What I learned: Kate Penn on sound

More shared wisdom from York Daily Record/Sunday News staffers whose work was recently honored in the Keystone Awards. Photographer Kate Penn won first place in the video storytelling category for her video "Equine smile restoration." From Kate:

This video reinforced the knowledge that sound really drives video. "Equine Smile Restoration" features the sound of grinding horse teeth, whinnies and coaxing. These sounds layer with the subject's smooth voice telling his compelling story of being laid off and changing careers. This video reminds me that if you slow down and take the time to capture compelling audio, the story can tell itself. Also, people love weird animal stories.

Maybe that last line is all you really need to know about this one. But seriously ... you can see how Kate's attraction to the sounds she encountered, and her decision to use that sound to help build the video, paid off. What sensory things do you encounter in your work that you can use to help tell stories?

What I learned: Chris Dunn on blending in

Photographer Chris Dunn won second place in the photo story category of the Keystone Awards for Football fanfare. Here's her insight, adding to our collection of what our staffers learned from working on their winning entries. From Chris:

Shooting a photo package about one Friday night football game at West York meant I had to “embed” myself with the football players, the cheerleaders, the fans, the coaching staff, the marching band, everybody. Photographers have to be able to blend in effortlessly and gain enough trust from the people they’re photographing. So covering all these aspects of the game and the before-and-after was a good exercise not only in trying to show what a high school football game demands of everybody involved, but also in having to work with a lot of people in not a lot of time.

I'm always amazed to hear photographers talk about becoming inconspicuous, given that they're usually draped with equipment and often right in the middle of whatever they're shooting. What tips do you have for blending in?

How does one photographer capture all three outs of a triple play?

To visually tell the story of a major-league triple play with a video camera is no great feat; every game is televised and shot by multiple cameras. But to capture all three outs with stills takes anticipation and preparation, as Boston Globe photographer Jim Davis says. It's a lesson that can be applied by any photographer or reporter in almost any situation, be it breaking news, a sit-down interview or anything in between.

Time-lapse of N.E. snowstorm: Do you need anything else to tell the story?

From the Providence Journal's Tim Barmann:


A little bit on how he did it is here.

Pictures spawn stories

 I started looking through these pictures -- color photos of Depression/war-era America, from a photo blog at denverpost.com -- and with each one, my mind started racing to fill in a story.

Who was this person? What's happening here? How did these people come to be in this situation in this place? What happens in the next frame, and the one after that?

It's a great mental exercise to start to fill in the blanks, and then think about the interviewing you'd want to do to get the facts to tell the real story that's behind each photo.

As creepy as it is cool

Spotted this on the New York Times Web site.

Alec Soth went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but watched the festivities from his hotel room, only to headed out with his camera for the clean-up and people leaving Ash Wednesday mass. It's more art project than traditional journalism. But, between the found audio and snippets of video, there's definitely a story here.

Maybe a new form of narrative ...

... could be the investigative-slideshow-narrative.

Sue J. pointed this out -- it's from MSNBC.com's Bill Dedman, who is a major public records/investigative reporting kind of guy, who, instead of writing what would've had to have been a longish narrative, turned it into a slideshow and wrote the story in the form of long cutlines.

In a talk with Poynter, Dedman said he set out to answer the question, "Why are the mansions of one of America's richest women sitting vacant?" William Andrews Clark (pictured at right), amassed a fortune in money and property and left it to his family when he died. The only surviving direct descendant is a daughter -- the woman Dedman refers to in his question above.

I think the slideshow/narrative idea might lose a little in terms of transitions, and thus cohesiveness, but I think what Dedman did works and has a lot going for it as a narrative form. Obviously it would be better suited to some stories rather than others. Anyone have an idea for a story using this form?

Do you see what you're writing about?

At first glance this site might seem photography-hostile -- after all, it's called Unphotographable. And each entry begins, "This is a picture I did not take of ..."

But it's produced by a guy who describes himself as a photographer and writer. What he's doing, he says, is recording what he sees when he doesn't have his camera, wishes he'd taken a shot, or "had been brave enough to click the shutter."

And what he comes up with is an exercise in attention to detail and descriptive writing -- something well worth focusing on as you're out in the field. His entries are short, vivid passages on what he's looking at. Like a picture in words. It's pretty cool.

Plotkin's words and pictures

Shout-out to Jason Plotkin for not only the photos but the story he put together on Dan Nied, director of the York Time Institute, for today's Living cover.

He wrote probably a 10-inch story, the first five grafs of which are a conflict/resolution anecdote -- and the anecdotal lead works because it represents the core of the story. Nice work.

"I am a storyteller"

The Times-Picayune has posted a 25-minute video on its photographers and their work post-Katrina.

In the first few seconds one of the photographers says, "Deep down, I am a storyteller. And the skill set that I have to tell those stories is a camera. That's why I do what I do."

I'll bet that line hits home with our photographers. And it's a great reminder to all of us about what we're here to do -- tell our community's stories. And that we're best at telling those stories when the words and the visuals come together in full force.

Looking for a challenge?

Probably some of you are familiar with Worth 1000, which is known mostly for its online Photoshop and photography contests.

They also run what they describe as text contests, where anyone who's registered (it's free) can enter the latest writing challenges. Almost all of them are fiction-based, but it's a good chance to try something new.

For instance, here was a recent challenge:

The rules of the game are thus: Write a story in which one of the characters is ill. (Not deathly ill, no deadly diseases, no long suffering illnesses. This is strictly about a character who is temporarily sick.) Think inFLUenza or the common cold. From humorous to serious is acceptable for this contest. From the whining child with a bell, to the executive who is sneezing his way through a major presentation, to the couch potato who can't find the remote that he/she is laying on.

Keep in mind that profanity is not acceptable. All entries must be in accordance with our text rules and guidelines. As always, quality is a must. You will have 7 days for this contest, so make your submission count.

Word Guideline: 700 words.

You don't get to read any of the entries until the submission deadline passes; then, you're encouraged read and rate them all. Contest winners (determined by vote results) receive virtual trophies and "credits" good for the entrance fees to future challenges.

I'll post a link to my entry in the "illness" contest once submissions end. Meanwhile, here are a couple of neat text and image contests that are now finished. It's a different kind of storytelling, but definitely a creative one.

Locked away (text)

Spoons (photoshop)

Office supplies (photography; obviously, I loved this one.)