The "cell-ing" of photojournalism: How cell phones are changing the game.

The picture I took to Sherwin Williams.
(Photo: Diane Larson)

  I showed the clerk at Sherwin Williams my cell phone.  Actually the picture I took with my cell phone.  It was a picture from the top of a can of paint.  I needed another gallon of the same color in a different finish, and didn't want to haul the old can with me.
  For the longest time, I used my cell phone camera for things like that. I took pictures of old paint formulas, shots of lipstick colors I liked from the magazines at the hair salon, the serial numbers and prices of rugs I wanted from Home Depot and shots of my cats, Kevin and Miles.  LOTS of pictures of Kevin and Miles.

Kevin being Kevin

  I took pictures of parking spaces at malls and airports to remember where I parked. I took photos and videos of the way something was wired or assembled before I took it apart and needed to remember how to put it back together.
  My cell phone camera was a visual shopping list, a replacement for wallet photos, a handy record keeper and a way to make my own DIY tutorials.
  It's only recently become an important tool for me as a journalist.
  In the past several years, cell phone video has been turning up more and more frequently in our news stories.  When our television news crews get to the scene of an accident or a crime, the first thing the reporter does is take a cell phone picture and send it back to the newsroom.  We Instagram it, tweet it and use it on our breaking news web stories.
  We display the work of "citizen photojournalists" who take cell phone pictures of approaching storms or other newsworthy events on our "See it, Shoot it, Send it" webpage.
  I used my cell phone camera to live tweet pictures of the final rounds of the Marathon Classic at Highland Meadows in Sylvania in August. I emceed the awards ceremony after Lydia Ko won and tweeted this picture of the assembled media waiting to get shots of Ko getting her trophy.

Blade photographer and Photojournalism 245 instructor Lori King, kneeling bottom right.  (Photo: Diane Larson)

  Television news is no longer just on television.  We now try to reach viewers using a multi-platform approach.
  Nielsen (the ratings service that keeps track of what people watch and when) just issued its latest cross-platform report.  It found that more and more people are watching TV on their digital devices like computers and mobile devices.  13abc even has an app that allows viewer to watch a live stream of our newscast on their cell phones even if they're vacationing in Hawaii (although I seriously question their choice to watch Toledo TV on the beaches of paradise).
  And if they are in front of an actual TV, they're also watching what the industry calls a second screen: a cell phone, computer or tablet.  The 2013 figures show nearly half of us have a cell phone in one hand and a remote in the other while sitting in front of the television.
  So cell phones are a crucial part of our television viewing habits and they're an important newsgathering tool for television journalists.
  The same is true for photojournalists.  More and more professionals use cell phones as an adjunct to their DSLR cameras.
  In the Poynter News article we read for this assignment, Keith Jenkins points out the benefits and drawbacks of photojournalists using camera phones.  As with any new technology, some purists reject the notion that a phone camera can replace a real camera operated by a professional photojournalist. Others embrace it as "another tool in their toolbox".
  While the technology changes, the principles of good photography do not.  All the rules that make a good photograph also make a good cell phone photograph.  Light the subject well, get close enough, keep still, and practice the rule of thirds.
  I think those rules work for the pictures I took of my beat, which is the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The school is housed in the Industrial Engineering and Technologies building and outside of it are solar panels.  The school's interim dean, Glenn Rettig, says the school is making a big push toward alternative energy of the future and students are working with local solar panel manufacturers.
  But it's also connected with industries of the past and works with Caterpillar and John Deere to train students on how to repair farm and construction equipment.
  I look at my cell phone a little differently now. Its camera has the power to help me be a better journalist and tell stories in different ways.  But I will still use it for the really important stuff, like taking pictures of my cats.

Solar panels outside the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  (Photo:  Diane Larson)

 

STEM school works with John Deere to train students as agricultural service technicians.  (Photo:  Diane Larson)

Miles, left, and Kevin wish they were outdoor cats.  Alas, they are not.  (Photo: Diane Larson)