[Leica] 2010 Yearbook NOW NEWSPHOTOGRAPHY.

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (tedgrant at shaw.ca)]

kyle cassidy on the LUG offered:
Subject: Re: [Leica] 2010 Yearbook & Kodachrome


> Some time in ... 1999 or 2000 I photographed an unexpected and somewhat 
> volatile interchange between two mayoral candidates. Realizing that I had 
> something special, I dropped the rest of the day, rushed home, processed 
> the film made a fast print and called the local paper and was told by the 
> city desk that they'd already gone to press with a digital image someone 
> got in an hour before me. I realized that day that film was over in terms 
> of news photography because the guy with the digital shot was always going 
> to get there before you and he'd be off at the next assignment beating you 
> again while you were developing. It's only going to get faster with 
> wireless SD cards sending everything back to the mother ship while the 
> event's going on....

Hi Kyle,
In the newspaper world of today if you are not intune with the instant world 
automatically every second, you will get beat on any assignment no matter 
who you were in the "good old days" of news photography. I mean, even if you 
were considered the "most fantastic news photographer in the world" and 
still screwing around with film because you didn't like digital, as it was 
just a fad?"
And even if you could walk on water, drinking scotch and shooting with one 
hand tied behind your back! You are history!

The new kid on the block with the right electronic hook-up will blow you out 
of the water before you even think to take the picture. Actually even before 
you put the camera to eye, his picture will be on the way to the press for 
printing on the other side of the world!

Quite frankly it's a world I'm quite happy to say.... "Boy am I glad I did 
my tenure as a news guy a long, long, long, really longtime  ago!" Then we 
throw in many newspapers require their "news-photographers" use cameras' to 
shoot video and stills at the same time! And if you can't do it, then your 
"last pay check will probably be your last pay cheque!" :-(

ted