Part one of the interview can be found here
Let's hear the rest of what Paul has to say about digital photography from the professional news photographer's perspective.
What Image software do you use?
I use Photostation to see my images then I use Photoshop to work on my images. Like I mentioned it takes more time to view the image, so a computer with more RAM is more important.
How does AP transfer images from the field?
Compression is the big issue here. I compress images to about 500k from a file of about 8 Megs uncompressed in Photoshop. 500k is based on what magazines like to see for quality. I then use an FTP program to upload on the Internet to our office back east. It all depends on the bandwidth of the phone line, WIFI, DSL or cell phone on how long it takes. Could be as slow at 10 minutes on a cell phone or 10 seconds on a T1 line in our office.
What should a consumer know about digital cameras before buying their first camera?
I get that question all the time at parties. I don't know how to answer that. But I keep telling everyone that mega pixel is an advertising gimmick. I only use 1.3-mega pixels in my camera. My idiot digital Canon camera I use on vacation is 5. But the interpretation of images is much more important. I'm happy with my new Canon Powershot.
But I made the mistake of buying a camera with a Canon proprietary battery. So find a camera that uses AA or AAA batteries instead. I don't want to be at the mercy of Canon in the future when the battery memory is gone. I would go with compact flash instead of smart media or memory stick because on the road on computers that I use that aren’t mine, the CF card is the standard. CF cards are the standard for professionals. The sizes are impressive even with the newer smaller media. But it's small enough for me with a CF.
What should a consumer think about when moving up to a full featured SLR digital camera?
I see the new Canon Rebel and the new Nikon n70 are cool cameras with some bell and whistles that are better than my d1. That price is a fantastic, $1,200 with a lens. Can't beat that. The interpretation of images into the camera is key, but the quality of these two cameras is impressive. The higher end cameras have larger mega pixel size, but as I said that doesn't count, because no one uses the camera at 4 or 5 or 6-mega pixels, they use it on medium so they can get more images on the disc.
What do you like about digital photography? What do you not like about it compared to film?
I like to see my images right away, but on the other hand, it's bad because the art of what you are making is lost. You tend to not worry about working as hard at getting just the right shot. I'm still a film shooter at heart. I shoot film on vacation and of my family. I don't trust digital for the future. They say that cds only last 20-30 years. That's it? So all my images when my kid grows up will be lost? No one thinks about that. Oh yes, put it on a hard drive - I started on a SyQuest drive in my earlier days - but try to find one - try to find the one Macintosh that will read the non-existent SyQuest drive. But still have plenty of SyQuest disc. Oh how about DVD - yes, who knows how long that, will last too?
Got any tips for digital photographers that you would be willing to share?
Learn without using the image replay screen. The flash is really temperamental on digital more than film. There is little latitude. I'd buy the cheaper Nikon or Canon, as I wrote earlier then go up from there.
Do you shoot at the highest quality setting on your camera for all of your imaging?
As I wrote earlier, no one shoots on the raw setting unless you a fine art photographer. Most use it at fine jpeg. Hardly anyone shoots at tiff, because most browsers can't see tiff or raw.
Well thanks Paul for letting our visitors in on your world. We hope you will join us again to share digital photography information with us.
http://www.great-digital-cameras.com/professional-photographer-2.html
