This week: Associated Press Photo Managers news from Darrell Hoemann

On the shelf: Get suggestions on best books for visual managers from photography leaders across the country. Click here for more.

Northeast conference: Some 30 people attended. Click here for highlights.

2005 conference: Here's the rundown on the APPM portions of the October conference. Click here for more.

Also:

2005 conference: Early-bird gets the worm, in this case a free stay in San Jose. Click here for information.

Photo Showcase: Dallas Morning News contributes top photo for August. Click here to view the winner.

PHOTO MANAGERS SHARE THEIR BEST BOOK CHOICES FOR VISUAL LEADERS
Thousands of words and hundreds of images may pass the desks of visual managers each day, but on the bookshelf nearby maybe a few volumes with impact. These have helped shape the philosophy or work habits of their owners. A quick survey of visual managers and educators offered these recommendations of books they have kept over time.

The books range from collections of images, to textbooks to management advice. Randy Cox, senior editor for visuals at the Portland Oregonian, offers two must-reads, "Visual Impact in Print" by McDougal and Hurley and Wilson Hick's "Words and Pictures." Both books make my personal lists, and while I used to have two copies of McDougal's guide for a generation of photo editors, I gave one to an especially prized intern.

A more theoretical suggestion comes from Jim Kelly, associate professor at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., offering "Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See" by Donald D. Hoffman. Kelly offers this mini-review:

"A professor of computer science, cognitive science and philosophy, Hoffman uses recent research findings from nueroscince to describe how humans construct their visual world. Interestingly, much of what we see may not, in fact, exist. The book drives home the fact that seeing is even at its most elemental level a matter of construction and meaning making in the brain and not a camera-like image that simple renders the reflections of light on a blank sheet."

APPM past president Sherman Williams, who is senior editor/visuals at the Milwaukee Journal, took a look at his bookshelf and offers these recommendations, with his comments following the titles:

   • "The Red Couch by Kevin Clarke" — I thought this was the coolest photography book I'd ever seen. I loved the mix of documentary and conceptual photography.

   • "Songs of My People, African-Americans a Self Portrait" by Dudley Brooks — A great project that I wish I'd been a part of. It showed a side of African-Americans that didn't often get published at the time.

   • "I Dream A World" by Brian Lanker — I was covering one of the subjects in this book as part of a project at the time she was photographed and the book was published. So had to come up with portrait that was equally as strong.

   • "Worlds in a Small Room" by Irving Penn — This was a great study in strong portrait photography.

   • "The Americans" by Robert Frank — This book steered me toward photojournalism.

Terry Eiler, director and professor for the visual communcations program at Ohio University, offers advice for managers with these suggestions and his comments:

   • "The One Minute Manager" by Kenneth Blanchard, Spencer Johnson — This book condenses most of the management information into a usable tool. It needs to be read once a year, just to keep us on track.

   • "Truth Needs No Ally" by Howard Chapnick — a reminder of the need for visual accuracy and honesty in the press.

   • "A Witness in Our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers" by Ken Light.

   • Finally, he suggests that reference works should include The AP Stylebook and Editor and Publisher yearbook.

George Welty, as both the photo editor and production manager for the Carroll City Times in Westminister, Md., offers glance at his bookshelf of books he has found useful:

   • "The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork" by John C. Maxwell — The book helps to build and maintain a successful team.

   • "1001 Ways to Energize Employees" by Bob Nelson — It's nice to have a list of items when you are looking to up lift team members.

   • "Essential Manager's Manual" by Dorling Kindersley Publishing — A thick book, but the chapters are different subjects like How to Delegate, Dealing with People or Reducing Stress.

   • "Joy at Work" by Dennis Bakke — This is a good book on how to make work fun and still meet goals.

   • "Racing To Win" by Joe Gibbs — Gibbs has been a winner at football and NASCAR. He tells how he does it in the book.

And from Pim Van Hemmen, AME/Photo at The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.,:

   • "Shooting Under Fire" by Peter Howe. Van Hemmen says, In this compilation by the former Life magazine photo editor, 10 of the the world's greatest war photographers share their thoughts about their line of work. If you want to get insight into war, photographing it, those who do that work, what their thought processes are and what it may take to be a war photographer, this is the book. The photos are top notch and Howe provides a concise history of war photography up front.

NORTHEAST VISUAL MANAGERS WORKSHOIP DRAWS 30
APPM treasurer Naomi Halperin reports a successful joint workshop between APPM and the Pennsylvania Newspapers Association. The daylong workshop Aug. 24 was hosted by The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa., and drew 30 visual journalists.

Photojournalism and the Law was presented by Tribune Publishing attorneys David Bralow and Kaye Murray. Bralow keyed in on the topics of trespass and access for photographers and Murray focused in on copyright laws and other intellectual property issues.

An afternoon workshop with Halperin, director of photography at The Morning Call, and Pim Van Hemman, AME/Photo from The Star Ledger, focused on photo illustrations and their changing role in newspapers. There was a thoughtful discussion on the process and the ethics. A hands on workshop followed where groups brainstormed story ideas and photo illustrations to produce several great page possibilities.

SHOWCASE PHOTO Congratulations to Barbara Davidson of The Dallas Morning News, who contributed the APME Member Photo Showcase of the Month for August. Her image showed peace activists gathered Aug. 25 near crosses placed outside President Bush's ranch at Crawford, Texas, to represent military members who have died in Iraq. Click here or on the photo above to view a larger version.

SAN JOSE CONFERENCE: APPM PROGRAM
We know you are counting the days to the Oct. 26-29 conference in San Jose, so here are some highlights of what's planned:

Thursday:

   • Ethics and acess will be covered by a panel featuring new Getty senior editorial advisor and veteran newspaper photo editor Cole Porter, hired recently to the positon that the company says is the first of its kind in the industry. Also an AP representative and photo directors from large and mid-sized newspapers.

   • Dallas Morning News photographer and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Leeson will present a workshop on shooting and producing video for newspaper web sites.

   • That night, at an evening with the Freedom Forum, you'll see the premiere of a new film on Pultizer Prize-winning photography and the stories behind the images.

Friday:

   • Crisis management will be covered by a panel including a representative from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma and photographers who have covered trauma and violence.

   • A "How'd you do that?" session lets attendees enjoy "show and tell" on the process of excellence and what managers are doing that works at their newspapers. The session starts with Bill Ostendorf, former photo manager at The Providence (R.I.) Journal and now president of Creative Circle Media Consulting. He will show success stories in his efforts with more than 100 publications working with design, management and teamwork.

For more on the schedule and links to register and reserve a room at the Fairmont, go to:
www.apphotomanagers.org/Workshops.html
(Non-APPM members use: www.apme.com/registration)

SAN JOSE CONFERENCE: AND THE WINNER IS ...
Patti Ewald, managing editor of The Chronicle in Elyria, Ohio, who registered for the APME conference by July 1 and won a drawing for a free, three-night stay at The Fairmont in San Jose. Her name was drawn out a hat at the APME board meeting in late July.

This week's installment was coordinated by Darrell Hoemann of the News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill., and an APPM member.