Any press photographers out there?

01/18/2005 07:55:41 AM · #1

Just curious about the ins and outs of this area of photography, What is good and not so good. I am considering an opportunity, and as always, the DPer's give the unvarnished truth about everything!(Thankfully!)

TerryGee

Canon EOS-30D

01/18/2005 08:08:33 AM · #2

Right now I am trying to learn about this area myself so I will be interested to hear more about it also.

I went to a few New York Press Photographers functions, and will be going out on assignments with a photographer from a major NY paper very soon.

I did hear that the National PPA is a good organization to join.
Both that one and the NYPPA have websites to look at.

jonpink

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

01/18/2005 08:27:02 AM · #3

A lot of people start out as local press snappers - these tend to be very poorly paid and involve working all hours and you cover everything from football to old women complaining about the state of youth.

This tends to be done by kids straight out of school or university.

Then one can branch out into big papers, although most are freelance, some are employed and others work under a press agency. Better pay but more competition.

Then you have the 'paps' who chase celebrities all day long - no experience needed apart from being able to use a camera (and manual focus everything). This can be extremely well paid, and includes traveling to some of the best most expensive beach resorts in the world, or outside some club in the rain for several hours. Mostly these are hired by picture agencies.

bjallen

01/18/2005 08:45:15 AM · #4

Thanks for the input...just how poorly paid are we talking?

jonpink

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

01/18/2005 08:49:02 AM · #5

Originally posted by bjallen:

Thanks for the input...just how poorly paid are we talking?

In the UK about 9k to 14k when I last looked.

Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di for Nikon

01/18/2005 09:28:31 AM · #6

I think being a press photographer would require a true love for what you are doing. I think it would be a very rewarding career, but not so rewarding in the pocketbook. I do it part time and I absolutely love it.

Maverick

Nikon D200

01/18/2005 11:32:17 AM · #7

I'm working for my college paper. Don't get paid a dime, but its a lot of fun.

01/18/2005 11:48:01 AM · #8

If you're doing press, be prepared to get pushed around. Other photogs can be friendly, but they're still your competition.

You just gotta give 'er and don't let up.

01/18/2005 12:22:51 PM · #9

Originally posted by GoldBerry:

If you're doing press, be prepared to get pushed around. Other photogs can be friendly, but they're still your competition.

You just gotta give 'er and don't let up.

That doesn't happen very often at all unless you are covering some sort of celebrity appearance.

01/18/2005 12:26:12 PM · #10

For the most part I was kidding. But I have had other photographers jump infront of me and push me out of the way, then again, I'm just a young girl and they were older men. Such is the way of life...men automatically establish a pecking order, and usually I'm at the bottom. LOL In my humble experience of course :-)

vince31874

01/18/2005 12:28:19 PM · #11

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Originally posted by GoldBerry:
If you're doing press, be prepared to get pushed around. Other photogs can be friendly, but they're still your competition.

You just gotta give 'er and don't let up.

That doesn't happen very often at all unless you are covering some sort of celebrity appearance.

Also happens alot at sport press conferences.

01/18/2005 12:37:24 PM · #12

Hey,
jmsetzler, if you happen to read this, you mentioned that you do press photography part time...if you don't mind, how did that happen? Did you just take some shots into a local paper and say "Here's some of what I can do, if you ever need any help, give me a call." Or did you know someone that worked there and approach it that way? Or did someone from the paper just happen to see some of your work one time and ask you if you'd like to do it? Or something else? I think that would be a great situation, you'd get to have some fun and experience doing it part time, but not have to try and make a living at it. Plus earn a few extra $$$ from time to time. Very interesting. If you could shed some more light on it, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Doug

01/18/2005 12:47:08 PM · #13

Originally posted by dswebb:

I wanted to try my hand at sports photography from the sidelines of local high school football games and I was looking for a press pass to do so. I have a friend who works for the local newspaper as a web designer. I sent him an email telling him what I wanted to do and asked if he knew of any way I could do this. I just got sorta lucky because the newspaper was looking for a stringer to replace the one they had. My friend hooked me up with the staff photo editor and they asked me to come in for an interview. They had not seen any of my photography. The photo editor and the general editor wanted to see some of my 'human interest' portfolio, so I showed them and they put me to work that week. I have been covering high school football and basketball every week since then (the first of September). I have had a few non-sports assignemts, and I have another one tonight. I get $40 per assignment, so the money is not great, but I enjoy what I'm doing.

01/18/2005 12:47:58 PM · #14

dswebb, have you contacted your local paper(s) yet? When I called a big one here in town last year they were more than willing to not only talk to me, but have me do a practicum (which I never did...I was working at another job) and all sorts of stuff including ride-alongs. For the most part, people are receptive.

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D

01/18/2005 01:15:57 PM · #15

I would also like to "get in" with my local smalltown newspaper (circulation of 40-50K). Any more tips?

01/18/2005 01:27:55 PM · #16

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

I would also like to "get in" with my local smalltown newspaper (circulation of 40-50K). Any more tips?

Call them.

Maybe Jim has more insight on that, however.

I had one guy offer to just about take me to the moon, but it was obvious it was because he felt that he had superior knowledge to me. Which he no doubt did, but I mean there's a difference between being willing to help someone out and thinking they're your new lacky.

:-)

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D

01/18/2005 01:35:43 PM · #17

I wouldn't mind being a good photographer's lacky...

:0)

Message edited by author 2005-01-18 13:35:52.

01/18/2005 01:40:00 PM · #18

Hey Jmsetszler,
Thanks for replying. Very interesting.

That's almost exactly where I am, sort of... I started taking pictures of my kids at local sporting events, and loved it. Since then I've started taking pictures of friends kids at their high school basketball and football games. The parents have loved them. I've even sold some to other parents (of kids I don't know, I'd rather give them to kids I do know, just personal) and they've been very pleased. I've since then started giving the shots to the persons at the schools in charge of the yearbooks. They've also liked them. I figured it was a good "in" to get in friendly with those people, it might lead to something someday... Because while I don't want to do this full time for a living (or maybe I do? Hmmmm... :-) ), I do REALLY enjoy it, so that if I can get some other opportunities and also make just some extra bucks for it part time, that'd be GREAT.

Any suggestions for the next step? Since I don't know anyone at a local paper? Just call them up and/or go in?

Anybody have any experience with school yearbooks out there? I figure they probably don't have any budget to pay for shots. And I don't really want to charge them, or at least not much. But just wondering. Maybe someone else has experience with that area?

GoldBerry: What is a "practicum?" Thanks for your info too. Very encouraging.

Any suggestions for what I might have done "wrong" along the way?

Any suggestions or tips welcome! Thanks for the input everyone.

Doug

01/18/2005 02:02:25 PM · #19

I don't know anyone at any of the papers but I cold-called them (sales term for calling a company out of the blue) and everyone was responsive.

By practicum I meant they would "hire" me on for a month to work with a staff photographer but I wouldn't get paid.

lwkimages

01/18/2005 02:18:25 PM · #20

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

...
I wanted to try my hand at sports photography from the sidelines of local high school football games and I was looking for a press pass to do so. I have a friend who works for the local newspaper as a web designer. I sent him an email telling him what I wanted to do and asked if he knew of any way I could do this. I just got sorta lucky because the newspaper was looking for a stringer to replace the one they had. My friend hooked me up with the staff photo editor and they asked me to come in for an interview. They had not seen any of my photography. The photo editor and the general editor wanted to see some of my 'human interest' portfolio, so I showed them and they put me to work that week. I have been covering high school football and basketball every week since then (the first of September). I have had a few non-sports assignemts, and I have another one tonight. I get $40 per assignment, so the money is not great, but I enjoy what I'm doing.

John, can you describe how the images are delivered to the newspaper? Assuming you're using your 10D (?), do you do any of the post-processing yourself or do you just deliver the RAW files to them?

Thanks

01/18/2005 02:24:18 PM · #21

GoldBerry:

Practicum, interesting, never heard it called that. I'd be willing to do that for a month as a "try out". I assume so they can see if you are worth anything, right?

Only thing is, since I have kids, there will be times that I just CAN'T go do something for them. That's why the part time thing would be nice for me. So, any idea of if they'd get really ticked if you told them you couldn't go somewhere every now and then? Do they want you to just up and go where they say, when they say, and no questions asked?

I may have to investigate this some more locally...

Thanks everyone!

Doug

01/18/2005 02:32:23 PM · #22

Originally posted by dswebb:

Hey Jmsetszler,
Thanks for replying. Very interesting.

I do the yearbook thing too. I have built this set of photos to donate to yearbook staffs, and some of them have already collected the images:

//www.setzler.net/outtakes

I hope your newspaper staff people are easier to deal with than mine when you want to meet with them. If they had not been looking specifically for someone to do what I wanted to do, I would have likely not gotten in the door at all.

I would do this:

Find out who the editor of your local newspaper is and contact him on the telephone. Do not send email. Tell him what you are doing and what you want to do and ask for an interview where you can show him/her your portfolio. Your portfolio should show them images that display 'human interest' items and/or sports. They could care less about any 'fine art' photography you have.

If you get this far, you may get to meet the photographer(s) or photo editor for the paper. He/She is going to be interested in the capabilities of your camera gear. You will need to be able to shoot anything they assign you, meaning that you need f/2.8 glass probably. If you get into highschool sports, you are going to be working in some of the worst lighting situations you can imagine. A fast lens and a flash are required... the onboard flash won't do the job.

I doubt very seriously that you would be able to pick and choose what you get to do for them if they take you on as a stringer.

If you can't get on as a stringer, it's not over yet. If you show enough interest in the opportunity, you can always submit photos of any kind to the newspaper editor for publication. If you give them enough stuff that they like and actually run, you may get another opportunity down the road. Newspapers like photographs that show people doing things. When you shoot these photos, you need to write a very brief "Who/What/When/Where/How/Why" paragraph to accompany the image. This should be no more than two sentences in most cases. My newspaper usually has what they call 'Feature Art' on the front page every day. These photos don't always accompany a story. They are images like the one I just described above.

Don't go in half-cocked. Have your objective well-planned and be prepared.

Good luck :)

01/18/2005 02:39:09 PM · #23

Originally posted by lenkphotos:

This can happen two ways. Most of the time, when I'm shooting sports, I'm up against a tight deadline. Game photos and the accompanying stories written by the sports writers are printed in the next morning's paper. When I'm doing sports, I return directly to the newspaper office after the game with my photos. I go to the page designer's desk while my photos are downloading to the computer and find out what size/shape my photo(s) for the game need to be to fit on the page. They give me these dimensions and I provide the image to fit that space. I rarely know what my shape looks like until after I have made the photos, so I try to shoot images that I can fit into any space they give me.

I do post process my images. The designers are not allowed to do this unless it is an extreme circumstance, which has happened a few times. On rare occasions, the page design will change for some reason after I have given them the image sizes they asked for. When this happens, the designer is allowed to fit my photograph into a different shape spot as best they can. They have to make it the same size or smaller. They can not enlarge what I give them. I have to give them 200dpi TIFF files in either grayscale or CMYK format, depending on where it runs.

My assignment for tonight is not sports and the deadline is not tight, so I will shoot raw mode and bring the images home to post process and send them over via email later tonight or tomorrow. I don't get to do non-sports stuff very often, but when I do, I can work on them at home. When I'm shooting sports, I have to shoot JPG at the moment. They don't have software to process my raw files and the staff photographers use Nikon gear. They did just get upgraded to Photoshop CS, so I may be able to use that to process a raw image in the near future.

In either case, I still do the post processing.

01/18/2005 02:41:31 PM · #24

Thanks Jmsetzler.

I know what you mean about high school and lighting conditions!!! They really do stink... I've got a 200mm f2.8 and an 85mm f1.8, with a hotshoe flash (420EX). I wish they'd put decent light fixtures in those gyms!!!! Or at least REPLACE THE BURNED OUT BULBS!!!! aaaarrrrgggghhhhh.

Thanks a whole lot for the input. I really appreciate it. I'll keep working on it. You've given me hope!

Doug

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D