Monday, October 6, 2014

Evolution of photojournalism: camera phones

     When it comes to photojournalism naturally I think of a person with a huge camera lens, a camera bag slung over their shoulder and maybe even a tripod or monopod. Today we see a lot of photojournalists who still have that gear, but now they are armed with another device, a camera phone.
Lori King shows the class her camera bag.
     Is this the beginning of another evolutionary change in photojournalism? Photojournalism started with large format cameras. From there cameras changed over to smaller, more nimble 35mm film cameras. Then again from the 35mm cameras we have since moved on to the digital SLR camera.
     During photojournalism's evolution photojournalist have been introduced  to another tool, their camera phone. 
    “It allows for an intimacy and immediacy that Canon (professional SLR) does not,” stated J. Sybylla Smith. 
       Smith is the curator of the show “iSee The Eyes of VII in the Hands of Hipstamatic.” Hipstamatic is an app for smartphones. In the gallery the work of 19 photojournalists was displayed, all but one used the app.
click here to go to the article

     While reading this article I realized she is absolutely right. Whether it is keeping fans up to date on a sports match or just up to date on the current events of a day, cell phones are the way to connect fastest and easiest to social media sites. Cell phones are small enough to fit in your pocket, but serve a big purpose.
     Camera phones are the next big thing for photojournalists and why you ask? Let’s think about this logically, if you ask 10 college students how often they have their cell phone with them, chances are all of them will say always. Then ask those same 10 how many of their phones have a camera and most of them will. Do see where I’m going with this? Camera phones are not only just for communication anymore, they are the best way to share news, information, and pictures quickly and all in one device.
The Owens Express Golf team wins the Defiance Fall Invitational.
  So what does this mean for photojournalists? It means we can do some minor editing and add a filter to our images. Then we can immediately post them to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram within five minutes
      Another perk to this is you’re allowed to be creative, your images can be something that the paper may not publish, but the image is still relevant to your story. 
The Owens GSA holds a dress sale at Collingwood Arts Center.
    There are a few things to keep in mind when shooting cell phone photography
  • First make sure the lighting is good. If you have a flash don't be afraid to use it. 
  • Try to get as close to the subject you're shooting.When in doubt edit later because there are images on your phone that will look better on a computer, so wait on deleting and check them out later. 
  • The one thing that doesn't change is etiquette. Don't get in a bad habit of thinking just because it's small and it's a phone that it can be hidden and that nobody will know. A camera is a camera and, they will know when you are pointing at someone. 
  • Have fun and be creative, but be respectful when shooting with a camera phone.

 




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