes from an amazing blog that continues to shape my perspectives on fine-art photography and provides outstanding photographic content. He also posted a few more blogs here which quickly ended up on my RSS bookmarks.

Also, I’m constantly amazed at Nikon’s aggressive drive to get gear in the hands of photographers. Bill Pekala of Nikon NPS is arranging a camera loan for an extended use as I contemplate upgrading digital cameras. Lindsay Silverman, the senior technical manager for Nikon, passed along my request. Both of those guys are incredible, not to forget the staffs underneath that drive the boat. If you haven’t met these two, you should. Plus, I always see Lindsay’s write-ups in the pages of photo magazines, such as the Digital PhotoPro mag that always seems to send a complimentary copy my way.

Post staffer Emily Rasinski just published a stellar news video on the closing of a local elementary school. The growth of her talent is outstanding – she just picked up a video camera not more than a month or two ago. Check it out here. Also, keep your eye on News Videographer because I sent Angela a message asking for a critique.

Speaking of multimedia, I like how Colin Mulvany of the Spokesman-Review pretty much ‘threw down’ on the line between complaining and learning multimedia on his blog Mastering Multimedia. It’s like a put up or shut-up. Nicely said.