Getting the Images out Right
Be fast, Be Ready!

 

As a professional photojournalist one of the most important tasks after you get the shot is to some how send the photos to your office or photo editor. Therefore when I am out on assignment it’s very crucial that I have all the necessary gear to be able to send my images out to the photo desk.

Besides my camera gear I have my Mac book pro computer in a backpack with me at all times. After I have finished the day’s photo assignment I then head to the nearest place where Wi-Fi is available. I then download all my images to my Mac and sort through each image in Photoshop or a similar image program, Apple’s Aperture is a fantastic program for editing. After I have selected several images I then send by email or FTP to the photo editor.

Having to be able to transmit your images right away is very important when doing a story “case in point”. When the tsunami hit in Phuket Thailand in December of 04 I just happened to be there at that point of time. As a professional photographer I always kept myself prepared by having all my gear with me at all times.

During my holiday in Phuket on the morning of the 26th of December when the tsunami hit the beaches of Phuket I was ready with all my camera and computer gear on the way to the beaches to get the shots of this disaster. Not knowing it was one of history’s biggest natural disasters I was took the opportunity to photograph as much as possible knowing that this could be a very major story.

When I realized that this was a super major story and I was the only professional photographer working for AP I knew I got the first images for my editor. In order to make that happen I needed to make sure that my images could be sent immediately to the AP office in Tokyo Japan for the 5 o’clock news.

As I was riding my little motorbike around I just happened to find a small internet café with broadband. I quickly set up my computer and downloaded all my images and made my selections. After I had made all of my selections I then sent the images to their FTP client server. In one hours time my images had already made CNN and USA Today and many other news publications throughout the world.

Therefore my professional foresight and preparedness gave me a substantial advantage in getting all my images to their proper destination. My motto is always be prepared for the unexpected, and when you are it will be your time to get your name across the world.