I had the unique opportunity to attend a “digital story telling” workshop w/ Bill Frakes at the New Media Consortium 2008 Summer Conference. Frakes is a world-renowned photographer. He’s been a staff photog for Sports Illustrated for 13 years, so it’s safe to say he knows his way around a camera. (SI.com recently posted a “Bill Frakes’ Favorite Shots” gallery. Pretty amazing images.)

Among other things, he talked us though the process of setting up to shoot the Kentucky Derby. This remarkable undertaking was a blending of artistry & technical skill. Using 40 digital SLR cameras with remote controls & timers, the setup involved a variety of technologies. But Frakes actually had very little to offer by way of technical rules or recommendations for budding photographers / story-tellers. While high-tech cameras and computers are the tools of digital story-telling, he reminded us that the tools themselves don’t tell stories. Frakes encouraged us to think of the camera as an extension of our eyes and a way to “draw with light” the images that are meaningful to us so we can tell stories that matter. While he has the fortune of taking photos that are viewed by millions of people, as a digital story-teller he’s satisfied if any given image he takes is meaningful to one person. That’s not a bad sentiment for a photographer / story-teller. It reminds me that education is about “the one.”

By the way, Apple also did a demo of the new version of Aperture. Almost makes me wish I owned a Mac. They even handed out free copies of the software to conference attendees. I wonder where I can install and use it . . .