I'm flying to NY

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A Great Egret is startled by a ferry's horn near the ferry crossing over the waterway between Calcasieu Lake and the Gulf of Mexico in Cameron, La. on Tuesday, July 3, 2007.


I'm flying to Albany, NY today for the New York Press Association Spring Convention. I'll be the old guy with the boonie hat and Texan accent. If you attend the convention, please say howdy to me after my presentations (I'll be freaking out until I'm done).

On Friday, I'll be presenting "What is a Photojournalist" from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. followed by "Quick Ways to Improve Your Images" from 3:45 - 5 p.m. (this one may run long). These presentations are at The Hampton Inn.

Here are the session descriptions:

What is a photojournalist?

This session is intended for non-photojournalists, who want learn about professional visual journalism. Learn what makes photojournalism different than other photography styles. Learn how photojournalism can be the most powerful form of communication. Learn how to effectively work with photojournalists to maximize reader impact. Put on the boots of a photojournalist for a while and understand why they love this work so much.

Quick ways to improve your images

This session is intended for working news photographers and photojournalists. However, it's helpful for anyone who makes images. This session includes fast, effective, proven techniques to improve everyone's images and make images pack more punch when they hit the newsstand. This session reveals pro techniques in story telling, composition, exposures, focus, access, cutline accuracy and more. Some working knowledge of photography is suggested to keep up with this fast-paced session.

While the first session states it's for non-PJs, some PJs may want to attend and think of it as a "Defense Against the Dark Arts" class. I'll explain what PJs do in journalism terms.

I'll be around the whole weekend if anyone wants to shoot the breeze or show me their work. I'll be staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Expect to see a shot or two from the trip. :-)

For the record, think twice before you accept a speaking gig. The semester of speech I took in college never prepared me to give two separate back-to-back speeches this long. Whew!

Since I've spent weeks getting these ready, I may turn them into a images-and-words training video later this year (minus the "where was I?" moments of the live version).

For all three of this blog's regular readers, I'll post the Quick Tips cheat sheet on Friday. It won't be linked immediately and some of it may not make sense yet, but it may be helpful to y'all anyway.

Next week I'll be finishing a multi-media sports project I've been working on since last year. It should post sometime the following week.

I plan to be back on blogging target (daily PJ questions will return) around April 15th, which happens to be the first day I'll deliver a post for the Black Star blog. It'll be cross-posted here as well, but it may go over the heads of casual shooters. I may have some other interesting news about then as well.

Enough for now,