October 19, 2006

This chat has already taken place. Read the transcript below.

Moderator: Welcome. This is Mindie Paget. I'll be moderating today's chat with Journal-World senior editor Bill Snead. He's here to talk about his photographs and career experiences. Please continue to post questions throughout the chat.

Bill Snead: Good afternoon, hope there are some folks out there.

imagold: Do you feel, in this day when everyone has a digital camera, that anyone can be a photographer? Has it taken anything away from the profession?

Bill Snead: In reality everyone with a camera is a photographer. But, there are degrees of talent. The reason photo quality will decline is the ease in which the digital image goes from the camera into the reproduction process. Digital certainly won't improve the general photographic quality.

Eagle_aye: Thank you for sharing your awesome work! How do you get your subjects to be so at ease and natural looking (not posed)? You are an intriguing and very interesting man!

Bill Snead: Thanks for the kind words. It's really up to the photographer to put his or her subjects at ease. That means taking the extra five minutes to ask the subjects how their day is going. And, you've got to get the point across that you're going to try your darndest to produce a better than average picture. But, sometimes even that doesn't work.

field_ump: Mr. Snead, I have to say that I love all of your photography! I have two questions. First, have you started using digital cameras? Second, what are your favorite subjects to photograph? People, still life, architecture? Thanks.

Bill Snead: I switched to digital five or six years ago when the Nikon D1X and D1H became available. I did it overnight and I wasn't happy about not having option of using film. It's made photography easier from a technical aspect and you have the ability to check your exposure on the run. But in looking through old negatives I miss the detail in the middletones. I really like photograhing people. They're more of a challenge but the extra effort nearly always pays off. And you don't get many thank you notes from old barns.

00jester: I've done photography for many years, even winning awards while in community college. I didn't have the funds to continue college then or now. My question, is there a round about way of getting into photojournalism withhout a degree?

Bill Snead: If you have a solid, imaginative portfolio, a great attitude, love photography and have the ability to come up with and execute original ideas no one is going to ask to see your diploma. I say this often but most good opportunities in journalism happen early,late, on weekends and days off. In other words some of the better situations happen when you are operating on your own nickel.

field_ump: When photographing people, do you prefer it to be an arranged photo or more of something on the fly? Do you know of any photography classes in the Lawrence area besides at the university?

Bill Snead: I really enjoy shooting a variety of things and that's the draw of a daily publication. If you shoot the same type of photos on a regular basis your mind goes numb whether you'll admit it or not. Sports photographers lead the league in that department. Being able to try new things lets a photographer grow. If you don't grow you turn stale, hate your job, kick your dog and all that stuff. Photography classes are only as good as the person teaching them. Doesn't matter what structure houses the class. The ideal way to learn is to find someone whose work you respect and volunteer to help them in any way possible just so you can watch them work. If that's not possible ask them to look through a small portion of your work and honestly evaluate what you do.

Moderator: We have time for one more question.

travis303: Mr. Snead, first off I would like to say that I used to work with youw hen I was an intern at the LJ World in 2003 or 2004. You gave me an autographed Women of KU Calendar that year. I want to ask you when you first developed your love of photography

Bill Snead: I got interested in photography when I started working for the Journal-World in 1954. I thought the whole process was magic. I could see pictures but had a terrible, terrible time getting those images into the camera. And, I could have gone all day without hearing about the calendar. But, honestly, the young women involved were a terrific group. So much so that my wife invited them to our home for a Sunday brunch and everyone but the month of March showed up.

Moderator: That wraps it up. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions; we tried to get to as many as possible. And thanks, Bill, for taking the time to answer them. I'm sure he won't mind me putting in one more plug for his new exhibition, "Bill Snead Photographs: The First 50 Years." It opens with a public reception at 7 p.m. Friday at the Lawrence Arts Center.

Bill Snead: and, thanks for taking the time to ask questions. You'll learn more by asking questions of people who make a living with a camera than by buying $8 photographic magazines.