Boston Globe’s Web Story Gets 8 Million Views in A Day!

Web Story Receives 8 Million Views in One Day!

8 million views in a day is mind-blowing… I’ve been reading a lot about attention spans this week related to multimedia and online publishing, and came across this web story in relation to the debate about long-form journalism on the web vs. sampling. Some say we’ve become a “sampling-culture”- and I’ve noticed this to be increasingly true in myself. When I want to learn more about something, I might have 10 different tabs open comparing what the “word” is on a particular subject. With that said, I came across this article published by the Nieman Journalism Lab- exploring the Boston Globe’s online story about the death of Ted Kennedy (’09), which brilliantly has sampling built in to the web story interface. I challenge you to check out this story and NOT get entirely sucked in. It’s beautifully crafted and come’on- this is an endlessly fascinating family! The story is essentially a website in itself- with links to newspaper articles, super8 home-movies, letters… more personal information than I personally feel like I have any right to see… (yet I’m looking)! The Globe found that making videos prominent became a gateway for viewers to become engaged and want to know more. There’s been some debate about whether people will read long-form journalism on the web, and in this case it appears that viewers who become engaged through video often want to know more and will go on to read a long-form articles as well. Regardless- it’s always inspiring to see great storytelling on the web and this is truly an example. Bravo, Boston Globe.

For the Boston Globe’s Kennedy series, video is dominant

Radiolab: Moments, A Visual Experiment by Will Hoffman

I showed this piece to my class last semester and it took everyone’s breath away. I’m posting this today because it’s the single most requested link in my life! I mean, seriously- Will Hoffman… this is incredible! Touching- human moments you can’t help but relate to. The music loop is gentle- doesn’t force any particular emotion on you (thank you!) but moves the piece along. This is a brilliant example of how to cut video- on motion, form, color… inspiring.

At The End Of Yonge Street

I’m taking the summer off to write a Multimedia Course for the Academy of Art University in SF. I’m writing about editing theory this week, which starts and ends with stop-motion. In the beginning was Edweard Muybridge’s discovery of stop-motion… over 100 years later was Ed Kashi’s discovery of digital stop-motion- discovered when rapidly scrolling through 17,000 images(!) for the Iraqi Kurdistan story (National Geographic).

During my research, I came across this piece: two guys walking the longest street in Ontario, taking one photo every 30 seconds. This is a fun piece- lots of energy to create (notice the changing light…) very clever!

Darcy Padilla’s “The Julie Project” opens at Fifty Crows, San Francisco

Click here to view the opening reception gallery.

I was not prepared for the emotion I felt walking into Darcy Padilla’s exhibit, “The Julie Project.” I’ve seen bits and pieces of this project over the past three years, but none of those pieces prepared me to walk in and stand in the visual span of seventeen years of Julie’s life. All of the images are black and white- the moments captured, incredibly intimate, humbling.

Reading the quotes and conversations, I realize these people would have lost each other long ago- Darcy has held the pieces of this story across their moves, illness, prison, birth, death… I realize this type of story plays out constantly in the world for many, many families. The pieces slip away or no one cares to remember the details. We see the summation of cause and effect in a homeless face on the street every day. It can be too complicated, uncomfortable and painful to ask why. Darcy asks why for us- Julie’s is the rare story that lives to be told.

Andy Patrick, founder of Fifty Crows, mentioned in his opening talk: these images can be hard to look at. The words that stuck with me were something like: “I hope you can’t stop thinking about these images- I hope they make you cry.” I thought about those words as I walked out of the exhibit, because I saw many people cry in the exhibit- and I, myself, was teary almost immediately. Why does that matter? When you feel something you look at the world differently. This exhibit is an invitation to feel something. Where that takes you- is up to you.

Read more: http://fiftycrows.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/darcy-padillas-award-winning-work-julie-opens-thursday-may-20th-400-730-pm/

Summer Snapshot by Ian McCluskey

I just saw the trailer to Ian McCluskey’s film “Summer Snapshot“- he is currently in the fundraising phase and I’m clearly not the only one excited to see another McCluskey film. They reached their fundraising goal in 5 days! For anyone who was along for the ride when his last film, “Eloquent Nude” was on the rise, Ian makes the kind of films you wish wouldn’t end. It truly warms my heart to see this Portland talent is at it again. I’m unable to embed the trailer here, but check out the link!

WPPI 2010, Las Vegas

Wedding and Portrait Photographers International- I’ve been to this conference several times over the past 10 years and this year is truly over the top. I don’t know if the speakers are better than I remember, or if I’m just simply ready for what they have to say (probably the latter!), but I took nearly 25 pages of notes over the course of the day. Every speaker was an abundance of wisdom and tips. I especially appreciated Mitche Graf’s focus on “balance.” Focusing on structuring your business to create time for your loved ones so you don’t become your work.

I know this is a challenge and ongoing struggle for most photographers and entrepreneurs I know who are up at all hours editing and/or working on one aspect of the business or another. Matt Hill blew me away with his abundant knowledge of SEO, marketing, google analytics… not only is he tech brilliant, but he shared his “cut-paper art” and film making skills… very inspiring. He also had one of my favorite Portland talented-couples on screen- (small world) Kim Nguyen & Kjell Van Zoen. The WPPI conference/ trade show doesn’t really get rolling until tomorrow- looking forward to seeing what’s on the horizon for new gear, printing capabilities and resources. The goal is to make the business more efficient so I can spend more time on relationships and creating new work!

Last thing I want to share- last week I signed up for training to become a NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep) photographer- it’s a nonprofit, providing free bereavement photographs for families who have lost their newborns. Synchronicity: I arrived at the Business Institute kick-off a little late on Friday night (after driving 9 hours)- walked in to hear Sandy Puc, one of the founders of the nonprofit, talking about what this service means to families. She showed a video of a mother talking about what the photographs have meant to her and had me crying within the first half hour- confirmation that this is something I want to do.

Photographers on break between WPPI Business Institute speakers, in the MGM lobby.

Puc has the spirit of passion and service behind her business which I resonate with and hope to weave into my own foundation. Like myself, she started photographing people professionally at 18 and hasn’t looked back. It’s truly a gift to be surrounded by talented, driven inspired photographers. More to follow…

Arctic Surf

This multimedia piece blows me away. The time lapse sequences are made from sequences of stills- they create such a powerful sense of time and space. (Tech notes: It was made using imovie and garage band- shot on a 5D Mark II. The audio was recorded on an H2).

Rapper E

January 2010- Rapper E began his three year sentence in the federal prison system, leaving behind his year-old daughter, girlfriend, Mom and siblings. He will be greatly missed.
I will continue to work on the project: Chosen which begs the question of choice- is this the life he’s chosen, did his circumstances choose him?
View the photographs I’d love to hear what you think.

Documentary | Chosen – Images by Kat Nyberg

http://www.katnyberg.com, Original portfolio: Chosen

The Edit Foundry had an excellent post about “eye trace” and editing tips.

http://blogs.nppa.org/editfoundry/2009/06/22/eye-trace/

New Orleans: Disaster Relief with Forward Edge International

October was my third trip to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. I had the honor of working with a disaster relief team through Forward Edge International to help make the Prosper family house a home again. One of the unsung heroes of New Orleans is Pastor Charles Garrison of the New Genesis Church on Franklin Street. This incredible man is a bridge between people in the community and disaster relief services. Not only did he convert his double-shotgun house into a church- he further converted the church into housing for disaster relief teams. There is an unbelievable amount of work to be done to reinstate the social structure of New Orleans. On the Prosper’s street alone, in the 7th Ward, 20 houses stand more or less empty, boarded and on the brink of demolition. My hope is that people will continue to reach out to the people of New Orleans so it will no longer be “the city hope forgot.”