Who knows if this is another interesting way to undercut professional photographers… iStock photo.com is now offering WordPress users the ability to use their cheap stock photography in their posts.  Easy. Peasy.

From their plugin description…

“Easily add professional licensed photos to your blog posts without leaving WordPress. Enable the affiliate options to earn money from affiliate links automatically added to the photos and/or captions of the photos. The plugin automatically searches from over 13 million photos from the portfolios of iStockphoto and Fotolia to find the photos that match the tags you’ve added to your post. Simply select the photo you want to use, purchase a license to use it from $1, and the plugin will automatically add it to your blog post.”

Hmm… does this mean that working stiffs who demand a premium for their time are going to suffer more by a potentially successful venture by the Walmart of stock imagery is unknown.  I don’t have enough info on how their blog ‘image share’ system works just yet and I wonder if it helps pay the photographers out there or not.  But I thought I should at least try it out and see what may not help for everyday career photographers.

Here’s the links to their Worsdpress plugin info… iStock — WordPress

Just a little commentary on this photo of my nephew and a trend in my storytelling acuity.

Lately I have noticed that while working on a shoot that I’m familiar with, that familiarity might be impacting the type of visuals I chose to capture.

The above image is the latest example of… what should I call it… hmm — maybe ‘method photography.’  Kind of like method acting, but with a camera.

method acting : noun
a technique of acting in which an actor aspires to complete emotional identification with a part, based on the system evolved by Stanislavsky and brought into prominence in the U.S. in the 1930s. (dictionary)

Yea, this sort of works for what I have been feeling lately.  That when I have a subject, like swimming, to which I have over 15 years under my belt as a competitor and coach, I unconsciously avoid shooting common/banal moments.

Instead I look for things that strike a chord with a particular memory, sensation, setting or mood. I try to find moments that are uniquely tied to the subject’s emotional truth.

That’s where the staging photo resonates for me.  I didn’t bother shooting the start, the curled up tension before the starter buzzer or the act of swimming as a still photo.  They were old-hat.  Been there, done that.

In that moment I saw myself, sitting in the shade with a breeze putting a chill on the excitement of championship swimming.  Young enough to see the pool length as an ocean.  Nerves on edge, toes upturned, knees knocking while rubbing arms to beat back the shiver. Focused, looking down the lane past the starting block drowning out the crowd noise.

For me, the moment right before being called up onto the block was surreal and especially so during my first couple years competing.  These were emotions that I understood and capturing them felt gratifying.

This scene portrays a moment that may be a bit too insider.  But to a former competitive swimmer they should evoke small, unique memories of times past.

At the end of the day, however, I fear images that have storytelling layers known among a small group fail for the general population.

method photography : noun

a technique of capturing a moment that is emotionally unique to it’s subject, however understanding its complexity escapes the general public. (TJ)

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Some of the most profound storytelling images provide a path for everyday viewers to put themselves into.   I feel that on stories that I really know, I sometimes miss the photos that people can identify with and readily understand the layers within the image.

If I go to shoot something I’ve never been exposed too, I find myself approaching it as an everyman.  Ya’ know — ‘just tell the story stupid’ — kind of direction.

Then on the flipside when I’m investing time with something dear to me, I push hard to capture those few, sometimes fleeting moments that not everyone may understand.  All the while muddling though the moments most people can identify with because I’m in pursuit of that unique moment.

Ultimately  — on known subjects, I want to provide that insider/unique perspective to the public and I’m concerned that because of that desire I am not making the everyday blue-collar photo stronger.

This is probably something that I will be talking with the great people at the herald who are willing to lay it down when I need help.

Who knows, maybe I’m doing fine. But I will be paying closer attention to more general subject images after my time-off this week.

By the end of the second day my brain was mush.  The whole ‘edit while you shoot’ goes out the window when your mind crashes and burns because: you have been mentally going through all the different shots you have taken in the past eight hours (and 3.9 games) so you can find a suitable transition that gets you from gameplay to the winning/loosing buzzer shot that’s approaching in 40 seconds.

When that happens you begin the slog of capturing your video, one tape after another, and you feel like cashing it in for the day because you are spent.

Your arms are tired from keeping the camera as still as possible through each possession. Your legs hurt from running up and down the stadium steps to catch moments from slightly different angles and improve audio acuity, and your ears are bleeding because you have been wearing headphones all day with amplified stadium noise. Finally your brain begins the crash cycle where your eyes loose focus while editing and you are hunched over the computer, seemingly looking through your screen for the end.

That was the insanity of the previous two days.  By next year I hope I never have to use another tape driven video camera for state tournaments.  I cannot see how the processes of doing the kind of coverage I want to do with a tape camera is physically possible over three weeks.  I really want to shoot 3-4 games or more a day and illustrate the emotions and moments that capture those game stories.

The frustrating point is how to get around the technology because I know I can do this and do it well.  It’s just so darned time consuming to keep multiple nat sound highlight videos organized without logging them or editing from the camera before shooting your next game.  It helps so much when you can clear your mind of the previous games so you can focus completely on the story developing in that next game.

Shooting three games consecutively without logging or editing anything makes for a hellish finale by halftime of the fourth game.  Even if you have been pushing your video into the computer while shooting the next game you still need to go through every game again while editing just to refresh what the ‘story’ was that you were shooting 8 hours ago.  And that doesn’t take into account problems with the capture or other technical glitches that you are forced to troubleshoot.

These are just a few of my thoughts as the three week tournament comes to a close.  I hope to revisit this topic in a couple weeks because I am not the only one out there looking for answers concerning non traditional sports video coverage — but I can definately say I have learned so much these past three weeks.