The History of Image Gathering: An Oral History of Technology and Technique Paperback – 8 Apr 2016

Terrific! I loved it.I you’re a cameraman, you’ll start talking while you read. “Yes, that’s it exactly!” “That’s how it was!” “I remember doing that!”If you’re a history buff, the photos will make you remember how the culture, not just the camera changed.It takes you back to a time when shooting a camera was like when your grandfather driving the family car. He not only had to drive it…he had to fix it. He had to hear its special sounds and noises, and know how to hold it together. He did a dance with the car and loved it.So did the early film cameramen. Inventors created the magnificent precision instruments, but news cameramen (and women) had to put them on the road. This is the history of how money, inventiveness, impossible demands, and adventuresome risk-takers created a multi-billion-dollar industry out of gathering images.By a man who went through all the changes and lived to tell about it.Even if you’re not a cameraman, READ this.Chris Pechin, DGA

For the millions of TV viewers who watch the nightly news but take what they see for granted, Robin Hirsch have stripped away the veil of secrecy to show just involved the process of news gathering -and photography in particular- has been during the past several decades.From the beginning of general film usage, to the myriad of details news photographers always had to keep in mind, to the finished product, Hirsch takes us on a ride few outside the business might ever think about, and does so with not only solid research (the School of Daily Screw-Ups!), but also with a terrific sense of humor.For those of us who worked everyday with our photographic brethren, the book is an extension of what we all experienced. For those outside the news business, the book should give a long overdue appreciation of just what it takes to pull images out of the ether and onto your preferred viewing device.

Excellent history on video image making. Robin was there in the beginning. He is a great source for the real story.

This is a great book for those who are in school studing TV news. And for those of who been there, a trip down memory lane.