Learn Videojournalism Online from Top Pros

We're proud to announce that KobreGuide is officially an affiliate of the New York Video School (NYVS), an online education center created by pioneering videojournalist Michael Rosenblum.

NYVS provides anyone with a video camera an easy and affordable way to learn to make films and videos like a Hollywood professional.

As a NYVS member you'll have access to video courses, critiques, tutorials and a learning community that will help you quickly become a master at video editing, video production, videography, iMovie, Final Cut Pro and much more!

NYVS instructors have worked with PBS, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, ABC, CBS, the New York Times, and many other leading media institutions.

Among the benefits of registering for the NYVS online curriculum:

* Learn video with hundreds of online tutorials
* View the latest video news and events
* Find opportunities to use your videos
* Participate in online video contests
* Post and search for jobs and internships
* Find places to make money creating video

NYVS courses have been grouped into five categories: Storytelling, Shooting, Editing, Practical Use, Video Basics

Andre Malok, a videojournalist at the Newark Star-Ledger, took Rosenblum's popular VJ video training bootcamp two years ago. He recently produced this stellar 24-minute online documentary (below), "The Wreck of the Lady Mary." The in-depth video represents a rare high-quality blend of reporting and interviewing with shooting and editing. Remarkably Malok accomplished it all single-handedly, using techniques and skills that you can acquire at NYVS.

The Lady Mary left the Port of Cape May on the morning of March 18, 2009 on a routine scallop fishing trip. The vessel with its crew of seven traveled 66 miles to a restricted scallop fishing area. Early on March 24, the boat sank to the bottom of the ocean, and six of the seven crewman were killed. Was the boat swamped in rough seas? Or did a passing container ship strike the boat without ever knowing it? After months of investigation, the Star-Ledger explores the mystery of the wreck of the Lady Mary.

For more info on NYVS, or to enroll in courses, please go here.

RIP Kodachrome, 1935-2010

The last rolls of Kodachrome, the most revered film for color slides for the past 75 years, are being developed today at Dwayne's Photo, a small family business in Parsons, Kansas. Then the last Kodachrome processing machine will be shut down and sold for scrap, rendered obsolete by digital technology.

[SEE PREVIOUS KOBRECHANNEL posts for related info, images and links:

* Last Roll of Kodachrome
* Mama, They Took Our Kodachrome Away]

Read the New York Times' on-location report,"For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas."

Eastman Kodak gave the last roll of Kodachrome to Steve McCurry, the noted National Geographic photojournalist. He shot the last three frames of that roll in Parsons before dropping it off at Dwayne’s, and you can see them on the Times' Lens blog, "A Color-Saturated Sun Sets on Kodachrome."

It's the end of an era, and judging from the myriad readers' comments, on the Times Website and elsewhere, many will miss the film's legendary rich colors ... while others happily prefer the relative ease and convenience (not to mention instant certainty) of digital shooting.

Don't miss the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's excellent short video, The Last Roll of Kodachrome, as featured on KobreGuide. In a story within a story, photographer Robert Cohen describes how he dug a final roll of expired Kodachrome 200 out of the back of his freezer, carefully and lovingly shot 36 frames at the colorful Missouri State Fair… and then drove the film hundreds of miles to Parsons, Kansas to have it developed. All the while he was not sure how, or if, any of the images would turn out – a reminder of life in pre-digital camera days. The story cleverly combines beautiful images and a folksy storyline complete with suspense and a climactic payoff.

[UPDATE: Here's the Los Angeles Times' elegy, "Goodbye Kodachrome," with a reproduction of a 1936 May Company ad that included the paper's first mention of the film. "A 100-foot roll of 16mm Kodachrome film, regular price of $9, was on sale for $6.98. After adjusting for inflation, the 1936 sales price would be $107 today." There's also a reprint of a 1938 "Camera Corner" column about the film, its first editorial mention in the paper.]

For those of you who have used Kodachrome, please share with us your thoughts about its demise. Nostalgic for "the greens of summer" -- or is all the world a sunny day with digital?

(Photo by Steve Hebert / New York Times)

President's Photographer: Tonight on PBS

Be sure to catch The President's Photographer: 50 Years in the Oval Office tonight on PBS. The National Geographic production features Pete Souza, an acclaimed photojournalist who previously served as President Reagan's official photographer, and now performs those same duties for President Obama.

Did we mention that Pete was one of our first photojournalism students, way back when? He's currently on leave of absence from his normal post as an assistant professor of photojournalism at Ohio University's School of Visual Communication.

The presidential photographer's job is two-fold: one, taking photographs of the president greeting dignitaries, visitors and guests; and two, perhaps more challenging and gratifying: documenting for history every possible aspect of the presidency, both official events, backstage happenings and "off-duty" private moments. "Creating a good photographic archive for history is the most important part of my job, creating this archive that will live on," says Souza. "This is not so much photojournalism as photo-history." Souza and his staff produce up to 20,000 pictures a week.

"The job of presidential photographer is all about access and trust, and if you have both of those you're going to make interesting, historic pictures," Souza says. He earned the President's trust by following Obama on his rise to the Presidency covering then Senator Obama as a photographer for the Chicago Tribune.

Watch the full episode. See more The Presidents Photographer.

Read the Washington Post's excellent review here. Excerpt:

Perhaps only Bo the Dog and personal aide Reggie Love have better access to Obama than Souza, who is a constant presence with a couple of cameras slung over his droopy shoulders. Both Bo and Love figure prominently in some of the memorable shots Souza has taken so far; the president, we learn, is particularly enamored of a photograph of himself blocking Love's shot on the basketball court....

Without hammering the point, and with some of the more interesting behind-the-scenes footage yet of the Obama White House, "The President's Photographer" makes clear the lasting power of the still photograph, even in this tech-savvy era. It's possible that Souza's perfect picture of Obama already exists; probably it has yet to be taken. Time has a way of editing all images down to the one that says it all.

Read our previous blog items about Pete Souza, here and here. And check out his online portfolio, which also showcases his "non-presidential" assignments.

Check your local PBS listings for air times.

The Last Roll Of Kodachrome

Talk about pressure! What if YOU were handed the last roll of film ever made and told to go out and shoot pictures with it. What would you take?

OK, Steve McCurry (pictured) wasn't given the last roll of film, but the last roll of Kodachrome ... though in many ways that makes the assignment even tougher, given not only the reputation of the film but also the reputation of the photojournalist who took iconic images with that revered film for decades.

(SEE: "Mama, They Took Our Kodachrome Away!")

Listen to NPR's recent interview with McCurry, to help you appreciate the magnificence of both the artist and his now extinct tool.

The film, known for its rich saturation and archival durability of its slides, was discontinued last year to the dismay of photographers worldwide. But Kodak gave the last roll ever produced to McCurry. He has just processed that coveted roll at Dwayne's Photo Service in Parsons, Kan. — the last remaining location that processes the once-popular slide film.

What's on that landmark roll of film is still under wraps. What is known is that the first and last images are in New York City, McCurry's home base. And between those frames are photographs from India, where McCurry established his career as a master of color photography.

Although he has almost a million images spanning 35 years in his Kodachrome library, he still felt the pressure of this assignment. Every one of the 36 frames on that final roll was precious. "Am I getting the right moment?" he wonders. "Is it in focus? Is the exposure right?"

One advantage of digital cameras is that you can see the image immediately, eliminating the former need to guess at f-stops and bracket shots accordingly. Ironically, McCurry used a separate digital camera to determine the perfect exposure for each Kodachrome shot, removing the guesswork and doubts.

McCurry's final-roll-of-Kodachrome images will be seen for the first time in an upcoming National Geographic documentary.

Now ask yourself: If Kodak had given you that last roll of Kodachrome, how would you have used it?

Web Documentaries Nominated for Emmys

Congrats to News & Documentary Emmy® Awards nominees, announced this week by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), which remarkably now recognizes the achievements of Web documentaries.

As always, many of these have previously been showcased on KobreGuide to the Web's Best Videojournalism, at the time of their original appearance on the Web. (Click links below.)

APPROACHES TO NEWS & DOCUMENTARY PROGRAMMING: CURRENT NEWS COVERAGE

Behind the Veil (GlobeAndMail.com)

Flipped: How Private Equity Dealmakers Can Win While Their Companies Lose (NYTimes.com)

Times of Crisis (Reuters.com / MediaStorm)

Disabled in Vietnam (San Jose Mercury News / MercuryNews.com)

Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope (Tsunami.Trust.org / MediaStorm)

NEW APPROACHES TO NEWS & DOCUMENTARY PROGRAMMING: DOCUMENTARIES

Alabama's Homeboys (LATimes.com)

Driftless: Stories from Iowa (MediaStorm.org)

Secret Life of Scientists (NOVA / PBS)

One in 8 Million (NYTimes.com)

A Life Alone (SoulOfAthens.com)

Ted Kennedy: A Life in Politics (Boston Globe / Boston.com)

NEW APPROACHES TO NEWS & DOCUMENTARY PROGRAMMING: ARTS, LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

Obsessives: Soda Pop (Chow.com)

The Iconic Photo Series (Time.com)

Your Shot (NationalGeographic.com)

The News & Documentary Emmy® Awards will be presented on Monday, September 27 in New York. Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ed Kashi Joins VII Photo Agency

Photojournalist Ed Kashi has joined VII Photo, the prestigious Paris and New York-based photo agency, as a co-owning member.

In the British Journal of Photography, Olivier Laurent interviews Kashi about his latest book, Curse of the Black Gold: 50 years of Oil in the Niger Delta.

Kashi's multimedia work on that topic has been published by National Geographic and showcased on KobreGuide.com (pictured).

In this in-depth Q&A, Kashi reveals how he obtained both access and funding to accomplish the task of visually documenting such a gargantuan topic.

Here's an exchange regarding Kashi's pioneering foray into video that we found engaging:

Q: You’re a big proponent of multimedia, using audio for decades, and mixing stills with videos in projects such as The Sandwich Generation. Increasingly, with the development of video-enabled digital SLRs, video is gaining in importance in a photojournalist’s work. Are audio and video complementing still photography? How important are these storytelling tools for you? Is still photography still a powerful medium or does it need to be associated with other media?

Ed Kashi: Still photography will always exist because our brains are wired to ingest still images. The fact our brains are being rewired might change that equation down the evolutionary road, but for now still images continue to be powerful forms of communication and enlightenment. Mixing still imagery with moving imagery, audio, graphics, ambient sound, music and most importantly the voice of our subjects is exhilarating and has only enhanced our abilities as visual storytellers to tell our stories in new, dynamic ways that can reach broader audiences and break the space logjam that print media has always forced our work into.

Regarding his new partnership with VII Photo, Kashi crows (on Facebook): "The future looks bright and I am looking forward to working with such a great group of photographers and staff at an agency dedicated to so many of the values and goals I am also committed to."

LINKS:

* BJP interview with Ed Kashi

* VII Photo

* Ed Kashi's Website

* "Curse of the Black Gold" on KobreGuide

Only the Good Die Young

FLYP magazine (FLYPmedia.com) has been nominated for a prestigious Webby Award for its smart, resourceful pioneering of online multimedia, under the direction of former Time Inc. editor extraordinaire Jim Gaines.

The other four nominees are The Economist, National Geographic, the The New Yorker and Wired -- putting us in the company of titles with substantially more financial and journalistic resources, but not necessarily better ideas about how to tell stories on the web.

Alas, lacking those financial resources, after only two years, Flyp will publish no more. The investment capital has dried up, and until more is found, the revolutionary online mag will stand as a bold testament to what could and should be. (Editor Jim Gaines recently left to start his own interactive company.)

Flyp combines text, graphics, stills, animation, audio and video like no other online magazine, no doubt because it was created specifically for the Web and not just a Web adaptation of a previously existing print publication. Its navigation alone provides a different experience from merely flipping/clicking through pages.

So all at once we offer congrats, thanks, and hopeful wishes for a cavalry rescue and a speedy rebound.

Tom Kennedy's Evolution as a Visual Journalist

Tom Kennedy consults on, speaks about, and trains others in visual journalism. He was managing editor for multimedia at The Washington Post and, before that, director of photography for National Geographic magazine. He has created, directed, and edited visual journalism projects that have earned Pulitzer Prizes, EMMY, Peabody, and Edward R. Murrow awards.

Kennedy is currently the Resident Professional at the University of Miami School of Communication’s Knight Center for International Media. He recently gave a 95-minute talk there on "The Evolution of a Visual Journalist," imparting professional lessons he's learned along his celebrated path.



This semester, Kennedy is "working with visual journalism graduate students to create an innovative website that will evaluate the State of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals in seven Asian and African cities... His project will become part of the Center’s current anchor project: Our City. As a component of the project, graduate students from the visual journalism program at the University of Miami will work with faculty and students at journalism institutions in Africa and Asia creating local stories about global issues like poverty, environmental sustainability, HIV AIDS, maternal health and primary education."

It's Animal Video Week on KobreGuide.com

In case you haven't already noticed, it's Animal Week here at KobreGuide.com .

We've showcased videos on sea turtles, hunting beagles, orphaned marsupials and, um, bull penises.

Normally on KobreGuide, we present a diversity of topics from a variety of sources each week.

We found ourselves with a few critter-related stories, and rather than space them out over a period of several weeks, we asked ourselves, "Why not just create a theme week?"

Now you know how those big important editorial decisions are made.

Serendipitously (or, by design, if you'll fall for that), what each story has in common is the relationship between animals and humans.

We see a divorced woman bonding with her hunting beagle; boys who once poached sea turtle eggs now rescuing them to protect the endangered species; a couple cheerfully raising hopping kangaroos and wallabys in their own living room; and a revered chef who faces the challenge of turning a seemingly unpallatable animal body part into a gourmet delicacy.

The locales range from Costa Rica to Taiwan to Australia.

Among other things, it's taught us that, as much as we look down our nose on all those amateurish piano-playing kitten YouTube videos, professionally produced animal-themed stories can indeed make for excellent videojournalism.

Indeed, KobreGuide.com has an entire Animal channel devoted to them, and video stories such as The Amazing Skidboot and Turtle Man consistently rank among our most popular offerings. Ditto for even serious-minded fare such as Gorilla Massacre and Pit Bulls: Companions or Killers.

What distinguishes them, of course, is that they are not "citizen journalism" (i.e. home movies), but rather good storytelling... and good journalism.

And, yes, we do realize it's Thanksgiving week, but you'll notice that, among our animal-themed video stories this week, there's not a turkey among them!

Oh, OK, if you insist. Here's a lively video snapshot of life on a free range turkey farm in Michigan, courtesy of Eric Seals at the Detroit Free Press (freep.com):



Enjoy! And save room for dessert.

LINKS:

* Bull Penis (National Geographic)
* For the Love of Dogs (Eddie Adams Workshop)
* Saving Sea Turtles, One Nest at at Time(N.Y. Times)
* Kangaroo Foster Parents (Time)
* KobreGuide Animal channel

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bill Eppridge Awarded Missouri Honor Medal

Celebrated photojournalist Bill Eppridge receives one of the profession's highest honors, the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, from the Missouri School of Journalism today.

The award is "in recognition of his more than 45 years as a photojournalist, capturing for the people of the world critical moments in the history of the world."

Bill Eppridge, a 1960 Missouri alum, has covered a remarkable assortment of stories for Life, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated magazines. He was a staff photographer for the original weekly Life during the 1960s until the magazine folded in 1972. His assignment list reads like a history book of current events covering the latter half of the 20th century.

Eppridge recorded the Beatles' first momentous visit to the United States and photographed Barbra Streisand on the verge of superstardom. He was the only photographer admitted into Marilyn Lovell's home as her husband, Jim, orbited the moon in the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft.

Eppridge went to Vietnam, captured Clint Eastwood on the set of Dirty Harry and was at the original Woodstock Music Festival. His landmark photographic essay on heroin addiction in Needle Park won a National Headliner Award and inspired the motion picture, "Panic in Needle Park," which starred actor Al Pacino. That photo essay is included in "Things As They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955," the 2005 ICP award-winning book by World Press Photo.

Eppridge is a past recipient of the Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, the National Press Photographers Association's highest honor. He was on the road with Robert F. Kennedy, covering his 1966 and 1968 presidential campaigns for Life magazine, when he took one of the decade's most poignant and iconic photographs: a stunned Los Angeles busboy, Juan Romero, cradling the candidate in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, just seconds after Robert Kennedy was shot. Those photographs are in Eppridge's most recent book, "A Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties."

LINKS:

* Bill Epperidge bio
* Award announcement
* About the Honor Medal

KobreGuide Top 10 List for Aug. '09

Here are the ten most popular stories on KobreGuide.com for the month of August 2009.

We weeded out the most popular stories from July 2009, since we suspect that the traffic surge for those stories this month resulted from having published that month's list, giving it the same "self-fulfilling prophecy" quality as the New York Times Bestseller list.

As it happens, these "most viewed" videos are among our favorites, too! As always, they reflect an array of interests, from a wide spectrum of sources:

Shockwaves Through My Soul

Silverton Saves Its Paper

Tiger Eye: Up Close and Personal

Women at Arms

Last Chance High School

US Citizens Born by Midwife Denied Passports

The Pied Piper

Living on Havana's Edge

Got Geese? Call the Geesebuster!

Hog Wild

Happy viewing!

Momenta Workshops for Documentary Photography

Momenta director Jamie Rose shares their lineup of upcoming workshops for "quality documentary photography within a practical, real world learning environment."

***
David Alan Harvey: The American Family Workshops Series

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/sanfran09.php
http://www.momentaworkshops.com/miami10.php

San Francisco, California from September 25-28, 2009
Miami, Florida from January 8 - 11, 2010

Join David Alan Harvey & Momenta Workshops for aspiring and professional photographers alike. Photographers will work with David Alan Harvey to develop their narrative storytelling during this workshop while photographing on the theme the American family. The tuition for this workshop will include editing sessions with instructors on a daily basis, lectures, workshop materials, slideshows, lectures and a public transportation pass. A final night celebration party and slideshow will be hosted by David Alan Harvey and Momenta Workshops for photographers, subjects and local photographers. An online digital portfolio review by David Alan Harvey is a requirement for acceptance into this workshop. Tuition for each American Family series workshops is $1150.

***
Festival! Peru with Ami Vitale

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/peru09.php

Lima, Chinca and Cuzco, Peru from October 18 - November 1, 2009

National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale will takephotographers to experience and document the start of bullfighting and cockfighting season as well as the Senor de los Milagros procession in beautiful Peru. The workshop culminates as Peru celebrates Halloween also known as the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and All Saints Day, the celebration of loved ones lost over the years.The price includes most meals, in-country transportation and housing as well as one-on-one access to instructors on a daily basis, personal portfolio reviews, in-the-field mentoring, all handouts and workshop materials, plus slide shows and lectures. The price of the workshop before September 1, 2009 is $5394 (US dollars). After September 1, 2009, the cost of tuition will be $5694 (US dollars).

***
Myanmar (Burma) 2009: The Art of the Photostory

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/myanmar09.php

Various locations, Myanmar from November 8 - 21, 2010

Explore one of the most mysterious and unspoiled destinations in the world with our internationally renowned photographers and instructors. Beginning in the old colonial city of Yangon, discover a country filled with visually rich city streets, vibrant rural markets, awe-inspiring temples, and peaceful countryside monasteries. Under the guidance of our experienced instructors, you will explore shrines, temples, and captivating cultural scenery bathed in monsoon light will serve as a colorful canvas on which to construct a visual and audio narrative of travel through the region alongside its inhabitants. The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding soft drinks, beverages & alcohol) where indicated on the itinerary, daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. The price of the workshop is $4459.

***
Project India 2010 : Working With Nonprofits

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/india10-2.php

Various locations, India from January 17-30, 2010

Inarguably one of the most important and influential countries of the next century, and home to one of the worlds most changing social environments; India is the location of our first Project workshop in 2010. Come with us to work with a selection of the varied NGOs and nonprofits that have helped shape India's development projects over the last 50 years. Learn the skills necessary to work successfully and profitably with these organizations in one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth.The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding alcohol), daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. Tuition costs for this workshop is $4320 (US dollars) before December 1, 2009 and after December 1, 2009, tuition is $4620 (US dollars).

***
Project Uganda 2010 with Jeff Hutchens & Jamie Rose

http://www.momentaworkshops.com/uganda10.php

Gulu & Lira, Uganda from February 28 - March 13

Our most popular workshop every year proves to be Project Uganda and rightfully so. Working with local nonprofits and local leaders in Northern Uganda to help create a documentary archive of images around their work is a once in a lifetime experience. Each photographer is assigned to a different nonprofit to work with for the two weeks to create a photo story with the guidance of award winning instructors Jeff Hutchens and Jamie Rose. Jeff was nationally recognized for his work during the civil war and Jamie Rose won the White House News Photographers Association's Project Grant for her work with Doctors Without Borders in Northern Uganda. The workshop fees include all workshop related costs including accommodations, travel and meals (excluding alcohol), daily one-on-one access to an instructor, personalized portfolio reviews, all handouts and workshop materials, daily slideshows and lectures, software and equipment training. Tuition for this workshop is $4056 (US Dollars).

***
More info at MomentaWorkshops.com. Also: Momenta Facebook Group / Twitter .

MediaStorm Nabs Another Webby Award

Hooray for MediaStorm's well deserved Webby Award for "Documentary: Individual Episode," announced this morning. It's their fourth Webby.

The New York-based videojournalism production company took the prize for "Intended Consequences," by Jonathan Torgovnik. It's a harrowing story about the plight of thousands of woman who contracted HIV and bore children as a result of being raped during the Rwandan massacre.

The People's Voice winner in that category is "Kenya: Sweet Home Obama," for which American reporter Edwin Okong'o traveled to his home in Kenya to find out how his countrymen are rejoicing about Barack Obama.

Documentary Nominees (featured on KobreGuide):

• Intended Consequences (MediaStorm)


• Searching for the Snow Leopard (National Geographic)


• Kenya: Sweet Home Obama (PBS/Frontline)


• Rape in a Lawless Land (Guardian)


• Sri Lanka: A Terrorist in the Family (PBS/Frontline)

Read the official Webby Award profile of MediaStorm. And don't miss this illuminating Webby Award interview with MediaStorm founder Brian Storm.

Winners will be honored at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers in New York City on June 8th. Starting on June 9th on the new, custom Webby Awards YouTube Channel, fans will be able to view dozens of short video highlights from the ceremony, including the winner's five-word speeches and celebrity red-carpet interviews. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore ("Please don't recount this vote") and Stephen Colbert ("Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.")

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Vinton Cerf, and Richard Branson.

Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide.

Complete winner list / Online Film & Video winners / Gala Awards Event info

Cast Your Webby Ballot

The 13th annual Webby Awards nominees have been announced. In the "Documentary: Individual Episode" category, two of the five have previously appeared on KobreGuide.com:

• Intended Consequences (MediaStorm)
• Searching for the Snow Leopard (National Geographic)
• Kenya: Sweet Home Obama (PBS/Frontline)
• Rape in a Lawless Land (Guardian)
• Sri Lanka: A Terrorist in the Family (PBS/Frontline)

In addition to the official awards determined by industry judges, separate "People's Voice" awards will go to nominees who receive the most online votes from their fellow Web denizens: "Last year, nearly half a million votes were cast and even more comments were posted to mark the biggest turnout in Webby history. And this year we expect even more spirited participation." You have until April 30 to cast your ballot.

The three-day awards extravaganza will be held in New York, June 8-10.

SPECIAL BONUS: Must-read interview with MediaStorm's formidable founder Brian Storm, a three-time Webby winner and current nominee.

3D Inauguration

Using Photosynth, CNN combined presidential inauguration photographs, shot by thousands of attendees, to create visual 3D spaces that you can navigate here. You can see the momentous occasion from every conceivable angle. It's almost like being there, except warmer.

If in fact you were there, you can add your pictures to the Washington scenes by submitting them to themoment@cnn.com.

For more info on Microsoft's Photosynth, see KobreGuide's video story on how National Geographic used the technology to shoot Stonehenge..

KobreGuide: Top 20 for 2008

For your viewing pleasure, an encore presentation of the most popular stories on KobreGuide this year. Enjoy!

One Man Brand: The Naked Cowboy (Mediastorm)
The Girl in the Window (St. Petersburg Press)
The Fire Within (Los Angeles Times)
India's Fast Lane to the Future (National Geographic)
Odetta: The Last Word (New York Times)
Railfans at Fullerton Train Station (Los Angeles Times)
Stonehenge Photosynth (National Geographic)
Crawford (Hulu)
Bolivia's Women Wrestlers (National Geographic)
Seeds of Peace: Catherine's Secret (Washington Post)
Break Dancing Phnom Penh Style (New York Times)
Air Car (Discovery)
Scream Bloody Murder (CNN)
Hard Times (Washington Post)
Empowering Women in Afghanistan (New York Times)
Pit Bulls: Companions or Killers? (Detroit Free Press)
The Bottom Line (Dallas Morning News)
Boomtown: The Sin City Story (Las Vegas Sun)
The Apollo Legend (Mediastorm)
Gertrude Baines, 114, Votes (Los Angeles Times)
Acid Attacks (New York Times)

Foreign Fare -- Plus Fun

Our top picks on KobreGuide this week have an international flavor, and represent big changes taking place abroad:

• India's Fast Lane to the Future: A new superhighway linking its four major cities is bringing old and new India into jarring proximity... for better and worse. (National Geographic)
• Empowering Women in Afghanistan: A quiet revolution is gaining pace far from the Taliban insurgency. Women are uprooting traditional gender roles by taking the wheel in leadership positions. (New York Times)
• Catherine's Secret: During the civil war in Uganda, Catherine Ojok spent several years as a sex slave of a senior rebel commander. (Washington Post)

Also new: A remarkable video slideshow that presents the causes, emotions and real life experiences of a tragedy of unspeakable pain and extraordinary cost:

• The Fire Within: A border wildfire killed 7 illegal immigrants and critically burned 16 more. One year later, we experience the aftermath of that tragedy. (Los Angeles Times)

However, not all videojournalism is doom and gloom, as these freshly posted upbeat stories demonstrate, both from the Spokesman Review:

• Flying Trikes: Take to the skies in a new sport called aerotrekking with pilot Denny Reed.

• Playing Army Guy: Paintball enthusiasts say their sport is about adrenaline rushes and having fun -- and only hurts for a little while.