By Todd Dvorak
BOISE – It’s no secret so much more is expected of reporters. Attending a press conference anymore isn’t just about asking the right questions, gathering the facts and pithy quotes and filing a story for the website, broadcast or print edition.
These days, our jobs and expectations are also about making sharp and clear photos or shooting web-ready video with those brand new iPhones, Samsung Galaxy’s or the latest Android devices.
It all sounds great when your editor hands you this amazing new technology – along with an updated job description. But what we’re finding out here at the Idaho Press Club is all too often there isn’t the level of technical training that goes beyond the owner’s manual.
Sure we’re skilled enough to point and shoot the camera. But what can we do to make better images, adjust for bad lighting or honor the rule of thirds?
Of course we can figure out the fundamentals of shooting video, then hope the final product reveals our steady hand or avoids the grainy texture that prompts viewers to move the cursor to the pause button.
We here at IPC feel your pain. We understand your desire to do your jobs better, to deliver the kind of multi-media products that will trade an editor’s grimace for a grin.
So here is what we have in store for the IPC’s 2013 Fall Conference. On Oct. 19 in Boise, we’re dedicating the conference to teaching the best tools, tips and tricks for using your smartphones to do your jobs better.
Our expert presenters include Ted Warren, veteran photographer for the Associated Press in the Seattle bureau. Warren has been at the forefront in the AP for using his iPhone to make photos and videos that meet the AP’s demands and expectations for quality. He has also shared his smartphone skills in many other states, most recently the Alaska Press Club’s 2012 conference, and continues to find new ways and tools for incorporating the smartphone’s amazing capabilities to do his job.
Warren will be joined by Joe Jaszewski, the photo editor at the Idaho Statesman, a newspaper that has recently made smartphones a must for staff, along with the expectation to produce photos and video with those new toys.
The goal for our two teachers will be to take you beyond the basics of our handhelds, provide essential skills for making photos and video and take our talents to the next level. For those interested, after the morning session, Warren and Jaszewski have agreed to work with those who want to step outside, put their new skills to the test then get one-on-one criticism.
We understand the push to bring back quality photos and useable video to your newsrooms, corporate projects or clients. So let us help you at the Idaho Press Club Fall Conference next month.
Fall Conference Presenters
Ted S. Warren is a staff photographer and videographer with the Associated Press in Seattle. He was born and raised in Moscow, Idaho, and began his professional career in 1993 with a photo internship at the Los Angeles Times while he was student at the University of Texas at Austin.
His interest in journalism was born from his interest as a youth in news coverage of the Teton Dam collapse in 1976 and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Prior to focusing on journalism full-time in college, Ted studied mechanical engineering and worked two summers on off-shore oil rigs.
Ted joined the AP as a staff photographer and photo editor in Chicago in 1999, after working as a staff photographer at the Austin American-Statesman, and as a freelancer in central Massachusetts.
He thrives on the variety of assignments that come with working for the AP, but he particularly enjoys large-scale environmental stories, and covering major sporting events both nationally and internationally. His work has taken him to both high-arctic Canada and to McMurdo Station in Antarctica, but his favorite destination is Mount St. Helens or wherever the next story is taking place.
In 2008, Ted was selected to be a member of the AP’s video essay team, and began shooting and producing video stories in addition to his still-photo assignments. He has been active in AP’s training programs for many years, teaching video to still photographers, photography to reporters and writers, and multimedia slideshows to journalists from all formats.
Ted lives in Tacoma, Wash., with his wife Kirsten, who is a professor of German at Pacific Lutheran University, and their two sons, Grayson, 15, and Hal, 12.. He enjoys coaching youth soccer, hiking, camping, and reading.
Joe Jaszewski is the photo editor and tablet editor at the Idaho Statesman. He started his career at the Statesman at age 20 in 2000 as a photo intern, then rejoined the staff in 2003 as a temporary photojournalist, becoming a permanent staff member in the fall of that year. Joe has covered a wide variety of stories for the statesman including the Larry Craig saga, wildfires throughout the state, and both of Boise State’s Fiesta Bowl victories. He’s received awards from the Idaho Press club both as a photographer and writer.
A Sacramento native, Joe was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at Jesuit High School and worked as photojournalist, photo editor, reporter, and columnist at the California Aggie while earning a degree in American Studies from UC Davis.
His freelance credits include The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. When he isn’t working you can probably find him participating in one of Boise’s numersou recreational sports leagues.
Todd Dvorak is the AP correspondent for Boise, and is the vice president of the Idaho Press Club board.
