Author Rob Carrigan revises his "80-20 rule" on digital photography to suggest that 80 percent of the photos taken by a small newspaper can be taken with a cheap digital camera. Much of the work that does not require high grade images includes a wide variety of advertising images from real estate to auto to grocery ads. Among the advantages are the ability to view images immediately and to retake photos if they are unsatisfactory. It also eliminates the need for photoprocessing and the images can easily be transported electronically which can be a major help in meeting deadlines. Even if some limited film based photography is desirable for high quality images, the author argues that many small papers can give up their own dark room and use the "one-hour" photo shops for the little chemistry based work that is still done. The author is a specialist in weekly prepress systems and can be reached at RCarrigan@aol.com.

Author: Rob Carrigan
Title: Digital photography needs reaching weeklies
Source: Newspapers & Technology: June 1998, vol. 10, no. 6, page 8.