"Occassional" .....and OSX to XP.....

When I named this Blog, I knew I wouldn't be able to update it on a regular basis, so I thought including "Occassional" in the name would be appropriate. Well that was an understatement!

My apologies to any readers, if there are any, who have checked back out of interest, or curiosity, and have not found any updates. I'm hoping that as I fully adjust to the changes in my life - as a result of my move to The Globe and Mail, I'll have a bit more time and energy to write more.

The learning curve for me at The Globe and Mail, has not been steep at all. I'm getting to know more of the editors, and writers, and am adjusting to the system, and how to make the best of it. Boris Spremo taught me years ago, that you have to understand the paper you work for to best make use the space available for stories and single images. I had that down to a science at the Star, and I'm making progress at The Globe and Mail. So far I'm extremely happy with the level of cooperation, the enthusiasm for strong images, and the willingness to allow the photography department to work on stories. All things I'd hoped I would find in my new role, and am being reassured of daily.

I have to admit, that even as a twenty-year veteran of this business, I still found myself thinking differently on my earlier assignments. I fully knew this was not the way to go, and was quickly able to return to my usual approach to making images.

What has been a trial for me, has been the switch from Mac to PC. I knew when I accepted the job offer that we may be heading in that direction, and as with everything new to me I've tried to approach the change optimistically. I still have the Mac that I was originally given, but I've locked it away to force myself to become PC-literate. Twice already I've reverted back to the Mac, while "adjustments" were made to my PC, but I've decided that the only way I'll become proficient on the new machine is to use it. So far so good, and this week has been a good one - technologically speaking, although my work-flow has been slowed somewhat. That is improving with time as well.

It will take some time to fully adjust to the look of the PC, and especially the "quirks" of the filing system and folders. I soooooooo want to install something like
FlyakiteOSX to at least give my PC the Mac appearance, but I know that just will not be allowed. I have to face facts....

I know John Lehmann has been using a PC for years, as have many of our colleagues with the wire services. They seem to have no issues with using PCs so I simply have to get my head around the idea, and push forward. I NEED to get my head around the idea and push forward, because there is no doubt that when the rest of the staffers in Toronto begin making the switch, they will have many, many questions during their first weeks.

The bottom line, as always, is that no matter what type of machine we use to edit, caption, enhance and transmit our images, we first need to concentrate on making strong images. If we're not gathering the effective story-telling images in the first place, it really doesn't matter what other tools we use to get them to the office - as long as we can, and in a timely manner.

For that matter, the same goes for multi-media, video, and slideshows. Everybody is racing to produce all of the above. It doesn't matter how we communicate with our visuals, or what technology we use, but what is in danger of getting lost, is that the images themselves have to remain strong. More on this later.

And not too much later, I promise.