April 2012 – Journeys of a Hybrid

April 29, 2012April 29, 2012

Week One – Teaching in China

I’ve just wrapped up week one, teaching Chinese photojournalists, in Beijing, to think and shoot in motion. Like any new job or new experience – the first day or the first week – is always the hardest. The week flowed like any good story, with “ups” and “downs” but by Friday afternoon – my students triumphed and amazed me.

It’s difficult to teach any “still” photographer “motion” because so many photographers are so gear oriented, they underestimate the most important part of the process – thinking and shooting in motion. I find that many times, still photographers think that all they need to do is switch their DSLR’s to “video mode” and shoot. There’s a certain attitude amongst some professional photographers – that all they really need to do is get a camera that’s capable of shooting video. But they quickly realize that there is a lot more to learn.

Day one, we talked about thinking and shooting in sequencing. It took longer to get this message across, simply because everything needed to be translated into Chinese. I showed examples that helped and then gave them an assignment to shoot a sequence of video clips that told the story. The next day we reviewed the work of the students and they quickly understood the successful attempts and the not so successful results. They also realized how different shooting motion is from shooting stills. I had told them in class that “stills are moments in time” and “video is time in motion” but until they actually tried to shoot that way – and then analyzed their results in the critique – did they begin to understand. Many made the common mistake of moving the camera, rather than letting the motion happen in front of the camera and many produced video clips that didn’t relate to one another.

Day two we started to talk about audio. That’s a subject that all still photographers underestimate because they don’t realize the importance of capturing good audio. They think that their camera mics are sufficient in this task. After all, they are capturing sound. It’s not until they can hear the difference between good audio and bad audio that they really begin to understand that audio is more important than the visual. I could see the light bulbs going off the next day in the critique that they were beginning to understand this important concept.

Day three we talked more about the importance of audio and that when shooting with a DSLR camera, it is essential that they capture audio with an external microphone and a separate digital audio recorder. After a morning in the classroom, we all headed out for a field trip. I set up a situation where I did an interview of a subject and they shot the b-roll. That evening, we broke into 3 groups (video is a collaborative effort) and they set off to capture a story, using everything we had learned in the past 3 days

Day four, we put a small dent into learning the vast editing application, Adobe Premiere. That was perhaps the most challenging day for all of us. I’m somewhat new to Premiere, since I’ve been editing in Final Cut Pro for the last 10 years, but it was the most viable solution since most of the students were using PC’s and Premiere is cross plat formed. We learned the basics in the morning and in the afternoon – the hard work began. The next day, we would be joining the other 3 groups who had been learning things like lighting and Lightroom and the clock was ticking to get their assignments edited. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazed I was at how far these students had come in just 4 days – it was remarkable.

The next morning we showed our completed projects to the entire student body and other faculty. Based on the resounding applause – I believe we amazed them as well. That evening we were all beyond exhausted, but my students invited me out for a “banquet”. I was lucky – many in my group spoke some English – so the evening was spent sharing stories and cultural experiences and food and drink. It created a bank of memories that I will cherish.

We had two days of rest and our first day; we headed to a remote area of the Great Wall. I shot some still images and then I needed to just take pause. As the other 3 teachers continued to shoot – I knew I needed to stop and just take a moment to put the camera down and really “see” where I was. I needed that time to absorb not only the week I had spent but to relish the “now” and think about where I was in the context of the world. It’s those moments, when I put the camera down, that always create the memories that linger in my mind forever more.

April 21, 2012

Teaching Video Journalism in China

I’m sitting in the Continental (United) airport lounge at EWR, waiting to board a flight for Beijing. I’m headed to China for 4 weeks to teach Chinese journalists, video journalism. My mind is spinning with ideas, questions and the usual array of “what ifs” as I take on another adventure.

About two years ago, I started saying “yes” to opportunities that presented themselves to me – or at the very least, I began to consider opportunities, rather than to talk myself out of things, right off the bat. Because, of that mind set, I’ve been going where life seems to take me and it has presented quite a few interesting adventures. It’s not that I’m foolhardy and doing things on a whim – it’s that I have been listening to myself – my inner voice – and it has been my guiding force.

I’m told that the Chinese are hungry for “western” knowledge. But what I have to teach them is something universal, and that is – how to tell a story – using the medium of video. Seems so basic and simple – how to tell a story – and I suppose it is, but like anything else, it’s simple if you understand it. The key to understanding something is to have the desire to learn. Some people say they want to learn – but that’s different than really having the desire to learn.

Some folks feel threatened by this seemingly insatiable desire of the Chinese to learn all things western. I’m also finding that when people feel threatened by something – they try to “stop” whatever it is they are feeling threatened by. It’s one of those stupid human tricks that folks have played since the beginning of mankind. I process this behavior pattern as unproductive and unsustainable. It rarely works as far as eliminating a perceived threat. You simply can’t totally eliminate desire.

Rather than stop others from growth – a better way is to better yourself. I’d rather put my energies into where I want to go in my life – than in trying to squash other people’s hopes and dreams. I’ve also found that what goes around – comes around. When you “give” and “help” others – you ultimately create a better world – or “space” for everyone.

So, as my mind races this morning with my hopes, my expectations and enthusiasm – I try to keep the nagging doubts and fear at bay. I tell myself that it’s natural to have concerns. But I also tell myself that I can either let my concerns consume me and turn into fear or I can welcome the “unknown” and embrace the opportunity at hand. I’ll let my inner voice guide me because it seems to be doing a good job.

April 13, 2012

Why I Hate Being Authentic

I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I’m authentic. I’m never quite sure if it is intended to be a compliment or not. I suppose it is what it is – I make no pretense. I make people laugh, I make them cry, I make people want to hug me and some want to wring my neck. I mostly make myself crazy for being who I am – yet I just can’t help myself.

There are times when I wish that I didn’t care so much. If I see a wrong – I’ll always want to right it. If I see someone or a cause that needs support – I want to be there for them. My passion sometimes consumes me and overwhelms others, yet I often feel that I have no control over what it is that drives me to be me.

I also have no control of how others perceive me. How someone reacts to me is not about me at all. When I’m being totally true to myself, I’m usually acting on my own instincts and not doing things for the sake or recognition of others. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate recognition when it comes – it just means that is not what’s in my mind when I’m working on something.

The problem with being “authentic” or being true to ones self is that, is that you usually make yourself and others crazy because your passion and vision are just too much for most people. There have been times when I’ve wanted to take a vacation from myself. I’m sure I have alienated my fair share of colleagues and friends over the years.

I have always been the sort of person, even as a kid, to question and think for myself. In that regard, I wasn’t an easy child to raise. I can’t say that I’ve changed much. I’m still questioning and still thinking for myself. There are days, I wish I could turn off those voices in my head that constantly push me into unknown and potentially dangerous waters. Some days I’m successful and take refuge in my familiar confines. But there are more days when the voices in my head win out.

When the voices win out, I remind myself something that Steve Jobs said “ Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

April 9, 2012April 11, 2012

The Love and Angst of Learning

I don’t think there has ever been a point in my life when there wasn’t something that I didn’t want to learn about. I’m just a very curious person who has an insatiable desire to learn. I’ve been learning about filmmaking over the last two years and I am addicted to learn more. I am realizing that I have always thought in a cinematic way. As a photographer, I saw my stories as films – a pagination of images – combining to form the story in my mind’s eye. I am so intrigued right now with the craft and structure of screen writing, and want to learn more. I have a story in my head that I want to “get out” and I see the visual elements playing out in my head. Now, I’m starting to “hear” the story and the words and I want to learn how to craft those elements into the beginning of a screenplay.

Last Christmas, I got the Rosetta Stone course for Spanish. When I was traveling with Erin in South America, she became my translator and I was really frustrated that I couldn’t understand the language, so I vowed to learn Spanish. I’ve been trying to squeeze in the time to learn electronically, but it’s so hard for me. Languages have always been difficult for me – even English. Really the only way to learn a language is to immerse your self into it. I try to tune into conversations when I hear Spanish being spoken and make feeble attempts to participate. Slowly, I’m getting better but I doubt I will ever be able to roll my r’s. I have found though that when I “relax” and imagine myself as someone who is fluent in the language, I do much better. The same thing happened when I was in New Zealand last fall and I got on an ATV vehicle for the first time. I just pictured myself as being one with the machine and I did just fine.

Lately, I’ve been teaching myself editing with Adobe Premiere. With Final Cut Pro going to a completely different program, I wanted to expand and learn Premiere. But, what really prompted me to learn is that I will be going to China for a month, to teach Chinese journalists how to “tell stories in motion”. I knew I needed to learn an editing application that was cross-platformed and Adobe Premiere was the obvious choice. Learning Premiere has been easy, especially with Lynda.com. I am such a big fan of Lynda.com. Of course, knowing how to edit helps. Essentially it’s not much different than Final Cut. Things are named differently, but the basics are the same. There are also a lot of things that I love, especially the easier integration with other Adobe products like After Effects, Photoshop and Bridge. Now the Adobe Suite has a screenwriting application, Story. Could that be the nudge needed to follow through on the screenplay that’s beginning to play out in my head?

So, my learning path continues. But I’m also playing my part by passing along what I know. Things have a way of coming full circle.

April 5, 2012April 5, 2012

Value

I’ve heard this word an awful lot lately. I’m in Palm Springs, CA attending an ASMP National Board meeting. Our meeting has coincided with the timing of the Palm Springs Photo Festival, where dozens of photography influencers, buyers and makers of contemporary photography gather. Almost every conversation I’ve had in the last couple of days have been about “value”.

Most successful photographers or business people in general, would probably define “value”in monetary terms. To be successful, one has to sell the “value” of what they do, and how that translates to real dollars for a potential client. Now, in my opinion, to be good at any sales you have to either really believe in your product or be a very good actor – or both. My point is that to sell your “value” you have to start by first valuing yourself.

There have been days when I’ve beat myself up by allowing my self to feel “devalued” by how someone else acts toward me – it could be a client, a colleague, a relative, a friend – any human with an ego. I try to remind myself that my “value” is in staying true to myself, because that is what makes me unique and not just a commodity. There’s so many workshops and consultants these days teaching “how to’s” – from using gear, to selling photos, making a movie, branding yourself and on and on and on. I think we are all so overwhelmed at times that we don’t even remember who we really are.

At the end of the day your value is in how you perceive yourself and a strong sense of self has to come through if you want to sell your “value” to someone else. That sense of self usually comes from “doing”. When you are out there “doing”, you’re creating opportunity to happen. That’s something I am passionate about – the possibilities and the wonderment in that. When that passion comes through in your interactions with others – it’s positive energy that people can feel and most people are attracted to positive forces.

I must warn you though, that there are many people out there who will try to take advantage of someone who so passionate about what they do – and usually the human ego is involved. That’s ok, because when you determine your value and stop letting others determine it for you, it becomes much easier to deal with people who get gratification in undermining others.

There’s a wonderful scene in an old movie where Spencer Tracy plays Thomas Edison. Tracy (Edison) is in the office of a potential buyer of one of his inventions. (I’m using arbitrary figures to tell the story) The potential buyer was clearly an egotistical miserable guy and he throws out a price of let’s say $10,000 to Edison in a condescending way. Edison stands there speechless – literally speechless and the “buyer” begrudgingly says – “OK, $20,000” and Edison remains speechless. This goes on until the “negotiation” gets up to $50,000 and Edison finally manages to say, “OK” and they shake hands. The investor starts laughing in Edison’s face and shouts out “I was prepared to go to $100,000” and continues to laugh. Edison turns around as he is walking out the door and says, “I was prepared to accept $1,000”.

What does that say about value?