I stumbled upon this little gem yesterday and it made my heart all a flutter. A mobile reporters field guide!! 

I am perpetually looking for ways to employ my documentary storytelling skills without the weight and complexity of all the “torture-chamber-esque” new gear for DSLR Hybrids. Hell, if I could revert back to film tomorrow for all client work I would- but those days have passed!

So, when I stumbled upon this little guidebook for mobile journalism via the iPhone on Multimedia Shooter, my heart skipped a beat! Could I possibly make a small- yet powerful- storytelling kit from a mirror-less camera system (eye-balling the Fuji x100 & x-Pro) and these accessories designed for journalists on the fly?

After reading this fabulous book- with reviews, pros/cons and advice on everything from stabilizing to professional audio to editing on the iPad- my hopes were rekindled! This little book rocks and I know it was given the proper love and attention needed for photojournalists turned commercial producers since it was written by Richard Koci Hernandez, whose work I’ve admired for some time.

During the past few weeks, I’ve been meeting with companies I hope to call clients one day very soon. And each one has stated the specific need for small, documentary storytelling along with nimble and quick video production. They want real documentation of actual events/realities for their clients and they don’t want the REAL polished out of it or an 8 week post production schedule. They’ve voiced their opinions about working with large film production companies- which can do amazing work- but are often unnecessary, overstated and overzealous for a majority of their client’s storytelling needs.

And this is a gap I’ve seen in the marketplace for some time and now have the means and vision to fill. Now, I can and do bring my team in for the nice polished productions when necessary. And the work is beautiful- but it takes a team.

I’ve been wanting to dabble in full production that meets my requirements- which are simple- with all this new technology. I don’t want the gear to hinder my abilities to tell the story. I’m a trained photojournalist- this is my specialty.

That’s it.

Oh, and I don’t want to have to visit the chiropractor after each assignment, buy new systems each year or spend all my time re-learning Final Cut every time Apple gets a wild hair up its ass.

I want to tell the story. I want to do it without interference and with a simple, understated beauty that connects the audience to the purpose of the story. And that’s what my clients want as well.

And this little guide has helped me see the merging of technology and size to help me meet my goals and provide the the type of service that the market is demanding. Thanks for creating it, koci.

(Yea, I recently added an iPad pen and doodling apps to my production toolkit. I purchased them for location scouting notes- but the fun factor is enjoyable. If only the pen function didn’t look like a tequila soaked frat-boy snagged my iPad, I’d be happy!)