Occasionally, I get to go into the field for work. I was literally in the field, with muddy shoes to show for it, for this story about University of California sustainable agriculture programs.

I’m still more accustomed to using a pen and notebook for reporting and not having to worry about microphones, background noise and sound quality. Even so, it was quite fun working on this story and audio slideshow about the student farms at UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz.

The story focuses on the evolution of the farms into sustainable agriculture education and research programs that are the most innovative in the country.

My colleague Ernie Granillo took the photos for the slideshow, and I ran around the UC Davis Student Farm with a digital audio recorder.

Logistically, it was easier to focus on the audio and let Ernie handle the images, with some coordination in photographing interview subjects. I’ve done some past audio slideshows where I’ve taken the photos and recorded audio. Obviously, it’s more difficult going solo, and I think the quality of the finished product didn’t turn out as well as the student farm slideshow.

I know there’s lots of reporters and photographers out there pulling double-duty on projects such as this. There’s no magic button to make this stuff happen. It’s short-sided to think because newspapers and other media are increasingly utilizing the Internet that you don’t still need people to make the magic happen.

Hyphen's new print edition is on newsstands now.

After four  years as editor in chief of Hyphen magazine, I announced my retirement in the Editor’s Note of The Survival Issue, which just came out. You can read the Editor’s Note on Hyphen’s website.

It was a great run. Before becoming editor in chief, I was a staff editor for about four years. It never ceases to amaze me that the great work produced is all done by volunteers with virtually no budget. It’s definitely a labor of love for us. OK, I guess it’s not “us” any more. Hard to let go after eight years even though my stress level has dropped about 100 levels.

Really, though, it was a good stress being part of something special. I’ll miss it, but Hyphen’s in good shape, and maybe even better shape, without me. Thanks again to all the volunteers, and the readers, who’ve stuck with Hyphen.

My latest story for UC: Someday, solar power will provide all the energy homes and buildings need for electricity, heat and cooling. Scientists at UC Solar, a multicampus research institute based at UC Merced, are helping to make that day come true.

Read more at the UC Research website. Read other stuff I’ve written.

Nick Strayer behind the camera and Harry Mok behind the microphone last year at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

As someone with roots in print media, I got a kick out of this photo when I came across it on the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory website. It was taken when my University of California colleague Nick Strayer and I were videotaping interviews at the NASA Ames Research Center last May.

We were at NASA Ames and the lab’s media event held inside the world’s largest wind tunnel to show off new aerodynamic technology that will boost the fuel economy tractor-trailer trucks. The interviews we did were used in a story and video about University of California research partnerships with industry that help create jobs in the green economy. Sustainability is part of what I cover for UC Newsroom at the UC Office of the President.

Multimedia seems to be where things are headed, and I’ve had the chance to receive some training at UC Berkeley and the chance to do some work with video, audio and photography in this job. Like news media outlets, we’re taking strides toward doing more multimedia, and hopefully will do so in the future.

]]> http://www.harrymok.com/2011/09/06/adjusting-to-multimedia-cameras-and-microphones/feed/ 1 http://www.harrymok.com/2011/08/14/photos-from-big-island-of-hawaii/ http://www.harrymok.com/2011/08/14/photos-from-big-island-of-hawaii/#comments Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:32:11 +0000 Harry http://www.harrymok.com/?p=855

Ramie and I had a great trip to the Big Island of Hawaii swimming with sea turtles, seeing a volcano, hiking to secluded beaches and eating good food. IPad and iPhone users, link to Flickr slideshow.

Professor Roger Boulton explains how rainwater stored in tanks supplies water to labs.

Here’s a roundup of some of my latest stories for the University of California website. One of my main beats is sustainability, so I’ve been writing about all the ways UC is green, saving energy and cutting costs.

Centralizing UC’s computer servers could lower costs: System-wide strategy to conserve energy and help UC reach its ambitious goals for cutting carbon emissions.

Building a green lab: Making research labs more sustainable can help UC campuses to cut energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Green crusader: A lab researcher’s campaign to reuse, recycle and reduce draws national acclaim.

Self-imposed fees support sustainability: Students at seven UC campuses charge themselves extra to support green programs.

Saving green: Energy efficiency projects save UC $21 million per year

Green advocates: Students inspire UC’s sustainability policies. Story and slide show.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announces the release of Census 2010 data in December.

Census 2010 data released for California shows that Asian Americans were the fastest growing ethnic or racial group, rising 31.5 percent since 2000 to makeup 12.8 percent of the state’s population. The Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders group rose 23.4 percent.

Read the full post at Hyphen magazine’s blog.

“It’s never happened, as far as we know,” said Andrew Hong, communications associate for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that tracks and promotes Asian Pacific American participation in politics.

Chiu, currently the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, joins city Assessor  Phil Ting and state Senator  Leland Yee as the three Asian Americans vying to succeed  Ed Lee , who was appointed in November as the city’s  first Asian American mayor but has said he will not run for a full term.

Read the full post at Hyphen magazine’s blog.

The Bay Citizen reposted a story from New America Media that is based on Hyphen magazine’s parkour story and video.

Parkour has its origins in France and involves jumping, climbing and vaulting around, over and through obstacles. It looks like a fun and vigorous sport. Traceurs, what practitioners of parkour are called, have to be pretty athletic and in good shape.

The video is great and produced by former Hyphen Director of Photography Seng Chen and the story Ken Shen Robinson can be read in its entirety right now in the print edition of Hyphen. Subscribe to see it.