My Tools and Workflow for News Photos

cameras and lenses
I started with Nikon then switched to Canon for their hi-iso performance. Earlier this year, I switched back to Nikon because of Canon AF and their service centers in Thailand.


Different assignments require different tools.
My normal set-up for news would be 2 Nikon D3S, 14-24mm, 50mm, 70-200mm. I uses Op-Tech for camera that I will be wearing around my neck or shoulder and up-strap for camera that I will only carry on my shoulder.

Almost like new Nikon D3S.

The Nikon D3S are amazing camera. So amazing that I now have 2 of them. I can comfortably shoot up to 12,800ISO and I've never gone beyond that. The AF is very fast and accurate in bright light but not as fast but more accurate in low-light than the 1D Mark III.

Nikon D3S + 14-24mm f/2.8G

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 is one of my favorite lens. I both love and hate it. Sometimes that lens is too wide. I wish I can zoom to 35mm. Other times, zooming out to 14mm is a life saver. The thing I really hate about this lens is that it can not accept filter. I have filter on all my lenses and I have scratched them over the years. With 14-24mm, I have to be very careful not to scratch it. I tend to zoom to 24mm while I carry this lens so that the front element is recessed and protected by the hood.


computers
I've gone through many desktops and laptops over the years. Right now I'm using an Apple MacBook Pro 15" and an Apple Mac Pro.
The Mac Pro is my primarily machine. I do most of my work on it.


news photos workflow
I use Photomechanic for organizing, captioning and transmitting news photos. It is by far the fast software I ever used.


For tight deadline assignment, I would tag photos that I like by using "lock" button on my cameras. Not only that this will prevent me from accidentally deleting it, when importing photos into Photomechanic, I can choose to only copy the tagged photos which will speed up the transfer considerably. After I finished importing, the next step is to caption the photos. If the photos need adjustment, I will edit them in Lightroom and export JPEGs back to Photomechanic. Final step is to transmit the photos to my agency or newspaper via FTP. With Photomechanic, I can specify to only upload the JPEGs in case there are both RAW & JPEG of the same photo or upload extracted JPEGs from RAWs incase there are only RAWs.


internet connections
There is nothing more problematic than trying to find a way to connect to the internet while in the field. I have 3 ways of connecting to the internet.
1. 3G network via Truemove iPhone 3G
2. EDGE network via AIS BlackBerry Curve
3. WiFi Hotspot


I try not to use EDGE since it will takes around 5-10minutes to transmit only one photo. 3G is the fast in my experience but also one of the most unreliable. Sometimes it will works, other times it won't. EDGE always works fine.