Richard Koci Hernandez is one of so many journalists who have mastered multi-media skills ... and left the mainstream media for more innovative pastures. The former deputy director of photography and multimedia at the San Jose Mercury News in California is now a Ford Foundation fellowship at the University of California in Berkeley.

One of Hernandez’s greenest pastures has been MultimediaShooter, a dynamic platform bursting with tips and tools useful to anyone interested in producing multimedia content.

The insightful site was revived in August after a five-month hiatus. Hernandez posted a message on the site in March, 2008, saying it had come under the attack of hackers. But after reading Mindy McAdams’ post on 28 August, the EJC happily realised Hernandez and all his insights are again up and available.

The site, though alive again, is not being updated particularly regularly. But it does have outstanding material archived and tons of referrals to excellent multimedia work posted on the web. Check out Andaman Rising, for example.

Particularly useful are Hernandez’s tutorials, which are all about using Flash, editing video, using Wordpress and various up-and-coming Web 2.0 tools.

The Gear section is also a must-read. Hernandez’s background is in photography, so his tips and tricks here are coming straight from a pro. His advice seems quite trustworthy.

Also, Hernandez has started a “Two Cents” section in which he offers willing participants a thorough video critique. The current critique, of a newspaper video about Joe Brown, a man living with difficult disabilities, is Hernandez’s first. It’s worth watching - as is the dialogue in the comments section.

Once you’ve been impressed there, take a look at Hernandez’ personal page, which includes photography, multimedia and video. Particularly cool and seemingly emblematic of his approach is his arty take on the fall fashions of 2007.

Published: September 18, 2008