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jpark0130

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Hey everybody,

I'm new to the forum, and I just have a few questions regarding the profession of photojournalism. I've had some experience with photography in my church and I do walk around the city just taking pictures of everything and anything I see that interests me, but I still haven't had anything published or made money off of anything, but the one thing I do know is that I am truly passionate about photography, since I spend most my days looking through photography books, comparing photos, and reading camera reviews and interviews with pro photojournalists.

I've been thinking about getting into photojournalism when I start college next year, so I was wondering if any of you guys had some general advice for me like how I should get started or whether or not I should really consider this profession.

Any advice is truly welcomed!

Thanks :)
 
Have you got a local newspaper thats delivered - try contacting their editor.

Schools and Colleges have websites - try contacting the representatives of those sites or the webmaster to get insight about what they might want photographed.

Journos are a bit of a JOT - Jack of Trades. The Freelancers are good at storyboard, photography, editing text and meet and greet - being seen and talking with people who are in the newsmedia side of either advertising, world and current affairs or Sport, being the biggies.

I'm not a Journo, but I still write and take photos for a few websites in my spare time, part x-retirement x-job. To be honest, it is not easy to get a job in Journalism (sport and celebrity being a major part) unless you mix and mingle with the crowd of that nature. It is very competitive, and if you are looking at getting your feet wet, you will need to dive in head first and be commited to seeing things through. I'm not saying anything here to deter you, as it is a very rewarding field, but you also need to be tough to survive the critique from your editor, and the sporadic income in the early years, as many people give it away after 2-4 years. Its approximately a 6% survival from out of college to career confident.

If you are thinking of going to college to do Journalism - great - it will help you along the road. Dont rely on that alone. Get out there and show people you can do things and that you are helpful, humble, adaptable, friendly, useful in other ways - like editing, printing. If you get in with a newspaper, find out what other people do and how you can improve your resume through learning other skills in that field. This will take some time, but is worthwhile if you intend to make it a career.
 
studioso said:
Have you got a local newspaper thats delivered - try contacting their editor.

Schools and Colleges have websites - try contacting the representatives of those sites or the webmaster to get insight about what they might want photographed.

Journos are a bit of a JOT - Jack of Trades. The Freelancers are good at storyboard, photography, editing text and meet and greet - being seen and talking with people who are in the newsmedia side of either advertising, world and current affairs or Sport, being the biggies.

I'm not a Journo, but I still write and take photos for a few websites in my spare time, part x-retirement x-job. To be honest, it is not easy to get a job in Journalism (sport and celebrity being a major part) unless you mix and mingle with the crowd of that nature. It is very competitive, and if you are looking at getting your feet wet, you will need to dive in head first and be commited to seeing things through. I'm not saying anything here to deter you, as it is a very rewarding field, but you also need to be tough to survive the critique from your editor, and the sporadic income in the early years, as many people give it away after 2-4 years. Its approximately a 6% survival from out of college to career confident.

If you are thinking of going to college to do Journalism - great - it will help you along the road. Dont rely on that alone. Get out there and show people you can do things and that you are helpful, humble, adaptable, friendly, useful in other ways - like editing, printing. If you get in with a newspaper, find out what other people do and how you can improve your resume through learning other skills in that field. This will take some time, but is worthwhile if you intend to make it a career.
Click to expand...
Also get this book, & others that deal with photo rights. keep educating yourself.
http://www.amazon.com/2011-Photographers-Market-Burzlaff-Bostic/dp/1582979561
--

28 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Canon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi, Dimage Z1,Fuji 5200,Canon S2,Pentax K100D,Olympus 380,Canon SX 10 ( http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Buckl/ )
http://issuu.com/Lbuck
 
I was a photojournalist for over 20 years . . . close to 15 of those years at a daily paper!

I left the industry just as digital was starting to creep in (shooting film . . . scanning the negs), so things are quite different today.

I do miss it . . . I always thought that news photography was what I was meant to do!

It is a cut-throat business today as the number of available jobs are dwindling due to newspapers and magazines shutting down right and left, not to mention the massive influx of free images emailed from cell phones by viewers who are happy just to be published and don't care if they get paid or not.

You do need to be tough, though . . .

Gotta be able to handle blood and guts (car accidents and dead bodies), be available day or night because news never happens on a schedule (ie.- most of the good stuff happens after midnight), and have a smart head on your shoulders as not everyone is happy about having their photos taken if it may end up on page one the next day!

You need to get to know as many of the local police and fire officials as possible so you don't get any flack every time you show up at a news event as they will usually let you inside the yellow tape if you treat them right!

You also need to know how to shoot in just about any kind of lighting sitiuation as being a photojournalist is not the same as doing a portrait session where you have time to adjust lighting and take flash meter readings . . . you've got to be able to shoot on the fly and get it right the first time!

Plus you need to know how to tell a story with photos.

You also need to take notes, get names and also get signed releases as much as possible (often we couldn't use photos if we didn't have their names)!

There is a big misconception out there by many who think that all a photojournalist does is take the pictures and someone else gets to do all the rest of the work, but this is not the case!

Also, you'll need a strong back to carry that 50 pound camera bag around!

Backpacks won't cut it . . .

Anyway, good luck . . . study hard . . . and get that degree!

Without it (degree) in todays world you won't get hired.

Here are a few shots from my newspaper days that I just happen to have scanned (not the greatest, but they are some of those I do happen to have in the computer):

































Just thought I'd mention that every one of these car accident shots here had one or more dead bodies somewhere in the photo, but not in view of the camera or small enough not to show up, and the guy in the ambulance shot above being worked on was never revived.

There is another one I left out that clearly shows the body of one of four 16 year old teens killed in a car wreck as I did post it here once and offended a few people.

These were shot with mostly Kodak Tri-X and a couple with T-max 400 film, developed and printed by myself.

Most of these are scans of stabilization prints, which is why some of these have faded over the years.

--
J. D.
Colorado
 
in this PJ business it is who you know that let´s you get ahead...your photos must be above average or exclusive. Chum up to the local paper or TV news editorial department. Start your own local news(photo) website and hand out business cards to tell locals about your street photography...handing out a business cards and having people view your website is a good and cheap way for your own exposure(publicity)...once you are friendly with the local media, get yourself a press pass and start photographing events(political+sport...) anyway it is common sense, but my point is you really need to "Know" and have the right connection in this industry if you want to get ahead...start taking good photos and shake lot´s of hands.
good luck
Matthias
 
MusicDoctorDJ said:
I was a photojournalist for over 20 years . . . close to 15 of those years at a daily paper!

I left the industry just as digital was starting to creep in (shooting film . . . scanning the negs), so things are quite different today.

I do miss it . . . I always thought that news photography was what I was meant to do!

It is a cut-throat business today as the number of available jobs are dwindling due to newspapers and magazines shutting down right and left, not to mention the massive influx of free images emailed from cell phones by viewers who are happy just to be published and don't care if they get paid or not.

You do need to be tough, though . . .

Gotta be able to handle blood and guts (car accidents and dead bodies), be available day or night because news never happens on a schedule (ie.- most of the good stuff happens after midnight), and have a smart head on your shoulders as not everyone is happy about having their photos taken if it may end up on page one the next day!

You need to get to know as many of the local police and fire officials as possible so you don't get any flack every time you show up at a news event as they will usually let you inside the yellow tape if you treat them right!

You also need to know how to shoot in just about any kind of lighting sitiuation as being a photojournalist is not the same as doing a portrait session where you have time to adjust lighting and take flash meter readings . . . you've got to be able to shoot on the fly and get it right the first time!

Plus you need to know how to tell a story with photos.

You also need to take notes, get names and also get signed releases as much as possible (often we couldn't use photos if we didn't have their names)!

There is a big misconception out there by many who think that all a photojournalist does is take the pictures and someone else gets to do all the rest of the work, but this is not the case!

Also, you'll need a strong back to carry that 50 pound camera bag around!

Backpacks won't cut it . . .

Anyway, good luck . . . study hard . . . and get that degree!

Without it (degree) in todays world you won't get hired.

Here are a few shots from my newspaper days that I just happen to have scanned (not the greatest, but they are some of those I do happen to have in the computer):

































Just thought I'd mention that every one of these car accident shots here had one or more dead bodies somewhere in the photo, but not in view of the camera or small enough not to show up, and the guy in the ambulance shot above being worked on was never revived.

There is another one I left out that clearly shows the body of one of four 16 year old teens killed in a car wreck as I did post it here once and offended a few people.

These were shot with mostly Kodak Tri-X and a couple with T-max 400 film, developed and printed by myself.

Most of these are scans of stabilization prints, which is why some of these have faded over the years.

--
J. D.
Colorado
Click to expand...
--

28 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Canon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi, Dimage Z1,Fuji 5200,Canon S2,Pentax K100D,Olympus 380,Canon SX 10 ( http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Buckl/ )
http://issuu.com/Lbuck
 
Both you and MusicDoctorD gave good advice. I've done it and occasionally still do.

Taking the shot is one thing by its self. The writing(getting the details) and names correct is totally another. Maybe being a little cold hearted also helps.
--
ABA DABA
 
There's some great advice above. Personally, I've found the industry has really diminished my desire to be involved in the photography side of things. At lot of community papers that I'm familiar with, it seems the photographer is becoming increasingly rare. Or, is no longer just photographer. They're photographer/ processor/ writer/ videographer and more. You have to somehow juggle stills with video with holding a recorder, pen and paper and getting the story. Then you have to process your photos, put together your videos, upload to the appropriate sites, pull together your notes, write your story, lay out your pages, proof your pages, and get a paper out the door. Go home (provided you aren't attending an evening meeting or event), come back the next day and start all over again.

I love to shoot, but the workloads seem to be ever increasing while the pay is lacklustre.

That said, being a PJ can give you some awesome as well as heartwrenching experiences. And the fatals can get under your skin a bit. The shot below was one of two or three I attended within a short period of time. The stuff can stick with you. But so does the good.

Don't mean to be discouraging. The field varies widely. But it's not easy to make a living at, even when you've got you foot in the door.
(Really like your archive Music)



 
My thoughts are based upon the use of the words Photographer and Photojournalist. All photojournalists are photographers but not vice versa. If you want a career as a professional photographer, then you must address two educational issues: learning the art and learning about business, because the ever increasing trend is that there are few salaried employment opportunities for photographers, so you will most likely end up self-employed. To succeed you will have to know how to run a business.

If you want a career as a photojournalist you will have to wait out the development of the digital publishing marketplace. The number of print publishers that commission freelance photojournalism has dwindled and continues to do so. I could write a list of magazines that no longer exist as long as my arm. Many print publications today pay so little that the work will not sustain the effort that goes into it.

However, I do believe that tablet computers are bought not to produce information but to consume it, and those sales are climbing fast. With an adequate hardware base the development of audio-visual materials to feef consumer demand will grow. Photojournalists will find opportunities there. When will that happen? I believe over the nest decade.

In the meantime become a photographer so you can earn a living until photojournalism will allow yo to it.
--
Richard Weisgrau
http://www.weisgrau.com
Author of
The Real Business of Photography
The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating
Selling Your Photography
Licensing Photography
 
To R.W. add one.

Plus; the advent of digital media IS NOW, it is being shaped in news rooms and blogsites as we sit blathering. Every day.

Richard is right but it is not as far off as he suggests. You can be in the second (bigger!) wave of paractioners

You need a DESIRE to tell a story; ANY story.

The new paradigm includes the ability to genreate multi-media packages.

So in addition to standard photo courses be sure to include video production and writing.

(this is true for all photographers these days; some one is going to ask for "video too" )

--
Member of The Pet Rock Owners and Breeders Association
Boarding and Training at Reasonable Rates
Photons by the bag.
Gravitons no longer shipped outside US or Canada
-----.....------

if I mock you, it may be well deserved.
 
I want to add that I suspect we may be on the verge of a new "golden age" of photojounalism.

It is going to be web based and more penetrating than the old magazines ever dreamed of.

on the web as in television before, content is "King", those who provide content can make a nice living; IF they can prove they have the skills to meet the demands of the buyers of content!
--
Member of The Pet Rock Owners and Breeders Association
Boarding and Training at Reasonable Rates
Photons by the bag.
Gravitons no longer shipped outside US or Canada
-----.....------

if I mock you, it may be well deserved.
 
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