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When friends come to town
Gerd Ludwig talks at Syracuse University and Brenda Ann Kennealy talks at RIT.Nothing could be finer than when friends comes to town to give talks. Well, maybe there are some finer things but it sure...
View Article99 seats to watch POYi judging live, online
POYi judging begins in the morning. Live streaming returns through Adobe's system with a lot more hours to be streamed than last year. Rick Shaw told me they'll have the system up as much of the time...
View ArticleHow do you learn from photojournalism contests?
Early in my career, I remember looking at what photographs won in contests and I’d think, “Oh, that’s what makes a good photograph, I should do that.” Well, I was sort of right, but mostly wrong. One...
View ArticleDoes story telling lose in multimedia?
This will be the first time I’ve written about multimedia here. What prompts this first? I’ve judged a couple competitions lately so had to suffer through a bunch of multimedia pieces as part of the...
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Watching, and learning from, the Alexia Grant judging
Kira Pollack, Whitney Johnson and Maggie Steber judge the 2012 Alexia Grant at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communication. Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis, who founded the grant, are to...
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How do you create long form visual narratives?
Jesse Neider has followed the lives of a young couple, both of whom are blind, as they got married and had three children over several years. Such stories are hard to predict. Sticking with them for...
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Me, create a multimedia piece?
This was the nerve center for the NPPA's Multimedia Immersion Workshop, at Newhouse School on the campus of Syracuse University. In the put up or shut up realm, I chose to put up. To explain: I wrote...
View ArticleAhhh, Look3
Go to Look3. Next year. That's an order. Look3 this year was one of the best photo experiences I've had. So much to see, so many people to connect with, such a great setting. Memories linger as more...
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Big news: I'll be teaching a class at Syracuse University
This is one of three slick buildings that comprise the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication on the campus of Syracuse University. I’ll be teaching a class to incoming photography graduate...
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A little taste of New York, the city
I will admit that NYC is not my favorite city. It takes a strong magnet to pull me into its guts. Why? Too many humans. Our most recent trip to the city had a strong pull: To attend the Chris Hondros...
View ArticleI'm now teaching and running the Alexia Foundation Grants full time
This summer, I accepted the Alexia Tsairis Chair for Documentary Photography at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It’s an exciting opportunity to teach at a great...
View ArticleIf clichés are so bad, why do they win contests?
A photographer asked: “If cliches are so bad, why do so many of them win contests?” Good question. Having just judged photos that were entered in the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar contest, it was...
View ArticleHow do you know if you’re any good, as a photographer?
It amazes me how some people who call themselves photographers consider their work to be amazing, when their photographs, in fact, aren’t so hot. And at the other extreme, some purely humble folks make...
View ArticleGot a question?
I can write endlessly about photography but maybe you have something in particular you'd like discussed. If so, send me the topic you'd like to hear about: m at michaelddavis dot com
View ArticleHow do you toot your horn, inflate your balloon, expand your horizons?
Following up on the post about knowing whether you’re any good as a photographer, Ryan Stone asked how best to get the word out about your work, if you tend to be on the modest side. In other words,...
View ArticleTwo digital questions, and responses
Frank M. wrote from Portugal asking a couple questions, in response to my post asking people to ask questions if you have them: Retro/vintage iPhone photo apps - why does a wrong color palate make...
View ArticleThank you for 2011
To the many of you who I've gotten to work with in the past year, thank you. It was a pleasure, a growing experience for me, and I hope for you. And to you all I wish a prosperous year, an ever...
View ArticleOn the passing of Eve Arnold
Eve Arnold passed away this week. It's sad whenever someone with great talent dies. I'd never met her but her pictures touched me in an unexpted way. During her travels to produce "In America", Eve...
View ArticleWhere’s the line on toning photos, especially for contests?
My aunt asked me for recommendations of software that would easily allow her to remove people or objects from photos. At first, I fired up an ethically infuriated head of steam. How dare anyone remove...
View ArticleQuestion from Libby: How do you know it’s good?
As a followup to the previous post, Libby asks: How do you know when a shot has that X Factor, especially if it’s outside the realm of acceptable technical parameters? By X factor, I’m taking the...
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