Break Into Photojournalism
Like many of the other jobs fields out today, establishing a career in photojournalism takes time and effort. It's a competitive business, controlled by editors who are often over-worked and, as if that wasn’t difficult enough, relies a great deal on a certain amount of subjectivity. In other words, even if you think highly of your photographs, others might not agree. The following guidelines, however, will help you navigate through the process of becoming a professional photojournalist.
Steps
- Focus on people. Those trying to make a leap into the profession can start by shooting photos of people. The basis of photojournalism is the visual documentation of what is going on around us all. Nothing illustrates that more accurately than photographs of people doing the things people do.
- The 2008 floods in the American Midwest highlighted this. Countless photos of flood waters were commonplace on mainstream media wires and hundreds more were submitted to newspapers every day. What sets the good photos apart from the ever-increasing stack of common photos, are the people and actions photographed. A photo of a person feverishly grabbing his belongings before his house floods is almost certainly going to be a more gripping photo than the one of the flood water and nothing else. At least, that's the case in the world of photojournalism.
- Go out on foot patrol. When you're out shooting photographs, get out of your car and walk. Meet people. Talk to them. Ask them questions. You may be surprised to learn how many unique story ideas you can come up with just by being curious. Having a unique story is a quick way to impress an editor, but you will rarely find it driving around in your car.
- It's better to focus on one or two stories that are unique than to shoot several stories that many other photojournalists are already documenting. Look around you for opportunities to cover stories that are hidden, or notoriously exclusive. In other words, invest in quality over quantity.
- Be a copycat. Keep an eye on professional photojournalists while they work. Check your ego and watch how they go about getting their photographs and you may learn a few things. Even simple things, like how they carry a notebook and pen with them to write notes and names while on assignment, will give you an edge. They are professionals for a reason so you can learn plenty from modeling yourself after them. If you’re at an event professional photojournalists are covering, follow up the next day by looking at their printed work in the newspaper or website they work for. You can learn a lot by doing this on a regular basis.
- Concentrate on writing good captions. A striking difference between amateur photographers and professional photographers is the pros have perfected the art of collecting information about their photographs. Who? What? When? Where? If you can't get the facts straight, and write them in a clear, concise and accurate caption, you will not make it far in the business of photojournalism.
- Hand over those photos. Some photographers treat their work like it's a priceless piece of art that everyone is trying to steal. First of all, it isn't. And second, it's hard to get noticed in the field of journalism if your work is never seen. So show your work to someone in a position to publish it. Plenty of news sites accept amateur photos. Or publish it yourself. Plenty of independent blogs get noticed these days. As long as eyes are on your work, the odds of you making it in the field are better.
- It's easy to find the names of photo editors from local newspapers. Call them or email them and say, “I shot a photo today that I thought you might be interested in seeing”. If your photos are good enough, editors will notice.
- Create a personal website. It doesn't cost much to get your own domain name. Post a few examples of your photography and a link to your contact information. Send that link to editors of newspapers in your area and ask them to consider you for future freelance opportunities. As a potential freelance photojournalist, you are essentially a business, and businesses need to advertise their product.
- Stay persistent. If an editor doesn't respond, that doesn't mean you didn't make an impression. The single most important trait most great journalists have is persistence. Editors are busy people. If you continue to contact them (not too often of course) and search for good photographs, you will eventually crack your way through the walls of a very competitive business.
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