Sure your fancy video camera cost $2,000, but can it record underwater? No? Well if you're feeling extravagant or just have some extra funds left in the budget check out these gadgets that will take your work to new heights.

ContourHD Wearable Camera

Other helmet cameras have been featured here before, none of which captured such sweet-looking high definition video. The ContourHD records in a 1280 x 720 pixel, widescreen format at 30 or 60 frames per second and records up to 8 hours of video and audio. Be sure to check out some of the video captured by satisfied customers.

($299.99 | B&H Photo)

ProTrack Handheld Audio Recorder for iPod

Turn your iPod or iPod Touch into a powerful recording machine with this cool add-on. The ProTrack has a built-in stereo microphone and requires no cords, but also has an XLR input for connecting external mics. The recorder also comes with a headphone jack and — for 20 bucks more — a nifty tripod.

($159 | B&H Photo)

GardenWatchCam

Perfect for the horticulturally-minded photojournalist, the GardenWatchCam is a time-lapse camera that can be placed anywhere to capture nature's beauty over time. The small camera is weather-resistant and can capture photos at seven different time settings. The 1.3-megapixel camera runs on AA batteries and connects to the computer's USB port.

($139.95 | Amazon)

SRV-1 Blackfin Mobile Surveillance Robot

Let this pint-sized robot camera do all your dangerous shooting for you. The tank-like camera operates wirelessly, shoots at up to 1280 x 1024 resolution and fits in the palm of your hand. The little guy moves a foot a second and can run for 4 hours on a single charge. The SRV-1 requires some knowledge of computer programming to operate, but because it can tread where no human dare go, it is worth the effort.

($474.99 | ThinkGeek)

Infrared Flashlight Video Recorder

Sometimes journalism takes you to some dark and mysterious places. You can use your regular camera's onboard light or just use this handheld flashlight that doubles as a video camera. The flashlight records up to 15 seconds of video at 30 frames per second or 500 photos at 640 x 480 resolution with its 128MB of built-in memory. All the footage shot is downloadable via your computer's USB port.

($399.95 | Hammacher Schlemmer)

Pet's Eye View Digital Camera

Entertain Fido's ambition to become a photographer with this compact camera that fits securely on your pet's collar. The digital camera can be set at 1, 5, or 15 minute-intervals and is perfect for gaining insight on the daily lives of animals. Note: expect lots of photos of fire hydrants and worn out couches.

($49.99 | ThinkGeek)


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 30 Must-have gifts for journalists
• Crazy gadgets that are (possibly) crazy useful
• 6 Creative approaches to photography

Labels: audio, photos, video

Many news photographs are Photoshopped here and there to increase clarity or to optimize for print or online display. But there have been several instances where retouching has been pushed too far, changing the original intent or accuracy of the photo.

National Geographic, February 1982

The revered magazine was accused of altering a photograph so that the Egyptian pyramids were closer together and thus fit on the vertical cover. The mag's editors were allegedly unapologetic about creating a more aesthetically pleasing cover. Rich Clarkson, director of photography at National Geographic during the time, said he had no ethical problem with combining two photographs into a single cover picture, although "some publications could start abusing."

OJ Simpson, TIME Magazine, June 1994

 

When a darkened mugshot of troubled football star appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine, it was deemed artistic interpretation. Critics accused the mag of blackening OJ Simpson's skin to make him appear more animalistic and incite racial sentiments. It didn't help that an unaltered photo of Simpson appeared on a Newsweek cover that same week.

Soldier in Basra, Los Angeles Times, March 2003

 
Original photos


Published photo

Photographer Brian Walski was fired from his position at the Los Angeles Times after it was discovered that two news photographs of a gun-toting soldier had been combined to create a more intense photo. When later asked why he had digitally manipulated the photo and risked his career Walski replied: "I knew what I was doing. It looked good. It looked better than what I had, and I said 'wow.'"

Condoleezza Rice, USA Today, October 2005

  
Original, published photo

An Associate Press photo that appeared on the USA Today website showed then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with unusually menacing eyes, a result of too much retouching. Some questioned whether the effect had been created deliberately as it was difficult to easily replicate. The offending photo was quickly removed and replaced with a version much closer to the original and an apology from the paper's photo editor.

Tibetan railroad, Liu Weiqiang, 2006

If this award-winning photo of Tibetan antelopes and a nearby train seems a bit askew, it's because it is a combination of two separate photographs.



Photographer Liu Weiqiang merged the images after waiting for two weeks for the perfect photo with no success. Despite his earnestness, he was eventually blacklisted by several Chinese news outlets.

The Charlotte Observer, July 2006

The image of a firefighter against a blazing sky, shot by award-winning photographer Patrick Schneider, was later revealed to be a retouched version of the original in which the sky appeared to be a "brownish-gray." Schneider had previously been reprimanded for adding intensity in the color and backgrounds of his photos and was eventually fired from his position.

Beirut fires, Reuters, August 2006

Original photo


Published photo

Reuters was accused of bias against Israel when a doctored photo of the capital city of Lebanon was released by the wire service. The photo, submitted by Lebanese freelance photographer Adnan Hajj, shows (badly) cloned smoke and buildings and a darkened skyline. Reuters ultimately broke all ties with Hajj, who was accused of retouching other photos as well.

The Toledo Blade, April 2007

Veteran news photographer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Allan Detrich resigned from his post at the Blade after it was discovered that at least 79 of his photos had been Photoshopped beyond the standards of the paper. In the photo below, a ball had been added to increase the drama of a basketball game.

  
Original, published photo

The Blade later removed all of Detrich's photos from its website and issued an in-depth explanation and apology.

Papal delegation, Liberty Times, December 2007

In the previous examples, the photographs were retouched to enhance the beauty or impact. The following photo was edited to remove a rival publisher (center).


Original photo


Published photo


The Taiwanese newspaper was accused of digitally removing United Daily News Wang Shaw-lan from a photo of a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. Liberty Times reporter Chang Ning-hsing said she edited out the publisher because the picture was too large and that Wang was not an "essential presence."

Klavs Bo Christensen, April 2009

After submitting his stunning photos of Haiti to a Danish photo contest, Christensen was asked to submit the original RAW files as well. The difference was remarkable and the contest judges disqualified the photos, calling them "extreme" and "unacceptable." Christensen admitted that he had heavily processed the photos, but maintained that the result was within his limits.


Original photo


Published photo


In many newsrooms it is unethical to pass off a retouched photo as reality. Ideally, retouching of a news photograph should be limited to basic exposure and color correction, cropping, resizing, or conversion to grayscale. Any Photoshopping that alters the meaning of the original photo should be labeled as a "news illustration" in the caption so the viewer understands the photo has been altered.

Retouching may seem innocent, but can have a profound effect on the way we remember an event, according to a 2007 study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology.

"Any media that employ digitally doctored photographs will have a stronger effect than merely influencing our opinion – by tampering with our malleable memory, they may ultimately change the way we recall history," said researcher Dario Sacchi.

For more on the ethics of news photography, check out the National Press Photographers Association's code of ethics.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• 30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)
• Photojournalism: Where to find the best in news photography
• 6 Creative approaches to photography

Labels: photos

1. The White House

Just a few months ago, the new presidential administration was greeted with antiquated computers and technology that forbade access to social networks like Facebook or even outside email. Fast forward to today and there are now a variety of ways to connect and interact online with the White House.

The official White House site has been revamped and updated to include a blog to keep the world abreast of President Obama and crew. The site also contains a number of photo slideshows based largely on photos from the official Flickr photostream.



The White House's official YouTube channel contains loads of speeches and press briefings and — to dispel earlier allegations of technology favoritism — the same content is also available on Vimeo.

After Barack Obama's landmark use of social networking during his presidential campaign it should come as no surprise that the White House is also friending people across the world. The president's pad has more than 126,000 followers on Twitter and follows a number of government agencies, including FEMA and NASA.

The White House also has more than 205,000 fans on Facebook and the president himself has more than six million fans, more than anyone else on the site. The White House is also on MySpace, along with both President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden.

2. The Vatican

As highlighted in this month's issue of mental_floss magazine, The Vatican — the centuries-old religious institution — is also down with new technology.

The official newspaper of The Vatican, L'Osservatore Romano, is available online in several languages as are many programs from Vatican Radio. The official radio station of Vatican City also has podcasts available for listening or to download.


Flickr photo of Pope Benedict XVI by Paul Resh

The Vatican's official YouTube has almost 200 videos that range from morning prayers to papal visits. The Vatican even has its own iPhone app that contains prayers and scriptural readings and is available in six languages.

3. Major League Baseball

MLB has all the bases covered with its wide range of ways to follow games electronically. The most impressive offering is MLB.TV, a subscription service where baseball fans can watch live games online in high definition. The site streams 100 games a week to hundreds of thousands of subscribers and the quality is hard to match.

If you prefer your baseball on the go, MLB has a series of iPhone apps including MLB At Bat, where fans can find the latest scores, standings and schedules, and MLB World Series 2009, an interactive game that features all 30 MLB clubs.

The official MLB site contains various other ways to get your baseball fix, including a series of blogs, podcasts, video clips and photo galleries. There is also an official Facebook page where social networkers can step up to the plate.

4. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The FBI, America's hub of criminal investigation with a reputation for secrecy, recently announced a slew of online efforts that will make the agency more open and approachable.

The Bureau's official Twitter feed shares criminal alerts and press releases with its thousands of followers and similar content is shared on the official FBI Facebook page. The videos featured on the FBI's YouTube channel give an insider's view of such operations as bomb training and prostitution stings.



In an effort to spread news of and apprehend the fugitives on its famed Most Wanted List, the FBI also has several widgets available that anyone can embed on their blog, site or social network profile and apparently the new media approach is working. The widgets have directed more than 2.5 million people to the FBI website and the Most Wanted widget averages more than a thousand views a day, according to a press release.

The FBI even plans to take its Most Wanted list to Second Life where virtual visitors can keep tabs on real-life criminals.



Also on 10,000 Words:

• 12 Things to tell your tech-impaired editor
• Great online journalism from non-traditional journalists
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane
• Visual and interactive guides to the economic crisis
• Sports arenas: How to put a multimedia twist on traditional coverage

Labels: audio, photos, social networking, video, widgets

New York City...center of the universe. Okay not quite, but there are a lot of great multimedia stories and interactive projects emerging from the City that Never Sleeps.

There is perhaps no better way to take in the many landmarks of Manhattan than an aerial tour of the area. In today's economy, a helicopter ride perhaps isn't the most efficient means of transportation, but thanks to Pixelcase you can still take in magnificent views of the city. The interactive, panoramic photographs let users zoom across the New York skyline, above the noise and traffic. More on how to create similar panoramas here and here.



The following map of a horizonless Manhattan has been circulating around the internet for good reason: it is a unique take on the flat map we are so used to seeing. The map, created by London design studio Schulze & Webb, was created and fine-tuned using 3D imaging software.



The City Concealed, a project of THIRTEEN, explores some of the hidden gems of New York City through a series of online videos. Offbeat locales such as the tombs and catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery and Brooklyn Navy Yard — places likely overlooked by even native New Yorkers — are profiled. (Link courtesy of @fgeorge)



While the sights and sounds of NYC are fascinating, it is the city's more than 8 million residents that bring it to life. Tough Times, a project created by students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, uses a combination of print stories, Flash, audio slideshows and video to tell the stories of New Yorkers struggling with the current economic crisis.

For example, the harrowing story of Maisha Morales, a single mother from Brooklyn, is detailed in a print story, but her raw emotion emerges from the accompanying video. A thoughtful analysis of Morales' situation is explained in an easy-to-navigate Flash infographic.



Local publication amNY also has a comprehensive collection of interactive photo slideshows and video, including "Young and Muslim in NYC," a series of video interviews complemented by traditional print stories.



Of course, one cannot discuss multimedia in New York City without mentioning the New York Times. The new media powerhouse is known for its captivating projects that explore global and national issues, but some of its most intriguing are those that focus on the city itself.

One such example is One in 8 Million, a series of audio slideshows that explore the lives of average New Yorkers. Stories include those of Melissa Dixson, a painter turned taxidermist and Christian Hubert, a bicyclist who suffers from vertigo.



The project is reminiscent of the Going to the End of the Line photo story featured in this post. The project focused on stations at the end of train lines where most commuters never venture.

The Water Dance, another photo slideshow from the New York Times, takes a simple, often overlooked moment and visualizes it as a metaphor for humanity. The result is one of the most captivating multimedia pieces to emerge this year.



One point should remain clear: While New York attracts creative minds from all over the world, the city does not have a monopoly on multimedia journalism. Large papers like the New York Times may have vast resources, but compelling multimedia projects can be created by anyone anywhere.

Have a multimedia story or project you're proud of? Share it in the comments and it just might be featured here on 10,000 Words.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• Multimedia: Chicago, in Color
• Innovative multimedia centered on the ordinary and everyday
• Exploring the human body through multimedia
• Great online journalism from non-traditional journalists
• Museums as Inspiration: Museum of Modern Art

Labels: audio, flash, maps, photos, video

A picture is worth a thousand words, but what about multiple photos that have been merged together?



The above photo of New York's Times Square by photographer Peter Funch is a stunning example of composite photography, or multiple photos take over time that have been digitally stitched together.

Equally fascinating photos have been created by (from top to bottom) Tom Mason, Ben Zvan and Ho-Yeol Ryu.







The above photo of a series of planes taking off from a single runway is arresting and like many similar photographs in the genre, was likely created with a good dose of Photoshop.

Composite photography mirrors panoramic imagery in which a series of photos is stitched together to give a wider perspective. Both types of photography can be created digitally, the former by combining a series of photos shot in one location to merge time. A similar effect can be created using multiple exposure or combination printing, both of which are explained in detail here. The result is a single image that more accurately represents the vibrancy of and goings-on at a single location.

The same principles of composite photography can be applied to motion photography as shown in the video below. To illustrate the difficulty of one level of the video game Mario World, 134 attempts to best the round were merged into a single video. The result is both unique and telling and the complex juju required to create the video, a full explanation of which can be found here, is worth a read.



One example of composite photography's place in the newsroom is this David Bergman's photo of the recent presidential inauguration. The technique can also be used to enhance sports/action photography, as evidenced in the photo below by wootang71 (more sequence photos can be found here).



It is essential to note that composite photography skirts the line between photograph and illustration and in a news context should be labeled as the latter. However, this shouldn't discourage photographers from trying the technique and adding a new dimension to their work.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• 6 Creative approaches to photography
• Essential resources for panoramic photography
• 4 Sites for viewing panoramas (and 3 ways to create them)
• 12 Creative uses of time-lapse photography (and 4 ways to create it)
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane

Labels: photos

A news story that will make national or international headlines is breaking. Quick...what do you do? If you don't have already have a game plan for how to report a crisis online, now's the time to start making preemptive plans. Most newsrooms already have reporters to turn to for print stories and broadcast news coverage, but here are few multimedia components to consider so the internet audience is informed as well.

Maps

The first multimedia component that should be added to a breaking news story is a map that shows exactly where the incident occurred. This can be as simple as a computer-generated map created with Illustrator or mapping software, like the one included in this BBC News story to illustrate where Burma and its 2007 protests took place. Or it could be an uncomplicated Google Map like the one adjacent to a Record story on a bear attack.



Interactive Google map mashups can be created fairly quickly with a number of online programs, the easiest of which is likely FM Atlas. Addresses and locations can be plotted on a map and made ready to embed within minutes. Just be sure to verify the location before posting it online to avoid the Georgia/Georgia screwups that happened last year.


Flash animation/timeline

If a major catastrophe occurs, people want to know how it happened. A very basic interactive graphic or even a flat infographic should be built to better internet readers understanding of the crisis. Examples include washingtonpost.com's interactive explanation of the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse and the Press & Sun Bulletin's illustration of last week's Binghamton shooting. Flash graphics can be overwrought and complicated if you allow them to be, but sometimes it just takes a simple illustration to communicate a story. The interactive can be embellished later when time is less of a factor.



Audio slideshow

As disasters occur, telling photos come streaming in from staff photographers or from wire services. Creating an audio slideshow that combines these photos with raw or edited audio collected by field reporters is a fast way to showcase both the story and the emotion behind it. Also, interactive slideshows are often the most popular stories on any news site.

A simple slideshow, with or without audio, can be created using a pre-existing template or with slideshow maker Soundslides. Examples include Reuters' slideshow of reporter David Gray's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and its recent encapsulation of the Italian earthquake.



Resources

Once readers are informed of how a disaster happened, it's up the news outlet to provide resources to victims and their families. Post-Hurricane Katrina, MSNBC put together message boards and useful links, as well as comprehensive list of ways readers could donate to relief efforts. In the midst of the fires that raged through California, the Los Angeles Times created a Google map of evacuation centers that showed exactly where victims could go for help.



Landing page

Most importantly, all the print stories, multimedia, interactive graphics and blog posts should be aggregated on one page to serve as a single destination for those looking for information related to the crisis. Not only does a landing page make content easily accessible but it makes the hunt for the latest news less of a struggle when time may be a factor.


Also on 10,000 Words

• 5 Ways to create a Google Map in minutes
• How to save time when using Flash
• How the internet is changing how natural disasters are covered
• Landmark moments in citizen journalism
• 7 Eye-popping interactive timelines (and 3 ways to create one)
• How to quickly track natural disasters online

Labels: audio, flash, maps, photos, site management

Online photo slideshows are an increasing popular tool by online news sites to illustrate news stories and showcase their best photography. Photo slideshow creators like Soundslides and other online alternatives make creating them easier, but not necessarily better. Here are some of the common pitfalls to avoid:


1. Too many or too few photos

Too many photos crammed into one slideshow usually means each photo only appears for a second or two, barely enough time for the viewer to take each one in. Too few photos means each photo remains on screen way too long, making the slideshow feel drawn out and boring. Avoid either extreme by editing the narration or selecting only the most relevant and necessary photos. Two to three minutes in length is best. Any longer risks losing the viewers attention.


2. Unmatched photos

If the subject is discussing their cat, don't show a duck. If they are describing a sad time in their life, don't show a photo from their bachelor party. Like in broadcast news packages, the photos that appear should reflect what the subject is discussing. More commonly, some slideshows will use an interview as narration, but won't visually identify the person who is speaking until midway through the slideshow, if at all. Whenever possible, include a photo of the speaker at the beginning of their talk so the viewer knows who is speaking.


3. No captions

A pretty picture is just that without identification of what is happening in the photo. Write clear and concise captions for each photo, including the people, places or things being shown and the photographers' names, to take the guesswork out of viewing a slideshow.


4. Awkward transitions

The voice of the narrator is saying something poignant and yikes! the photo has changed mid-sentence or mid-thought. Soundslides and some other slideshow editors allow the user to adjust the length of each slide. If the slideshow has narration, tweak each slide to fade in or out during natural pauses and breaks to lessen the chance for awkward transitions.


5. Overpowering music

Many slideshow editors add royalty-free music to their projects to support the narration and heighten the drama. Unfortunately, because many forget to adjust audio levels, the music drowns out the narrator or interviewee. Use a sound editing program like Audacity or similar programs to edit the audio before it is added to the slideshow and ensure that what's important — the human voice — isn't being overshadowed.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• Move over Soundslides: 4 Free online slideshow creators
• 9 Telltale signs of amateur video
• 30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)
• How to create, edit and embed audio for free

Labels: audio, photos

News photography at its core illustrates concepts that cannnot be conveyed through the written word. As such, some of the most basic but compelling stories can be told through a series of photos.

"Boxer" is an example of such a photo story: Photographer Nicolai Howalt captures adolescent pugilists before and after their bouts. In print, the story read something like "Little Johnny's cropped blond locks were now wild and tussled," but by comparing the two photos side by side, viewers can form their own reactions.



The same simplistic approach can be seen in AirlineMeals.net, a photo project that catalogs thousands of modern and historic food offerings. The site serves as a unique database for those who wish to know their culinary fate before they board the plane.

As technology enters into the picture, the possibilities for still-based photography become even more open. Photographer Nicole Young set up her Nikon D200 to take intermittent snapshots of her time cleaning her kitchen. While the resulting video sounds simple, it is evidence that time-lapse photography is a great way to document events as they happen over time. The same time lapse idea was applied by father Francis Vachon to capture his very active infant son, the results of which are humorous, yet enlightening.



Some of the best ideas are the most simple. Greg Peverill-Conti aims to photograph 1,000 faces and naturally uses Flickr as the place to host the collection. While there are few criteria of who gets photographed, the idea could easily translate into a news project that captures the faces of a particular community.




Simon Høgsberg, whose work was previously covered in this previous post, has created "We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence," a 100-meter long panoramic photograph of 178 people shot in the same spot over the course of 20 days.




Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• 12 Creative uses of time-lapse photography (and 4 ways to create it)
• Photojournalism: Where to find the best in news photography
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane

Labels: photos, video

The photo slideshow has revolutionized online journalism and can be seen on nearly every major news site. Many are created in Flash and many more are created using the popular program Soundslides. The problem is building slideshows in Flash can be daunting for the non-technical reporter and Soundslides, while extraordinarily simple to use, costs money. Because many newsrooms face financial difficulty, journalists must cut corners where they can.

In that spirit, the following free online slideshow creators allow the user to blend photos and audio to create embeddable slideshows without spending money on software. Each slideshow was created with the same seven photos (source) and 30-second audio clip. Which one is best? You be the judge.

PhotoPeach

How easy was it? Very. PhotoPeach's Java-based uploader and drag-and-drop interface make creating slideshows a breeze. However, users must use audio that currently exists on YouTube, meaning you can theoretically host your audio on YouTube and then search for it. But because the audio is not synced with the actual slideshow, if the viewer were to pause the audio would continue.

Joggle

(slideshow autoplays, click to view embedded version)



How easy was it? Joggle's interface isn't very intuitive and takes a minute to get used to. Fundamentally, the user uploads photos, audio or video and arranges them into a slideshow. The result looks amazing, but the embedded slideshow a) lets the users toggle the speed of the presentation b) autoplays the audio which is a sure way to drive users crazy and c) plays the audio on a loop. Joggle is still in beta, so hopefully some of those quirks will eventually be corrected.

Flowgram

How easy was it? By far the simplest and most user-friendly slideshow creator of those reviewed. The upload and arrangement was much like a friendly customer service agent helping the process along. Flowgram has many features other online slideshow creators don't: the ability to set individual times for each photo, synced audio that can be uploaded by the user and an uncomplicated drag-and-drop layout. Users can also record audio directly into the slideshow.

The only two qualms are that the resulting widget didn't show the uploaded photos (kind of important) so another working slideshow was embedded as a demo. Also, there is no way to add captions (Flowgram does offer a notes feature, but it is very bulky), but this can be circumvented by adding captions in an image editing program.

Animoto

How easy was it? Too easy. Animoto bills itself as "the end of slideshows" and while the creation process is quick and painless, it's mostly because the online tool does the customization for you. Instead a simple fade-in and fade-out, Animoto "feels" each photo and creates a visually dazzling slideshow based on the audio you provide. While this is great for the casual slideshow maker, professional journalists may not find this tool quite as useful.


And there you have it. The aforementioned tools may not be a replacement for Soundslides, but they do the trick. For innovative alternatives to the photo slideshow, check out Vuvox and Capzles, two sites for presenting slideshows in timeline form. For tips on what makes a great photo slideshow, check out this Poynter column.


Also on 10,000 Words
• How to create, edit and embed audio for free
• 7 Eye-popping interactive timelines (and 3 ways to create one)
• Where to find the best in Flash journalism
• 5 Ways to create a Google Map in minutes

Labels: audio, photos

"Every other artist begins with a blank canvas, a piece of paper... the photographer begins with the finished product." — Edward Steichen


"One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind. To live a visual life is an enormous undertaking, practically unattainable. I have only touched it, just touched it." — Dorothea Lange


"The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed." — Anne Geddes


"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson


"I am not interested in rules or conventions. Photography is not a sport." — Bill Brandt


"Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is... the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own." — Richard Avedon


"There is a job to be done...to record the truth. I want to wake people up!" — James Nachtwey


"Let us first say what photography is not. A photograph is not a painting, a poem, a symphony, a dance. It is not just a pretty picture, not an exercise in contortionist techniques and sheer print quality. It is or should be a significant document, a penetrating statement, which can be described in a very simple term - selectivity." — Berenice Abbott


"My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain." — Helmut Newton


"The photographer begins to feel big and bloated and so big he can't walk through one of these doors because he gets a good byline. He gets notices all over the world and so forth... but they're really... the important people are the people he photographs. They are what make him." — Gordon Parks


"If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participating in things. They become professional observers." — Robert Mapplethorpe


"You don't have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing stranger than truth." — Annie Leibovitz


"Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera." — Yousuf Karsh


"When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear." — Alfred Eisenstaedt


Also on 10,000 Words:
• 30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)
• Better Days: The Golden Age of Newspapers
• Photojournalism: Where to find the best in news photography

Labels: photos

Photography

By now you've probably already seen CNN's mind-numbingly detailed photograph created from thousands of user-submitted photos and blended using Photosynth technology. But have you seen the following interactive image created by photographer David Bergman?



Bergman created the high-resolution image by combining over 200 images using Gigapan's stitching software (more on Gigapan here). The Associated Press also has an interactive, high-res image for users to play around with.

Leave it to the New York Times to take an already incredible technology one step further. In its interactive inauguration photo, users can click a name or hover over a person in the photo to identify who they are. The usual suspects, including senators and dignitaries, can be easily spotted.



The Washington Post takes a different approach by composing a mosaic created from thousands of photos shot by citizen journalists and staff photographers from both the Post and the Associated Press.



Sometimes a good photo is just a photo, no interactive whizbang required. The Big Picture has a great collection of inauguration day photos, including the now instantly recognizable satellite photo of crowds gathered to hear Barack Obama's inauguration speech (Click here for an explanation of how the estimated 1 million people in attendance were counted).

Speech/Word Analysis

After the inauguration, 50 million word clouds emerged, most created using Wordle, that analyzed Barack Obama's now historic speech. Once again, the New York Times took the word analysis concept to another level with "Inaugural Words: 1789 to the Present," a historical analysis of commonly recurring words used in presidential speeches, beginning with George Washington.



The real innovation, however, came from sites like ManyEyes, which visualized the speech as an interactive word tree, and Delve Networks which applied its audio search technology to extract not only the words that were spoken, but where they can be found in the address. Give the technology a spin by searching the video below for words like "America" or "hope."

Citizen Journalism

The Washington Post made use of its TimeSpace technology (previously covered here) to create a mapped record of inauguration photos and video. TimeSpace: Inauguration allows anyone to search through the geotagged coverage in a multi-layered interactive environment.



Twitter was a hotbed of exchanges about the excitement surrounding the inauguration and no one knows this better than FlowingData. To visualize the Twitter buzz surrounding the event, the site tracked positive responses to the inauguration all over the world in what, as it progresses, looks like fireworks. (Click image to view project)



To make sure now President Obama sticks to his more than 500 campaign promises, PolitiFact will be keeping tabs on his administration with the Obameter, a digital counter that lists each and every one and whether it has been fulfilled or not. So far Obama has kept seven and 14 more are still in the works.

And finally, proof that print ain't dead (yet). Click the image below to view the hundreds of newspapers around the world on which the inauguration of President Obama is front page news.




Also on 10,000 Words:
• 15 Ways to follow the 2008 election online
• Essential resources for panoramic photography
• 7 Eye-popping interactive timelines (and 3 ways to create one)
• Word cloud analysis of 2008 DNC Speeches

Labels: citizen journalism, database, maps, photos, social networking

Obama's Team

Sure you could read the in-depth reports or watch the tiresome press conferences to find out more about Barack Obama's cabinet team members. Or you can just use the interactive infographic from Spiegel Online that uses a carousel menu to illustrate the President-elect's political circle (learn how to create a similar effect here). The text is in German, but you don't have to speak the language to understand how engaging this project is.

Going to the End of the Line

Anyone who was ever lived or visited New York will recognize areas like Canarsie and Far Rockaway as a sort of a mythical no man's land, the end of the line where many subway riders rarely venture. The New York Times brought these and several other train stops to life through a compelling photo project that functions as an multi-level slideshow.

wordia

The dictionary has been around for centuries, but even its current digital form not much has changed since they were first being printed. Wordia is giving the lexicon a Web 2.0 makeover by providing a forum for anyone to upload what particular words mean to them. "Refuge" is commonly defined as "shelter or protection," but the user in the screenshot below describes refuge as "jumping into a hot shower after being trapped outside in the cold for hours." You won't find that in Webster's.

Breathing Earth

Because we can't physically see CO² emissions, it's hard to imagine the possible destruction the gas is causing the planet. The Breathing Earth simulation attempts to visualize the effects of greenhouse gases and blends an interactive infographic with changing statistics.

Obama's "Whistle Stop" Train Tour

CNN again makes use of its iReport feature to let citizen journalists be the ones to capture Obama's ride on the rails as he made his way to Washington, D.C. User-generated video is blended with CNN reports and mapped to give the user an interactive feel for the journey.

AfricaMap

There are likely hundreds of thousands of maps that document the African continent, but internet users can find all the map they'll need at this Harvard-created interactive project. The simple map can become more and more complex as various levels of data are layered on top of each other. Below, a 2007 index of Africa's power plants rests atop a 1770 historical map.

Perspectives

Imagine talking heads who don't talk at all. The video series from BaseMotion asks several people for their opinion on an issue and instead of showing their answers, shows only the pauses, breaks, ums and aahs. The stripped-down interview is a demonstration of human idiosyncrasies and reactions, rather than an attempt to gather opinions.

Whack-A-Bone

It's a human anatomy lesson cleverly disguised as a game! Players attempt to drag and drop bones in their correct locations while facing a timer. After playing the game, you'll not only know where the phalanges and humerus bones are, but you'll be able to identify them in record time.



Also on 10,000 Words:

• Exploring the human body through multimedia
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane
• Online news games are fun (and informative!)

Labels: citizen journalism, database, flash, photos, video

You've seen panoramas used to illustrate the wondrous beauty of the world such as the interactive landscapes of Australia available at Panedia, the beautiful 360º images at Virtual Africa and the hundreds of images available at 360Cities.net (including this stunning image of London on New Year's night).



In fact, panoramic technology has grown so rapidly that many long-existing tools for creating virtual images have grown in popularity even in the last few months since this last post on panoramas. Here are some of the useful tools and resources for those interested in visualizing their own interactive corner of the world:


Software

Image editors can take their pick from any of the available panorama programs including WPanorama, hugin and Microsoft Image Composite Editor. These tools offer a dizzying number of features and can be used to create anything from basic image stitching to, in some cases, 360º imaging and perspective correction.

Photoshop CS users needn't download any new software — the program comes equipped with Photomerge, a useful tool for creating panoramas.


iPhone

Can your phone do this?

Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles; Mouse over to pan

Creating panoramas doesn't necessarily mean expensive equipment or cameras. The above panoramic image was created with the $3 iPhone app Pano, color corrected in Photoshop and uploaded into Flash (download the .FLA here). Pano makes stitching easy by showing an overlay of the edge of the last photograph, enabling seamless transitions.

Other iPhone applications include PanoLab (free) and Panorama ($9.99). If you'd rather view panoramic images instead of creating them, there's also the free application Pangea VR.


Social networking

In today's web 2.0 world, it's not enough to simply create and post panoramas on your site or blog, you must also share them with other panoramists. GigaPan provides such a space for users to view and share brilliant panoramas from all over the world. Read more about the technology behind GigaPan at contentious.com.

Photosynth offers a similar experience for those with Windows Live accounts. Users can download the available editing software and allow others to view the results.


Blogs

For constantly updated information on the application of panoramas to news photography, check out The Panoramist, an essential blog for fans of the medium. Blogger Gary O'Brien shares fascinating tidbits about panoramic photography as well as panoramas created by news organizations. Panoramic technologist may also be interested in panospace, which touches on useful equipment, among other things.


Have you created an amazing panorama or spotted one on the web? Share it with us in the comments!

Labels: flash, photos

The sports section is often the most popular, yet most homogeneous, part of most online news sites. Most online sports coverage is an unenthusiastic mishmash of stats, photos and blogs, with the occasional podcast thrown in. Online sports fans demand more sophisticated coverage and news organizations can provide it by covering the fans' home base: the sports arena.

Ballena Technologies takes advantage of online technology by offering virtual tours of a variety of American sports arenas — from basketball to hockey and everything in between — including one for the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland As baseball team (pictured below). In each Flash-based tour, users can hover over a seat and find out the price for that section or click to check out the view from that seat.



The New York Times has taken the idea of a virtual tour and pumped some adrenaline into it with its tour of the Hahnenkamm downhill ski course. The two minute-long computer-animated simulation is narrated by champion skier Doug Lewis and brings some insight into what otherwise is an indescribable experience.



Obviously these web projects take time and money to create, but documenting a sports arena can still be done on a smaller (and less expensive) scale.

Earlier this year, the Sacramento Bee produced a Flash-based interactive guide to the city's public courses. Sports photographer Kari Kuuka snapped some eye-popping panoramic images of the Beijing Olympics, as did the New York Times.



Similar panoramas can be created using a digital camera and stitching software or a specially built panoramic cameras like those available from Gigapan (More on panoramas here).

And of course sports coverage and maps go hand in hand. TennisMaps is an online searchable database of US tennis courts. Some of the world's motor racing circuits are viewable on a map created by Grand Prix Live. And college football fans can find nearby eateries, hotels and more at MapGameDay.com.

Providing a lasting resource to sports fans doesn't have to be a time-consuming endeavor. To demonstrate this, I have built a handy interactive map of the home arenas of every NFL (American football), MLB (baseball) and NBA (basketball) team. The entire process took about a day, but could theoretically last forever. Click the small version below to view the full map.

Labels: maps, photos

The following slideshow consists of photos from Google's Life Magazine archive. If you have yet to check out the database of photographs that span several decades, you're missing out on a piece of history.





Previously on 10,000 Words:

• Photojournalism: Where to find the best in news photography
• 30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)

Labels: photos

Photo mosaics are a great way to visualize large amounts of content, yet many designers haven't used them since their heyday in the late '90s (example: The Truman Show poster).

Mosaics can be used a visual timeline, like this Madonna retrospective produced for Entertainment Weekly or, by importing a mosaic into Flash, can add an interactive element to the same idea like this Beyonce music video retrospective.




Visual news search engine 10x10 also uses an interactive photo mosaic to illustrate the news (more on the site here).




The aforementioned EW illustrations were created with AndreaMosaic, which is the best and most user-friendly software for creating mosaics. Simply download the free software, designate the folder of images to use, tweak some numbers and voila! — you've got a mosaic. Alternatively, IrfanView is also available for download.

There are also a few online tools for creating mosaics, including PicArtia, Pixisnap, Mosaic Maker (which also works with Flickr photos).

Or, if you just want to kill a little time and have fun with photo mosaics, there's Montage-a-google. Enter a word or phrase and the app uses Google's Image Search to create a montage of images. The service is down for repairs, but is definitely worth a bookmark.

Labels: design, photos

The internet is full of photojournalists that are capturing the world in new and innovative ways. The following sites are showcasing the best of the medium and are an inspiration to professional and aspiring news photographers everywhere:

WeSay

WeSay does something rarely seen on the internet: news photos from mainstream media are shown off side by side with the work of amateur photographers. The result is a site that is as visually arresting as the photography it showcases.

Photos that Changed the World

Remember Kevin Carter's 1994 photo of the African child and the vulture? Or the 1945 photo of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima? This site does and aggregates the photos that have made an undeniable impact on the world.

Vanity Fair: The 25 Best News Photographs

If you prefer your world-changing photographs in slide show form, Vanity Fair has brought together the famous snapshots of news subjects like Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Hindenburg.

The Digital Journalist

Billed as "the monthly online magazine for visual journalism," The Digital Journalist brings together the best and latest in photojournalism, including the touching behind-the-scenes gallery of President-elect Obama by Time photographer Callie Shell.

Google: LIFE Photo Archive

Search through LIFE Magazine's famous photos and unreleased gems with Google's newly-released archive.

The 37th Frame

The 37th Frame is a source for the best photojournalism from around the web and encourages readers to submit their own.

MediaStorm

Traditional news photography is given a multimedia kick. Stunning photographs are paired with audio to give the viewer a more detailed depiction of each news subject.

Flickr: Photojournalism 2.0

Citizen journalists are running the show at one of many Flickr groups dedicated to photojournalism. The collected works are not surprisingly just as good, if not better, than the pros.

The Big Picture

The Big Picture, a blog-style site with amazing photos from around the world, has been around since May, but made a big splash during the Olympics with beautiful photos of the opening ceremony. The tradition continues with photos of subjects ranging from the California wildfires to the Red Bull Air Race.




Digital Photography has a great list of mainstream media sites illustrating the news through photos. For those photojournalists struggling with ethics in the digital age, this article is a must-read.

Labels: citizen journalism, photos

Below are some of the best photography blogs on the web. Have a favorite? Share it in the comments.

1. Positive Negative



2. Flak Photo



3. Lanpher Photoblog



4. Verve Photo



5. The Occasional Odd Crop



6. Cazurro dot com


7. Puja Parakh



8. These Fleeting Moments



9. Static



10. Daily Dose of Imagery

More photoblogs after the jump

11. Brook Pifer



12. Deceptive Media



13. The Narrative



14. Mute



15. Joe's NYC



16. Chromogenic.net



17. Orbit1



18. Thinsite



19. Stuck in Customs



20. Alakija.com



21. Bluejake



22. Wink



23. Mexican Pictures



24. Smallest Photo



25. Delineated.com



26. Aan de dijk



27. Caitriona.net



28. Noushin Blog



29. Shahin Edalati



30. fiftymillimeter

Want to create a great photoblog? Check out Pro Blog Design's ten tips for designing photoblogs, including advice on color choice and captions, and stay up to date with the latest happenings around the photo blogosphere at I Love Photoblogs


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 21 Free online photo editing tools
• Essential resources for panoramic photography
• 6 Creative approaches to photography
• Create brilliant multimedia projects from the mundane
• 10 Tips for taking better photos

Labels: photos

The power of the net to provide more innovative political coverage than what is possible in traditional forms of media has never been more evidenced than in this political season. Major news organizations and citizen journalists alike have harnessed the power of the web to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the US presidential election than has ever been possible. Here are some of the best ways to follow the political landscape online:

1. perspctv

If there weren't 14 other sites on this list then perspctv would be the one stop for any election news seeker. The site culls the latest news, blog posts and tweets and provides insightful charts and maps as well as an embeddable widget for keeping track of it all.

2. Patchwork Nation

We know the candidates are campaigning all over the country, but who are they campaigning in front of? The Christian Science Monitor has the answer. The site's analysis shows both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama spent a good chunk of their time in wealthy suburbs and big cities.

3. Election '08 Twitter Chatter

Everyone knows Twitter is abuzz with political views, skews and insights, including the observations of Twitter stars FakeSarahPalin and CNN's Rick Sanchez. Twitter Chatter is one way to wrangle these conversations as well as to see on a map where they are coming from.

4. FiveThirtyEight.com

FiveThirtyEight.com is the dream of any political statistics hound. The site has the latest polls, the latest news, the latest charts, graphs, statistics, hypotheticals...the latest everything. It's like a political rabbit hole...check it out only if you have time to spare.

5. Map of 2008 Presidential Contributions

"Show me the money!" Okay it's 2008, not 1996, but if you're curious to know where the campaign money is coming from, Political Base has you covered with a well-designed Google map as well as a list of big name contributors and a handy search form.

6. Tube the Vote!

Tube the Vote strives to provide a balanced view of issues that are affecting this year's presidential election by scouring the web for video, blog posts, Flickr photos and more that celebrate or repudiate either side.

7. Candidates' life journeys

Get to know the presidential and vice presidential candidates a little better by following the milestones of their lives on a Google Map. Anyone can follow the journey of John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin or Joe Biden.

8. PolitiFact's The Attack Files

Voters tired of the spin and searching for the truth will appreciate PolitiFact's analysis of recent campaign assertions. Was Sen. Obama referring to Sarah Palin when he mentioned "lipstick on a pig?" No way, says PolitiFact. Does Sen. McCain support tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas? Not that simple, according to the site.

9. Election 08

iPhone users will be glad to know that they don't have to be at a computer to track the latest on the 2008 presidential race. The iPhone application is a great source for tracking the latest polls as long as you don't check to often — Election 08 is sometimes behind in its updates.

10. McCainPedia/Obamapedia

To say these two wikis are unbiased would be a big misstatement — the former is run by the DNC, the other is populated by Obama fans. Still, using modern technology to encourage citizen participation is never a bad thing.

11. What Would You Say to the President?

This genius bit of citizen participation encourages everyone to not only speak their mind to President Bush, but to presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama as well. Recent responses — which are themselves wholly interesting and telling — are displayed on each page.

12. Google Maps (campaign trail)

This Google map knows where the candidates will be and when and makes that information at the click of a button. Campaign appearances for both candidates are listed in reverse chronological order as well as marked on a map.

13. Google Maps (video)

Video of campaign speeches from both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain are tracked and mapped on these map mashups that incorporate video from YouTube.

14. Everymoment Now

Everymoment Now uses a unique graph to chart the number of times a candidate was mentioned on any particular day since August of this year. Clicking on a bar in the chart reveals news stories that were published that day as well as more detailed charts and graphs.

15. ABC News' Match-o-Matic

If you plan on voting in the upcoming US election, but still don't know which candidate to vote for, the Match-o-Matic is sure to help. The humorous, interactive quiz gives the user two quotes — one from Sen. Obama and one from Sen. McCain — and the user selects which one they agree with most without knowing who said it. The final tally reveals which presidential candidate's platform the user is more likely to side with.

Labels: citizen journalism, database, maps, mobile, photos, social networking, video, widgets, wiki

As recently as a year or two ago, coverage of a natural disaster simply meant a reporter in a wet slicker being whipped around by gale-force winds.

Today's news audience demands immediate and hyperlocal coverage and the internet is here to give it to them. A recent study shows that people are more likely to turn to social networks like Twitter and Facebook than traditional news sources in the event of an emergency.

There have already been a number of blogs created exclusively for coverage of Hurricane Gustav, which was only on the radar a little over a week ago. These include the Hurricane Gustav Online Newsroom created by the Red Cross and Hurricane Gustav Resources maintained by OneStorm.

However, we are now living in a digital world where even blogs can't beat the immediacy of Twitter. There already a number of feeds on the microblogging service dedicated to Gustav, including news from the Red Cross, the SunHerald based in Mississippi's Gulf Coast, and the Chicago Tribune's GustavReporter.

Because of the fast breaking news happening on Twitter, major news media have already started to reference incoming tweets on their broadcasts, as evidenced in this story by Mike Elgan. You can follow updates about the hurricane by searching Twitter for "gustav" or joining the conversation by including the hastag #gustav in your tweets.

As recently as a year ago, many news outlets were reluctant to add their content to public video sharing sites like YouTube, but now those mainstream organizations are often ahead of the pack. The Associated Press has already posted a number of video clips to YouTube, which fit right in with the citizen journalist-created videos that exist on the site.

 

The way to show the path of a hurricane on a news broadcast used to be a relatively simple graphic that highlighted a large swirling cloud on a colorful map. The net has extended the possibility of what this map can be. MSNBC's Hurricane Tracker is a user-friendly interactive map that not only shows where Gustav is headed, but a host of other data to accompany it. The Palm Beach Post also has a Gustav tracking map, this one showing the hurricane as it relates to the southeast portion of the US.





CNN's iReport has also made use of maps, but in a different way. Photos and video from "iReporters," or citizen journalists who are in the middle of the storm, are geotagged and posted on the map where others can view by area and leave comments.



The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has gone all out and provided every type of news coverage imaginable, including video, a variety of maps, constantly updated blogs, archival footage and more, in addition to its traditional print stories.

Other useful online tools that likely wouldn't have existed a few years ago include a Google Maps mashup of evacuation destinations and the HurriCam, a live streaming webcam stationed in southernmost Louisiana. And because average Joes are no longer content to sit around and wait for mainstream media to report on the news that matters to them, the Ning-based social network Gustav Information Center has been setup to provide a forum for Hurricane Gustav-related news. Credentialed reporters and citizen journalists alike will also find the social network Storm Tools for Journalists incredibly useful.

Finally, there has been a recent trend in newsrooms to provide links to organizations that provide aid to those devastated by natural disasters. After the recent cyclone in Myanmar, many online news sites like the New York Times streamlined the donation process.

Labels: citizen journalism, maps, news on the news, photos, social networking, video

Covert Camcorder Spy Sunglasses
Brickhouse Security | $299.95

These shades were made for spyin' and that's just what they'll do. But don't let the "spy" part dissuade you. These beefed up Oakley-style sunglasses can record first person perspective video so the world can be seen through your (or someone else's) eyes.



Bluetrek Levis Bluetooth Headset
Wireless Ground | $79.95 (On sale for $64.95)

This Bluetooth headset's dog tag look is a lot more stylish than others in the market, yet it still offers 7 hours of talk time and more than 10 days of standby time.




120 Tri-lens Stereo Camera
3D World | TBD

This three-lensed camera takes stereoscopic images that create the illusion of 3D photographs. Perfect for the photographer looking to give his or her work a little punch.





Olympus Waterproof Digital Camera
Amazon | $348.95

The waterproof camera is perfect for capturing those splashy summer photos and be used year-round wherever water is involved. According to the manufacturer the camera is also shockproof, freezeproof, and sand/dustproof and can be used underwater up to 10 feet/3 meters.



Snowflake Mobile Professional Microphone
Blue Microphones

The professional grade cardioid mic connects to your computer through USB port which makes it especially useful for recording podcasts or VoIP. The Snowflake is plug and play and greatly reduces the need for cords and other clutter.


Also on 10,000 Words:

• 7 Gadgets for the eccentric journalist
• 6 Must-have gadgets for journalists
• Inexpensive gadgets for backpack journalists

Labels: audio, photos, video

From Digital Photography School: 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits

The Rule of Thirds is one that can be effective to break - placing your subject either dead centre can sometimes create a powerful image - or even creative placement with your subject right on the edge of a shot can sometimes create interesting images.


From PopPhoto: How To Shoot Cityscapes

To capture the motion, I like to go with the longest possible exposure time. From my experience with digital cameras, 8 seconds is about the maximum exposure time I can record before digital noise becomes an issue.



From Photojojo: How to Mount a Camera on a Bike

Cameras are cool and bikes are cool, and the two together are downright freezing. Plus, the Tour de France is in full swing. It's the season of the bike!


From Instructables: How to take awesome night photos without a tripod

Relax, you don't have to run out and buy a new fancy-shmancy digital camera to do this. Most digital cameras that aren't the bottom-of-the-barrel or older than 3 years old will let you do this.


From idigitalphoto: Improve Your Photos 60 Seconds at a Time

If you use your camera's red-eye reduction setting when taking flash photographs of people you avoid red-eye, but there's a delay in taking the shot which may cause you to miss the moment.


From Jake Ludington: How to mount a camera on your car window

Several years ago, I ran across a great solution for doing exactly this....


From Digital Photography School: How to Reduce Camera Shake

As often as possible pull your elbows in to your body and exhale completely before depressing the shutter. When you're working with a wide aperture or low shutter speed (or both), even a breath can introduce shake.


From Unpluggd: How to take great nighttime photos

Almost all cameras today have a nighttime option on their cameras, so take advantage of it. It sets everything for you so you don't have to sit there fiddling with buttons.


Flickr photo by DEMOSH used under Creative Commons license

Labels: photos

The recent launch of Apple's App Store means millions of iPhone users will have hundreds of handy applications available at their fingertips. Many of these apps make it easier bloggers and reporters to work on the go. For those that don't have an iPhone, perhaps it's time to considering purchasing one.

1. SpeakEasy Voice Recorder

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: $4.99

From the developer: Record and playback notes, reminders, or just about anything from your iPhone's built-in microphone. SpeakEasy gives you a recording studio that fits into your pocket. Intuitive and fun, SpeakEasy is the premier voice recorder for your iPhone.

• Record voice memos, reminders, lectures, meetings, or anything you wish.
• Add a title, comments, or even a photo from your photo library or camera while recording.
• Group and organize your recordings by category.
• Interruption protection lets you pick up and continue your recording after a phone call interruption.
• Pause and continue recording with a single touch.
• Playback and quickly scan your recordings with the touch slider.

2. Writing Pad

Average Rating: 4 Stars Price: Free

From the developer: Store notes and send email using ShapeWriter on your iPhone. ShapeWriter is a revolutionary text input technology that enables you to enter text into the iPhone by tracing word shapes rather than typing letters. Each shape traced on the soft keyboard with your finger is recognized as a word. Error correction is fast and easy. For rare names and acronyms, type only once and you will be able to shape write the next time. Shape writing is many times more efficient than letter-based handwriting recognition.

3. WordPress

Average Rating: 3½ Stars Price: Free

From the developer: Robust but simple to use, the WordPress for iPhone Open Source application allows you to create and edit content on your WordPress blog(s) with support for offline use. The app includes the following features:

• Support for WordPress.com blogs and self-installed WordPress blogs (version 2.5.1 and higher)
• Embedded Safari for true previews of posts
• Full support for tags and categories
• Photo support for both camera pics and library photos
• Support for multiple blogs
• Ability to password protect a post, save as draft, or mark for later review
• Auto-recovery feature recovers posts interrupted by phone calls

4. TypePad

Average Rating: 3½ Stars Price: $4.99

From the developer: Update your blog and share pictures with the world from wherever you are with TypePad. Built to connect with the award-winning TypePad blogging service, TypePad for iPhone and iPod touch enables you to...

• Write new posts for your blog in just a few seconds.
• Post photos to your blog from your iPhone's camera or photo albums.
• Alert your friends when you post to your blog by automatically updating Twitter.

With TypePad on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can share your ideas and photos as they happen, from wherever you are. And since it integrates with TypePad on your desktop, you get all the great features of the world's premier blogging service.

5. Twitterific

Average Rating: 3½ Stars Price: Free

From the developer: A fun application that lets you read and publish posts (called "tweets") on the Twitter social network. Stay connected with friends, family, and co-workers through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

6. Kyte Producer

Average Rating: 3½ Stars Price: Free

From the developer: Use your iPhone to instantly share photos and slideshows with your friends on Myspace, Facebook, or any website, blog or mobile phone.
Instantly broadcast pictures as you take them, or create slideshows from your iPhone's picture gallery. You can even chat with your audience in real-time!

7. EverNote

Average Rating: 3½ Stars Price: Free

From the developer: Evernote helps you remember everything from your real and digital life using whatever device or platform you find most convenient.

Evernote for iPhone is part of the Evernote service. With it, you can take notes, snap photos, create to-do lists. and record audio. Everything is seamlessly synchronized with the web, and made available across all the devices and platforms you use, including iPhone, Evernote for Mac, Evernote Web, and Evernote for Windows.
Snap photos of any thing from whiteboards to business cards to wine labels, and Evemote will make the text within those images searchable.

Need something from last week or last year? Evernote instantly connects to the Evernote web service so you can get what you need. Find what you're looking for by searching or filtering by tag, date, location. and more.

8. NetNewsWire

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: Free

From the developer: NetNewsWire is an RSS reader for iPhone — you can read news from the millions of weblogs and sites that publish RSS feeds.
Because NetNewsWire syncs with all of NewsGator's free RSS readers, if you read an item on your iPhone, you don't have to read it again on your Macintosh or other computer. It's automatically marked as read everywhere.
You can also save items for later via the Clippings feature, and any item you clip is available on your other computers. It's an easy way to save something to read when you have more time.

9. Jott for iPhone

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: Free

From the developer: Jott for iPhone is the ultimate mobile notepad that turns your voice into notes. Capture your to-dos as quickly as you can say" Get strawberries for dessert. "We transcribe your voice into text and place the resulting notes in your lists. When you complete items, just cross them off with a swipe of your finger.

All of your lists are backed up on Jott.com, where you can manage them when you are at your computer. For existing Jott customers, your lists and notes will load after you've downloaded the app (may take a minute if you have a lot).

10. Lonely Planet

Average Rating: 2½ Stars (Spanish) to 4½ Stars (Vietnamese) Price: $4.99

From the developer: Want to never be at a loss for words, no matter where you are in the world? With your iPhone, and a little help from Lonely Planet, you'll have the local lingo licked.

Lonely Planet, the world's leading travel company, now offers its 10 most popular phrasebooks in downloadable audio format, specially tailored to make the most of your iPhone. Don't just skim the surface on your next trip; with 530 spoken (and phonetically written) phrases in each guide, you can shop, socialise and shout like a native.





And a few worth copying by other news organizations...

Fox News UReport

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: Free

From the developer: FOX News wants you to report the news. The uReport Application for iPhone allows you to do just that. You can easily take or select pictures of news happening around you and send them directly to FOX News Channel from your iPhone. If we determine your submission is newsworthy, your photo could appear online or even on air!

MLB.com At Bat

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: $4.99


From the developer: MLB.com At Bat from MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball, delivers real-time scores and in-game video highlights of every game directly to your iPhone.

You'll get each highlight moments after the play happens so you never miss the important action. The application will automatically detect your network and play video encoded for either EDGE/3G or Wi-Fi bitrates. MLB.com At Bat will provide this breakthrough service for the remainder of the 2008 season - including playoffs and World Series. It's a whole new ballgame!

Now Local

Average Rating: 3 Stars Price: Free

From the developer: NowLocal is the best way to find news that's happening around you. Using the iPhone's location services, NowLocal automatically delivers you news from the best local sources, wherever you are. So as you move from place to place, it's easy to quickly check what's going on around you.




For more news iPhone news apps, click over to Mindy McAdams.

Labels: audio, blogging, mobile, photos, rss, social networking

As part of the "Multimedia Shootout" held at this week's UNITY conference, I created a project called "Chicago, in Color" aimed at celebrating diversity in Chicago. I knew the obvious story would be to go to Chinatown and barbershops to interview local residents, but I wanted to give a voice to those who couldn't speak for themselves: the monuments and statues of the Windy City. The entire project was created in a span of 48 hours.





Here's how I did it. There was no easily accessible existing resource on Chicago public art so I went to Flickr and searched for "Chicago statues" and "Chicago monuments." I whittled down the list to four: The Chicago Mural, The Spearman/The Bowman, Benito Juárez and Willie Dixon's Blues Garden. All four are mapped on an interactive Flash map (download FLA here). The accuracy of the map was created by using Photoshop to trace over an existing Google Map which was created in 5 minutes with MapBuilder (download PSD here). The icons were also silhouetted in Photoshop.


1. Chicago Mural

All the photos for the project were taken with an iPhone. Although the mural seems like one seamless photo it is actually several stitched together in Photoshop using layers and the cloning tool. The sliding element was created in Flash (download FLA here) using one of my favorite tutorials from kirupa.com on interactive image panning.


2. The Spearman/Bowman

The rotating effect used in this interactive image was created by taking one photo at a time with the iPhone and taking a step to the left or right to create the intervals. Because the photos didn't line up accurately, all of them were layered on top of each other in Photoshop (download PSD here) and resized and color corrected to ensure continuity. All the photos were then imported into Flash and distributed over several keyframes (download FLA here).



3. Benito Juárez

The Flash slideshow of the Mexican leader was perhaps the easiest facet of the project. The photos were taken with the iPhone, only one of which was (badly) color corrected, and uploaded into Flash (download FLA here). The audio was recorded with a $450 Olympus recorder in an empty room in my hotel, but could have just as easily been done with an El Cheapo recorder. The track was edited for pauses, ums and ahs in about ten minutes using Adobe Audition.


4. Willie Dixon's Blues Garden

The backlighting in this photo project could have been corrected with a more high end camera, but one was not available so I simply used the same technique I had used for The Spearman...click, step, click, step. The photos were also aligned in Photoshop and imported into a simple Flash slideshow (download FLA here). The music (and this is a big NO NO) was stripped from YouTube using online file converter Zamzar. It was then edited in Audition and uploaded into Flash. This is a likely violation of copyright law (even though the clip is less than 30 seconds), but in this case was only used for demonstration and will likely be pulled some time in the very near future.


Design

The design was created in Photoshop and exported as one big background image with a hole for the Flash projects (a big design no no, but less time-consuming than coding the necessary CSS). The menu on the right is actually a Flash project with transparent buttons overlaid on top of the Photoshopped background (download FLA here). The whole thing was cobbled together in Dreamweaver.


Needless to say, this was the only project of its kind submitted for the Multimedia Shootout which was both a blessing and a curse. The project, which mirrors what a mainstream news outlet is likely to produce, stood out from the other 20 entries that were simply slideshows or video. I acknowledge that everyone doesn't have such a varied skilled set, but this type of project can be put together with the right team and the right tools.

Labels: audio, flash, maps, photos

When Photoshop, GIMP or similar image editing programs aren't an option, there are more than a few online alternatives that will help make simple changes to your photos and images. No wacky morphing tools here; just the features journalists need.

1. Fotoflexer/Photobucket

Crop; resize; rotate; flip; hue/saturation/lightness; contrast; various Photoshop-like effects

2. Photoshop Express

Requires free registration; 2 GB storage; crop; rotate; resize; auto correct; exposure correction; red-eye removal; retouching; saturation; white balance; sharpen; color correction; various other effects

3. Picnik

"Auto-fix"; rotate; crop; resize; exposure correction; color correction; sharpen; red-eye correction

4. Pic Resize

Resize; crop; rotate; brightness/contrast; conversion; other effects

5. Snipshot

Resize; crop; enhancement features; exposure, contrast, saturation, hue and sharpness correction; rotate; grayscale

6. rsizr

For quick cropping and resizing

7. EasyCropper

For quick cropping and resizing

8. Pixenate

Enhancement features; crop; resize; rotate; color effects

9. Splashup

Requires free registration; Flash-based interface; resize; crop; layers; flip; sharpen; blur; color effects; special effects

10. FlauntR

Requires free registration; resize; rotate; crop; various effects



11 more imaging tools after the jump

11. LunaPic

Similar to Microsoft Paint; many features including crop, scale and rotate

12. Wiredness

Resize; crop; exposure correction; rotate; flip; color effects; brightness/contrast; sharpen; blur

13. 72photos

Requires free registration; 200 MB storage space; rotate; crop; effects including blur; picture enhancement

14. myImager.com

Resize; crop; rotate; flip; brightness/contrast, color adjustment; sharpen; blur; various effects; line drawing; border

15. Cellsea

Resize; crop; rotate; flip; blur; sharpen; color effects; various effects

16. VicImager

resize; flip; mirror; rotate; brightness/contrast, color adjustment; conversion; various effects

17. Onlinephototool.com

Similar to Microsoft Paint; many features including resize, crop, and filters

18. Online Image Editor

File conversion; crop; rotate; flip; color correction; border

19. Piccyfix

Rotate; flip; crop; colorize/tint; brightness; contrast; various effects; border; resize

20. pixer.us

Resize; crop; rotate; flip; brightness & contrast; saturation; color effects; blur, sharpen

21. FixPicture.org

Resize; crop; rotate; mirror effect; adjust brightness, contrast; various effects including sharpen and grayscale



Flickr photo by HailieJade used under Creative Commons license.

Also on 10,000 Words:

• 30 Amazing photoblogs (and a few tips for creating one)
• Move over Soundslides: 4 Free online slideshow creators
• 6 Creative approaches to photography
• 10 Tips for taking better photos

Labels: photos

The internet is a great tool for creating innovative journalism, but has a disadvantage over newspaper broadsheet in that large photos often look better when displayed over wide sheets of paper, rather than small computer screens. Panoramic photos and video make up for this by taking advantage of the interactivity of the web to provide a better view of the world around us.

What better subjects to view in panorama than the new seven wonders of the world? Panoramas.dk has full screen interactive views of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, The Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India and others. The awe-inspiring photographs or great for would-be travelers who don't the resources to explore the world in person.



One can also find beautiful 3D panoramic images of the Tower of David, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mahaneh Yehuda Market and more virtual tours of Jerusalem at 3Disrael.com.

The United Kingdom, more than 2,000 miles away from Israel, can be seen in a matter of seconds just by clicking on this incredible panoramic shot of London. Unlike the aforementioned panoramas, this one is static and simply requires use of the scrollbar to see such sites like the London Eye and London Bridge in high resolution detail.

Everyscape has taken the power of the panoramic image and paired it with travel information to bring to life popular destinations around the world. The images are embedded with icons that point to Yelp reviews, Flickr photos and even advertising because when it all comes down to it, journalism is a business.



Panoramas are not only great for travel-related multimedia projects, but can also be used to illustrate crime scenes, display murals, or even photograph a neighborhood a la Google Street View. To create panoramic images, one can either use a 360° panoramic camera like those available at Panoscan or simply use a digital camera and "stitch" the photos using either free software or an online tool like MagToo.

Labels: photos

1. Track flight patterns


2. Document the reconstruction of a Katrina-ravaged home



3. Capture the excitement of a carnival



4. Watch a fire burn



5. Shorten a cross-country trip to four minutes



6. View the progress of a winter storm



7. Track the activity in a busy parking lot



8. Watch the sun set



9. Journey through the Panama Canal



10. Visualize 8 years of aging



11. View the wonders of underwater sea life



12. Roll out the fog of San Francisco

...and how to create time-lapse photography

• Most newer video camera models have interval recording built into the camera, a detailed rundown of which can be found at Photography Today. Those that don't can make use of SingleFramer, a free software that captures individual frames from DV cameras, either manually or automatically.

• Time-lapse software Flix is a great option for those projects that can be captured on a webcam (like the winter storm video above). The software is $10 after a trial period and also works with digital cameras.

• Instructables has a detailed description on how to use a graphing calculator to determine mathematically correct intervals to create time-lapse videos from photographs. An example of this method can be found at Digital Photography School.

• If calculators aren't your speed, the Pclix LT100 works with compatible photo cameras to shoot images at pre-determined intervals, anywhere from 1 second to 100 hours, according to the manufacturer. At $140 plus the cost of cables, the tiny device is a little more expensive than a graphing calculator, but its certainly better for the mathematically challenged.

For more on time-lapse photography, read this previous post or for more inspiration check out the Flickr "timelapse" pool.

Labels: photos, video

When it comes to photography, I'm nowhere near professional but I'd like to think I'm a step above amateur. Here is what I've learned in my quest to become a better photographer:


Have the camera ready and snap it quick

My number one frustration is not capturing a fleeting moment. If the opportunity for a great photo is imminent, have the camera powered up and ready before the moment has passed.

Don't be afraid to get down and dirty

Sometimes getting close to a subject may invade his or her personal space (or yours), but the result is often a better photo. Don't rely on the zoom to capture something from far away.

Switch up your angles

One of the first lessons I learned some years ago is photos don't have to be shot straight on all the time. Tilt the camera or find a different perspective that is interesting to the eye. (Thank you Valerie Soe, wherever you are.)

Look for the unusual

If a fire is happening, its easy to start taking pictures of just the flames, but the real story is what is happening around the fire. Find those interesting, human moments that tell the story behind the tragedy or triumph.


Here are some non-work related photos I took recently around my hometown. You be the judge:


         

         

         



More photos from me are up for viewing at Flickr. Now let's hear from the professionals. These tips were culled from the web and I encourage you to visit each site for even more lessons on great photography:

From modemlooper's 7 Excellent Photography Tips:

Learn your camera's settings

Chances are you shoot most of your pictures utilizing your camera's "automatic" mode. This will get you average results. If you are striving for great shots, you'll need to learn about other modes too. Take the time to read your camera's manual to understand when to use each shooting mode.

Take more photos

Before going crazy buying the most expensive equipment right away, you had better take more photos because the more photos you take, the more you'll know about what kind of camera to get when it's time to upgrade. In other words, you can always delete the bad ones later.


From SEO Smarty's How To Optimize Images For Search Engines, Social Media and People

(Clean, clear) faces in an image get more eye fixation. (don't use abstract images too often).

Keep them relevant: images are not the first thing a visitor sees on a web page but they can compel him to stay


From Photojojo's Ten Legal Commandments of Photography

V. People can be photographed if they are in public (without their consent) unless they have secluded themselves and can expect a reasonable degree of privacy.

VII. Although "security" is often given as the reason somebody doesn't want you to take photos, it's rarely valid. Taking a photo of a publicly visible subject does not constitute terrorism, nor does it infringe on a company's trade secrets.

(BTW, Photojojo is an excellent blog for both aspiring and professional photographers.)


For examples of beautiful photography that we all can aspire to, check out Smashing Magazine's (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos.

Labels: photos

Copyright law runs the gamut from tedious to vague, and is even more so when it comes to the new world of online media. If your work is being infringed there are some immediate things can be done to stop it.

Sometimes photos or graphics might show up elsewhere on the web (a couple of times I've had entire projects copied and posted elsewhere). One simple way to prevent this is to disable right click on all images by inserting a bit of Javascript code into the webpage itself. This will stop the average computer user from downloading pictures/graphics but can be easily worked around by a tech-savvy person. To see if your images are showing up where they aren't supposed to, try TinEye Reverse Image Search.


Another more formal way of protecting images is to use a service like PicMarkr. The free, online, tool adds a custom watermark to any image. The site is easy to use and can pull photos directly from your hard drive. The watermark can be either text or an image such as a logo.

Photos of a local event that may not have been caught by a news crew often pop up on Flickr, but take in a few moments before clicking that download button. The site can be used as a resource for non-commercial websites under Creative Commons license, which excludes a lot of media outlets, so be sure to contact the photo creator for permission. An alternative is to set up a group pool, like the one created by KPBS as a repository of photos of the recent San Diego wildfires.

If text is the problem, Attributor is available to help. The site, which recently partnered with the Associated Press, scans the internet for illicit copies of your content and requests immediate removal. I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but it sounds like a great solution.

Smashing Magazine has a pretty good run down of copyright law as it pertains to the web and Media Law Prof Blog which tracks, in detail, modern applications of the law as it pertains to journalists.

Most major news organizations have a cadre of lawyers on hand to deal with these issues and should be consulted should they arise. For more information on media law, check out the First Amendment Project, which has a great number of resources available to journalists.

Finally for a humorous explanation of copyright law, take a look at the video below by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University:

Labels: photos

During a Hillary Clinton rally on CNN last week, it was obvious that nearly every supporter behind her had some sort of camera in his or her hand. Assuming there were hundreds of cameras positioned around the auditorium, the experience of the rally, or any other event, could be enhanced through multimedia. Using the different camera locations could give the online user the ability to pick the angle from which they view a news story instead of letting a media outlet choose for them.

The hundreds of cameras in the one room was reminiscent of the bullet time technology used in the movie The Matrix that positioned a number of cameras around an actor to create the effect of stopping time. That same thinking can be married with what is visually represented in the end credits of the movie Dreamgirls: the film editor's job of selecting different camera shots (see below for examples). We can, in effect, let the user be his or her own film editor.


Left: Actor Keanu Reeves is captured in bullet time; Right: Film editing represented in the end credits of Dreamgirls

Below is a visual example of the possibilities of this technology. Using user-submitted photos, in this case, from Flickr, a site visitor can select the angle from which they view a news event (in this case a Barack Obama campaign rally in Oakland, Calif. last year).


Photos from Flickr users solsken, juicyrai, oso, js42, Barack Obama, y-cart used under Creative Commons license

The project above was built in Flash in less than 30 minutes and can be done for political speeches, sporting events, red carpet coverage, you name it. Many news outlets already have tip lines in place like for example CNN's I-Report and the submissions can be harnessed to provide the online visitor with a unique experience. This can also be recreated by a quick-on-their-feet photographer or videographer who can literally be in many places at once.

Labels: citizen journalism, flash, photos

So you're tweeting. Now what? It's time to take a look at sites that are making the most out of Twitter's ability to instantly transmit the news.

Instead of waiting for traffic updates online or via radio, some internet users are turning to Commuter Feed. The site lets Twitter users send updates about local traffic around the country directly to the site, where the feeds are searchable by city or metropolitan area.



Politweets tracks the political discussion happening in the Twitterverse by aggregating tweets about political candidates. The most recent tweets about Democratic candidates are on the left and Republicans are on the right. In the middle is a list of candidates positioned by how much they are being discussed (Barack Obama is currently at the top of the pile).

Because the web is all about citizen journalism, truemors is made up of news submitted by the average Joes and Janes of Twitter. It's kind of like a micro social news networking site that aggregates the content that people care about from a variety of news sources. Twemes is also a great way of indexing what people are talking about online. The site is useful for searching tagged tweets on any subject, like, for example, John McCain.

Twitterers are already discussing major news events, including Super Tuesday and Sunday's Academy Awards; it's just a matter of major news organizations grabbing the opportunity and creating their own news hubs.

Did you know Twitter isn't just for sending text? TwitPic and Twixtr both allow users to send photos either online or via mobile phone through Twitter. So instead of simply including links to new stories, anyone can add photos to accompany their tweets (and we know photos are a great visual attraction).

Twittervision combines Twitter and Google Maps to create a real-time visual idea of where tweets are coming from. The only requirement to appear on the site is a location and an image defined in your Twitter post. The 3D version is also worth a look, if only for the coolness factor.



Twittermap creates a visual display of geotagged tweets and can also be used to find Twitterers by location. Those familiar with data mashup editor Yahoo! Pipes can use geo twitter to get a geotagged feed of your Twitter posts, which can be displayed on a Yahoo or Google map.

There are a lot of interesting and useful sites based on Twitter and with the Twitter API up for grabs, there is no reason that journalists can't be a part of the next evolution in news.


Also on 10,000 Words

• The top 7 mistakes new Twitter users make
• Twitter is...
• How to analyze your Twitter followers and friends
• 10 Journalists you should follow on Twitter

Labels: blogging, maps, photos, social networking, widgets

Congratulations to Albany and Schenectady, New York; Boise, Idaho; Juneau, Alaska; Kansas City, Missouri; Manchester, New Hampshire; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah. You are the latest additions to Google Street View! These locales join the more than 20 other cities to be invaded by the Google street team.



Google Street View provides 360° panoramic, street-level views with just a click, but it isn't the only service on the block. Gigapan users can upload panoramic images using pricey equipment or just an ordinary digital camera and a whole lot of patience. There is some exceptional photography on the site, including this photo of Burning Man and this one of the Sonoma County, Calif. coast.



Liebenthal, Kansas photographed by Gigapan user Ron Schott.

Immersive Media is proving panorama doesn't always mean long, flat images. The combination of video and 360° lets users experience a ski race from every possible angle, join a whale watching expedition, or experience the big game as the players see it.

For tips on creating panoramic images, check out this previous post.

Labels: maps, photos

For his "Faces of New York" project, Simon Hoegsberg asked random New Yorkers of different ages, races and genders what they thought about their faces. The results are surprisingly introspective. Said one woman:

Essentially I would say I have made a drastic change the last three years. Age caught up with me. Good times caught up with me. Wild parties caught up with me. And what I see now is a truly aging woman. I no longer see the spontaneous, witty, charming... I see an elderly woman. And I find that difficult, but in a way very freeing.

For "The Thought Project," Hoegsberg stopped 150 strangers on the street over the course of 3 months and asked them what they thinking just before he approached them. The results range from the great mysteries of life to how to score something to eat.

Private and Public is a stunning collection of photographs of passersby taken from the same spot (Marble Arch in London) over the course of a year. The faces are sad, pensive, romantic... and captivating.

Labels: audio, photos, video

Thumbnails, those tiny images that usually link to a smaller images are the workhorse of any news website. In addition to making a page more visually interesting, thumbnails encourage the reader to click through to inside pages. Usually these thumbnails are created in Photoshop (which plans to launch an online version soon) or some other imaging program, but there are free, online applications that will resize your images quickly (and did I mention for free?)

    

Quick Thumbnail resizes images from your hard drive or from the internet to any size or scale you choose. It even adds filters like grayscale, sepia, or embossing upon request. PicResize also offers quick scaling and filters, but also has options to rotate the image or resize multiple images. It even has a nifty ruler to see how large the original image is. PicResize is a little more user-friendly and the quality of the end result is much better than its counterpart.

To create a screenshot of an entire page like this thumbnail of 10,000 words, use thumbalizr, a quick tool for which you only have to enter the web address. The site will produce a thumbnail which you can download at various sizes.

Labels: photos, site management

Time-lapse photography is a very visual way of illustrating change over long periods of time in a matter of minutes. Still photos taken at predetermined intervals create the illusion of something happening more rapidly than it actually is. Time-lapse can be used to show the change in a neighborhood or the evolution of a work of art. The technique, however, is rarely used in journalism because of the time commitment. But if you've got a spare camera, the internet is making it easier to learn how to become a time-lapse master.

EzineArticles has a tutorial on how to create a time-lapse video with a digital camera and Kinsman Physics Productions has a complete rundown of how the technology works. If you already have a set of photographs that you'd like to convert into a time-lapse video, try JPGVideo, which can also be used to string together any series of photos.

Here are a few more examples of how time-lapse photography can be applied to journalism:

The following video shows the construction of a single building over the course of a year


This video uses time lapse photography to document the change made to the Virginia Tech massacre Wikipedia article in the first 12 hours after the event.

Labels: photos, video

Interactive panoramic images are popping up all over the web. Some of the best, like this Google Street View of Miami, give users a 360° view of a particular area. In the past this required an expensive camera or a lot of time. Now all you need is a digital camera and a little bit of patience. The following instructions will help you build a panorama similar to this interactive panorama of the WEB DuBois Centre in Ghana.

Most digital cameras have a feature that allows the photographer to line up the viewfinder to create a series of photographs that eventually become a panorama. If your camera doesn't come with this feature you can either eyeball the area and merge the images in Photoshop or use AutoStitch to create the panorama.

Once you have the final image, follow the instructions at Kirupa.com to upload the image into Flash. Add a little ActionScript and voila! Panorama!

Also on 10,000 Words:
4 Sites for viewing panoramas (and 3 ways to create them)

Labels: flash, photos