Working in the Digital Age

Before there were pixels, photojournalist had to put in a lot of time and effort to capture a piece of history. Learning about wet plates and all the other gear they needed just to take a photograph made me really appreciate what they did. In the past year I am even happy with the change from my 35mm SLR camera to the camera on my iPhone. It is without a doubt that our advances in technology day after day are much appreciated.



Photo by: www.opticscentral.com.au
Photo source: http://visual.ly/minimalist-guide-evolution-camera

In the article, “The Digital Journalist Survey On The Impact Of Digital In Photojournalism,” by Dirck Halstead he stated “There is no question that digital is now the preferred medium for photojournalism. There was not one respondent who longed to return to film.” This could very likely be due to the many benefits of digital cameras and an even easier access to a camera on most cell phones. Many of the photojournalists agreed that “speed and the ability to instantly see what they had photographed” were two of the things they liked most about digital. This allows them to view their photos before they leave, that way they can be sure they took the best possible image. On a personal level I always appreciate being able to look at the images I take and choose the ones I’d like to develop. This has saved me a lot of money over the years. Recently, I uploaded over 1,600 pictures from my cell phone to my computer and only printed out some of them. http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/editorial.html

Photos by: Melissa Gorneault
Photo source: iPhone

This brings me to my cellphone camera. Like many other people, we each walk around with a phone by our side and the ability to take a picture at just about any time we would like. Over the years I myself have upgraded from a flip phone with no camera, to a basic phone with a camera to a phone that I have pretty much replaced my digital camera with. The use of my digital camera and the camera on my cellphone allows me to take a picture and do many things with it.





 

Specifically, there are many apps that I can download which allow me to make photo collages. Furthermore, I am able to take these pictures and collages, email them to myself, and post them on my blog. In past weeks of spring I have been enjoying more time with my kids. My daughter has joined dance and gymnastics and my son is playing t-ball. I am happy to be able to share these memories that I have captured and use them to complete my assignment.

 

 

 

 

Photojournalists also benefit from the use of cellphone cameras. In the article “The benefits, drawbacks of using camera phones as a photojournalist,” Smith says “These camera phones allow the photographer on assignment to quickly enter into a dialogue with the public because of how quickly we can take and transmit images,” “Photojournalists are pleased to have another tool in their toolbox.” It seems logical that photojournalists would benefit from cellphones. Now in the twenty-first century almost everyone has access to a cellphone and with the recent iPhone having 8 mega pixels and video camera you can get a good quality picture. The other benefit of a cellphone camera versus a digital camera is how quick and image can be sent via email to a news company or many other sources within minutes.

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/177433/the-benefits-drawbacks-of-using-camera-phones-as-a-photojournalist/

 

Photo by: Found via Reddit

Photo source: http://www.globalnerdy.com/2012/04/09/sign-of-the-times-or-has-13000-worth-of-camera-gear-uses-phone-instead/

(Although I have used this image before I feel that it most appropriately fits this assignment.)