On cell phone photography: Post your event pics instantly, responsibly

   This is a busy time for news.
   Political rallies are at the top of the list. I know many of you Wayne State students are attending candidate rallies this week, but I've yet to see a single Instagram or Twitter post of your photographic coverage.
   Why not?
   One student lamented he couldn't take a camera because it wasn't allowed. I responded with this: Cover the event with your cell phone!

On Deadlines

   The power of cell phone photography is the ability to post instantly.  Even if you have two expensive DSLR cameras hanging off of your shoulders, you can still snap a quick photo, write a concise caption, and hit send within minutes. This is preferred for spot news, particularly.

   If you're at the event, why wait to post it when you get home, or never? Shoot and send immediately! Think like a journalist. Don't you want to inform your readers in that moment? That's the power of a cell phone, which is an additional tool in your journalism toolbox. You can post a single image, a photo slideshow or videos fast and easy. 

   In fact, I recently did a blog post on Steller, an iPhone photo slideshow app. The piece was on people writing messages on ice at a hockey rink for cancer survivors and those who died. Within 30 minutes of shooting about 15 images and a couple of 15-second videos, I posted the photo story on Twitter, and it had nearly 2,000 views by the next day! 

   Political rallies, spot news, sporting events (see Steller story below) and even news conferences are great places to capture mini feature picture stories with your cell phone.  

   Don’t forget about Instagram! Instagram allows you to be more creative in your event coverage. Shoot short video clips, and capture moments that you typically wouldn’t take with your DSLRs. Use extreme perspective. Get close. Shoot wide. However, don’t use filters if you’re covering the event as a journalist. Keep it real.

   But there is a danger when posting instantly. The ability to make errors, particularly in your captions, is high. So, triple-check your spelling, verify your facts, and double check your venue spelling before you post mistakes. 

   With Instagram, you can edit your mistakes, but not with Twitter. You’ll have to delete your original post and repost. This means your mistake will be up for a long time, and for many eyes to see, before you discover the error.

And here's a Steller feature picture story from a sporting event:

SELECT & COPY YOUR EMBED CODE close instagrampinteresttwitterfacebooksteller

Why an old dog can teach young smartphone pups new tricks of the camera

   On cellphone photography.

   Once again I ponder this question while updating the syllabus: Should I teach cellphone photography to students when it’s already so much a part of their lives?

   Considering my tech addicted teen daughters are still teaching me about my own iPhone6, does it make sense to add a cellphone lesson to a syllabus for college journalism students?

   I don’t doubt that most of my Wayne State photojournalism students are also tech addicted, so what could I possible teach them that they don’t know already?

   Quite a bit, actually. In fact, social media is such an essential part of journalism these days that many universities are now offering entire courses dedicated to mobile reportage.

   Here are a few lessons that I think might benefit students:

Lesson One: Selfies

   This is the age of the selfies. Yes, our youth has mastered taking photos of themselves. I certainly don’t have to teach them that! In fact, this selfie lesson is about what NOT to do. Stop taking selfies!

   Yep, I advise to stop doing it, especially while students are job searching. Potential employers expect a high level of maturity. It is no secret that companies do background checks on social media accounts. Would you hire someone who excessively documents her own exploits?  This is a red flag.

   But, if they must do it, then I advise them to create two accounts: one personal and one professional, making the professional easier to find.

Lesson Two: Law and Ethics

   Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Students need to know what’s right and wrong when publishing and sharing cellphone photos.

   The first lesson I teach them in class is about the NPPA Code of Ethics. This code should be adhered to, whether the photos are shot with a cellphone or DSLR camera.

   Consider No. 5: ‘While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.’ To me, that means no filters. Keep the image real.

   Also think about the ease of being sneaky with a cellphone, meaning that if a DSLR camera is not allowed (private funeral of slain victim, for example), then neither is a cellphone camera. It is not right, in most cases, to slyly record or photograph a subject when they are not aware.

   And lastly, you have the right to photograph police or authority figures in a public place with your cell. If they take away your device despite you following all of the rules (staying behind the police tape), they you probably have a case for a law suit.

Lesson Three: Available tools

   A smartphone camera has lots of options. So, let’s go over a few:

·      Get to know your shooting and editing tools, like flash, color correction, cropping and toning. But that's as far as it should go. No fancy stuff. Again, keep it real.

- Sometimes it’s not enough to simply point and shoot, especially if you’re publishing straight to a blog or social media site. Set your parameters first (color temperature, for example) to make your post-production work easier.

·      Download still and video editing apps, like Snapseed and Videolicious. Editing and producing your still photos and videos will make you more valuable (and hirable) in the field. Learn to use these apps, and then add this skill to your resume!

       ·      Taking a photo is part one, and writing the caption is part two. Captions are the journalism in photojournalism. So, figure out how to quickly write or transfer an AP style caption for every photo you post on Instagram, Twitter, blog, email to editor, etc. Also include your byline!

     ·      And don’t forget about #hashtags when posting to Instagram or Twitter. These can help your photos, or hurt them. Hashtags need to be smart and concise. They shouldn’t be overdone, like the Jimmy Fallon comedy skit #funny #thatisnothowyoudoit #photojournalism #cellphonelessons #oncellphones

   There are probably many more lessons and tips to share, and I'm sure I've left other important stuff out, but these are good starting points.

                                                                             #30

It's 'something cool' when students teach fellow students

   I recently received the following email from PJ student Jen Hannum:

“Hi Lori

I just wanted to share something cool with you and also let you know how I did it, and if you thought it was worthy of passing on to the rest of the class.  Check out my blog: http://jenhannum.blogspot.com/

    The pages Jen created for cell photos and her website are in the yellow tab bar.

I created pages at the top, one of which is a cell phone pics page that is easy to upload to right from my cell phone.  It is actually another mobile blog that is tied to my original blog.  I attached directions on how I did it in case you wanted to pass the info along. I have an iPhone so I can only speak to how I did it with that but it seems pretty universal.

I am copying and pasting steps below:

iPhone directions to set up a Cell Phone Picture Blog 

1. txt the word register to 256447

2. you will receive an @(blahblahblah).blogspot.com and a code

3. enter that code at go.blogger.com and captcha provided

4. chose continue as this user if its not selected and click continue

5. name the blog (I chose Cell Phone Shots) click continue

6. chose a template (can be changed to match your regular blog later)

7. you now have a new mobile blog

8. go to your regular blog choose the pages tab

9. create a new page that is a website and name it (I chose Cell Phone Shots)

10. enter the web address that was texted to you back in step 2 (the blahblah .blogspot)

11. Chose location on home page you want page to show up

12. Now you have a page on your original blog that links to your mobile blog

13. Download the blogger app on your cell phone and sign in

14. In settings on the app you can choose  the new blog and send just cell pics there”

   My reply:

   Yes, Jen, what you did is “something cool!”

   Not only did you do this for yourself, but you wanted to share it with your classmates, and that makes me one awfully proud instructor!

  You even taught me something (how to link blogs via pages), which makes me a stronger instructor because I can pass on this new knowledge onto the next class. A+ for your effort!

   Thank you.

Introducing phoneography to the photojournalism curriculum

       A screen grab from Sam's cell pix on Twitter.  

   I introduced a new assignment on cell phone photography this week, and it was about time.

  Cell phone photography has become so popular in the 21st Century that it can no longer be ignored by photojournalism educators. Since the first consumer camera phone was released by Sharp in 2000, it only took seven years to reach a billion devices. By 2009, there were 4.6 billion mobile phones subscriptions (ate.blogs.com).  

   Can you imagine a college student without one?

   Since nearly everyone has a mobile phone, I think it's safe to say they outnumber traditional cameras! All eight of the students in this class have cell phones, and nearly half of those are iPhones. So it's not a big surprise that they all use their cells to take photos.

  Yes, it’s time cell phone photography is covered in photojournalism classes everywhere!

  Using a cell phone to capture images is convenient for several reasons. First, it’s accessible. Cells are always in our pockets, purses and backpacks. We never leave home without them. Secondly, they are convenient; small enough to hide, and light enough to carry 24/7. But what’s really important is the ability to instantly share images using social media tools, like Facebook and Twitter.

   Together we are learning about cell camera apps, tools and features. There’s a lot to learn, but each student brings their own experience to the table. We also had a guest speaker tout his newspaper’s Mobile Blog, which is a trendsetter in phoneography. Enoch Wu demonstrated his ability to shoot and send an image to Twitter via his cell without needing a computer.

   The students are required to tweet five cell phone photos throughout the semester. Each photo must have enough caption information to explain the photo. We also viewed a Lynda.com tutorial by Richard Koci Hernandez.

  I'm happy to witness students, like Sam Ricker, are already tweeting cell photos and experimenting with different apps! I think it's going to be a very successful assignment, and one that's here to stay.

A welcome letter to new Intro to Photojournalism students

   Dear PHO245 students:

   Welcome to the Intro to Photojournalism Course! 

    I'm excited to begin another semester with a new crop of scholastic photojournalists. For the next 16 weeks you will be trained to think, act and shoot like a photojournalist. 

   My primary goal is to help you become a visual storyteller with a heightened sense of purpose and ethics. I also hope you gain an appreciation for the social responsibility photojournalists have in documenting life and death throughout the world.

   Because this is an introduction class, you will be taught a wide variety of subjects, including:

• Law, ethics and copyright 
• Caption writing
• Photo editing tools (Photo Mechanic)
• Social media tools (Twitter and blogging)
• Using your camera to tell a story

   Ever semester I add something new to improve the course and keep up with technology. You will be the first PHO245 class to use your cell phone cameras as another way to tell visual stories. 

   You will be the first class to be on a beat system. This means you are responsible for covering a school (culinary, transportation, etc.) at Owens throughout the semester.

A sample of photos from Rust Wire's Flickr Group

   I'm also happy to announce that for your final individual project, this class is collaborating with rustwire.com. Rust Wire is recruiting photographers in our area take part in a photo project attempting to capture the "unique essence of individual Rust Belt cities."

   We are privileged to have Kate Giammarise, one of the rustwire.com founders, guest speak with you Sept. 24 about the Big Urban Photography Project.

   Needless to say, this is a fast-paced course because there is so much to learn. Every week you will learn something new, and Dave Cantor and I are confident you'll benefit from nearly every assignment, no matter what photography career you choose.

   Again, welcome and have fun!