Showing posts with label FAQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FAQ. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2018
Quick Tips to Improve Photos Video
video, narration, beats by Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com
photos by Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com, The Beaumont Enterprise and/or The Dallas Morning News
Please watch and share “Quick Tips to Improve Photos.”
The companion "cheat sheet" on this blog is located here: quick-tips-to-improve-your-photos.
This version is visual hot sauce to some. There is a slower version to savor each frame. It's located at "Savory Tips to Improve Photos."
Please share and subscribe to the NewsEagles YouTube channel (it’s free and easy). Please follow this link, sign in to YouTube (or create an account) and hit SUBSCRIBE at www.youtube.com/newseagles
Although I will do some additional work in the future, this is my Magnum Opus.
Enough for now,
Saturday, February 03, 2018
Know Your Rights as a Citizen Photojournalist
video, narration, beats by Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com
photos by Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com, The Beaumont Enterprise and/or The Dallas Morning News
Do you know your rights as a photojournalist?
Please watch “Know Your Rights as a Citizen Photojournalist.”
Please share and subscribe to the NewsEagles YouTube channel (it’s free and easy). Please follow this link, sign in to YouTube (or create an account) and hit SUBSCRIBE at www.youtube.com/newseagles
Enough for now,
photos by Mark M. Hancock / © DFWmark.com, The Beaumont Enterprise and/or The Dallas Morning News
Do you know your rights as a photojournalist?
Please watch “Know Your Rights as a Citizen Photojournalist.”
Please share and subscribe to the NewsEagles YouTube channel (it’s free and easy). Please follow this link, sign in to YouTube (or create an account) and hit SUBSCRIBE at www.youtube.com/newseagles
Enough for now,
Sunday, February 21, 2016
What Is A Photojournalist?
video © Mark M. Hancock / DFWmark.com
photos © Mark M. Hancock, The Beaumont Enterprise or Mark M. Hancock and The Dallas Morning News
This presentation is an updated version of a speech given at the New York Press Association Annual Convention in 2008. This presentation is intended for non-photojournalists and especially students considering photojournalism as a career.
To see more videos, please visit and subscribe to the NewsEagles channel on YouTube. More to come.
Enough for now,
photos © Mark M. Hancock, The Beaumont Enterprise or Mark M. Hancock and The Dallas Morning News
Enough for now,
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Understand newsroom problems
I recently received a call from a high school student working on a report. In previous years, I extolled the virtues of being a newspaper PJ. This year is more difficult. I was honest and explained the industry is currently in a death spiral.
Job losses aren't an enigma limited to the United States. Newspapers in the UK and Australia suffer from cuts as well.
The precipitous demise of the newspaper industry bothers me. It simply isn't logical.
Citizens of a democratic society need information to make informed decisions. People with good hearts need a place to reflect on their community and help those in need. People facing injustice need a place to bring grievances. Sometimes people just want to know what they can do for free tonight or how their favorite sports team is doing. Additionally, businesses need a place to connect with potential customers.
All of these functions are currently handled by newspapers. Newspapers are wanted, needed and desired.
Newspaper reporters and PJs are the first and often only people on the ground actually acquiring information and verifying facts - particularly with non-breaking news.
So why is there a news crisis?
Loss of classified advertising revenue to online sources such as CraigsList were the first nail in the coffin. Since then, the industry has been in a slow decline until the recent traumatic changes.
The current crisis could be seen as the final shudders of news as we know it. The most experienced reporters, editors and PJs have been asked to leave the industry.
There is no back-up plan. There are no secondary markets. All the back-up professions are glutted or caught in the same trap. It's simply a loss of the most dedicated and experienced news professionals. Each loss directly affects each person living in a democratic society.
To be absolutely clear, most online portals are aggregating news reports from newspapers. The newspapers aren't paid anything by aggregators while the newspapers carry the entire expense of collecting information. It isn't equitable.
While this may ultimately cause the utter destruction of newsrooms, let's address the underlying problem: jobs, promotion as well as fuel and paper costs.
Jobs
When I was a kid, my family subscribed to both the local afternoon paper and the big, regional morning paper.
We subscribed to the local paper because our neighbor was a reporter at the paper and my brother delivered the paper after school. We subscribed to the regional paper because it had national and international news. It was also thick, absorbent and we raised puppies. :-)
We wanted our neighbor and my brother to keep their jobs. Our subscription helped. Likewise, everyone within a bicycle's ride of our home subscribed because some young kid knocked on the door and asked them to subscribe.
Every day at 5 p.m., they'd see this same kid peddling a bike down the street in horrible weather to deliver everyone's evening paper.
Furthermore, everyone within walking distance of band members also subscribed to several magazines. In the fall, band kids would go door-to-door selling subscriptions to raise money for band equipment (and earn cool prizes).
I'm not advocating child labor. Instead, I'll stress that human contact creates empathy for news workers and eventually creates subscriptions. Someone in another country (or prison) calling at dinnertime on an automated dialer isn't enough to get people to part with cash. The interruption (particularly if it's every night) actually has the opposite result.
Human contact actually creates subscriptions. It's important to understand this human contact comes from employment. Without potential income, people won't go door-to-door soliciting subscriptions from friends and neighbors.
I'll admit I've earned a lot from people I've never seen or even heard on the phone. But, everyone must understand it's easier to delete an e-mail pitch than delete a person standing in your office.
I spoke about this theory with a postal carrier. He said he could tell who is connected with newspapers because there's a physical circle of subscribers around these worker's homes. The block with a newspaper employee has many subscriptions. The next block has above average. Two blocks away it's slightly above average. Then, it drops to normal or below normal (because the average includes the area surrounding the employee).
It's also important to understand those employed by newspapers subscribe to papers while those released from those papers are unlikely to subscribe (and may convince friends and relatives to do the same).
This alone explains why "downsized" papers experience subscription drops after layoffs. It's human nature. You support those who support you. For example, the Fort Worth paper has already suffered three layoffs this year.
According to the Paper Cuts blog, there were 2,185 newspaper jobs lost last year and 11,683+ already lost in 2008. If each of these former employees had a circle of 25 supporting subscribers, this could result in 54,625 lost subscriptions in 2007 and 292,075 in 2008 (with more to come). Add a pair of zeros to the back of these numbers for an average lost potential annual income.
Promotion
Benjamin Franklin is my favorite historical figure. In his day, parishioners purchased or rented pews at their community church. Although Franklin was a Deist, he had pews at many churches to show his support to all the communities and thereby gain support and business.
Franklin was two centuries ahead of other promoters with this idea.
In the 1980s, any small-town newspaper PJ was welcomed at high school or little league game. If someone asked which paper they represented, the PJs pointed at the scoreboard.
The scoreboard itself wasn't the answer. Instead, the papers' nameplates were proudly emblazoned on the scoreboards.
The nameplate on the scoreboard reminded attendees about the community paper. The community paper supported the community and coverage from the game might be in tomorrow's paper.
In reality, it meant the promotional department paid a small amount or exchanged house advertising to various school booster clubs for year-round display at almost every stadium or park in the coverage zone (turf).
In emotional terms, it meant the paper was part of the community. It also told attendees the paper supported the team - Our team.
Go team! Go newspaper! See it all tomorrow!
This display advertising tactic was successfully used at any venue willing to sell for a low enough price. It was effective promotion of the paper to the people most likely to read the paper.
Because people look at the scoreboard, a hot-air balloon, or other outdoor advertising several times during an event, the advertising minimum threshold (seven times) was exceeded. Viewers became buyers.
However, as budgets were cut and maintenance costs grew, these displays were abandoned and replaced by banks that wanted the same return on investment as newspapers.
Go team! Go bank. Move your cash here...
It doesn't have the same hometown ring, but we get the point.
To make things worse, many marketing departments decided the best place to advertise the product was inside the product. Instead of exchanging house ads for display ads at events, the marketing departments used house ads to solicit subscriptions.
Unless future subscribers buy the paper at the newsstand, they won't see the ad. Current subscribers already have a subscription, so it wastes their time and attention.
In conjunction with other advertising, this is fine. By itself, it's like screaming for water in a mountain lake.
Paper
About the time the cost of pulp rose, the newspaper industry decided to promote recycling. Here's a "History of Recycling" PDF document by the State of California.
Newspapers printed on recycled paper are better for the environment (and cheaper). To get children involved (since most papers don't use child labor anymore), the recycling program was co-branded with Newspapers In Education.
Schools which recycled the most paper (and saved newspapers and paper mills the most money), got bragging rights and a substantial incentive for the year. This seems altruistic, however, children learned pulp newspapers are bad and harm the planet.
I'm not Einstein, but I can fast-forward this movie and predict how it ends. Yup, these kids grew up, and don't want to subscribe because it might harm the environment. If one tree is saved through recycling, then two trees are saved by never buying a paper in the first place.
They believe they're saving the planet by not subscribing.
I'd believe this too (the promoters were convincing), but I lived in Southeast Texas. I saw first-hand how the timber and paper companies work. It's professional and sustainable. The trees are specifically planted and harvested in rotations like any other agricultural crop.
Newspaper pulp doesn't come from old-growth forests. It comes from pine chips (the stuff the lumber mills previously burned or threw in the river). If anything, the forest growth time (20 years of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen) plus reduction of wood waste may actually help the environment while it provides the forest animals a place to hide from the environmentally-conscious sprawling suburbanites.
Yes, the paper mill literally stinks, but it also provides good-paying jobs for lots of people (who probably subscribe to a newspaper because they "dance with the one that brung 'em").
Fuel
Fuel prices are the one thing we all love to hate.
While fuel prices are an international issue, they hit very close to home in Texas. Every business and individual commuter hates any fuel price increase. For PJs, it can be catastrophic because we're less likely to "cruise" or roam far from home without a reason. This means we're less likely to spot something unusual as we're moving around.
In short, it affects our ability to report.
Because trucks are a dependable delivery system, newspapers use huge amounts of fuel. They must use fuel to move heavy paper over long distances, cover news and ultimately deliver the results before the coffee is ready. This isn't cheap, and the cover price doesn't cover the price.
Unlike other business expenses (pencils, new computers, etc...), publishers can't control fuel prices. While this is a profit margin issue, it's also workforce, sales, product quality and circulation issues. The cost of fuel affects every single aspect of the publishing business.
What does the future hold?
The answers are unknown. This can be both invigorating and terrifying. Either way, the industry won't resemble what most of us know as "press." No matter what happens, reducing newsroom staff isn't good for democracy.
Reducing the newsroom means less content. Less content (and fewer neighbors employed by the paper) means fewer subscriptions/readers/viewers. This creates an endless downward spiral.
I think the printing and circulation departments are in for some hard times. I wish this wasn't the case, but it's part of the financial reality facing print newspapers.
If printed products are cut from newspaper expenses, the profit percentage could return to "acceptable" by industry standards. The high costs involved in purchasing paper, printing and delivering the paper are eliminated.
This requires a fundamental change in consumer and advertiser habits. However, nimble online enterprises have excelled in recent years.
I still feel there's an opening for Renaissance Journalism cooperatives. These enterprises could provide information for readers and "employment" (information, access, outlet, income and administrative support) for information workers (reporters, PJs, ad reps and support staff) without the hardship of rebuilding existing publications.
The RJ cooperatives won't be "retirement communities," but the current manifestation isn't either. The news industry must eventually address and resolve the four fundamental issues: jobs (human connections), promotion, paper and fuel.
Then, we can tackle content and advertising equity.
Enough for now,
UPDATE: 16 Oct. 2008
Please also read, "e-Newspapers may become reality in 2009"
Job losses aren't an enigma limited to the United States. Newspapers in the UK and Australia suffer from cuts as well.
The precipitous demise of the newspaper industry bothers me. It simply isn't logical.
Citizens of a democratic society need information to make informed decisions. People with good hearts need a place to reflect on their community and help those in need. People facing injustice need a place to bring grievances. Sometimes people just want to know what they can do for free tonight or how their favorite sports team is doing. Additionally, businesses need a place to connect with potential customers.
All of these functions are currently handled by newspapers. Newspapers are wanted, needed and desired.
Newspaper reporters and PJs are the first and often only people on the ground actually acquiring information and verifying facts - particularly with non-breaking news.
So why is there a news crisis?
Loss of classified advertising revenue to online sources such as CraigsList were the first nail in the coffin. Since then, the industry has been in a slow decline until the recent traumatic changes.
The current crisis could be seen as the final shudders of news as we know it. The most experienced reporters, editors and PJs have been asked to leave the industry.
There is no back-up plan. There are no secondary markets. All the back-up professions are glutted or caught in the same trap. It's simply a loss of the most dedicated and experienced news professionals. Each loss directly affects each person living in a democratic society.
To be absolutely clear, most online portals are aggregating news reports from newspapers. The newspapers aren't paid anything by aggregators while the newspapers carry the entire expense of collecting information. It isn't equitable.
While this may ultimately cause the utter destruction of newsrooms, let's address the underlying problem: jobs, promotion as well as fuel and paper costs.
Jobs
When I was a kid, my family subscribed to both the local afternoon paper and the big, regional morning paper.
We subscribed to the local paper because our neighbor was a reporter at the paper and my brother delivered the paper after school. We subscribed to the regional paper because it had national and international news. It was also thick, absorbent and we raised puppies. :-)
We wanted our neighbor and my brother to keep their jobs. Our subscription helped. Likewise, everyone within a bicycle's ride of our home subscribed because some young kid knocked on the door and asked them to subscribe.
Every day at 5 p.m., they'd see this same kid peddling a bike down the street in horrible weather to deliver everyone's evening paper.
Furthermore, everyone within walking distance of band members also subscribed to several magazines. In the fall, band kids would go door-to-door selling subscriptions to raise money for band equipment (and earn cool prizes).
I'm not advocating child labor. Instead, I'll stress that human contact creates empathy for news workers and eventually creates subscriptions. Someone in another country (or prison) calling at dinnertime on an automated dialer isn't enough to get people to part with cash. The interruption (particularly if it's every night) actually has the opposite result.
Human contact actually creates subscriptions. It's important to understand this human contact comes from employment. Without potential income, people won't go door-to-door soliciting subscriptions from friends and neighbors.
I'll admit I've earned a lot from people I've never seen or even heard on the phone. But, everyone must understand it's easier to delete an e-mail pitch than delete a person standing in your office.
I spoke about this theory with a postal carrier. He said he could tell who is connected with newspapers because there's a physical circle of subscribers around these worker's homes. The block with a newspaper employee has many subscriptions. The next block has above average. Two blocks away it's slightly above average. Then, it drops to normal or below normal (because the average includes the area surrounding the employee).
It's also important to understand those employed by newspapers subscribe to papers while those released from those papers are unlikely to subscribe (and may convince friends and relatives to do the same).
This alone explains why "downsized" papers experience subscription drops after layoffs. It's human nature. You support those who support you. For example, the Fort Worth paper has already suffered three layoffs this year.
According to the Paper Cuts blog, there were 2,185 newspaper jobs lost last year and 11,683+ already lost in 2008. If each of these former employees had a circle of 25 supporting subscribers, this could result in 54,625 lost subscriptions in 2007 and 292,075 in 2008 (with more to come). Add a pair of zeros to the back of these numbers for an average lost potential annual income.
Promotion
Benjamin Franklin is my favorite historical figure. In his day, parishioners purchased or rented pews at their community church. Although Franklin was a Deist, he had pews at many churches to show his support to all the communities and thereby gain support and business.
Franklin was two centuries ahead of other promoters with this idea.
In the 1980s, any small-town newspaper PJ was welcomed at high school or little league game. If someone asked which paper they represented, the PJs pointed at the scoreboard.
The scoreboard itself wasn't the answer. Instead, the papers' nameplates were proudly emblazoned on the scoreboards.
The nameplate on the scoreboard reminded attendees about the community paper. The community paper supported the community and coverage from the game might be in tomorrow's paper.
In reality, it meant the promotional department paid a small amount or exchanged house advertising to various school booster clubs for year-round display at almost every stadium or park in the coverage zone (turf).
In emotional terms, it meant the paper was part of the community. It also told attendees the paper supported the team - Our team.
Go team! Go newspaper! See it all tomorrow!
This display advertising tactic was successfully used at any venue willing to sell for a low enough price. It was effective promotion of the paper to the people most likely to read the paper.
Because people look at the scoreboard, a hot-air balloon, or other outdoor advertising several times during an event, the advertising minimum threshold (seven times) was exceeded. Viewers became buyers.
However, as budgets were cut and maintenance costs grew, these displays were abandoned and replaced by banks that wanted the same return on investment as newspapers.
Go team! Go bank. Move your cash here...
It doesn't have the same hometown ring, but we get the point.
To make things worse, many marketing departments decided the best place to advertise the product was inside the product. Instead of exchanging house ads for display ads at events, the marketing departments used house ads to solicit subscriptions.
Unless future subscribers buy the paper at the newsstand, they won't see the ad. Current subscribers already have a subscription, so it wastes their time and attention.
In conjunction with other advertising, this is fine. By itself, it's like screaming for water in a mountain lake.
Paper
About the time the cost of pulp rose, the newspaper industry decided to promote recycling. Here's a "History of Recycling" PDF document by the State of California.
Newspapers printed on recycled paper are better for the environment (and cheaper). To get children involved (since most papers don't use child labor anymore), the recycling program was co-branded with Newspapers In Education.
Schools which recycled the most paper (and saved newspapers and paper mills the most money), got bragging rights and a substantial incentive for the year. This seems altruistic, however, children learned pulp newspapers are bad and harm the planet.
I'm not Einstein, but I can fast-forward this movie and predict how it ends. Yup, these kids grew up, and don't want to subscribe because it might harm the environment. If one tree is saved through recycling, then two trees are saved by never buying a paper in the first place.
They believe they're saving the planet by not subscribing.
I'd believe this too (the promoters were convincing), but I lived in Southeast Texas. I saw first-hand how the timber and paper companies work. It's professional and sustainable. The trees are specifically planted and harvested in rotations like any other agricultural crop.
Newspaper pulp doesn't come from old-growth forests. It comes from pine chips (the stuff the lumber mills previously burned or threw in the river). If anything, the forest growth time (20 years of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen) plus reduction of wood waste may actually help the environment while it provides the forest animals a place to hide from the environmentally-conscious sprawling suburbanites.
Yes, the paper mill literally stinks, but it also provides good-paying jobs for lots of people (who probably subscribe to a newspaper because they "dance with the one that brung 'em").
Fuel
Fuel prices are the one thing we all love to hate.
While fuel prices are an international issue, they hit very close to home in Texas. Every business and individual commuter hates any fuel price increase. For PJs, it can be catastrophic because we're less likely to "cruise" or roam far from home without a reason. This means we're less likely to spot something unusual as we're moving around.
In short, it affects our ability to report.
Because trucks are a dependable delivery system, newspapers use huge amounts of fuel. They must use fuel to move heavy paper over long distances, cover news and ultimately deliver the results before the coffee is ready. This isn't cheap, and the cover price doesn't cover the price.
Unlike other business expenses (pencils, new computers, etc...), publishers can't control fuel prices. While this is a profit margin issue, it's also workforce, sales, product quality and circulation issues. The cost of fuel affects every single aspect of the publishing business.
What does the future hold?
The answers are unknown. This can be both invigorating and terrifying. Either way, the industry won't resemble what most of us know as "press." No matter what happens, reducing newsroom staff isn't good for democracy.
Reducing the newsroom means less content. Less content (and fewer neighbors employed by the paper) means fewer subscriptions/readers/viewers. This creates an endless downward spiral.
I think the printing and circulation departments are in for some hard times. I wish this wasn't the case, but it's part of the financial reality facing print newspapers.
If printed products are cut from newspaper expenses, the profit percentage could return to "acceptable" by industry standards. The high costs involved in purchasing paper, printing and delivering the paper are eliminated.
This requires a fundamental change in consumer and advertiser habits. However, nimble online enterprises have excelled in recent years.
I still feel there's an opening for Renaissance Journalism cooperatives. These enterprises could provide information for readers and "employment" (information, access, outlet, income and administrative support) for information workers (reporters, PJs, ad reps and support staff) without the hardship of rebuilding existing publications.
The RJ cooperatives won't be "retirement communities," but the current manifestation isn't either. The news industry must eventually address and resolve the four fundamental issues: jobs (human connections), promotion, paper and fuel.
Then, we can tackle content and advertising equity.
Enough for now,
UPDATE: 16 Oct. 2008
Please also read, "e-Newspapers may become reality in 2009"
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The PJ quiz
Questions are linked to previous posts on this blog with appropriate answers. New questions are added daily during 2008.
Categories
A. Basic
B. Composition
C. How to...
D. Get a job
E. Business
F. Sports
G. Lighting
H. Writing
I. General PJ
J. Multimedia
K. Legal / Ethics
L. Applied PJ
M. AP pop quizes
Basic
Back to top
1. What's the difference between a photographer and a photojournalist?
2. What is the most common type of camera used by newspaper PJs? Why?
3. What three camera variables can adjust exposure values?
4. What are the three minimum requirements of most successful photographs?
5. What's an ISO?
6. What is the average start-up costs for a beginning PJ?
7. What's the minimum shutter speed a PJ should use with an 80~200mm zoom lens?
8. What determines an image's sharpness?
(This question has a general and a specific answer.)
9. What happened to the delivery speed of PJ work during the last 10 years?
10. From a PJ's position, what angle and direction should a shadow lay for most assignments?
11. What does a PJ see through the viewfinder when s/he squeezes the shutter release button?
12. What does a tripod prevent?
13. What's depth of field?
14. What's the most important part of a camera system?
15. What is a stringer?
16. What are four of the eight major fields of photography?
17. Which type of light meter reading is most accurate?
18. What is composition?
19. Who is responsible for the actions of a photographer?
20. What is one of the easiest and cheapest pieces of equipment to improve image quality?
21. What functions does a flash card wallet perform?
22. What does the golden ratio determine?
23. What is a cutline?
24. Which university is currently considered the best for photojournalists? Why?
25. What is a clean image?
26. What is the dynamic range?
27. What causes red eye?
28. What is a photograph's skeletal structure?
29. How do PJs define tangents?
30. What is a critique?
31. Where is the plane of focus located?
Composition
Back to top
32. What is composition?
33. What does it mean to shoot "full frame"?
34. Of the four dimensions, which two can't be captured with a still photograph?
35. What compositional device holds an image together on a printed page?
How to...
Back to top
61. What should PJs do before dramatic weather changes?
Get a job
Back to top
92. Are elected officials or PJs subjected to the most thorough background checks?
Business
Back to top
122. In what two ways does "A penny saved is a penny earned" affect a PJ's business?
123. Why should business cards be thermographically printed?
Sports
Back to top
153. What should be the first shots taken at any sporting event?
Lighting
Back to top
183. What are the Kelvin-degree color temperatures of daylight and tungsten light?
Writing
Back to top
214.
General PJ
Back to top
244. Why is photography considered the most powerful form of communication?
245. What sells newspapers?
246. Before charging off to breaking news, what should a PJ do?
247.When it comes to PJ, what is the primary concern of a publisher or assignment editor?
Multimedia
Back to top
275. What is the difference between a "photo clump" and a photo story?
Legal / Ethics
Back to top
305. Who is considered "press" or "media" in America?
306. The U.S. government can close a U.S. newspaper only if it does what?
307. How does the Fairness Doctrine and Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1937 apply to a PJ's coverage of elections?
Applied PJ
Back to top
336. Why would PJs make more than one portrait of a single subject?
Deadline pop quizzes
Back to top
Where in the AP Stylebook can a journalist find the guidelines to write the following?
1. The name of military educational institutions and its students?
2. The title of a clergy member?
3. The type of gun used in news stories?
4. The name, personal pronouns and capitalization for dogs?
5. The correct way to write the ranks of all soldiers, sailors and airmen?
Enough for now,
Categories
A. Basic
B. Composition
C. How to...
D. Get a job
E. Business
F. Sports
G. Lighting
H. Writing
I. General PJ
J. Multimedia
K. Legal / Ethics
L. Applied PJ
M. AP pop quizes
Basic
Back to top
1. What's the difference between a photographer and a photojournalist?
2. What is the most common type of camera used by newspaper PJs? Why?
3. What three camera variables can adjust exposure values?
4. What are the three minimum requirements of most successful photographs?
5. What's an ISO?
6. What is the average start-up costs for a beginning PJ?
7. What's the minimum shutter speed a PJ should use with an 80~200mm zoom lens?
8. What determines an image's sharpness?
(This question has a general and a specific answer.)
9. What happened to the delivery speed of PJ work during the last 10 years?
10. From a PJ's position, what angle and direction should a shadow lay for most assignments?
11. What does a PJ see through the viewfinder when s/he squeezes the shutter release button?
12. What does a tripod prevent?
13. What's depth of field?
14. What's the most important part of a camera system?
15. What is a stringer?
16. What are four of the eight major fields of photography?
17. Which type of light meter reading is most accurate?
18. What is composition?
19. Who is responsible for the actions of a photographer?
20. What is one of the easiest and cheapest pieces of equipment to improve image quality?
21. What functions does a flash card wallet perform?
22. What does the golden ratio determine?
23. What is a cutline?
24. Which university is currently considered the best for photojournalists? Why?
25. What is a clean image?
26. What is the dynamic range?
27. What causes red eye?
28. What is a photograph's skeletal structure?
29. How do PJs define tangents?
30. What is a critique?
31. Where is the plane of focus located?
Composition
Back to top
32. What is composition?
33. What does it mean to shoot "full frame"?
34. Of the four dimensions, which two can't be captured with a still photograph?
35. What compositional device holds an image together on a printed page?
How to...
Back to top
61. What should PJs do before dramatic weather changes?
Get a job
Back to top
92. Are elected officials or PJs subjected to the most thorough background checks?
Business
Back to top
122. In what two ways does "A penny saved is a penny earned" affect a PJ's business?
123. Why should business cards be thermographically printed?
Sports
Back to top
153. What should be the first shots taken at any sporting event?
Lighting
Back to top
183. What are the Kelvin-degree color temperatures of daylight and tungsten light?
Writing
Back to top
214.
General PJ
Back to top
244. Why is photography considered the most powerful form of communication?
245. What sells newspapers?
246. Before charging off to breaking news, what should a PJ do?
247.When it comes to PJ, what is the primary concern of a publisher or assignment editor?
Multimedia
Back to top
275. What is the difference between a "photo clump" and a photo story?
Legal / Ethics
Back to top
305. Who is considered "press" or "media" in America?
306. The U.S. government can close a U.S. newspaper only if it does what?
307. How does the Fairness Doctrine and Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1937 apply to a PJ's coverage of elections?
Applied PJ
Back to top
336. Why would PJs make more than one portrait of a single subject?
Deadline pop quizzes
Back to top
Where in the AP Stylebook can a journalist find the guidelines to write the following?
1. The name of military educational institutions and its students?
2. The title of a clergy member?
3. The type of gun used in news stories?
4. The name, personal pronouns and capitalization for dogs?
5. The correct way to write the ranks of all soldiers, sailors and airmen?
Enough for now,
Monday, November 12, 2007
Best PJ colleges and recruits 07
In 2005 and 2006 we tried to ascertain which colleges are best for PJ students. My answer is always the same: The university doesn't make the best PJs. The best PJs make the most of their time at university.
For two years, this fact was proven when the College Photographers of the Year (Casey Templeton and Rick Gershon) were both lone wolves from their universities.
Last year's winner, Matt Eich, is from Ohio, the consistently top-rated (cumulative) university. Travis Dove, this year's winner, is also from Ohio University.
We now have three years of data to show us benefit-for-investment trends at different universities. Let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
When looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. Instead, we'll look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards. Of these winners, we'll eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won) and eliminate the redundancies.
Again, what remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows a consistent ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition.
There were additional multi-media categories introduced this year, so there are more awards to win and more data for our use.
Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
Although there are more awards this year, Ohio slipped by one. Western Kentucky gained one. Missouri gained two. Brooks slipped by one. San Francisco State doubled their wins. UNC Chapel Hill returned to the leader board; however, half of their wins are group entries. Nebraska held steady with two and Syracuse made it onto the leader board.
As stated before, universities with strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. The top four PJ universities continue to impress. All four have remained at the top of the leader board for the last three years. This means their students are producing consistently high-quality work from year to year.
Meanwhile, one driven PJ can still take all the marbles without cohorts. For instance, Dominic Nahr of Ryerson University kicked some major rump. Not only did he win CPOY Runner-up, he also took a Gold, Silver, two Bronzes and an Award of Excellence. Get down you funky Canadian.
With the introduction of multi-media categories this year, CPOY is positioning itself to match what's happening on the pro side of this biz. Other than a Gold to Jeff Giraldo of Western Kentucky University, Ohio and UNC swept the awards. This means these two universities, or at least their students, have a grip on industry demands.
Best recruits
The College Photographer Of the Year is the shooter with the best portfolio. This system is similar to the Pictures Of the Year (POYi) awards. Meanwhile, the NPPA regional photographer of the year is determined by points. This point system shows consistent commitment to excellence and competition throughout the year.
Since it's not possible to give the same points because the NPPA student competitions are held quarterly, we can use a different scoring system. We'll assess the following points:
6 - CPOY (Gold 4 + 2)
5 - CPOY runner up (Silver 3 + 2)
4 - Gold
3 - Silver
2 - Bronze
1 - Award of Excellence
Since we have three years of data now, we can crunch some numbers. Editors who get resume packages from these folks should take a serious look-see at the packages. These numbers indicate a consistent ability to perform at a high level in multiple categories over time.
I expect the folks who are still in college will drive up their numbers in the next few years. The folks who graduated two years ago may not have done as well as they would have if I had the whole data set. Nonetheless, the top 10 above are all strong recruits for newspapers and magazines. Of these, we again see Ohio as the top school.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2008 update.
For two years, this fact was proven when the College Photographers of the Year (Casey Templeton and Rick Gershon) were both lone wolves from their universities.
Last year's winner, Matt Eich, is from Ohio, the consistently top-rated (cumulative) university. Travis Dove, this year's winner, is also from Ohio University.
We now have three years of data to show us benefit-for-investment trends at different universities. Let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
When looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. Instead, we'll look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards. Of these winners, we'll eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won) and eliminate the redundancies.
Again, what remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows a consistent ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition.
There were additional multi-media categories introduced this year, so there are more awards to win and more data for our use.
Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
12 - Ohio University
08 - Western Kentucky University
07 - University of Missouri
06 - Brooks Institute of Photography
04 - San Francisco State University
04 - UNC Chapel Hill
02 - University of Nebraska
02 - Syracuse University
Although there are more awards this year, Ohio slipped by one. Western Kentucky gained one. Missouri gained two. Brooks slipped by one. San Francisco State doubled their wins. UNC Chapel Hill returned to the leader board; however, half of their wins are group entries. Nebraska held steady with two and Syracuse made it onto the leader board.
As stated before, universities with strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. The top four PJ universities continue to impress. All four have remained at the top of the leader board for the last three years. This means their students are producing consistently high-quality work from year to year.
Meanwhile, one driven PJ can still take all the marbles without cohorts. For instance, Dominic Nahr of Ryerson University kicked some major rump. Not only did he win CPOY Runner-up, he also took a Gold, Silver, two Bronzes and an Award of Excellence. Get down you funky Canadian.
With the introduction of multi-media categories this year, CPOY is positioning itself to match what's happening on the pro side of this biz. Other than a Gold to Jeff Giraldo of Western Kentucky University, Ohio and UNC swept the awards. This means these two universities, or at least their students, have a grip on industry demands.
Best recruits
The College Photographer Of the Year is the shooter with the best portfolio. This system is similar to the Pictures Of the Year (POYi) awards. Meanwhile, the NPPA regional photographer of the year is determined by points. This point system shows consistent commitment to excellence and competition throughout the year.
Since it's not possible to give the same points because the NPPA student competitions are held quarterly, we can use a different scoring system. We'll assess the following points:
6 - CPOY (Gold 4 + 2)
5 - CPOY runner up (Silver 3 + 2)
4 - Gold
3 - Silver
2 - Bronze
1 - Award of Excellence
Since we have three years of data now, we can crunch some numbers. Editors who get resume packages from these folks should take a serious look-see at the packages. These numbers indicate a consistent ability to perform at a high level in multiple categories over time.
20 - Andrew Henderson - Western Kentucky UniversityThis year's top three draft picks are:
20 - Yoon Byun - Ohio University (Boston Globe)
18 - Matt Eich - Ohio University
18 - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
16 - Travis Dove - Ohio University
14 - Benjamin Reed - University of Missouri
14 - Tim Gruber - Ohio University
12 - Chris Detrick - U. of Missouri (Salt Lake Tribune)
11 - Casey Templeton - James Madison University
11 - Matt Mallams - Brooks Institute of Photography
16 - Travis Dove - Ohio University
14 - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
12 - Tim Gruber - Ohio University
I expect the folks who are still in college will drive up their numbers in the next few years. The folks who graduated two years ago may not have done as well as they would have if I had the whole data set. Nonetheless, the top 10 above are all strong recruits for newspapers and magazines. Of these, we again see Ohio as the top school.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2008 update.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
High school research paper answers
Last time I answered collegiate questions. This time, I answered an e-mail from a junior high student. These questions fill in some gaps for the Frequently Asked Questions section. The posts listed there should provide all the answers for almost any research paper. Students can use the information as direct quotes because I'd just copy and paste the answers. :-)
What was your first job as a photojournalist?
Enough for now,
What was your first job as a photojournalist?
After I graduated from college, I had no job. I didn't know how to get a PJ job or stringer gigs. I had been Editor of an independent student newspaper. Before that, I was a news editor, PJ and reporter.Aside from the likes/dislikes test you described on your blog, what was the most important influence on your decision to become a photographer?
I could write, shoot, edit, layout pages, operate a process camera (for a printing press) and I had a few photo and writing awards. I could process B&W film in my car. I also had my own fully-operational, archival B&W lab at home. However, I didn't know anything about the biz.
So, I pulled out the phonebook and started calling every newspaper, magazine, wire service and book publisher within seven counties of Dallas. I combed through the classified ads and NPPA job bank.
I simply wanted work as a PJ. I wouldn't settle for less.
I was lucky with one of the first calls. The Richardson News happened to have a reporter whose son was also a photographer from my university. She hooked me up with the Editor.
I showed my prints and collegiate clips and got my first freelance assignment to shoot the cover of a weekend guide (even small papers had them then). I got paid $25 for the shoot and $5 for each image they ran. They also reimbursed my film.
It eventually turned into a full-time job five months later, but those were some mighty lean five months. I worked any camera job I could find. One gig paid a whopping $10 per published shot plus expenses (printed in my own darkroom on deadline).
However, I refused to give up. With each new client, my work was seen by other publishers. I also kept knocking on doors. By October, I had enough clients to drop the low-paying gigs. The higher-paying gigs kept me busy enough to continue shooting.
By November, I was earning enough to survive, but I worked 20-hour days each day of the week. So, a low-paying staff job with insurance and a chance at any days off looked like heaven.
The test was it.What was your first major accomplishment as a photographer?
I had a good job as a corporate collector for General Electric Capital at the time. I was earning more money in 1990 without a degree than I do now. So, it didn't matter which degree I got.
If you haven't guessed, I like competition. That's what hooked me with journalism. It's fiercely competitive. Even in college, my classmates were trying to be better than other colleges and professionals. So, I was hooked.
As mentioned above, not starving to death. :-)Do you have a most memorable photograph? What was it/why?
The first really significant (pro) event was the Moore, Okla. tornado. The town was completely flattened by the biggest tornado in recorded history. Although it was my day off, I covered it because I wanted to let our readers know how to best help those affected.
I borrowed a dependable car and spent the day shooting and talking to folks. Access was difficult. I talked to anyone who would give me time. I drove back the same night, caught two hours sleep and pulled together two pages of stories, sidebars and photos.
Our community stepped up and sent the items the residents requested. Instead of blankets and old clothes, a semi-trailer full of tools, lumber, chainsaws, work gloves, generators and medicine (including tetanus shots) was collected and sent to Moore. I could tell my work paid off and people were going to get what they actually needed to start rebuilding.
There were a few times when I was crying or laughing too hard to press the shutter release. A few images have won awards. Those are memorable because they allowed my work some recognition.What do you feel is the most rewarding aspect of your job/are you happy with your decision to become a photojournalist?
The ones I tend to think are my best are those which create some domino effect to get help for deserving people in need.
I don't have one image that meets all three criteria. So, I'd say this image is memorable because it got help flowing to Hurricane Katrina victims. This image (1st image ) is memorable because it's become the face of Hurricane Rita. Texans rolled up their sleeves and got to work rebuilding after the hurricane. They were damaged, but determined.
Obviously, I like to help people. Sometimes we help after unexpected disasters. Sometimes we simply let readers know what's happening around town so their dates don't become disasters. :-)Could you describe a normal day as a PJ?
I'm satisfied with my decision to be a PJ. The personal cost has been high, but I'd pay the price again. I have no regrets.
I've been at all three levels of this biz. Each has its own stresses and chaos. I feel most comfortable in my current job because there's an editorial cushion (other shooters and wire photos). Meanwhile, it's the top daily newspaper in its circulation class in one of the most competitive states.Has digital photography altered/changed your photography style?
I'm the mid-shift (11 a.m. to 8 p.m.). This means I might cover a morning or night shift for other shooters if needed. For this example, we'll say this is regularly-scheduled shift:
8:30 a.m.
Wake up, get coffee.
8:30 - 10 a.m.
Answer urgent e-mails. Get more coffee. Check the newspaper's Web site and possibly browse other local and national news to have an idea what's happening and develop some back-up plans if news is slow. Get more coffee.
10 - 11 a.m.
Prepare for work, commute to work.
11 a.m.
Care to guess what I do first at work?
Yup, get more coffee. Pick up assignments. Handle any immediate-need paperwork issues at the office. Check my work e-mail and finalize any plans for the day's shoots. Often, assignments are "pending" based upon some other action. These must be resolved to either be dropped or assigned.
Then, the day becomes unpredictable. If everyone behaves themselves, I'll have two or three assignments. I shoot them, turn them out, do my archive work and go home.
If someone happens to kill someone else or something explodes, the day becomes a little more stressful. Other days are completely dead, and I must find images.
This is when the morning time on the Net helps. If I know what's happening, I can find a local angle for national stories. I also keep a second blog of upcoming and regularly-scheduled events to get ideas for instant filler images.
Lately, I've been too busy to update my other blog. Consequently, my options are severely limited. Hopefully I'll get a chance to update it soon.
If something goes crazy, I must shoot it and immediately turn it out (tone, caption, transmit) for the Web and Page 1 layout. If it's a quiet day, I can shoot all my assignments and turn them out before the 9:30 deadline.
If I'm close to the deadline or travel is distant, I'll transmit from location. If I have time, I'll do it in the office.
On any given day, I can be up to 400 miles away from the office. If I'm going more than this distance, I'll typically have at least one day's warning, Then, I have the option to stay overnight in the other location.
Once I've finished my day, I come home and talk with my wife - if she's still awake. If not, I'll get some food (I eat once each day). Then - you guessed it - get coffee and check my e-mails.
If I make it home by 10 p.m., I watch "The Daily Show." After Jon Stewart, I'll prepare the night's blog entry and have some mind candy (play solitaire or Dynomite) for about 30 minutes. Then, I work on longer blog entries, answer complicated e-mails, update my other blog (locate and include future events), surf other sites for inspiration and info, research story ideas and try to learn something new each day.
When I can't see the computer clearly or the sun rises, I'll crash for a few hours and start all over again. I'm older now, so I try to sleep at least four hours each night. When I was younger, I tried to sleep at least two hours. In college, I would go from Sunday to Wednesday morning without sleep each week. I'd sleep two hours on Thursday and Friday. I'd crash hard on the weekends.
I do freelance assignments as well. I schedule them for my days off, take vacation days or try to work both into work days. I work on art and stock photo projects on days off.
Not really. I tend to shoot with less depth-of-field because I never know if there's trash on the CCD. I like to shoot at f/16, but it's not worth risking the consequence if I don't need to do so.Do you believe that photography can be considered a form of art?
Yes. Although the same tools are used, the end results and the underlying businesses aren't the same. When I'm a PJ, I wear my PJ hat and shoot PJ images. When I'm an "artist," I shoot differently.Do you travel a lot?
This doesn't mean they aren't one-in-the-same. It only means I prefer to create extremely complex images as my "art." I've won art competitions with my news images, and I've won news competitions (illustration) with my art.
Not at my first job. Since then, I've averaged around 200 miles of travel per day for the last seven years. Many days, I only go 30 or 50 miles. Other days I could go 800 miles round trip for a shoot.How long have you been interested in photography?
A few times each year I'll need to stay in another city. But, I love my wife dearly, and I'd like to see her every few days if I can. Some shooters can literally be in foreign countries every day of the year if that's their desire (and shooting/logistical ability).
When I was in the Army, I learned how valuable images were to me. Soldiers can't keep much. So, we keep small items. I valued photos I'd get from home. These kept me up-to-date with changes.What advice would you give a high school student who is interested in pursuing photography, PJ specifically, as a career?
I'd send them point-and-shoot prints of my life as well.
However, I never had a decent camera until after I decided to become a PJ. I didn't know what I needed when I started down this road. I signed up for a class, read the syllabus and went to a pawn shop to get the most for the least. I was lucky and found what I needed to get started.
Smile a lot and learn to love light.
I'm saying this because the advice below is not as happy.
This is a really cool job, but it comes with a heavy burden. Many PJs have one or more ex-spouses. Many lose all their friends. Many have financial problems their entire career. Some die.
Don't settle for anything less than the best from yourself. Research your competition and become better than them. This is a highly competitive field. If you aren't ready for this reality, you're not going to make it. There's no lack of talented, dedicated, unemployed PJs. They want any job just as much as a new college grad. However, they have pro experience and pro awards on their resume.
When I was in college, the Internet was new. It didn't have the information or capacity it has now. This availability of information is both good and bad. Now (the good), students can use it as a learning tool to get an edge over their competition. However (the bad), your competition is using it too.
Don't waste your time. Use your time wisely to learn everything you can about your craft and the world around you. Then, help your peers learn.
If you give your peers all your knowledge, you must continue to learn and grow to become better. When you need info, ask your peers. This process forces innovation and creativity to remain competitive and valid in today's marketplace.
Become a professional now. As soon as you have mastered focus, exposure and timing, you should start earning money with your images. Otherwise, the learning curve is steep and dangerous. It's easy to starve to death. It's hard to learn this business and avoid starvation.
Reinvest your profits into your equipment to get higher paying gigs and be more marketable. Get the gigs, and buy a decent camera, lenses and laptop. This makes you mobile, agile and marketable.
With the current market trends, learn as much as you can about video and sound. It's very likely most daily newspapers won't be using still cameras within five years. However, get the skills now with the still camera because it can still put food in the fridge.
Shoot, compete and select your internships wisely. Aim high and don't look down. If you're completely comfortable with the level of work you're accomplishing, you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
Take the ethical high ground. You may get beaten by a cheater, but I'd rather lose to a cheater than win through deception.
Above all, be flexible and look for opportunities. There are no "normal" days.
There are a lot of set-backs in this profession. Each time something goes wrong, look for "the best" in it. Understand and try to live the "pony parable." If you look for the ponies, you'll find them. Good luck with your search.
Enough for now,
Friday, May 11, 2007
Consider PJ's future
During April and early May each year I typically get a barrage of research paper requests. Most students want answers to the same 20 questions all teachers require. Occasionally, I'll get thought-provoking questions. I thought others might also benefit from the answers.
Tonight's answers went to a Harvard University senior.
How has technology changed the industry most significantly in the past 10 years?
Can anyone be a photojournalist given these new technologies?
Have these changes forced photojournalists to become better business people, more savvy self-promoters?
Where do you see the industry in 10 years?
Enough for now,
Tonight's answers went to a Harvard University senior.
How has technology changed the industry most significantly in the past 10 years?
The most obvious change is speed of delivery. Ten years ago, speed equated to horsepower in our cars and ability to avoid police. Then, speed was a matter of minutes.
Now, images are delivered via wireless broadband and FM signals at rates unimaginable 15 years ago. We can literally plop down on a mountaintop and deliver images within seconds to any location on the globe. Speed is now measured in fractions of seconds.
This is caused by two marketplace forces: cable TV news and the Internet.
Previously, newspapers needed an entirely new product each day. Now, we need a partially new product at least each 15 minutes. Ten seconds would be better, but (thankfully) we're not there yet.
The pressure to immediately deliver news came from television and specifically cable networks such as CNN. Because they were able to deliver headline information throughout the day, the audience changed its demands.
This trend initially impacted broadcast TVPJs. Now, still PJs and VJs must deliver "on the fly" as well.
Newspaper readers still depended on newspapers to thoughtfully and methodically examine news and acquire original, authoritative content. Ironically, television outlets also depended on this process for their news. "Breaking news" has to initially come from somewhere.
Traditionally, newspapers broke the information on the wires and TV news broadcasters read the information in a stuffy studio. In the last 25 years, TV outlets have evolved into fast reaction forces to provide information for the 24-hour news broadcast networks. This also allows them to relocate and capture news as it happens.
Advertisers don't particularly care about how thoughtful or meaningful information is. They must get their message to the most people with the least effort and expense. While print media remains the most powerful advertising avenue. Cable television provides a large (semi-captive) audience and relatively low expenses per viewer.
Simultaneously, Internet throughput speeds have soared to amazing rates. The original ability to move a business document across the country at 9,000 bits per second made businesses more agile and reduced costs.
Soon, throughput will be measured in hundreds of gigabytes per second. This allows broadband delivery of high-quality audio and video at faster-than-real-time speeds.
The Internet allowed advertisers to capture a specific audience for little to no expense. This seriously damaged newspaper classified advertising. As time has been compressed from minutes to fractions of a second, classified advertising was reduced from thousands of dollars to fractions of a penny for advertisers.
Essentially, newspapers were forced to speed their delivery cycle by television while having their financial legs removed by online forces such as E-bay, Amazon and thousands of similar Web sites.
Most newspapers have reacted appropriately although slowly. To compete for advertising income against both television and online sources, newspapers have invested in online technologies. Although display advertising has been reluctant to move online, YouTube and other online audio-visual outlets are currently in the process of changing the marketplace again.
Years of financial warfare has taken its toll on the newspaper industry. Many inefficient and overburdened newspapers have failed and fallen in the last 25 years. However, news acquisition as a profession continues to attract some of the brightest and most inquisitive young minds. Intellectual resources have traditionally been the newspaper industry's strongest asset.
Now, newspapers are positioned to deliver high-definition news and advertising via video over the Internet at speeds and quality surpassing real-time television. Meanwhile they remain the primary authoritative voice for local and regional information and analysis.
Organizations with newspaper assets that have vision and tenacity are prepared and possess the technology to take back some of what has been lost over the last 25 years. However, the product itself no longer resembles its original format.
A modern journalist is individually prepared to deliver meaningful audio and video of breaking news in real-time as well as thoughtful analysis on slower-moving issues. The information determines the method of delivery (written, audio or visual).
Predictable income, traditional access and legal protections are persistent problems for individual journalists. This is good for the newspaper industry. They can provide these three assets to qualified journalists who aren't prepared to "go it alone."
Obviously, media organizations must compete for these highly-qualified, multi-media journalists.
Through the Internet, these Renaissance journalists are developing a personal audience beyond the scope of the larger media outlet. If organizations don't equip and reward these specialists appropriately, they'll lose the resources and an individual journalist's audience. Moreover, these journalists have the potential to become powerful competitors in the same market.
If this trend continues, audience share could be measured as an aggregate of the individual Renaissance journalists and their individual audiences within an organization. Fifteen or 20 such Renaissance journalists could join forces to provide legal protection, combined authority (for access), predictable income and insurance for the unit.
They could take with them their core audiences and have the ability to successfully compete directly against the organizations they feel did not support them appropriately in the past. Meanwhile, the business model for such organizations is far more profitable than traditional print media.
As PF Bentley recently warned publishers and editors, "The videographers are your future income and the only hope you have to save the "paper." I'd take very good care of them."
Can anyone be a photojournalist given these new technologies?
I won't discourage anyone from trying.
A photojournalist is a degreed professional. We tell accurate, meaningful stories with our vision. This isn't something a 4-year-old with a point-and-shoot can accomplish. Just as a butter knife doesn't make a surgeon, the recording device doesn't make a pro PJ.
It takes years of training to understand the legal, ethical and financial requirements of this job. This also requires the trust and loyalty of our readers/viewers. If anything, it's becoming more difficult to acquire such volumes of information while simultaneously delivering solid news content.
A PJ's week is packed with physically and mentally demanding news assignments, research, professional education as well as the day-to-day business requirements (meetings, paperwork, e-mails and phone calls). Many also shoot freelance assignments while seeking additional advanced degrees.
Endurance, dedication and tenacity are required skills.
If this question is meant to imply "any monkey can do it," I disagree.
Have these changes forced photojournalists to become better business people, more savvy self-promoters?
Luckily, I work for a huge, privately-owned corporation. This means real profit - rather than whimsical share prices - determine how many employees keep jobs.
Otherwise, PJs have no choice but to embrace solid business practices. The luxury of corporate security evaporated decades ago. The greed of some individuals within the publicly-traded side of the industry has lead to an industry where individual workers are seen as variables within a money-generating structure. In other words, many PJs are viewed as expendable.
This has forced PJs to diversify to such a level that we acquire our own audiences independently of any corporate structure. Instead of relaxing and recuperating after a demanding day, we seek additional freelance clients and outlets for our work.
Many PJs work on advanced degrees while exploring alternative routes for our work (editorial, art, commercial, stock, etc.). PJs must have multiple survival and exit strategies because we simply can't trust the marketplace dynamics and those who have little regard for the long-term ramifications of their short-term, greed-motivated actions.
PJs are in this business for our readers and our readers only. We do what it takes to get stories to readers while ensuring our own survival. After being treated as replaceable variables by corporations, many PJs now view these same corporations as variables rather than retirement communities.
As mentioned above. Renaissance journalists are emerging. These journalists must step away from their artistic inclinations and understand the marketplace realities or choose another industry.
Where do you see the industry in 10 years?
Basically, I see individual journalists using multiple means to deliver information to an individual audience and to the larger general audience through media interconnectivity.
Advertisers, needing to get their message to potential clients, will learn to patronize highly-qualified individual Renaissance journalists capable of creating loyal audiences.
Groups of Renaissance journalists will join forces to initially ensure survival, cut bureaucratic expenses and eventually provide a secure environment to deliver meaningful information while nurturing younger journalists capable of achieving this level of discipline and endurance.
A large part of this vision relies on interaction between journalists and their individual audiences as well as their direction of specialization. Audiences will interact directly with journalists. This two-way flow of information gets information and access to these journalists.
This trend should also expand into the larger, traditional media outlets, who will employ those not willing or capable of venturing into these independent ventures. However, these journalists will eventually realize their own value and demand adequate compensation.
The actual delivery method within 10 years is unknown. I personally thought biodegradable CDs would replace print newspapers by now. I didn't expect podcasts to exist. So I certainly didn't expect A/V podcasts 10 years ago. It's a better option than I originally considered because the entire circulation department is eliminated from the news equation while increasing journalist's contact time with viewers.
Circulation and printing departments remain at traditional newspapers as part of the overall business structure, but these departments become less dependent on the newsroom and must create new sources of revenue to survive. This is healthy for the industry.
While the current trend is toward "live" and "it'll do," I think a measured, refined approach is the hallmark of quality journalism. Information overload has increased the value of those who are able to sift through the mud and find the true diamonds. Audiences and advertisers will follow journalists with the ability to consistently deliver a quality product.
Enough for now,
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Best PJ universities 2006
Last year (technically earlier this year) we tried to ascertain which colleges are best for PJ students. My answer is always the same: The university doesn't make the best PJ. The best PJ makes the most of their time at university.
For the last two years, this fact was proven when the College Photographers of the Year (Casey Templeton and Rick Gershon) were both lone wolves from their universities.
This year's winner, Matt Eich, is from last year's top (cumulative) university. He started winning awards at CPOY last year. He was only a sophomore this year, so expect two more years of rump-kicking. Alternatively, he's the target for those who didn't take the prize. ;-}
We now have two years of data to show us benefit-for-investment trends at different universities. Let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
Like last year, when looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. Instead, we'll look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards. Of these winners, we'll eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won) and eliminate the redundancies.
Again, what remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows a consistent ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition. Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
13 Ohio University
07 Western Kentucky University
07 Brooks Institute of Photography
05 University of Missouri
02 University of Nebraska
02 San Francisco State University
Ohio University won the most again. They're only down by one win, so it's an insignificant change. Both Western Kentucky University and Brooks Institute of Photography took out the University of Missouri to tie for 2nd place in total awards.
Then, the game changed. The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and University of Florida didn't make the top list this year. Instead, the University of Nebraska and San Francisco State University bounced into the lead pack and messed up a theory I was kicking around about pairs of shooters from one university. End result, it's not feast or famine after all.
As stated before, universities with strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. The top four universities on the list are jockeying for position, but they're consistently producing quality shooters with strong likelihoods of landing good jobs upon graduation.
Meanwhile, one driven PJ can still take all the marbles without cohorts. There were some surprising results this year (including a first-year Southeast Texan and some bloggers). Next year should be interesting.
A cool change this year is the introduction of a judges' vodcast. Now, students who can't make it to the judging can hear and see what the judges wanted. It would rock if BOP and POYi would start this as well for us poor pros.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2007 and 2008 updates.
For the last two years, this fact was proven when the College Photographers of the Year (Casey Templeton and Rick Gershon) were both lone wolves from their universities.
This year's winner, Matt Eich, is from last year's top (cumulative) university. He started winning awards at CPOY last year. He was only a sophomore this year, so expect two more years of rump-kicking. Alternatively, he's the target for those who didn't take the prize. ;-}
We now have two years of data to show us benefit-for-investment trends at different universities. Let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
Like last year, when looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. Instead, we'll look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards. Of these winners, we'll eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won) and eliminate the redundancies.
Again, what remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows a consistent ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition. Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
13 Ohio University
07 Western Kentucky University
07 Brooks Institute of Photography
05 University of Missouri
02 University of Nebraska
02 San Francisco State University
Ohio University won the most again. They're only down by one win, so it's an insignificant change. Both Western Kentucky University and Brooks Institute of Photography took out the University of Missouri to tie for 2nd place in total awards.
Then, the game changed. The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and University of Florida didn't make the top list this year. Instead, the University of Nebraska and San Francisco State University bounced into the lead pack and messed up a theory I was kicking around about pairs of shooters from one university. End result, it's not feast or famine after all.
As stated before, universities with strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. The top four universities on the list are jockeying for position, but they're consistently producing quality shooters with strong likelihoods of landing good jobs upon graduation.
Meanwhile, one driven PJ can still take all the marbles without cohorts. There were some surprising results this year (including a first-year Southeast Texan and some bloggers). Next year should be interesting.
A cool change this year is the introduction of a judges' vodcast. Now, students who can't make it to the judging can hear and see what the judges wanted. It would rock if BOP and POYi would start this as well for us poor pros.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2007 and 2008 updates.
Monday, June 26, 2006
The best PJ universities
Many folks have asked recently about the best colleges for photojournalism. My answer is always the same: The university doesn't make the best PJ. The best PJ makes the most of their time at university.
This year's College Photographer of the Year is Casey Templeton. Templeton is a fine example of this philosophy. He is the only award winner in this year's CPOY contest from James Madison University. We'll learn more about him and his education next week.
With this said, the contest can show us some trends to assess the benefit-for-investment with different universities. Obviously, it would be better to track this information for 10 years and perform an aggregate assessment, but the Web site only includes this year's winners.
Realistically, it would be best to track and distill this information from all winners of all major contests from the last 10 years (if anyone is looking for a research project). However, let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
When looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. I'm not discounting the quality of any winners, but the difference between these ranks is often subjective and could have been different with different judges. Instead, let's simply look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards.
Of these winners, let's eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won by this individual). Next, eliminate the redundancies on the winners' list.
What remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows their ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition. Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
14 Ohio University
08 University of Missouri
07 Western Kentucky University
06 Brooks Institute of Photography
04 University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
03 University of Florida
02 NONE
Based on these numbers, I'd bet any of these universities would provide a quality PJ education with a likelihood of landing a decent job upon graduation.
Why am I convinced?
As was proven again this year by Templeton and last year by Gershon, one driven PJ can take all the marbles without cohorts. However, strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. In other words, critiques in these classes are probably passionate.
I've also included the number of universities who had a pair of winners. The number is zero. However, I'd need to look at the numbers from other years to nail this theory to the door. I do know there is at least one university that's building a trend lately, but it takes more than one winner per year to display educational dominance.
This profession is about scooping the competition and dominating the field. A quality university should understand this and push their PJ students to perform at this level.
If a student is torn between different colleges, demand a track record before signing the dotted line. Ask the journalism department for a list of major award winners from the university. Also ask them for a list of graduates who are currently working as professionals in the industry.
If these universities purport to teach journalism, they'll be able to give a reasonable answer. After all, these universities teach journalism, which is about real-world, real-time research. If they have no real-world knowledge about their graduates, be concerned.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2006, 2007 and 2008 updates.
This year's College Photographer of the Year is Casey Templeton. Templeton is a fine example of this philosophy. He is the only award winner in this year's CPOY contest from James Madison University. We'll learn more about him and his education next week.
With this said, the contest can show us some trends to assess the benefit-for-investment with different universities. Obviously, it would be better to track this information for 10 years and perform an aggregate assessment, but the Web site only includes this year's winners.
Realistically, it would be best to track and distill this information from all winners of all major contests from the last 10 years (if anyone is looking for a research project). However, let's use the information we have and draw a few conclusions.
When looking at the winners list, let's ignore who won gold, silver, bronze and honorable mention. I'm not discounting the quality of any winners, but the difference between these ranks is often subjective and could have been different with different judges. Instead, let's simply look at how many individuals from different universities got any awards.
Of these winners, let's eliminate the universities with only one winner (no matter how many awards were won by this individual). Next, eliminate the redundancies on the winners' list.
What remains is a solid guess at the quality of the PJ education at different universities. If nothing else, it shows their ability to teach students to shoot and select quality images for competition. Here's the breakdown by number of individual students who won any awards at this year's CPOY:
14 Ohio University
08 University of Missouri
07 Western Kentucky University
06 Brooks Institute of Photography
04 University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
03 University of Florida
02 NONE
Based on these numbers, I'd bet any of these universities would provide a quality PJ education with a likelihood of landing a decent job upon graduation.
Why am I convinced?
As was proven again this year by Templeton and last year by Gershon, one driven PJ can take all the marbles without cohorts. However, strong programs draw strong students. These students are frequently as demanding on one another as they are on themselves. In other words, critiques in these classes are probably passionate.
I've also included the number of universities who had a pair of winners. The number is zero. However, I'd need to look at the numbers from other years to nail this theory to the door. I do know there is at least one university that's building a trend lately, but it takes more than one winner per year to display educational dominance.
This profession is about scooping the competition and dominating the field. A quality university should understand this and push their PJ students to perform at this level.
If a student is torn between different colleges, demand a track record before signing the dotted line. Ask the journalism department for a list of major award winners from the university. Also ask them for a list of graduates who are currently working as professionals in the industry.
If these universities purport to teach journalism, they'll be able to give a reasonable answer. After all, these universities teach journalism, which is about real-world, real-time research. If they have no real-world knowledge about their graduates, be concerned.
Enough for now,
Please see the 2006, 2007 and 2008 updates.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Major photography fields
A camera is a tool. As a hammer might be used by a cabinet manufacturer, a violin maker or even a musician, the camera is used by professionals in different fields. Each field has its own ethical code and use for the camera as well as the resulting images.
With this understood, let's consider the different fields of photography. PJs tend to be the chameleons of photography. Depending on what's needed, we shift our technique to emulate other styles (while maintaining our ethical standards and personal style). In a single day, a PJ may shoot any number of categories on location and in the studio.
Periodically, we're going to explore some of the different professions to appreciate what they do and what we can learn from their experience. But first, we must understand what these genres are.
Major genres of still photography
The broad categories of photography are editorial, commercial, architectural, consumer portraiture, fine art, corporate, public relations and scientific. Within these categories are numerous subdivisions as well as hybrid classifications.
Editorial
The purpose of editorial photography is publication. Editorial photography can be anything that is not overt advertising. Because editorial photographers create content for publications (both consumer and industry), this field encompasses many styles and ethics levels. Photojournalism and fashion photography are subcategories of editorial photography.
Most publications (newspapers and magazines) separate the editorial and advertising sections to avoid conflicts of interest. However, an editorial PJ may shoot for both sections.
This can be one of the lowest-paying fields of photography. However, overhead costs are low after initial investment. Most images in this genre carry a credit line. Digital SLR (or 35mm film) cameras are most common in this field of photography.
Commercial
Commercial photographers create images for packaging and large advertising campaigns. Images are created according to the clients specifications. They're often highly styled and employ advanced lighting techniques, elaborate sets and frequently employ models.
While local advertising is created by publication photographers and use of the images is controlled by the publication or the pub's photographer, commercial images are contracted and handled by the art director of an advertising agency or the purchasing corporation.
This is one of the highest paying fields of photography. Likewise, this field has the highest overhead costs. These images frequently carry no credit line and are provided as part of a finished product to publications and other forms of display (billboards, busses, etc...). Large and some medium format cameras are common in this field of photography
Architectural
Architectural photographers help their architecture and construction clients land the next big job (think million$). Architectural images also have secondary roles for editorial, fine art and commercial uses.
Competition is fierce in this field while jobs are infrequent. Professionals in this field must know how to light interiors to match the exterior and may wait several days for the perfect light.
This is also a high paying field of photography. Depending on use, images frequently carry a credit line. Large and medium format cameras with bellows (for perspective control) are critical in this field of photography. Other photographers that prefer a lighter approach or faster delivery use digital cameras with perspective-control (PC) lenses.
Consumer portraiture
Consumer portrait photographers produce prints to sell to individual consumers. Often, portrait photographers have storefront studios. Much of their profit margin results from auxiliary sales such as frames and albums.
Wedding and public-consumption sports photographers as well as superstore retailers are subcategories of this field.
Income depends on the portrait photographer's ability to get and sell to consumers and keep profit margins. Overhead expenses can be very high. Final images are almost always in print form with the studio's name printed into the paper or canvas. Studio owners keep all copyrights. Medium format, 35mm and digital SLRs and some large format cameras are common in this field of photography
Fine art
Fine art photographers produce museum-quality artworks in print (paper and/or canvas) form. Final prints are commissioned for museums and private collections. Numbered series prints are also sold to art collectors through galleries, art representatives and fine art competition shows.
The artist's name is often the selling point of the image (usually prints) and prints are frequently signed by the artist. Large and medium format as well as SLR (35mm film or digital) cameras are common in this field of photography.
Corporate
Corporate photographers can produce commercial and/or public relations images. They additionally produce images for in-house and corporate annual reports. At smaller corporations, they also produce publications (writing, design and photography).
Income is slightly higher than editorial photographers while having no overhead costs. It's unusual for the corporate photographer to get a credit line outside of an in-house arrangement. Corporate photographers generally have no rights to the images they produce. Digital SLR (35mm range) cameras are most common in this field of photography. The equipment is provided by the corporation.
Public relations (PR)
Public relations photographers help businesses promote themselves. Public relations professionals hire PR photographers to illustrate turn-in articles or document events to create good will for their clients.
Although PR photographers primarily capture images, they frequently must also engage in back-end image activities for the clients (providing prints, pre-press images, etc).
Initial payment is higher than editorial photography. However, the image's purpose is to provide free content to publications. Therefore, aftermarket and stock uses are unlikely. It's unusual for the PR photographer to get a credit line outside of a contractual arrangement with each client. Digital SLR (35mm range) cameras are common in this field of photography.
Scientific
Scientific photographers illustrate and/or document scientific problems, theories and results. These images are primarily used for textbooks, scientific journals and in-house at medical facilities and/or manufacturers. Scientific photographers often must perform public relations and corporate photography roles as part of their employment.
Scientific photographers employed by corporations (often called technical photographers) document processes for patents as well as research and development. Often, these images are closely guarded by the company and are never seen outside of the company and patent office.
Meanwhile, visual sociologists have made several attempts to gain traction as a social science field. As such, its use is primarily limited to documentary work for textbook and grant proposals. Because their work looks similar to photojournalism, most clients outside academics are reluctant to hire (and pay much more for) visual sociologists.
Scientific photographers often have advanced degrees and are paid appropriately, but medical facility staff openings are rare (these jobs also require a strong stomach). Depending on use, scientific photographers occasionally get credit lines. Digital SLRs (35mm range) and medium format cameras with specialized or micro lenses are common in this field of photography. Specialized lighting techniques and equipment are often required to document scientific experiments.
Hybrid photography fields
Because a camera is simply a tool, not all uses of this tool fit into neat categories. Many photographers fall into several categories simultaneously. Oceanographers, who invest in specialized underwater equipment, are immediately scientific photographers. However, the oceanographer's client dictates the genre as well as the images' subsequent uses.
For example, an oil company may hire the oceanographer to document oil rig fittings. However, images from the dive could have uses in publications, textbooks, museums, or in advertising campaigns. The same oceanographer might earn the majority of her income selling prints to beginning divers or underwater wedding parties.
The same holds true for aerial photographers and a host of other similarly specialized hybrid photography styles. Most hybrid photography professions are proprietor operations or freelance.
Deliberate cross genre
Photographers deliberately cross genres. Often, this is done to generate income. Sometimes it's done to keep valued clients.
Editorial photographers often step into commercial and architectural roles to augment income while remaining in a lower-paying field. Some commercial photographer may accept editorial work (magazine illustrations) simply to gain clients through credit line recognition.
Recently, editorial photographers have become prized by commercial portraiture clients (primarily for high-end weddings). Although this cross genre jump is easy from a shooting point of view, industry requirements (taxes, sales negotiations, contracts, up-front payment, expectations, ethics, etc.) are frequently vexing to editorial shooters and may come with significant pitfalls.
Often, changing genre for a day means more than switching hats for the photographer. Commercial photographers, who are accustomed to illustrating their ideal vision with models and sets, may find editorial ethics (i.e. "ugly truth") difficult for their training in visual perfection. However, if they're working as a PJ, they must play by the same ethical rules as a PJ (i.e. don't change the truth).
Why classify at all?
The reason photographers are classified by genre is to set approach rules, clientele, overhead needs and education. The sooner a photographer decides upon a path, the more prepared the photographer will be upon entering the marketplace.
Many PJs avoid large format cameras in college to concentrate on their SLR specialization. Likewise, commercial photography students don't tend to work at university newspapers (breaking news and view cameras typically aren't good companions).
Furthermore, advanced PJ students use summer breaks for internships at newspapers while commercial and architecture photographers participate in mentorships or work as photo assistants for established photographers in their chosen field.
By adhering to a particular specialization throughout the educational process, photographers learn by osmosis the rules of survival in the field. For example, PJs learn not to set up images (negative feedback) while commercial photographers learn how to do it perfectly (positive feedback).
Looking forward
This post is intended as a primer for folks considering photography options. We haven't addressed the need for higher education or the minutia of each genre. Over time, we'll (hopefully) have interviews with top photographers in these other fields to help folks choose a path and/or learn more about each others' camera-totin' professions.
Enough for now,
With this understood, let's consider the different fields of photography. PJs tend to be the chameleons of photography. Depending on what's needed, we shift our technique to emulate other styles (while maintaining our ethical standards and personal style). In a single day, a PJ may shoot any number of categories on location and in the studio.
Periodically, we're going to explore some of the different professions to appreciate what they do and what we can learn from their experience. But first, we must understand what these genres are.
Major genres of still photography
The broad categories of photography are editorial, commercial, architectural, consumer portraiture, fine art, corporate, public relations and scientific. Within these categories are numerous subdivisions as well as hybrid classifications.
Editorial
The purpose of editorial photography is publication. Editorial photography can be anything that is not overt advertising. Because editorial photographers create content for publications (both consumer and industry), this field encompasses many styles and ethics levels. Photojournalism and fashion photography are subcategories of editorial photography.
Most publications (newspapers and magazines) separate the editorial and advertising sections to avoid conflicts of interest. However, an editorial PJ may shoot for both sections.
This can be one of the lowest-paying fields of photography. However, overhead costs are low after initial investment. Most images in this genre carry a credit line. Digital SLR (or 35mm film) cameras are most common in this field of photography.
Commercial
Commercial photographers create images for packaging and large advertising campaigns. Images are created according to the clients specifications. They're often highly styled and employ advanced lighting techniques, elaborate sets and frequently employ models.
While local advertising is created by publication photographers and use of the images is controlled by the publication or the pub's photographer, commercial images are contracted and handled by the art director of an advertising agency or the purchasing corporation.
This is one of the highest paying fields of photography. Likewise, this field has the highest overhead costs. These images frequently carry no credit line and are provided as part of a finished product to publications and other forms of display (billboards, busses, etc...). Large and some medium format cameras are common in this field of photography
Architectural
Architectural photographers help their architecture and construction clients land the next big job (think million$). Architectural images also have secondary roles for editorial, fine art and commercial uses.
Competition is fierce in this field while jobs are infrequent. Professionals in this field must know how to light interiors to match the exterior and may wait several days for the perfect light.
This is also a high paying field of photography. Depending on use, images frequently carry a credit line. Large and medium format cameras with bellows (for perspective control) are critical in this field of photography. Other photographers that prefer a lighter approach or faster delivery use digital cameras with perspective-control (PC) lenses.
Consumer portraiture
Consumer portrait photographers produce prints to sell to individual consumers. Often, portrait photographers have storefront studios. Much of their profit margin results from auxiliary sales such as frames and albums.
Wedding and public-consumption sports photographers as well as superstore retailers are subcategories of this field.
Income depends on the portrait photographer's ability to get and sell to consumers and keep profit margins. Overhead expenses can be very high. Final images are almost always in print form with the studio's name printed into the paper or canvas. Studio owners keep all copyrights. Medium format, 35mm and digital SLRs and some large format cameras are common in this field of photography
Fine art
Fine art photographers produce museum-quality artworks in print (paper and/or canvas) form. Final prints are commissioned for museums and private collections. Numbered series prints are also sold to art collectors through galleries, art representatives and fine art competition shows.
The artist's name is often the selling point of the image (usually prints) and prints are frequently signed by the artist. Large and medium format as well as SLR (35mm film or digital) cameras are common in this field of photography.
Corporate
Corporate photographers can produce commercial and/or public relations images. They additionally produce images for in-house and corporate annual reports. At smaller corporations, they also produce publications (writing, design and photography).
Income is slightly higher than editorial photographers while having no overhead costs. It's unusual for the corporate photographer to get a credit line outside of an in-house arrangement. Corporate photographers generally have no rights to the images they produce. Digital SLR (35mm range) cameras are most common in this field of photography. The equipment is provided by the corporation.
Public relations (PR)
Public relations photographers help businesses promote themselves. Public relations professionals hire PR photographers to illustrate turn-in articles or document events to create good will for their clients.
Although PR photographers primarily capture images, they frequently must also engage in back-end image activities for the clients (providing prints, pre-press images, etc).
Initial payment is higher than editorial photography. However, the image's purpose is to provide free content to publications. Therefore, aftermarket and stock uses are unlikely. It's unusual for the PR photographer to get a credit line outside of a contractual arrangement with each client. Digital SLR (35mm range) cameras are common in this field of photography.
Scientific
Scientific photographers illustrate and/or document scientific problems, theories and results. These images are primarily used for textbooks, scientific journals and in-house at medical facilities and/or manufacturers. Scientific photographers often must perform public relations and corporate photography roles as part of their employment.
Scientific photographers employed by corporations (often called technical photographers) document processes for patents as well as research and development. Often, these images are closely guarded by the company and are never seen outside of the company and patent office.
Meanwhile, visual sociologists have made several attempts to gain traction as a social science field. As such, its use is primarily limited to documentary work for textbook and grant proposals. Because their work looks similar to photojournalism, most clients outside academics are reluctant to hire (and pay much more for) visual sociologists.
Scientific photographers often have advanced degrees and are paid appropriately, but medical facility staff openings are rare (these jobs also require a strong stomach). Depending on use, scientific photographers occasionally get credit lines. Digital SLRs (35mm range) and medium format cameras with specialized or micro lenses are common in this field of photography. Specialized lighting techniques and equipment are often required to document scientific experiments.
Hybrid photography fields
Because a camera is simply a tool, not all uses of this tool fit into neat categories. Many photographers fall into several categories simultaneously. Oceanographers, who invest in specialized underwater equipment, are immediately scientific photographers. However, the oceanographer's client dictates the genre as well as the images' subsequent uses.
For example, an oil company may hire the oceanographer to document oil rig fittings. However, images from the dive could have uses in publications, textbooks, museums, or in advertising campaigns. The same oceanographer might earn the majority of her income selling prints to beginning divers or underwater wedding parties.
The same holds true for aerial photographers and a host of other similarly specialized hybrid photography styles. Most hybrid photography professions are proprietor operations or freelance.
Deliberate cross genre
Photographers deliberately cross genres. Often, this is done to generate income. Sometimes it's done to keep valued clients.
Editorial photographers often step into commercial and architectural roles to augment income while remaining in a lower-paying field. Some commercial photographer may accept editorial work (magazine illustrations) simply to gain clients through credit line recognition.
Recently, editorial photographers have become prized by commercial portraiture clients (primarily for high-end weddings). Although this cross genre jump is easy from a shooting point of view, industry requirements (taxes, sales negotiations, contracts, up-front payment, expectations, ethics, etc.) are frequently vexing to editorial shooters and may come with significant pitfalls.
Often, changing genre for a day means more than switching hats for the photographer. Commercial photographers, who are accustomed to illustrating their ideal vision with models and sets, may find editorial ethics (i.e. "ugly truth") difficult for their training in visual perfection. However, if they're working as a PJ, they must play by the same ethical rules as a PJ (i.e. don't change the truth).
Why classify at all?
The reason photographers are classified by genre is to set approach rules, clientele, overhead needs and education. The sooner a photographer decides upon a path, the more prepared the photographer will be upon entering the marketplace.
Many PJs avoid large format cameras in college to concentrate on their SLR specialization. Likewise, commercial photography students don't tend to work at university newspapers (breaking news and view cameras typically aren't good companions).
Furthermore, advanced PJ students use summer breaks for internships at newspapers while commercial and architecture photographers participate in mentorships or work as photo assistants for established photographers in their chosen field.
By adhering to a particular specialization throughout the educational process, photographers learn by osmosis the rules of survival in the field. For example, PJs learn not to set up images (negative feedback) while commercial photographers learn how to do it perfectly (positive feedback).
Looking forward
This post is intended as a primer for folks considering photography options. We haven't addressed the need for higher education or the minutia of each genre. Over time, we'll (hopefully) have interviews with top photographers in these other fields to help folks choose a path and/or learn more about each others' camera-totin' professions.
Enough for now,
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Suggested reading and gifts for PJs
Maybe all the good little PJs didn't get the gifts they wanted this year. Possibly, some PJs have an upcoming birthday. Since it's the end of the year, some PJs may be looking for last-minute tax write offs for professional development.
No matter the reason, here are some books all PJs should read or have in their own library (preferably sitting on their desk). There are many others, but these are the cornerstones.
I've also listed every possible need in The PJ Candy Store.
Learn it: understand how to make images
Photography
by Barbara London, John Upton
The Negative
by Ansel Adams, Robert Baker
AP Photojournalism Stylebook
by Brian Horton
The Nikon School Handbook
by William Pekala (Editor), Harvey Johnson (Editor)
National Geographic Photography Field Guide
by Peter Burian, Bob Caputo
National Media Guide for Emergency & Disaster Incidents
by Bob, Jr. Riha, David Handschuh
Major Principles of Media Law
by Wayne Overbeck
Earn it: earn money with your work
Photographers Market(changes annually)
by Donna Poehner (Editor)
ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography
by American Society of Media Photographers
Photographer's Market Guide to Building Your Photography Business
by Vik Orenstein
Churn it: reference materials
AP Stylebook and Lible Manual (spiral edition)
The Associated Press
Webster's New World College Dictionary
by Michael E. Agnes
Burn it: get these images into your brain
Deeds of War
by James Nachtwey, Robert Stone (out of print, but available)
Moments: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs
by Hal Buell
Turn it: a shameless plug :-)
Rita Captured (SOLD OUT)
The Beaumont Enterprise
Enough for now,
No matter the reason, here are some books all PJs should read or have in their own library (preferably sitting on their desk). There are many others, but these are the cornerstones.
I've also listed every possible need in The PJ Candy Store.
Learn it: understand how to make images
Photography
by Barbara London, John Upton
The Negative
by Ansel Adams, Robert Baker
AP Photojournalism Stylebook
by Brian Horton
The Nikon School Handbook
by William Pekala (Editor), Harvey Johnson (Editor)
National Geographic Photography Field Guide
by Peter Burian, Bob Caputo
National Media Guide for Emergency & Disaster Incidents
by Bob, Jr. Riha, David Handschuh
Major Principles of Media Law
by Wayne Overbeck
Earn it: earn money with your work
Photographers Market
(changes annually)by Donna Poehner (Editor)
ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography
by American Society of Media Photographers
Photographer's Market Guide to Building Your Photography Business
by Vik Orenstein
Churn it: reference materials
AP Stylebook and Lible Manual
(spiral edition)The Associated Press
Webster's New World College Dictionary
by Michael E. Agnes
Burn it: get these images into your brain
Deeds of War
by James Nachtwey, Robert Stone (out of print, but available)
Moments: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs
by Hal Buell
Turn it: a shameless plug :-)
Rita Captured (SOLD OUT)
The Beaumont Enterprise
Enough for now,
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Welcome to PhotoJournalism
For folks new to this blog, welcome. :-)
UPDATED: 2009
This blog is maintained by Mark M. Hancock. I'm a Dallas-based pro photojournalist for magazines, daily newspapers and corporate clients. Some of my work is represented and distributed internationally by Zuma Press.
Previously, I was an award-winning staff photojournalist for The Dallas Morning News (1996-2004) and The Beaumont Enterprise (Hearst Corp., 2005-2008) daily newspapers.
In addition to my freelance photojournalism work, I'm also an Editor of books at Squadron/Signal Publications.
This is primarily a photo blog. I try to post an image, photo story or video each day depending on my work schedule. Periodically, I post a detailed explanation of some aspect of professional photojournalism (PJ).
Written photojournalism-related posts are linked on the sidebar under "All PJ-related posts." The end line "Enough for now," is also linked to All PJ-related posts.
Photos and text entries are sorted by lables at the bottom of each post. Click on the lable to see the last 20 entries coded with the same lable. To browse all lables, see "All lables" near the top of the sidebar.
If you would like to purchase an print for your home, please click the © symbol in the same post. Because I shoot for different clients, the link takes you to client-specific instructions to buy prints and/or reproduction rights from the copyright owner(s). All images presented since May 2008 are available on the sidebar link titled "Buy photos."
Relevant comments are welcomed and encouraged. This blog doesn't allow anonymous comments. To comment, simply create a free Blogger profile here or use an Open ID. I try to answer most new questions in the same comment section, through a new text post or via e-mail.
The right-hand sidebar contains links of interest for PJs and photojournalism buffs. The more popular links include: the PJ Candy Store (selected equipment and gear for PJs), Pix of the Day/Week, Major PJ contest calendar and links to other PJ staff, freelance, VJs (video journalisism), TV, collegiate and other photobloggers throughout the world.
My wife, Fayrouz, is a Chaldean, Australian-Iraqi blogger. She has three blogs: Fayrouz in Dallas (current events), Fayrouz Break Room (humor) and Chaldean Thoughts (religious news). She provides commentary on current events, book reviews, occasional interviews and photos as well as relevant links on her blogs.
My actual work activities can be followed on Facebook as well as these Twitter feeds: @newseagles, @emergencynews and @squadron_books
Again, welcome to PhotoJournalism. Make yourself at home and the door is always open.
Enough for now,
UPDATED: 2009
This blog is maintained by Mark M. Hancock. I'm a Dallas-based pro photojournalist for magazines, daily newspapers and corporate clients. Some of my work is represented and distributed internationally by Zuma Press.
Previously, I was an award-winning staff photojournalist for The Dallas Morning News (1996-2004) and The Beaumont Enterprise (Hearst Corp., 2005-2008) daily newspapers.
In addition to my freelance photojournalism work, I'm also an Editor of books at Squadron/Signal Publications.
This is primarily a photo blog. I try to post an image, photo story or video each day depending on my work schedule. Periodically, I post a detailed explanation of some aspect of professional photojournalism (PJ).
Written photojournalism-related posts are linked on the sidebar under "All PJ-related posts." The end line "Enough for now," is also linked to All PJ-related posts.
Photos and text entries are sorted by lables at the bottom of each post. Click on the lable to see the last 20 entries coded with the same lable. To browse all lables, see "All lables" near the top of the sidebar.
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My wife, Fayrouz, is a Chaldean, Australian-Iraqi blogger. She has three blogs: Fayrouz in Dallas (current events), Fayrouz Break Room (humor) and Chaldean Thoughts (religious news). She provides commentary on current events, book reviews, occasional interviews and photos as well as relevant links on her blogs.
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Again, welcome to PhotoJournalism. Make yourself at home and the door is always open.
Enough for now,
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Collegiate PJs should know this
An author is writing an "introduction to collegiate student publications" book. She asked me a set of questions about photojournalism. Considering how strongly I feel about the field, I might be the wrong person to ask.
However, it did force me to think about how miserable my work was when I first started down this path. Improper exposures, soft focus, missed moments and general cluelessness are all part of the learning curve. Every pro suffered through it in the beginning. It takes some slapping around (self-induced or via a mentor) to get past the initial failings.
I want to expand on some of these issues soon, but below is the bare minimum I think collegiate student journalists need to know.
For the pros who visit this humble corner of the blogosphere, consider how you would answer the questions below. If you disagree or feel something is amiss, please let me know (comment or e-mail), and I'll relay your thoughts to the author as well.
If you want to skip ahead to questions, use these numbers:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. The audience for my book is primarily students working on their college newspapers. Some are journalism or photojournalism majors, many aren't and they may not have much background in the basics of journalism/photojournalism. Considering this, what do you think are some of the key things I should touch on in the photojournalism chapter?
To capsulate photojournalism: photojournalists tell stories with visual verbs.
Photography is about documenting nouns (people, places and things). Journalism is about telling stories. Photojournalism is telling stories with photographs. However, while photographers use nouns, photojournalists must capture verbs (actions).
The verb is the key component of a photojournalistic image because news photographs are always accompanied with a caption or cutline. These are two-sentence written summaries that include who, what, when, where, why and how. Additionally, these images frequently augment or promote a written news story.
Before we continue, we must understand still photography is the single most powerful medium of communication. Because of the way the eyes and brain work, still photographs can become part of a viewer's memory in a matter of seconds. Powerful images are literally burned into the neural network of a viewer's mind. Years later, viewers are able to describe photographs in detail after only a few seconds of initial examination.
Furthermore, photography cuts across all social, linguistic, educational, intellectual and age barriers. Within seconds, a three-year-old in any part of the world is able to understand emotions and actions captured in a photograph.
With this great power comes great responsibility. Accurate and compassionate visual reportage is also critically important to news outlets, subscribers and democracy as a whole. It must be executed to the highest ethical and technical standards.
Photojournalists must first become great story tellers. They must understand journalism, sociology and photography as well as or better than those professionals. Additionally, they must be driven, passionate, organized, clerical, courteous, flexible, artistic, physically capable and mentally agile.
Photojournalism is not an easy job. It is not a glamorous job. However, it's often fun and satisfying. Most professional photojournalists can't imagine having another job.
College publications are excellent training grounds for young PJs. Collegiate publications allow PJs access to news and feedback. If taken seriously, these publications can lead to competition wins and eventually to freelance or staff jobs at major newspapers or magazines.
Because many student reporters don't have sufficient backgrounds in journalism, it's important to immerse oneself in the medium. Overall, the industry is contracting while the demand for top-notch reporters is rising (due to retirement). Consequently, there are no openings for minimally adequate reporters or PJs. Only the best and most passionate survive in this industry.
2. Can you tell me a bit about your experiences on student newspapers?
What are you most proud of? What do you know now about photojournalism that you wish you knew then?
In college, I worked on the student publications as a writer, photojournalist, news editor, and editor-in-chief on the newspaper side and a PJ and writer on the magazine side.
I won several collegiate awards for both writing and photography. The most notable was first place for Story Illustration, Single Photo at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards in 1995.
Looking back, I wish I had been more competitive and learned more about the business side of the profession while I was in college. It's important to learn early to survive financially in this profession. Otherwise, it takes more time and more work to create a reputation and achieve an acceptable level of income.
Everyone is cutting budgets and will gladly take quality work for less than it's worth. Low prices only damage the ability of PJs to acquire equipment and be available for assignments. It's easy to stay busy as a PJ. However, it's impossible to continue when PJs are averaging less than minimum wage or losing money while making images for cheap buyers.
Young PJs must learn the bare minimum they must charge to break even under any circumstance. This includes the costs involved in renting all equipment required to complete a shoot. If the PJs already own the equipment, it saves them money. However, if the equipment breaks, they must rent it to complete the shoot. If the job bid price is too low, they immediately lose money and need to increase their workload simply to pay for the first shoot.
Additionally, PJs must keep as many rights as possible to their images. It's fine to accept extremely large sums for all rights, but anything less than $1,000 per frame is a potential loss. Student publications should never expect to have any rights beyond one-time use.
3. Student newspapers, perhaps even more than professional papers, cover a lot of speeches. What advice do you have for photojournalists trying to make interesting images out of speeches and meetings?
I don't believe it's necessary to shoot talking heads. It's always better to arrive early and/or stay after the speech to get more natural images of the speaker interacting with other folks. Typically, the speaker are more relaxed after the speech than before, but it depends on the content of the speech.
If there's no way to avoid the dreaded lectern shot, try to shoot it from the side. This keeps the microphone out of the subject's face, it often requires a longer lens and the shallow depth of field helps clean up the background. Remember to shoot from both sides of the room to let page designers have more than one layout option.
4. What advice do you have on shooting sports?
Again, I have detailed instructions about many sports on my blog.
All team sports have the same starting sequence. The photographer must shoot a frame of the official roster for both teams. Otherwise, there's no way to identify the players. Even if the photographer is given copies of the rosters, shoot a frame of each roster to keep the names in the archive with the images. Also, shoot signs to identify the venue's proper name.
For team sports, it's most import to take follow-up shots to identify players by their jersey numbers. Without these numbers, the player can't be confirmed and the greatest images in the world go unused. Corrections are unacceptable and kill a PJ's reputation.
Before covering a sporting event, look at as many images of the sport as possible. Analyze the successful images and understand how this image occurred. Photographers must ask themselves some questions. What were the players doing? How did the photographer make the image? What equipment or access is required? Try to emulate the images you like and avoid failed images.
Because most sports are played in evenly-lit venues, images are about focus and timing. Although auto-focus lenses have become better in recent years, most student-PJs have manual lenses or instable AF lenses which are best focused manually.
Practice focusing skills on moving cars and other fast objects. Don't load film into the camera, simply follow objects and get a feel for keeping the plane of focus on the lead edge of the subject. Also, learn to keep both eyes open while shooting sports. The non-firing eye watches the action and predicts variables while the shooting eye concentrates on composition and focus.
Timing is also delicate. While shooting at 1/1000th of a second, there are 999 wrong times to shoot. Each camera has a slightly different lag time measured in millionths of seconds. PJs must be familiar enough with the camera to compensate for the lag time and nail the shot at the precise moment.
Most successful sports images are about collisions and emotions. Understand when and where collisions are most likely to occur and concentrate on those areas. These collisions are obvious in contact sports, but lesser collisions occur each time a player hits a ball or hits the ground after a jump.
Timing is also a matter of physics and gravity. Top level athletes fight gravity to make great plays. However, gravity is always the winner. Since the power of gravity is squared, understand that the player's inertia eventually equals zero at the apex of a jump. At this point, the PJ can shoot the player with the slowest shutter speed because the player is basically still (neither moving up or down) for a fraction of a second. In low-light venues, this is critical.
Likewise, when two players are running toward each other at equal speed in a contact sport, the moment of collision reduces each players speed to zero. Otherwise, the speed and panning direction can be predicted as the speed of the fastest player minus the speed of the slowest player at the point of collision (with some variation for the body mass of the players).
Beyond the basics, try to be able to see the players' eyes, which often means understanding which direction the players look, and shoot from the opposite direction. Also, learn how to light gyms and arenas with remote flashes as quickly as possible or affordable. With recent camera advances, lighting skills are the barrier between amateurs and pros.
Finally, get the fastest lenses available on a budget. Most sports are shot in low light. It's better to start with an f/2.8 prime 100mm lens than with a f/4 zoom 80~200mm lens because the image quality is better for the light level.
5. I've talked to so many journalists -- students and pros, photo people and word people -- who lament the poor communication between photographers and reporters, photo editors and word editors. What can students do to improve communication and collaboration in their newsrooms?
Frankly, news is becoming decentralized. If reporters and PJs learn to be independent, they'll be better served. At major newspapers, top-tier reporters and PJs rarely go to the office. They file and receive assignments via e-mail or Web servers, complete the assignments on location and transmit the results in real time back to the office. Many freelancers work exclusively this way.
Since this process costs less and speeds production, I don't see the trend reversing 100 years to a central beehive where everyone wastes travel time to drop off the honey.
However, at the top-level newspapers and magazines, photo requests from the reporters are frequently kicked back to the reporter for revision because they didn't care enough about the assignment to justify the cost of a PJ.
Reporters make "photo requests." These go to the photo or assignment editor for approval or rejection. The photo editor makes the actual "photo assignment" for a photographer based on the photo request and photojournalist availability and travel budgets.
Lack of forethought on the part of a reporter causes an immediate rejection. Each assignment costs a company about $400. Reporters must remember their request must justify this expense. A reporter's request for a mug shot of someone s/he interviewed doesn't warrant a PJ when 499 other reporters are working on stories of crime, poverty, taxation, entertainment and sports while only 15 to 20 photojournalists are available on any given day at a large metro newspaper.
Simply stated, there is no such thing as a fast-breaking spectator sport or a deadline mug shot. Professional PJs are journalists first and demand the same lead time to make images as reporters need to collect quotes for a story. This time allows them to research the assignment and consider visual options based on access, previous images and other factors.
Last-minute assignments are reactionary and only allow PJs to shoot whatever is happening at the time it happens. The final results show the lack of forethought. Breaking news is breaking news for both reporters and PJs. Each gets what they can before deadline. Feature stories should never need to be handled as breaking news.
Because of the factors listed above, the most important communication a reporter can have with the PJ is on the photo request. The request should be accurate and detailed. It should let the PJ know the story line rather than a shopping list of shots, which are often impossible, improbable or unethical.
Armed with thorough knowledge of the story and its key contacts, PJs find the right images to supplement, support and promote the story. This is what the reporter should want and expect.
Meanwhile, the PJ should take the responsibility to collect important information such as names and cell phone numbers for reporters. They should also get quotes from remote locations to add to the story. However, this information can be e-mailed from the location to the reporter.
Consequently, the reporter should include their own cell phone number and e-mail address to exchange additional information with PJs.
Unlike professional publications, student publications should give PJs and reporters solid critiques about their treatment of the subject matter as well as the technical quality of their work. Reporters should say they're disappointed with the results of a photo request when the images fall flat. This should allow some dialog between how the assignment request was written and what actually happened in front of the lens.
If the PJ did the best with the information s/he was given, responsibility for lack-luster images falls onto the reporter. If the PJ failed to execute the assignment to its full potential with the information the reporter provided, the responsibility falls entirely on the PJ. If both sides accomplish their mission to the fullest of their abilities, the results should be recognizable. If either fails, the results are obvious as well.
6. Any advice on shooting portraits?
Portraits show a small slice of a person's personality. Quality portraits take time. The PJ should get to know the subject (either in person or through the assignment and/or personal research) and try to illustrate some aspect of their personality in relation to the story. If the story is about a clown, the PJ should call ahead to be certain the subject is in clown make-up with appropriate props.
Unlike straight news photographs, portraits allow the photographer some control over the subject and environment. If the subject has a white plastic cup on their desk, a PJ could not ask for it to be removed during a news assignment. However, during a portrait assignment, it can be removed to make the image cleaner and better.
The common quality about portraiture is that the subject looks directly into the camera. This is the universal code to let readers know the subject knows this is a portrait and not a news event. This code means the portrait is posed and not real or even natural.
Although commercial photographers prefer to have the subject look off axis, I personally believe this is lying to news readers unless the portrait is extreme in either its subject matter or lighting.
A studio-lit person waist deep in rattlesnakes juggling flaming chainsaws is allowed to look off axis if they must. However, convincing someone to do some action and claiming it's a "portrait" is absolutely forbidden. A PJ may get away with it once or twice, but their reputation is profoundly damaged if they're known for setting up their images and trying to pass them off as real.
I've heard the argument that the cutline clearly stated the image was a portrait, but this is a hollow excuse because most cutlines are modified before they're published. If it's a portrait, have them look into the lens and avoid confusion.
7. What can student journalists (including PJs) do to make their papers visually stirring?
All journalists should take chances. Yes, reporters must ask the softball, background questions. PJs must take the standard safe shots. But once everyone knows they're covered and have something to publish, go out on a limb.
Reporters should always ask subjects, "What do you do?" Although the answer should include expected answers such as, "We will have a fire training session at 1 p.m. on Friday." It could also include an unexpected answer such as, "I like to make needlepoint pillows."
The second answer solicits a portrait of the firefighter with some of his/her needlepoint creations. The first answer creates an inside photo of the firefighter actually demonstrating his/her fitness to rescue citizens in need of help.
For an over-the-top example, the firefighter might pose for a portrait at the training grounds surrounded by flames while looking up from a needlepoint. Or, the firefighter might hold a needlepoint canvas toward the camera while a hole burns through the center of the canvas to reveal the firefighter's face.
In short, portraits show creativity. Reporters are welcome to help PJs arrange some of the extreme portraits by letting PJs know the subject is willing to have their portrait taken at the training ground with the needlework and will bring some extra canvases to burn.
However, if the reporter doesn't ask the right questions and relay the answers to the PJ, these facts may never be known about the subject. Even if the PJ learns this information at the shoot, it's often too late to make arrangements for a better image.
8. What other advice do you have for student newspaper photographers?
Study everything and learn to think critically. If an assignment isn't complete, challenge the assignment writer. Don't accept weak assignments and don't make weak images. The final image has the PJ's name under it. Demand enough information from the reporters or conduct enough research on your own to make amazing images.
If necessary, withhold your name from inadequate assignments. If the images next to a particular reporter's stories consistently have no credit line, it tells readers and editors a lot about the reporter. News briefs don't carry bylines and neither should mug shots, copy shots or weak assignments.
I did this years ago when I felt ambushed by an assignment. It definitely got the attention of editors. I did my job and completed the assignment to the best of my abilities with the information and time I was allowed and the situation in which I found myself. However, I didn't feel the assignment or results met my minimum standard. Consequently, I refused to allow my name to be published with the image.
All heads immediately turned toward the person who made the weak request, and my reputation was not damaged by another person's lack of forethought or deliberate interference.
For college PJs, the library and Internet should be obsessions. Critically analyze every photo. Look carefully at the works of master photographers and understand how the master made the images. Look beyond the subject matter and study the skeletal structure of the image, element placement as well as the layers of information the photographer introduced. Concentrate on how they make images with clean backgrounds and separate subjects from other image elements.
Now is the time to become intimately familiar with the camera and software as well as quickly gaining subjects' trust and access. The technical mechanics of photography should become secondary to the act of visual reporting.
If a PJ is shooting with a digital camera, the standard minimum is 100 frames per assignment. Work with the subject and use different lenses, angles and lighting until 100 or more frames have been created. Pick the best frame and hide the rest.
It's also important to become a "collegiate photojournalist." This implies a specific amount of skill and expertise with the camera. I like to compare photography levels to football because many new PJs understand the level of skill and practice required.
Many high school football players dream of becoming pro football players. However, it takes iron-willed determination to make it onto a college football team. Most collegiate football players never make the pros, but others could compete at the highest levels while in college.
Photojournalism requires the same level of confidence and talent. High school photographers learn to control their camera and can acquire some quality images. Collegiate PJs should be competing against their peers nationally and preparing for the leap to pro. This means collegiate PJs should be better than any high school photographers or any amateur (hobby) photographers with years of experience.
Pro football players are considered top athletes - not only in their sport, but also in terms of raw athletic ability and passion. To remain professionals, they must continue to grow and develop a record of significant accomplishments. "Bad days" are unacceptable for pro football players, they must perform at their peak each time they step onto the field. Pro PJs are the same.
Pro PJs should be able to handle any assignment around the world with absolute confidence and consistently provide images of a level higher than any other photographers. A pro is worthy of the title. They can literally create compelling, award-winning images at mundane assignments because they simply don't give up and have a wealth of visual knowledge to draw upon.
Although college PJs may only be taking their first steps along this path, they must quickly learn to run at a speed equal to their peers and faster than untrained amateurs. Otherwise, they won't make the leap to pro.
During this training time, it's critical to learn the value of quality images and name recognition. Anyone can make a photograph. Telling stories with photographs is much harder and can command appropriate payment. Selling photo use rights cheaply quickly ends a budding career. Don't settle for less from yourself or your clients.
Enough for now,
However, it did force me to think about how miserable my work was when I first started down this path. Improper exposures, soft focus, missed moments and general cluelessness are all part of the learning curve. Every pro suffered through it in the beginning. It takes some slapping around (self-induced or via a mentor) to get past the initial failings.
I want to expand on some of these issues soon, but below is the bare minimum I think collegiate student journalists need to know.
For the pros who visit this humble corner of the blogosphere, consider how you would answer the questions below. If you disagree or feel something is amiss, please let me know (comment or e-mail), and I'll relay your thoughts to the author as well.
If you want to skip ahead to questions, use these numbers:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. The audience for my book is primarily students working on their college newspapers. Some are journalism or photojournalism majors, many aren't and they may not have much background in the basics of journalism/photojournalism. Considering this, what do you think are some of the key things I should touch on in the photojournalism chapter?
To capsulate photojournalism: photojournalists tell stories with visual verbs.
Photography is about documenting nouns (people, places and things). Journalism is about telling stories. Photojournalism is telling stories with photographs. However, while photographers use nouns, photojournalists must capture verbs (actions).
The verb is the key component of a photojournalistic image because news photographs are always accompanied with a caption or cutline. These are two-sentence written summaries that include who, what, when, where, why and how. Additionally, these images frequently augment or promote a written news story.
Before we continue, we must understand still photography is the single most powerful medium of communication. Because of the way the eyes and brain work, still photographs can become part of a viewer's memory in a matter of seconds. Powerful images are literally burned into the neural network of a viewer's mind. Years later, viewers are able to describe photographs in detail after only a few seconds of initial examination.
Furthermore, photography cuts across all social, linguistic, educational, intellectual and age barriers. Within seconds, a three-year-old in any part of the world is able to understand emotions and actions captured in a photograph.
With this great power comes great responsibility. Accurate and compassionate visual reportage is also critically important to news outlets, subscribers and democracy as a whole. It must be executed to the highest ethical and technical standards.
Photojournalists must first become great story tellers. They must understand journalism, sociology and photography as well as or better than those professionals. Additionally, they must be driven, passionate, organized, clerical, courteous, flexible, artistic, physically capable and mentally agile.
Photojournalism is not an easy job. It is not a glamorous job. However, it's often fun and satisfying. Most professional photojournalists can't imagine having another job.
College publications are excellent training grounds for young PJs. Collegiate publications allow PJs access to news and feedback. If taken seriously, these publications can lead to competition wins and eventually to freelance or staff jobs at major newspapers or magazines.
Because many student reporters don't have sufficient backgrounds in journalism, it's important to immerse oneself in the medium. Overall, the industry is contracting while the demand for top-notch reporters is rising (due to retirement). Consequently, there are no openings for minimally adequate reporters or PJs. Only the best and most passionate survive in this industry.
2. Can you tell me a bit about your experiences on student newspapers?
What are you most proud of? What do you know now about photojournalism that you wish you knew then?
In college, I worked on the student publications as a writer, photojournalist, news editor, and editor-in-chief on the newspaper side and a PJ and writer on the magazine side.
I won several collegiate awards for both writing and photography. The most notable was first place for Story Illustration, Single Photo at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards in 1995.
Looking back, I wish I had been more competitive and learned more about the business side of the profession while I was in college. It's important to learn early to survive financially in this profession. Otherwise, it takes more time and more work to create a reputation and achieve an acceptable level of income.
Everyone is cutting budgets and will gladly take quality work for less than it's worth. Low prices only damage the ability of PJs to acquire equipment and be available for assignments. It's easy to stay busy as a PJ. However, it's impossible to continue when PJs are averaging less than minimum wage or losing money while making images for cheap buyers.
Young PJs must learn the bare minimum they must charge to break even under any circumstance. This includes the costs involved in renting all equipment required to complete a shoot. If the PJs already own the equipment, it saves them money. However, if the equipment breaks, they must rent it to complete the shoot. If the job bid price is too low, they immediately lose money and need to increase their workload simply to pay for the first shoot.
Additionally, PJs must keep as many rights as possible to their images. It's fine to accept extremely large sums for all rights, but anything less than $1,000 per frame is a potential loss. Student publications should never expect to have any rights beyond one-time use.
3. Student newspapers, perhaps even more than professional papers, cover a lot of speeches. What advice do you have for photojournalists trying to make interesting images out of speeches and meetings?
I don't believe it's necessary to shoot talking heads. It's always better to arrive early and/or stay after the speech to get more natural images of the speaker interacting with other folks. Typically, the speaker are more relaxed after the speech than before, but it depends on the content of the speech.
If there's no way to avoid the dreaded lectern shot, try to shoot it from the side. This keeps the microphone out of the subject's face, it often requires a longer lens and the shallow depth of field helps clean up the background. Remember to shoot from both sides of the room to let page designers have more than one layout option.
4. What advice do you have on shooting sports?
Again, I have detailed instructions about many sports on my blog.
All team sports have the same starting sequence. The photographer must shoot a frame of the official roster for both teams. Otherwise, there's no way to identify the players. Even if the photographer is given copies of the rosters, shoot a frame of each roster to keep the names in the archive with the images. Also, shoot signs to identify the venue's proper name.
For team sports, it's most import to take follow-up shots to identify players by their jersey numbers. Without these numbers, the player can't be confirmed and the greatest images in the world go unused. Corrections are unacceptable and kill a PJ's reputation.
Before covering a sporting event, look at as many images of the sport as possible. Analyze the successful images and understand how this image occurred. Photographers must ask themselves some questions. What were the players doing? How did the photographer make the image? What equipment or access is required? Try to emulate the images you like and avoid failed images.
Because most sports are played in evenly-lit venues, images are about focus and timing. Although auto-focus lenses have become better in recent years, most student-PJs have manual lenses or instable AF lenses which are best focused manually.
Practice focusing skills on moving cars and other fast objects. Don't load film into the camera, simply follow objects and get a feel for keeping the plane of focus on the lead edge of the subject. Also, learn to keep both eyes open while shooting sports. The non-firing eye watches the action and predicts variables while the shooting eye concentrates on composition and focus.
Timing is also delicate. While shooting at 1/1000th of a second, there are 999 wrong times to shoot. Each camera has a slightly different lag time measured in millionths of seconds. PJs must be familiar enough with the camera to compensate for the lag time and nail the shot at the precise moment.
Most successful sports images are about collisions and emotions. Understand when and where collisions are most likely to occur and concentrate on those areas. These collisions are obvious in contact sports, but lesser collisions occur each time a player hits a ball or hits the ground after a jump.
Timing is also a matter of physics and gravity. Top level athletes fight gravity to make great plays. However, gravity is always the winner. Since the power of gravity is squared, understand that the player's inertia eventually equals zero at the apex of a jump. At this point, the PJ can shoot the player with the slowest shutter speed because the player is basically still (neither moving up or down) for a fraction of a second. In low-light venues, this is critical.
Likewise, when two players are running toward each other at equal speed in a contact sport, the moment of collision reduces each players speed to zero. Otherwise, the speed and panning direction can be predicted as the speed of the fastest player minus the speed of the slowest player at the point of collision (with some variation for the body mass of the players).
Beyond the basics, try to be able to see the players' eyes, which often means understanding which direction the players look, and shoot from the opposite direction. Also, learn how to light gyms and arenas with remote flashes as quickly as possible or affordable. With recent camera advances, lighting skills are the barrier between amateurs and pros.
Finally, get the fastest lenses available on a budget. Most sports are shot in low light. It's better to start with an f/2.8 prime 100mm lens than with a f/4 zoom 80~200mm lens because the image quality is better for the light level.
5. I've talked to so many journalists -- students and pros, photo people and word people -- who lament the poor communication between photographers and reporters, photo editors and word editors. What can students do to improve communication and collaboration in their newsrooms?
Frankly, news is becoming decentralized. If reporters and PJs learn to be independent, they'll be better served. At major newspapers, top-tier reporters and PJs rarely go to the office. They file and receive assignments via e-mail or Web servers, complete the assignments on location and transmit the results in real time back to the office. Many freelancers work exclusively this way.
Since this process costs less and speeds production, I don't see the trend reversing 100 years to a central beehive where everyone wastes travel time to drop off the honey.
However, at the top-level newspapers and magazines, photo requests from the reporters are frequently kicked back to the reporter for revision because they didn't care enough about the assignment to justify the cost of a PJ.
Reporters make "photo requests." These go to the photo or assignment editor for approval or rejection. The photo editor makes the actual "photo assignment" for a photographer based on the photo request and photojournalist availability and travel budgets.
Lack of forethought on the part of a reporter causes an immediate rejection. Each assignment costs a company about $400. Reporters must remember their request must justify this expense. A reporter's request for a mug shot of someone s/he interviewed doesn't warrant a PJ when 499 other reporters are working on stories of crime, poverty, taxation, entertainment and sports while only 15 to 20 photojournalists are available on any given day at a large metro newspaper.
Simply stated, there is no such thing as a fast-breaking spectator sport or a deadline mug shot. Professional PJs are journalists first and demand the same lead time to make images as reporters need to collect quotes for a story. This time allows them to research the assignment and consider visual options based on access, previous images and other factors.
Last-minute assignments are reactionary and only allow PJs to shoot whatever is happening at the time it happens. The final results show the lack of forethought. Breaking news is breaking news for both reporters and PJs. Each gets what they can before deadline. Feature stories should never need to be handled as breaking news.
Because of the factors listed above, the most important communication a reporter can have with the PJ is on the photo request. The request should be accurate and detailed. It should let the PJ know the story line rather than a shopping list of shots, which are often impossible, improbable or unethical.
Armed with thorough knowledge of the story and its key contacts, PJs find the right images to supplement, support and promote the story. This is what the reporter should want and expect.
Meanwhile, the PJ should take the responsibility to collect important information such as names and cell phone numbers for reporters. They should also get quotes from remote locations to add to the story. However, this information can be e-mailed from the location to the reporter.
Consequently, the reporter should include their own cell phone number and e-mail address to exchange additional information with PJs.
Unlike professional publications, student publications should give PJs and reporters solid critiques about their treatment of the subject matter as well as the technical quality of their work. Reporters should say they're disappointed with the results of a photo request when the images fall flat. This should allow some dialog between how the assignment request was written and what actually happened in front of the lens.
If the PJ did the best with the information s/he was given, responsibility for lack-luster images falls onto the reporter. If the PJ failed to execute the assignment to its full potential with the information the reporter provided, the responsibility falls entirely on the PJ. If both sides accomplish their mission to the fullest of their abilities, the results should be recognizable. If either fails, the results are obvious as well.
6. Any advice on shooting portraits?
Portraits show a small slice of a person's personality. Quality portraits take time. The PJ should get to know the subject (either in person or through the assignment and/or personal research) and try to illustrate some aspect of their personality in relation to the story. If the story is about a clown, the PJ should call ahead to be certain the subject is in clown make-up with appropriate props.
Unlike straight news photographs, portraits allow the photographer some control over the subject and environment. If the subject has a white plastic cup on their desk, a PJ could not ask for it to be removed during a news assignment. However, during a portrait assignment, it can be removed to make the image cleaner and better.
The common quality about portraiture is that the subject looks directly into the camera. This is the universal code to let readers know the subject knows this is a portrait and not a news event. This code means the portrait is posed and not real or even natural.
Although commercial photographers prefer to have the subject look off axis, I personally believe this is lying to news readers unless the portrait is extreme in either its subject matter or lighting.
A studio-lit person waist deep in rattlesnakes juggling flaming chainsaws is allowed to look off axis if they must. However, convincing someone to do some action and claiming it's a "portrait" is absolutely forbidden. A PJ may get away with it once or twice, but their reputation is profoundly damaged if they're known for setting up their images and trying to pass them off as real.
I've heard the argument that the cutline clearly stated the image was a portrait, but this is a hollow excuse because most cutlines are modified before they're published. If it's a portrait, have them look into the lens and avoid confusion.
7. What can student journalists (including PJs) do to make their papers visually stirring?
All journalists should take chances. Yes, reporters must ask the softball, background questions. PJs must take the standard safe shots. But once everyone knows they're covered and have something to publish, go out on a limb.
Reporters should always ask subjects, "What do you do?" Although the answer should include expected answers such as, "We will have a fire training session at 1 p.m. on Friday." It could also include an unexpected answer such as, "I like to make needlepoint pillows."
The second answer solicits a portrait of the firefighter with some of his/her needlepoint creations. The first answer creates an inside photo of the firefighter actually demonstrating his/her fitness to rescue citizens in need of help.
For an over-the-top example, the firefighter might pose for a portrait at the training grounds surrounded by flames while looking up from a needlepoint. Or, the firefighter might hold a needlepoint canvas toward the camera while a hole burns through the center of the canvas to reveal the firefighter's face.
In short, portraits show creativity. Reporters are welcome to help PJs arrange some of the extreme portraits by letting PJs know the subject is willing to have their portrait taken at the training ground with the needlework and will bring some extra canvases to burn.
However, if the reporter doesn't ask the right questions and relay the answers to the PJ, these facts may never be known about the subject. Even if the PJ learns this information at the shoot, it's often too late to make arrangements for a better image.
8. What other advice do you have for student newspaper photographers?
Study everything and learn to think critically. If an assignment isn't complete, challenge the assignment writer. Don't accept weak assignments and don't make weak images. The final image has the PJ's name under it. Demand enough information from the reporters or conduct enough research on your own to make amazing images.
If necessary, withhold your name from inadequate assignments. If the images next to a particular reporter's stories consistently have no credit line, it tells readers and editors a lot about the reporter. News briefs don't carry bylines and neither should mug shots, copy shots or weak assignments.
I did this years ago when I felt ambushed by an assignment. It definitely got the attention of editors. I did my job and completed the assignment to the best of my abilities with the information and time I was allowed and the situation in which I found myself. However, I didn't feel the assignment or results met my minimum standard. Consequently, I refused to allow my name to be published with the image.
All heads immediately turned toward the person who made the weak request, and my reputation was not damaged by another person's lack of forethought or deliberate interference.
For college PJs, the library and Internet should be obsessions. Critically analyze every photo. Look carefully at the works of master photographers and understand how the master made the images. Look beyond the subject matter and study the skeletal structure of the image, element placement as well as the layers of information the photographer introduced. Concentrate on how they make images with clean backgrounds and separate subjects from other image elements.
Now is the time to become intimately familiar with the camera and software as well as quickly gaining subjects' trust and access. The technical mechanics of photography should become secondary to the act of visual reporting.
If a PJ is shooting with a digital camera, the standard minimum is 100 frames per assignment. Work with the subject and use different lenses, angles and lighting until 100 or more frames have been created. Pick the best frame and hide the rest.
It's also important to become a "collegiate photojournalist." This implies a specific amount of skill and expertise with the camera. I like to compare photography levels to football because many new PJs understand the level of skill and practice required.
Many high school football players dream of becoming pro football players. However, it takes iron-willed determination to make it onto a college football team. Most collegiate football players never make the pros, but others could compete at the highest levels while in college.
Photojournalism requires the same level of confidence and talent. High school photographers learn to control their camera and can acquire some quality images. Collegiate PJs should be competing against their peers nationally and preparing for the leap to pro. This means collegiate PJs should be better than any high school photographers or any amateur (hobby) photographers with years of experience.
Pro football players are considered top athletes - not only in their sport, but also in terms of raw athletic ability and passion. To remain professionals, they must continue to grow and develop a record of significant accomplishments. "Bad days" are unacceptable for pro football players, they must perform at their peak each time they step onto the field. Pro PJs are the same.
Pro PJs should be able to handle any assignment around the world with absolute confidence and consistently provide images of a level higher than any other photographers. A pro is worthy of the title. They can literally create compelling, award-winning images at mundane assignments because they simply don't give up and have a wealth of visual knowledge to draw upon.
Although college PJs may only be taking their first steps along this path, they must quickly learn to run at a speed equal to their peers and faster than untrained amateurs. Otherwise, they won't make the leap to pro.
During this training time, it's critical to learn the value of quality images and name recognition. Anyone can make a photograph. Telling stories with photographs is much harder and can command appropriate payment. Selling photo use rights cheaply quickly ends a budding career. Don't settle for less from yourself or your clients.
Enough for now,
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