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| Canon's WFT-E1A wireless transmitter. |
Thanks to breakthroughs in technology, SI and the wire services are employing new and faster ways of getting pictures into their clients' hands this year. Most are highly secret, proprietary systems that the wire services refuse to discuss on the record. AP's involves Wi-Fi; Sports Illustrated uses optimized file sizing and sophisticated transmission protocols; and Reuters' involves photographers and editors sharing access to a single file server.
For the 2008 Super Bowl, more and more news agencies are opting for offsite editing. Instead of selecting pictures in Phoenix, most of the editors will work at their corporate headquarters back in New York and Washington, DC -- even, in some cases, in the picture editors' own homes.
Having to send fewer editorial staffers "has a streamlining effect," explains SI's Choat. "Setup is faster with fewer people to coordinate, and there's a huge cost savings with fewer bodies to fly, house, transport, and feed. Last year, we had 15 people covering the Super Bowl [not including photographers]. This year we'll have maybe three."
According to Gary Hershorn, Reuters employs a similar strategy. "Our first stab at offsite editing made use of the remote desktop capability that's built into the Windows operating system," he says. "Picture files were loaded onto an unmanned computer at the game and edited with remote desktop control. It put all the content of the computer at the stadium onto the desktops of our editors at Reuters headquarters in DC. Editing was done remotely, and only final selects of about 100 pictures were transmitted from the stadium directly to clients."
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Audio Interview: Peter Reed Miller
A veteran of 31 Super Bowls, legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Peter Reed Miller shares his experiences shooting the big game and talks about how photographic equipment has changed over the years. He also offers vital tips every photographer can use to make stronger sports photos, whether they're shooting the Super Bowl or a Pop Warner game.
Click here to launch a slideshow with the interview, or right click here [option click on mac] and "Save as..." to download.
Audio Interview: Joe DiLora
Assistant Manager of Canon Professional Services Joe DiLora tells us what goes on behind the scene to help the photographers get the winning shots.
Click here to launch a slideshow with the interview, or right click here [option click on mac] and "Save as..." to download.
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For Super Bowl XLII, however, Reuters will use a new server-based editing system that allows photographers and editors anywhere in the world to simultaneously connect to a single server to both upload and edit pictures. Editors select and pull only the files they want to use from the server. "The system is so efficient," says Hershorn, "that we're editing almost in real time. Within 2 or 3 minutes of a play, the pictures are on our clients' screens."
This speed results from having certain Reuters photographers shooting directly to hard-wired palmtop computers stashed in their coat pockets (see the Future Tech sidebar on the page that follows). As each picture is taken, it's automatically routed to Reuters' shared server, where it's immediately editable and transmittable.
SI has developed a different but analogous system for offsite editing. Every image shot will be downsized and rapidly transmitted back to its New York offices, where they will be edited, still almost in real time. "Within 6 seconds of dumping a card in Phoenix," says Choat, "the editors in New York start receiving files." Instead of seven case loads of equipment as in the past, this year he will fit all the computing power he needs (three laptops) in the single bag he'll roll onto the Phoenix-bound plane.
Offsite editing owes its existence to faster computing and transmission systems. Computers are pulling image data off memory cards more quickly due to the extremely fast bus speeds of the latest laptops. Bandwidth is also broader, making for shorter transmission times. And since many of the media outlets publishing the images now are websites, file sizes can be smaller for many clients and subscribers.
Better and faster cameras are making a difference, too. "We're seeing faster write times," says Hershorn. "Also, the size of in-camera buffers has grown so that the time it takes to write an image to card isn't that significant anymore."
What new technologies do the pros see coming down the pike for Super Bowl XLIII in 2009? "I don't think it's going to be about resolution any more," Choat says. "Last year's 10- or 12-megabyte RAW files [from the 8.2MP Canon EOS-1D Mark II n] gave us more than enough resolution, and 15 megabytes is probably overkill. Instead, I think the next big thing will be interoperability -- the ease with which cameras plug into larger digital systems and mate up with peripherals. We need systemwide plug-and-play."
He continues, "A good example of this is today's Wi-Fi technology for Canon and Nikon cameras. They require too much configuration and setting up. You've got to understand static IP addresses and other technicalities that lie far beyond the typical skill set of most sports shooters."
Hershorn sees something different for Super Bowl XLIII: the elimination of cables. "We're all looking at ways of moving data more quickly from camera to editor. I think the new Wireless USB technology will let us link cameras and nearby computer systems with more stable connections at an attractive price and faster."
And with the Super Bowl, faster -- on-field or off -- is the name of the game.
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