Remarks as written by MCCM(SW/AW/EXW) Jon McMillan, Master Chief for U.S. Navy Public Affairs at the National Association of Naval Photographers 2015 Convention / San Diego Shoot Off Banquet. September 26, 2015

1. Remarks as written by
MCCM(SW/AW/EXW) Jon McMillan
Master Chief for U.S. Navy Public Affairs
National Association of Naval Photographers
2015 Convention / San Diego Shoot Off Banquet
September 26, 2015
The Cutting Edge and Cool
The Kodak DCS 200
It was 1993 and I was stationed at Commander, Naval Base San Francisco. Our thing there was
the annual San Francisco Fleet Week and the big thing for that event -- beyond the ever-popular
Host-A-Sailor program -- was the Parade of Ships and the Blue Angels airshow. It’s an
awesome photo shoot with diverse and exciting crowds, action, and typically the best weather
you ever get in San Francisco.
My memory fails me a bit, but for some reason I was provided a Kodak DCS 200 digital camera
to shoot Fleet Week that year. That camera had just been released. It was based on a Nikon
F801 body and it had a 1.5 Megapixel sensor; four ISO settings and a crazy 2.5 crop factor due
to the sensor size.
I was there to document the event for the command -- not to provide images quickly to news
media or to CHINFO. So we weren’t shooting with the DCS 200 to speed up the release process
or for any other reason than:
It was cutting edge; it was cool; and we because we could make it work.
I’ve come to realize that I’m probably an early adopter when it comes to technology and I think
most of us here might be as well. I think it’s probably hardwired into our brain. We are instantly
drawn to the cutting edge and cool.
And if we can do something with the technology -- we will.
And if we can’t -- we’ll figure out how.
Pigeons and Drones
In 1858, about thirty years after the invention of photography, Gaspar-Felix Tournachon -- a
French balloonist, caricaturist, journalist and photographer -- merged his love for hot-air balloons

2. with his love for photography and produced the first aerial photograph. He affixed a camera to a
hot-air balloon and built a complete darkroom in the basket to get the shot.
Why? It was cutting edge; it was cool; and because he could make it work.
The pattern continued as camera technology advanced.
French photographer Arthur Batut took the first photographs from kites in 1887.
Alfred Nobel -- benefactor of the Nobel Prizes and a rocket enthusiast -- filed a patent in 1897
for obtaining photographic maps from aerial platforms and rockets.
Julius Neubronner designed a carrier pigeon-mounted camera in 1907 that actually worked. He
sold postcards of his pigeon photos at aviation exhibits and air shows and the technique was
tested on the battlefield during World War One with some success.
All of these ideas must have seemed crazy to regular people at first:
A balloon darkroom. A camera on a rocket. Tiny cameras on pigeons.
What’s probably even crazier is that most of us in this room don’t find anything crazy about
those ideas.
We’re here probably thinking: Cutting edge. Cool. I could make that work.
How many of you have dreamed up crazy places to mount your camera to get the shot.
I’ve seen the squirrel cam. The cat cam. Go-Pro’s launched from toy rockets. And before
drones become what they are today, remote-controlled aircraft with duct-taped disposable
cameras or lipstick video camera attached in some way.
Cutting edge. Cool. Yeah… I’ve made that work.
Our history shows us this is all part of a cycle:
First, we combine different technologies in some way.
Balloons, rockets, pigeons and cameras: Aerial photography
Photography and Computer electronics -- the CCD: The Digital Camera
Robots and micro-drones and cameras: EOD/Aerial Imagery

3. Second, we demonstrate the value and gain acceptance. Battlefield advantage. Awareness.
Intelligence. Shots from a perspective we’ve never seen before.
And Third, the combination of different technologies becomes it’s own thing. It’s no longer
viewed as a combination of two or more unique technologies. It is something new. It is
something that stands on its own.
Balloon and pigeon photography is supplanted by the airplane and advanced cameras. Aerial
Reconnaissance becomes its own thing.
And the cycle of innovation continues -- as mounted cameras, sensors, TARPS, satellites and
drones -- all build on what was started with balloons and pigeons.
This process -- let’s call it an innovation cycle -- is a pattern we are all familiar with.
● For still imagery: 4x5 cameras give way to 35mm. 35mm gives way to digital.
● For motion imagery: 16mm gives way to ¾ inch U-matic; Betacam to Mini-DV; Mini-
DV to Digital SLR.
In each transition, the technology advance isn’t always welcomed nor adopted quickly. It’s not
perfect in the beginning. There are always tradeoffs. New things to learn and new work process
to develop to take full advantage of the new technology.
We have all gone through transitions like these. And many of us have been early adopters
leading the way in the transition, while others remained purists and held back --- at least for
while.
But one thing is certain; things change and continue to change. We do adapt and, because we are
who are -- we gravitate to the cutting edge; to the cool and we find ways to make it work so we
can continue to create and develop the skills of this craft we are so passionate about.
The MCs
The evolution of the Navy MC has followed a similar innovation cycle. Nearly a decade has
passed since the Mass Communication Specialist rating was created and I believe we are entering
that third phase. The MC rating is now it’s own thing -- it can no longer be considered
something that is a combination of the four legacy ratings.

4. You see, when the legacy ratings merged in July of 2006, the media and digital world was much,
much different.
Twitter came out of beta testing and released its full version on July 15, 2006 -- two weeks after
the establishment of the MC Rating.
Facebook -- although launched in 2004 -- was still limited to subscribers from Universities and
High Schools and didn’t open to everyone 13 years and up until September of 2006 -- two
months after the MC Rating was established.
And then what really changed the media and digital world didn’t occur until a full year after the
MC Rating was created: This disrupter was the Apple iPhone.
Smartphones --- the iPhone in 2007 and Androids in 2008 -- combined with social media,
changed the entire media and digital world.
They call it creative disruption and we feel that disruption still today:
- The 24-hour hour news cycle has been discarded for the anytime, all-the-time and
right-now news cycle.
- Information, news, and entertainment are fed through apps, news aggregators,
blogs, micro-blogs and all things social.
- Content consumers want information organized, easy-to-find, and customized to
their tastes. They demand it fits all their screens, is accessible when and where
they need it. And it has to just work. All the time.
- And they want content quick, and in easy-to-understand bits of information…
- Until they want to dive deeper -- and then they want complex information
presented visually with data and layers of information and points of views through
rich storytelling that’s informative and engaging.
The MC Rating has been growing up alongside the evolution of this new media and digital
world. You could say we’ve been figuring out both events -- Mobile and Social and the New
MC Rating -- at the same time.
Our MCs have evolved into visual communicators who can do it all in this new digital media
world.
They can still write, shoot images and produce video stories -- but they do it with the intent that
it’ll be discovered online -- not primarily on paper or on AFN or SITE-TV. And it changes their
approach.

5. MCs can design innovative infographics -- static, video or multimedia.
They can create persuasive posters or memes as online or printed PSAs.
They can produce instructional or documentary videos and audio pieces.
They can write diverse written content from quick social posts to news releases to creative
feature stories.
And they can take beautiful pictures. From action shots from the flight deck of a carrier to an
environmental portrait that captures the essence and emotion of a Sailor.
If us old schoolers allow them and encourage them -- our MCs can do even more.
Our MCs can combine content writing and photography and graphic design and multimedia
storytelling through pictures, graphics, video and sound in ways we can’t even imagine right
now.
It’s all part of the innovation cycle and we need to embrace it.
We need to embrace the cutting edge. The cool. And we have to let today’s MCs figure out
how to make it work with all these new tools.
Heritage
As we push forward into this new thing. As this Rating continues to develop on its own path --
it’s important we look back at our heritage and learn.
A major lesson we learned is the need to emphasize visual communication more.
Our instructors at DINFOS created an entirely new curriculum for the basic MC course. They
cut out redundancies to increase the amount of time students learned photography and
multimedia and we are seeing the benefits of those changes today.
And after DoD dropped the Syracuse program -- the Navy found money and kept it going even
through Sequestration. DoD brought it back this year because they saw the immense value of the
program. Not all the services could fill their allotted seat quotas -- so we filled them. We have
11 students attending the program this year.
We are working on a new Rate Training Manual and PQS for MCs that has sections many of you
would find quite familiar. We have an entire chapter being built on lighting and light theory.
Another chapter just on color. And another on Operational Documentation that covers forensic,

6. site exploitation and assessment photography. It also details aerial photography -- and brings
back language like quick, special-interest and full-rigs.
We are committed to raising the level of knowledge of all our MCs for all the different types of
work they are expected to perform.
And then there is what you all are doing here this week. Sponsoring the San Diego Shoot Off --
spending time and mentoring our MCs: This is invaluable. The time and money you all spend
here pays dividends down the road. I know this isn’t the only time nor the only way you give
back. I see your support with other workshops; with the MILPHOG and MILVID programs. I
see you offer support and mentorship to young MCs on Facebook and I hear stories of your
continued involvement in many other ways. This is why I wanted to come to here tonight -- to
thank you for all you have done and continue to do.
I sincerely thank each of you for your continued mentorship, leadership and passion for the Navy
and our craft.
Thank you. Thank you so very much for showing us how to embrace the cutting edge. How to
seek out the cool. And for helping us continue to teach our MCs how to make it work and best
use all their storytelling tools. Thank you.