Al Coen (@allan_coen) 's Twitter Profile
Al Coen

@allan_coen

ENG camera guy at Global BC

ID: 250752925

calendar_today11-02-2011 18:48:04

782 Tweet

759 Followers

904 Following

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Shooter's Rue: The dawning realization that the ONE THING you didn't get enough video of will in fact be what your reporter plans to center her entire story around. Usually occurs in the car on the way back to the station.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

If you’ll clip a lav mic to someone without tucking in the cord… we can’t hang out. If you jump out of the car and hurry inside before the photog can gear up… we can’t hang out. If you’d write “more questions than answers” in a script… we can’t hang out. Otherwise, we cool.

Wyatt Arndt (@thestanchion) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Calgary made a deal with the devil for Joel Otto so they deserve every single kick-based goal call to go against them forever. Absolutely delightful ending to a series IMO.

Calgary made a deal with the devil for Joel Otto so they deserve every single kick-based goal call to go against them forever. Absolutely delightful ending to a series IMO.
Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Prayer. Music. Sweat. However you seek your solace, make it a priority. We news crews aren’t exactly first responders, but we regularly bear witness to some awful shit. So be well. At least try. This gig ain’t worth your mental health. (Pic by Edd Solis, taken in Uvalde, TX)

Prayer. Music. Sweat. However you seek your solace, make it a priority. 

We news crews aren’t exactly first responders, but we regularly bear witness to some awful shit.

So be well. At least try. This gig ain’t worth your mental health. 

(Pic by Edd Solis, taken in Uvalde, TX)
Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

WANTED: TV News Camera Operator Core Skills Required: Stunt-parking, discomfort endurance, must deal well with large personalities and/or rental authorities, ability to navigate closed doors using only elbows, high tolerance for found food. (Some photography involved.)

Global BC (@globalbc) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Legislative bureau chief Keith Baldrey shares his memories of covering some of Queen Elizabeth II's memorable moments while visiting B.C., including exclusive footage of the royals walking in the gardens of Government House. More: trib.al/cSdPQtX

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Being a veteran television photojournalist is knowing that A) you could have total access to the big event in town that everyone is talking about and B) wanting desperately not to be anywhere near it.

Global BC (@globalbc) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Bannock plays an important role in Indigenous culture in Canada, and as the country observes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Ida Baker of Vancouver's Salmon n'Bannock shows Paul Haysom how to make a simple pan-fried version of the bread.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

PRO TIP: If a news crew approaches you in a public space with a random question, know that they’re having a lousy day and hold no -personal- interest in your opinion. DO NOT decline to be on camera, then insist on answering their question anyway. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

SHOUT OUT to all the television news crews who are about to work a marathon shift covering the elections in a volatile environment, without the assistance of life-affirming newsroom pizza. Never mind your stomach. Watch your back.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

“What are we?” “PHO-TOGS!” “Whadda we want?” “CONVENIENT SHOOTS WITH FRIENDLY REPORTERS WHO ONLY WRITE TO THE BEST VIDEO, BELIEVE IN A PROPER LUNCH AND KNOW HOW TO GET BOTH OF US OUT OF LIVE SHOTS FOR THE REST OF THE CALENDAR YEAR!” “Wow, you guys are really specific.”

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Scoff all you want at my chosen profession, but 30 plus years of shooting local TV News has left me with priceless anecdotes, a widened worldview and a closet full of old logowear that I'm no longer supposed to even put on... There's also the lower back pain.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Wallow in homogeny all you want. I’d rather ping-pong from penthouse to poorhouse with a TV camera in tow. It ain’t exactly made me rich, but it’s gifted me with a truth those who only prefer their own kind can never seem to understand… It’s hard to hate people up close.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

The annoying thing about being a TV News photog is that friends always want to shoot their wedding or bar mitzvah or deposition or proof of life video or shadow puppet space opera or cross dressing Sasquatch contest or…anyway, let’s just forget I mentioned any of this, shall we?

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

TV News is the odd profession in which, in the course of a single week, you can tour the scene of a homicide, see a city council meeting sputter into nothing, catch a kick-ass tractor pull and STILL be told by some putz who never leaves his yard that you don’t understand America.

Lenslinger (@lenslinger) 's Twitter Profile Photo

A young photog wanted to know what working in TV News was like in the early 90’s. So I took away his phone, laptop, GoPro and drone. Then I assigned him a reporter and gave them a single assignment to focus on all day. Feels like a draw.