Brazilian musician, Fernando Rocha with his percussion/electronics set up performing at the DF Cook Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland during Sound Symposium. Photo by Greg Locke © 2008
Newfoundland and Labrador photographer, journalist, editor and media producer.
|
|||||
|
Greg Locke is a professional photographer, journalist, media producer and IT junkie based in St. John's, Newfoundland. Visit his main site for a portfolio of his work or check in here to see what's new.All work on this site is copyrighted and may not be downloaded, used or reproduced by anymeans without permission of the author or his agents. All Rights reserved. © 2008 GREG LOCKE.
Login
Recent Photos
|
Wednesday, July 9
by
Greg Locke
on Wed 09 Jul 2008 09:45 AM NDT
Brazilian musician, Fernando Rocha with his percussion/electronics set up performing at the DF Cook Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland during Sound Symposium. Photo by Greg Locke © 2008 Monday, June 30
by
Greg Locke
on Mon 30 Jun 2008 10:49 AM NDT
Its Sound Symposium time again!! Grab a gallon of Red Bull and head out on the town for this 10 day celebration (marathon?) of sound in St. John's. Yes, two years have gone by and its time once again to hear the Harbour Symphony for ships horns at noon hour and the good citizens to take in the concerts, performances, audio installations, lectures, workshops and jam sessions with artists from around the world presenting the best in new music, performing art and audio adventure. There are very few events of this caliber in the world that are MUST SEE in ones lifetime. There is the Edinburgh Fringe, Burning Man in California, Mali's Festival in The Desert ...and Sound Symposium in little "ol St. John's. Get out and treat yourself to something spectacular. Visit the Sound Symposium website or Sound Symposium Facebook page of schedules and updates! Or through Sound Symposium: 753-4630 or soundart@nfld.com Thursday, June 26
by
Greg Locke
on Thu 26 Jun 2008 11:04 AM NDT
Most people have heard by now that Stirling Press will be closing its doors in the near future. Its website is already offline. As one of only two offset printing presses in St. John's it's hard to believe that there is not enough business to keep it going. Maybe business acumen, like talent is not universal? It was a great press and produced a good product. Even in a cut throat business where every corner is cut, quality and service was not an issue at Stirling. The other press is owned by Transcontinental, publisher of The Telegram. Much has been said lamenting the loss of the press, the jobs and speculation on the future of the Newfoundland Herald, its historic in-house publication. (see Meeker on Media). Many Newfoundland journalists, photographers, writers and editors have gone through the Herald over the years. I think my first paid professional gig as a photographer was with The Herald ..either them or UPI. Both were around the same time. Stirling Press printed many of the local publications as well as commercial printing jobs. The obvious concern is that the lack of competition will drive prices up for small publications such as The Business Post, Current, Avalon Times, Scope and even the university newspapers The Muse and The Gazette, who rely on the local presses to print their papers. Those in this business know that competition for that work was ...aggressive. The one question that has not been asked or answered that will effect local print media is... ...what's happening to that nice Heidelberg press? When we were starting up the Sunday Independent the question of our own printing press was the first obvious question. If you can't print your paper you don't have a business. Do you really want to give money to your competitor and allow him that kind of control/access to your business? The answer is, even a very small press will cost you $100,000+. If you plan on doing any volumn of commercial work start looking at a half a mil. ...before paper, ink and salaries. You can but a lot of real estate in cyber-space with that kind of cash. Which, of course, may be the problem for a lot of print media today and in the future. We now have a situation where pretty well every independent newspaper and magazine in the city is printed at The Telegram by a large national company with deep pockets. This is not a good business situation on many levels if you own one of those small publications. Lack of competitive printing prices is bad enough but then you also find yourself in the position of competing for limited small market ad dollars, the life blood of a newspaper, with the people who are printing your publication. A company that is more than willing to cut prices and able to take a loss for a while. Am I the only one who sees a problem here? As one with lots of expensive ideas and little money I can't help but think, if, The Independent, by far the most ambitious of the local newspapers, or a group of the small publications, had any foresight at all they would join forces and try to raise the money to buy/lease that idle printing press sitting out on Logy Bay Road. Sadly, what seems to be a Newfoundland trait of NOT working together or in co-operation means that instead of standing together they may all hang separately. As much as I believe online is the future of news distribution, I still love print media and there will always be a place for small local, community and specialty publications ...and that will be hurt by the closing of Stirling Press.
Wednesday, June 25
by
Greg Locke
on Wed 25 Jun 2008 09:03 AM NDT
In the business it's called "Digital Asset Managment." Around our house it's called, "Where the frig are my pictures!" Thanks again to Aaron Johnson creator of What The Duck for tapping the truth about the photo world. If you are a pro, hobbiest or family photographer or have commited a crime with Photoshop his site is worth the visit. Saturday, June 21
by
Greg Locke
on Sat 21 Jun 2008 10:17 PM NDT
Thomas Homer-Dixon, left, didn't know it when I took him aside for a photograph at the NOIA conference last week but I have been a "fan" of his work for a long time. I have followed his work in the areas of political science, international affairs and conflict studies for a number of years. His work should be bookshelves of every journalist coving these issues. These days it's a rare thing to find someone who brings intelligent analyis and observation to the table without the filter of political ideology or partisan objectives. At an energy conference where the speakers were the major players in the industry Mr. Dixon's address on climate change, economics and the impact and role of oil in human development was, by far, the most interesting and eye opening presentation. Mr Homer-Dixon holds the George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at University College, University of Toronto.
He received his B.A. in political science from Carleton University in 1980 and his Ph.D. from MIT in international relations and defense and arms control policy in 1989. He then moved to the University of Toronto to lead several research projects studying the links between environmental stress and violence in developing countries. Recently, his research has focused on threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change. His books include The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization (Knopf, Island Press, 2006), which won the 2006 National Business Book Award, The Ingenuity Gap (Knopf, 2000), which won the 2001 Governor General's Non-fiction Award, and Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Princeton University Press, 1999), which won the Caldwell Prize of the American Political Science Association. A few more portraits of the energy players at the 2008 NOIA conference in the PHOTOS folder or over there in the left column.
Monday, June 16
by
Greg Locke
on Mon 16 Jun 2008 10:29 PM NDT
Busy week in St. John's for those in the oil biz. The NOIA Oil & Gas Conference is on along with the Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show is on at the convention centre. I'll be covering the conference for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and will also have a display of offshore, business and industrial photos in the The Business Post booth at the show on Wednesday and Thursday so if you are there do stop by and say hello. Sunday, June 15
by
Greg Locke
on Sun 15 Jun 2008 10:10 AM NDT
Here is a link to my Halifax Chronicle-Herald story on the joint NL Hydro, Newind wind energy project being built in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. Another is scheduled for Fermeuse, this summer. The Toronto Star stories by Linda Diebel are online today also. The online content of both of these papers change quickly so the links may only be available for a couple of days. Much to the scorn of many of my fellow "seasoned" print media journalists, I firmly believe that the days of the printed newspaper are numbered and the Internet is the future for news and journalism. One newspaper in the USA has already stopped printing its paper edition and moved entirely to an online format ...and its much better and timely'...almost LIVE 24/7. Web presentation has certainly gotten much better since the days of black text on a gray page, but the design and layout of text, images and graphics in print media still kicks the ass of online services. There are a few factors contributing to this next barrier for online publications. One, is technology is still run by "geeks" ...and I use that term lovingly. Tech people run technology, they are not designers or visual artists and seldom journalists. Technology comes first and in many cases the technology, in the form of the content management systems that handle the huge amount of data on the major news websites, does not lend itself to the aesthetics of design. These are not your mom's family website or blogging hobby. ...but it is the future. Embrace it. It'll look better as it matures. |
||||
|
|||||