Will Yurman Interview

WILL YURMAN’S EQUIPMENT
    
● Nikon D2H Camera

● Canon 5D Camera

● Sigma 14 mm lens

● Canon 14 mm lens

● Nodal Ninja Tripod

● Marantz 660 Audio Recorder

● Audio Technica Microphone

● Adobe Photoshop

● PTGui for stitching photos

Will Yurman is a staff photographer at the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle, where he has been a long-time innovator in multimedia storytelling. His work features strong visual content, driven by natural sound and the subject's own words.

A photographer for more than 20 years, Yurman began as a photographer's assistant in Albany, N.Y., and later worked as a freelance photographer in Alaska and the Middle East. Upon returning to the States he became the photo editor of the Observer Dispatch newspaper in Utica, N.Y., where he began to explore multimedia storytelling on the web.

At the Democrat and Chronicle he helped launch a weekly photo column called First Person that appeared in print and online. He has produced numerous shows for the site, working with stills, audio and text to tell stories in a way that just isn't possible in print.

In 2007 he produced a year-long project that documented the lives of every homicide victim in the greater Rochester area in that year. The online project tells the story of each victim through photographs and interviews with family and friends.

His still photography and multimedia work have been recognized in the Best of Photography and Picture of the Year International contests.  He is a 1983 graduate of the State University New York at Albany and was just named NPPA Region 2 Photographer of the Year for the second time.

He teaches classes in photojournalism and multimedia at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has also taught workshops at the Northern Shortcourse, the Great White North Photojournalism Workshop in Toronto, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Online News Association annual workshop and the NPPA’s Immersion 2008 workshop.

KobreGuide asked him about his multimedia pioneering work with creating audio panoramas, which he calls "Round Rochester".


Q: What was the biggest challenge in putting together these projects?  

A: The biggest challenge is finding good stories that are appropriate for this particular technique. Visually it has to work for a panorama and also allow for good audio.  I'm still figuring out what works and doesn't but obviously a scene needs to be interesting in multiple directions to work as a panorama. As a photographer I'm usually narrowing my focus, looking for a point of view that draws a reader to a particular object or moment. Panoramas are different.  The audio is a separate problem to solve. I've been using interviews, natural sound when I can, and my own narration when I'm desperate. The equipment and technology also present problems. I am still on the steep end of the learning curve and my current lens/camera setup limits what I can do.

Q: What was the impetus or inspiration for doing this project?

A: I had started thinking of the idea early in 2008 after seeing some panoramas. Then in the spring I saw a weekly series by Steve Mellon at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  It got me motivated to try it myself.  I liked the idea of a regular series and of trying to show people my community in a new way. And they're fun.

Q: How is this project different from previous projects?

A: A few years ago I helped organized a weekly audio slideshow. It ran for two years and told the stories of people in the community. In one way this is the same idea re-packaged. It's about telling stories. But it uses a different technology and presentation and that in part drives the kinds of stories that work.

Q: How did you collaborate with other team members?

A: This project is a one-man-band.  I generate the ideas, shoot, edit, record the audio and build the shows. There is no print component.

Q: How does audio help shape your stories?

A: I think the audio makes the project work.  I've looked at a bunch of panoramas on the web. The technology is very cool but it quickly grows stale if there is no storytelling content. Most panoramas I've seen have no audio or the audio isn't very interesting. I love the ability of the audio to give context and draw you in while you view the image. It adds a layer to the story which is key for me.  Because it's a weekly series, I don't always have the time I'd like to get good sound. I'm hoping to push that side of things in the future.  Election night was a huge challenge. I wanted to make a panorama at both the Democratic and Republican local campaign parties.  I did the interviews early in the evening and then shot the panoramas but it was pretty crazy and I think the audio could have been stronger. In general I think the audio could be stronger in most of the panoramas so far.

Q: What technical lessons have you learned while producing these panoramas? 

A:  I'm still figuring out what's possible.  I'd like to get a wider lens so I can shoot more active situations. The wider the lens the fewer photos you need to shoot which allows you to shoot scenes with more movement.  I'm still learning what makes a good panorama. I like having things in the foreground - I like the sense of depth it gives. So I tend to avoid simply standing in the center of a big space.

Q: What would you hope viewers will do differently, after seeing this project?

A: This is not a life-changing project.  But I do think it can be used for more than simply showing off cool places.  There is one panorama on a homicide vigil - a man offering a prayer for someone who had died.  I think one of my jobs is to show people what they don't get to see, or show them the commonplace in a new way. So if sometimes I can use this technique to tell a more substantive story, I'm happy to do that.


Q: What equipment do you use and what are some of the other technical aspects of putting together these panoramas?

A: You can use any camera and lens. But the wider the lens the fewer photos you need to cover all 360 degrees.  The big advantage of a wider lens is if the scene is changing such as people moving and light changing.  My current setup is a Nikon D2H with a Sigma 14mm lens. It takes 26 photos to create a panorama.  Imagine what happens if people are moving - they might appear multiple times in a panorama, or have parts of their body missing. In fact you can find those mistakes in some of my panoramas.  Many people recommend a full frame camera and an 8mm lens for active scenes.  (The three election panoramas were shot with a Canon 5D and Canon 14mm lens, courtesy of Canon - which required only 14 photos)

 I use a special tripod head designed for panoramas. It is made by Nodal Ninja. It's important that the camera rotates on the proper axis (sometimes called the nodal point or more accurately the entrance pupil). The idea is to prevent parallax errors - you want the perspective to remain the same for all the pictures. (My first two panoramas - Midtown Plaza and Park Ave 2008 were done without this device and you can see many misalignments in the panoramas)

I record  audio using a Marantz 660 (modified by Oade Brothers for better audio). I generally use an Audio Technica mic but have also used a wireless on occasion.

I shoot in Raw. It's important that you shoot in manual exposure and manual focus. Changing either can create problems. The photos are then 'stitched' together. I use a program called PTGui.  I output a Photoshop file and can make some adjustments and fix some problems in Photoshop. That file is then converted into a special Quicktime file called a QTVR file.  I've built a Flash shell for the panoramas using Flash and a product called Flash Panorama Player.

Phew, it sounds harder than it is.

Q:  What else would you like to let people know about what went into producing this story?

A: There is a lot of geeky technology involved in these. It's much easier with the right gear, there is software to learn, and it can be time consuming. So two things: there’s lots of help on the Internet - blogs and forums and tutorials that can show you the way, and, for me at least, it's important to remember that in the end, it's really about the story.

 VIEW:  http://kobreguide.com/content/Round_Rochester_Audio_Panoramas