Capturing action easier today

Years ago I taught up-and-coming journalists how to shoot pictures. Originally the course used film cameras and all the technical stuff was important. With film one didn't know that one had missed the picture until hours after the fact. By the time the film was processed and an image pulled, it was too late for a reshoot in most cases.

Photographers, dependable shooters, were important back then and they were paid well for their talents and technical expertise. Today things are different.

The last time I taught a photo class, I think the group was very disappointed. I was given very little time to teach and so zeroed in on enthusiasm. Journalists no longer had to expend oodles of energy learning the photographic ropes before going out and capturing some damn fine images.

Cameras today, even relatively inexpensive ones like my old Fuji, are capable of grabbing good action when set to automatic. Point and shoot.

Today, where you point your camera is the big deciding factor. To be honest, photography was always about the image—where you pointed your camera—but the technical stuff all too often got in the way.

Today, you can have fun first and learn the technical stuff on the fly. I don't think the budding journalists were impressed. When it came to taking pictures, they did not want to be told to think.

I used to call reporters who took pictures "reluctant." They saw themselves as story tellers and they told their stories with words not with pictures. I wonder if this is changing as newsrooms shrink and staff numbers tighten.