Page 125 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

8

Digital Video Photography

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Photography means “writing with light.” The words come from the
Greek words for “light” ( photo) and “writing” (graphus). Regardless
of what you call what you do—photojournalism, videography, or
photography—it is all photography and it all involves writing with light.
We acquire our images with a variety of tools, but it requires light to
reflect off of our subject for us to see them. As photojournalists we
use light as our medium to tell stories. In this chapter you will learn
the basics of digital video photography to tell stories for television and
the Web.

The Professional Television Camera

Every camera has a few basic parts, starting with a light-tight box. You
may be shooting on film, or using a charged coupled device (CCD)—
known as a chip—to capture the image. Regardless of the medium on
which the camera records, it needs to do so in a controlled environment
so that light does not enter.
The camera also needs a lens. Most television cameras use a variable
focal length lens, more commonly known as a zoom lens. This allows