N.C. Raves: How the content was collected
About this site : How the content was collected (2 of 3)

How the content was collected (technical)

Photos: Canon EOS Elan II, usually with a plain old consumer 28-105 f3.5/4.5 lens. Fill flash using Canon 380EX (w/ E-TTL). Film varied, but included Fuji Super G+ 800 (typically pushed), Kodak PJ800 (typically pushed), and Fuji NPH 400. Negatives were scanned using Nikon LS-1000 CoolScan and corrected in Adobe Photoshop (Macintosh). High resolution images were digitally watermarked using Digimarc software.

E-TTL helped with balancing ambient and flash inside the parties (especially with off-center subjects), and both the Fuji and Kodak high-speed films worked well. The Digimarc watermarking software is a good idea, in theory, but its 'invisible' encoding made my higher-resolution photos look splotchy. I probably had a setting wrong, but it's distressing nonetheless.

Audio: A combination of whatever equipment was available, but included a Merantz cassette recorder (nice quality but bulky, especially when also carrying a camera), a microcassette recorder (fits in a shirt pocket, but poor quality) and a Sony Walkman DAT (fairly small, and amazing fidelity). If you're in the market, microcassette recorders cost $70 and are barely passable in quality. DATs cost around $400-800 and are great, and I understand MiniDisc recorders ($200-300) are also good, though the tapes only last 74 minutes. DAT tapes can go for 4 hours in LP mode.

Audio was processed on a Macintosh. Voices were punched up using WaveConvert Pro, and edited with Adobe Premiere. Audio clips were post-processed using Progressive Networks' RealEncoder and are delivered using proprietary RealAudio software on SunSITE, the server hosting the website.

RealAudio was used because of its availability on SunSITE. Unfortunately, it requires that pesky plug-in, it needs a powerful computer to run on (especially for streaming video), and the company's support for Macintosh is minimal. QuickTime 3.0 seems like a faster, less processor-intensive cross-platform streaming technology, but it also requires a big download and isn't in widespread use yet.

How it should have been done

I got started collecting audio pretty late. The possibilities of using a DAT and wireless microphone in conjunction with a photo story are pretty amazing. Because the mikes are wireless, there's plenty of freedom to walk around with a subject and take pictures while you're interviewing (except, of course, for the pesky shutter noise that ends up on the recording). A downside is the visibility of the lavalier mic, and hiding the mic in clothing makes lots of noise when clothes rub against it.

At the same time, editing audio is very difficult and time-consuming for those without training and experience (like me). The audio in this site consists mostly of interviews pieced together to complement the photos -- there's a real lack of location sound and 'you-are-there' audio reporting.

Image from the photo story

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