defining 'the call of duty'... assignment #5

Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

07/22/2005 07:01:27 PM · #1

...the continuing chronicles of my freelancing...

as i've mentioned before, you don't freelance to get rich, especially not starting out. i've told all the editors and photo directors that i've talked to that, while, yes, i want to be paid, i'm more interested in exposure and experience. the value is beyond money.

what i want is the opportunity to develop the skill of producing top-notch shots on demand, to be doing real challenges in real time! the payoff isn't in cash, but in tear-sheets (this is the newspaper lingo for what you 'tear out of the paper to keep'--ie, your portfolio pieces). the more you shoot, the better you get, and the more of a published resume you build up--and that's what is bankable.

when we (my wife & i) decided that this pursuit was what i should be doing, the goal we established was not a financial one. instead, the goal was for me to establish a reputation of competence, reliability, and creativity. while creativity counts and helps separate you from everyone else, more important is for people to know that they can count on you to show up and get the job done.

so, last thursday (07.14.05), i mentioned to the photo director that we were planning on taking my daughter out to get her copy of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. i asked him if there were any assignments along those lines, seeing that the paper had been running stories almost daily building up to the event. he said he'd get back to me...

and he did: "Please get as many shots as you can of kids (of all ages) spending the evening in Harry Potter's magical world before the 12:01 am publication of "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince." The party starts at 6pm, but the later you go, the better your opportunities will be. This is for the July 24 cover of the new Books & Authors section which will include both a standard review of the book and readers' reviews, too. If, by chance, you're still there at midnight, please get some pictures of kids clutching the book. You certainly don't have to stay the whole time, unless you're a Harry fan. Thanks!"

on one hand, it was great that i had asked for an assignment and gotten it; on the other, though, it was to be shot at a bookstore down in richmond, as opposed to being at the mall near our house. the plan we came up with was to drive down to the city separately, let the kids enjoy this street party that the little bookstore had put together, then nina would take the kids back to the burbs, leaving me to shoot until i thought i had what i needed. so, we left the house shortly after 7...

getting there was easy; parking was NOT. this little, out of the way bookstore had put together the most incredible street party in the alley behind the store. they had 32 stalls set up, pretty much following the market detailed in the first book (i guess, i never read it, i'm just repeating what i heard...). anyways, the story of this party got picked up by the washington post, and there were people there who had driven all the way down from baltimore! it was a madhouse. a mob scene. and everyone was having a ball. so, i settled in for a long night shooting. like almost 5 hours of it...

why? considering shooting and processing time, i would have made more working at mcdonalds.

but, remember, it's not about the money--it's about opportunity. here was a chance for me to shoot, at will, creatively and documentarily. here was a chance to have fun, mingling, experimenting, and working on another aspect of photojournalism: documentation.

when i first talked to the photo director, he said his biggest beef with his staff was quite simple: captioning errors. captioning refers to documenting the photo: who, what, when, where. the paper needs complete and accurate information, or else they end up having to print corrections and retractions. so, in addition to getting shots, i made a mission for myself to get the name of every person i shot. even though a couple got away from me, for the most part i succeeded.

i also decided to ratchet up the creativity a bit. rather than simply documenting what was there, i thought it would be fun to play with light and slow shutter speeds, just to see what would happen.

all in all, it was a great evening. i stayed until 12:15am, and got the shots of first-in-liners. more importantly, i showed the photo director again that he could call on me and count on me to stay until the job was done.

(and, as it turns out, my daughter just didn't have the stamina to make it past 11:15pm, so i took her out saturday morning to pick up her copy.)

Message edited by author 2006-01-22 00:24:17.

NathanWert

Canon EOS-90D

07/22/2005 08:35:12 PM · #2

Very cool. Sounds like you had lots of fun. Some of those kids looked like they were having a great time. I really like the one of the little girl staring at the boxes.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/23/2005 05:47:44 AM · #3

Originally posted by NathanW:

Very cool. Sounds like you had lots of fun. Some of those kids looked like they were having a great time. I really like the one of the little girl staring at the boxes.

thanks, nathan! yes, it was a lot of fun, especially when i was playing with the flashlight...(other shots here). the people in the crowd had no idea what i was doing!

Message edited by author 2005-07-23 05:50:10.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

07/23/2005 06:42:06 AM · #4

Musta looked like a madman, or maybe a retarded Hogwarts perfesser...

R.

Jewellian

Pentax *ist DL

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Pentax

07/23/2005 07:04:07 AM · #5

Great shots and a great work ethic there Skip. Unfortunately the work ethic of people nowadays seems to be severely lacking. It's good to see that some people out there still believe in doing the job right no matter if it's inconvienient for them or "isn't in their job description". Keep up the good work!

Sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Macro

07/23/2005 11:11:58 AM · #6

Originally posted by bear_music:

Musta looked like a madman, or maybe a retarded Hogwarts perfesser...

probably a bit of both ;-)

the hard part was getting only the light and none of my arm.

and thanks for your comments, michael, as well!

Message edited by author 2005-07-23 11:12:22.

Sonda

Canon EOS-20D

07/23/2005 01:16:58 PM · #7

Hey Skip. I think that #10 is hillarious.

Great job!