Nat Geo France Launches International Photojournalism Contest

Enter here - http://www.fipcom.net/en.home

Deadline is Jan. 31, 2014.

“The Emirate of Fujairah, in partnership with National Geographic France and Agence France-Press, is launching the Fujairah International Photo Competition. As the editor-in-chief of the magazine in France, I think this is an exciting opportunity because now, more than ever, we need photographers to capture live news on the world stage.

The contest is open to all professional photographers and the overall winner will receive a trophy and a cash prize of 10,000€. Participants will be able to compete in five categories: news, environment, economy, sport, and reportage. Each category winner (one per category) will receive a Nikon D800 digital SLR camera. Their work will also be displayed in two month-long exhibitions, one in the heart of Paris, and the second in the Emirate of Fujairah. More information about the contest is already available on the official website, fipcom.net. Participants can submit their photos—taken in 2013—through the website beginning on January 1, 2014 until the 31st.

The five categories of the competition include:

News. Pictures covering major news topics and their aftermaths in areas such as politics, economics, conflict, social tension, relief and reconstruction work, and crime.
Environment. Pictures documenting how social, environmental, and health issues are affecting society and people’s lives today.
Sport. Pictures capturing defining moments during major sporting events or top-level contests.
Economy. Pictures documenting how the economy or economical issues are affecting people’s lives and society today.
Reportage. A series of five pictures about a defined subject. Pictures must be placed in a precise order to make sense.

The winning photo will be displayed in an exhibit at Les Docks-Cité de la Mode et du Design in Paris.

Located in Paris on the banks of the river Seine, Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design will host the award ceremony in early March and display an exhibition of the winner’s work from March 14th to April 14th. With its bold, undulating architecture, and its vocation as a center focusing on culture, creativity and design, the Docks have become one of Paris’ most remarkable landmarks.

Click here for news and updates about the competition, including how to enter. Good luck!”

— http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/24/nat-geo-france-launches-international-photojournalism-contest/

New Officers

The Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles is proud to announce the election of new president Paul Buck and vice president Kirk McKoy to serve for the 2014-2016 term. 

 
Paul Buck is the Los Angeles bureau chief at European Pressphoto Agency. Kirk McKoy has been a board member and is a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times.
 
It is my pleasure, as president for the past two years, to hand over the reigns to Paul Buck.  He has been a vice president during my term and is ready to take on the challenge of the presidency.  Paul understands the work that goes behind it and the needs of PPAGLA.  
 
Kirk McKoy has proven to have a lot of energy in our student seminars.  He will have great ideas for the association for these next two years.
 
Let's all congratulate Paul Buck as our president and Kirk McKoy as our new vice president.  Jim Ober will continue to be treasurer and Diandra Jay will also stay as our secretary.  We have a very strong and dedicated board!
 
David Fernandez 
Chairman of the Board

 

Family spots missing man in news photo

WASHINGTON - Nicholas Simmons disappeared from his parents' house in a small upstate New York town on New Year's Day, leaving behind his wallet, cellphone and everything else.

Four days later, an Associated Press photographer, looking for a way to illustrate unusually cold weather, snapped his picture as he warmed himself on a steam grate a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Paul and Michelle Simmons saw the AP photograph in USA Today Sunday morning after it was brought to their attention through a Facebook page set up to help find their 20-year-old son, according to police and family friends.

The photo, taken Saturday by AP photographer Jacquelyn Martin, showed Simmons with his unshaven face pressed against a grate outside the Federal Trade Commission. He wore a ski jacket and a hood over his head. A thick gray blanket covered his lower body.

Martin was assigned to the White House that weekend, but with President Barack Obama still on vacation in Hawaii, she spent the day looking for shots that would illustrate the cold weather. That is how she found Nick Simmons, in an area where homeless people often gather when it is frigid outside. She found a cluster of men huddled around the grate, introduced herself and started taking pictures.

Then she noticed one person in particular, huddled under a blanket.

"It struck me how young he was," Martin said. "I again introduced myself and shook his hand. He said his name was Nick."

Martin finished shooting, sent the pictures to the wire and then called it a day. The next day, she received a message via Twitter from USA Today.

The newspaper had run the photo of Nick and was contacting Martin to tell her that Nick's family had recognized him and was trying to locate him. Michelle Simmons was certain that the young man in the photograph was her son, missing for four days.

Police picked Simmons up Sunday afternoon and took him to a hospital, said police Capt. Patrick Phelan. Simmons' father, Paul, and older brother Paul Jr. arrived in Washington Sunday night and were reunited with Simmons at the hospital, said longtime family friends Peter and Cindy Gugino.

Martin, the AP photographer, said the episode serves as a reminder to journalists that every person they encounter has a story to tell.

"It's really gratifying to see that a photograph can make a tangible difference in someone's life. That's a really amazing thing to have happened," she said. "I'm happy and touched that the photograph could help reunite this family."

Police said authorities notified local media and tried to investigate the case, but there were no leads until the publication of the photo.

"It was pure dumb luck how all this happened," said Sgt. David Mancuso, the lead investigator. "It's truly a miracle."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/truly-a-miracle-family-spots-missing-man-in-news-photo/

NY Judge Throws Out Photographers' Border Security Constitutional Challenge

DURHAM, NC (December 31, 2013) – In September 2010 the National Press Photographers Association joined in an important federal lawsuit in a Constitutional challenge of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's laptop search policy at the border.

Abidor v. Napolitano is a federal lawsuit that is a constitutional challenge to DHS policies that authorize the suspicionless search, copying, and distribution of the contents of Americans' laptop computers, cell phones, cameras and other electronic devices at the international border. 

On Friday U.S. District Judge Edward Korman dismissed the suit after it sat in his court for nearly two years. By doing so Korman affirms that he believes the government should be able to search and copy people’s laptops, cell phones, and other devices at border checkpoints without reasonable suspicion. 

Click below to read more

1980 Mount St. Helens photos come to light

They're brand new images of a Northwest icon that disappeared more than 33 years ago - the conical summit of Mount St. Helens.

Reid Blackburn took the photographs in April 1980 during a flight over the simmering volcano.

When he got back to The Columbian studio, Blackburn set that roll of film aside. It was never developed.

Click below to read more

Photo Exhibit on the Presidency opens at Nixon Library

A new exhibit, “News to History: Photojournalism and the Presidency,” has opened at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda.

http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20131226/photo-exhibit-on-the-presidency-opens-at-nixon-library

Panel outlines photographers' First Amendment rights

Read more here

Photo journalists are fully protected by the First Amendment, but their rights are not absolute, photographers, police and lawyers explained Oct. 23 at a National Press Club panel sponsored by the Club's Photography Committee and the National Press Photographers Association as party of Free Speech Week.

"Photography is not a crime," moderator Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, said.

"Photography is a First Amendment right" attorney Robert Corn-Revere, a partner with the law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, said. Corn-Revere, who specializes in free-speech cases, said courts have ruled "gathering information is part of the news process."

South Pacific Photo Workshops

PPAGLA member Anacleto Rapping is running an upcoming photo workshop. 

The South Pacific Photo Workshops are about making you a better photographer. We focus on developing your eye and storytelling skills as you immerse yourself in a weeklong adventure in the Philippines. We teach creative thinking and artistry, and guarantee that you will improve your imagery while having a good time.

The workshops will include scholarship students from the local community, and proceeds will be donated to visual arts programs at Foundation University, founded in 1949 to empower the people of Dumaguete. 

The workshop will be held from April 28 to May 2, 2014,

For more information please visit The Perfect Exposure Gallery

Register here

College Visual Journalism Day

College Visual Journalism Day

Saturday, October 26, 2013

*Students and educators welcome 
(Non-members: $5 fee includes drinks & snacks)

Location: 357 W. Arden Ave, Glendale

Event Schedule

Sean Browning (KNBC-TV) 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
2012 PPAGLA Videographer of the Year as well as 
several Emmy’s and Golden Mike Awards.

Karen Loberg (Ventura County Star) 11:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m.
PPAGLA Award Winner in Video and Still Categories 

Refreshment and Snack Break 12:00 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

Tom Bravo (KNBC-TV) 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
PPAGLA Award Winner in Video Categories as well 
as several Emmy’s and Golden Mike Awards.

Myung Chun (Los Angeles Times) 1:30 p.m.-2:30p.m.
PPAGLA Award Winner in Video Categories as well 
as a 2010 Emmy Award.

Discussion and Questions 2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.


RSVP- Gerard Burkhart - PPAGLA Education chairman 
burkhagj@piercecollege.edu 
Use PPAGLA VJD in subject line.

Dodgers Day 2013

The Dodgers organization every year gives PPAGLA members an opportunity to get down with other baseball fans and enjoy a summer evening at Dodger Stadium.

It was a perfect night as the sun began to set over the west side of the stadium leaving the sky orange with a beautiful red mix.

You knew with the way the Dodgers have been kicking butt since the All-Star break plus the glow of the evening, that the Dodger fans were in for a treat!

With Dodger pitcher, Zack Greinke on the mound, the Chicago Cubs were in a tough position all night long trying to score any runs.  It wasn’t till the top of the 9th inning, the Cubs last bats scored two runs.  The Dodgers had firm control of the game by then.  Big home runs from Hanley Ramirez and a 439 foot bomber by Yasiel Puig.

The former Cy Young award winner, Zack Grienke has impressive mental control to be one of the best right-handed pitcher in the league.   With their big bats, the Dodgers showed why they are the top team in the West.  Dodgers 6 … Cubs 2!

The Dodger fans can’t wait for the playoffs to start.  It’s a big season with a big team…Let’s Start Dreaming BIG!

A Day With Nikon

Once Again PPAGLA brings one of our top sponsors to show off its top gear.  Sara Wood of Nikon brought the knowledge as well as the Nikon cameras and lens.

The presentation of the seminar was a way to bring our members and other professional photographers, videographers and college students together to take advantage of the new updated technology.  In today’s world it’s important to keep up with the changes.  Nikon cameras give you the opportunity to shoot great video.  There are so many reasons why we need to challenge and adapt to the video world.  Capturing a professional image at its best is one reason.  

The right tools are perfect for the professionals that care about the work they bring to the table.  The top DSLR’s capture the moment you need and the ultimate performance with speed and image quality.

This versatility brings us back to why Sara’s information was impressive at the seminar.  It takes us back to the challenge for photographers learning to become videographers, reacting to the right functions on the camera.  It is not simple when you are new to the technology, especially when you are under a deadline, to shoot stills or video and also edit the video for the website.

PPAGLA will continue to find ways to get this information to the association and even to the public.  We are here to help the photojournalists that care about their work.

Remembering Bill Eppridge

Famed photojournalist Bill Eppridge died this week. I have seen many posts honoring his passion for photojournalism. They have been wonderful to read.

I met Eppridge on a bus ride to the start line of the Boston Marathon back in the ’80′s. I don’t recall the exact year, but a reporter and I were covering the marathon to tell the story, for the student-run expo magazine, of three Ball State University professors who were running the marathon.

Read full story here:http://blogs.etruth.com/behindthelens/2013/10/06/remembering-bill-eppridge/

Have You Ever Seen the Uncropped Version of the “Napalm Girl?”

I imagine that many of you, good students of photojournalism, are familiar with the uncropped version of Nick Ut’s “Napalm Girl.” In Googling it, I can see it gets mentioned from time to time. Still, I’d never seen it before this week. (It’s also a curious image to discover with all the thematically disparate photos of the Syrian crisis circuiting now.) - See more at: http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2013/09/have-you-ever-seen-the-uncropped-version-of-the-napalm-girl/