freediver

Do you mean the Rebel T1i. The Xti doesn't shoot video.

Yeah Joe - my bad - I seem to be doing that all day today.  I meant the T1i - do you have any raw footage that I can get my hands on to test out editing?

Interesting discussion about the future of publications, but are there no other suggestions in response to Drew's original question?



I probably agree with this .... in part ... directory/advertorial-driven publications are going this way for sure, but these types of mags have never paid that well anyway so things won't get any better for those wanting to supply content and feed their family too...

Have any of these pdf mags started embedding video yet? Maybe when that is mainstream it will be the death of the still image in e-magazines. I hope not.

Darren - it appears that h.264 and FLV's can be embedded using Acrobat 9 Pro - So the technology exists, now it's up to the publishers.  This opens up a whole new realm of creative possibilities AFAIC.  The problem is going to be delivery of these large digital multimedia publications.  I've read discussions around the use of bittorrent as a means of removing the load off of a single server once a file has been seeded enough by others.  This would be a legit and efficient way to deliver content of this type - words, stills, audio and pics embedded in a Digital magazine - this is the kind of platform that physical print publications alone do not provide.

Paul, I think you have placed alot of thought on the continued techno-weenie discussions around gear that seem to pervade various discussion forums.

Technology has it's place, but when the technology becomes the topic of bragging rights, the essence of visual content creation has been lost.

I miss the days of shooting with my film based cameras - you had 36 shots per roll of film, the lenses were the best available (Canon L series and Nikon ED's), and the rest was based upon the technical and artistic skill of the operator behind the camera.  Today it's more about pray and spray with the latest and greatest techno gadget than it is about the decisive moment of f/8 and be there.

IMO, most technology has devalued the art of the profession of visual content creation and made users into consumers.  35mm slides were a tangible thing to hold, today it's 1's & 0's.  Heard from a client today - his so called G-Raid Raid 1 mirrored array lost both drives in less than 24 hours and may have lost 6 years worth of non-replaceable digital content.   Shooting in an "analog" medium like film, that kind of thing wouldn't have happened so easily.

I miss the days of freediving with a Nikonos III and 15mm lens with a roll of T-max 400 (Think of Ernest Brooks III)...

Although I come from the old school of having shot film for newspaper and magazine, the 21st century is not treating what is now being termed the archaic way of distributing visual content - ie; print with text.

This is a massive paradigm shift that whether other photog's are willing to accept or not, is a reality.  Newspapers and magazines have seen dramatic reductions in ad revenue, major pubs are filing Chapter 11 protection, and it was just reported the LA Times is actually making a profit from the web site only - this after several rounds of layoffs.  The only place print will be seen is in expensive specialty publications

The greenest way to distribute content is not to have it printed at all - no one seems willing to factor in the TRUE environmental costs of the amount of green house gases released from chainsaws, trucking raw logs, type of power and chemicals used in the production of said paper.  Then shipping that paper requires more trucking at a minimum - with more green house gases released from diesel fumes being released into the air.

Internet publishing can be done - and is already being done so, with server farms being run off of green power. Web distribution is an effective and environmentally friendly means of visual content being distributed.   I miss the days of picking up a magazine and flipping thru the pages, but if it means I can reduce my carbon footprint by not consuming then so be it. PDF distribution is the future for magazine.  UWP Mag is but one example.

Jeff - so if I understand you response - you suggest the Canon housing with the WP-DC12 Inon adapter and the 165 lens - correct?  I'm more concerned about size and will rarely dive below 20 meters while freediving so I should have plenty of ambient light when shooting in clearer waters.  I plan on beginning my shooting with Manatee's in Florida, freediver images and will work towards shooting larger pelagics as I get comfortable with the setup.

Thanks