newspaper.

[pacha mama photography]

Recently i've gotten a job at a newspaper, and next week ill be

given my first set of assignments. (unsure of what they are at this

moment.) any general advice for people doing this sort of thing?

as far as lenses go, i have mf nikkor 24mm 2.8, mf 75-150mm 3.5 and

af 50mm 1.8. and a f100 body.

and unfortunately i do not have the money for a digi at this time

but they will give me full access to darkroom/chemical/paper/film

for freeeee!

 

thanks.

[fk319]

Sorry to tag a question here, but in general, when a photographer is on staff, what does the photographer own? I would guess his own camera, but I would not expect the negitives?

[graham_line]

For the first question.... shoot 'full'. Get to know your subjects and shoot with a sense of story; newspaper work is about telling stories. The eyecatching shot is important but has to be story-driven.

You don't say where you are, but most papers have converted to digital for speed and economy, so you need to plan for this.

The F100 is very reliable, but you really really really need to add a second body that will take your lenses if your primary camera croaks.

Is Ellis V. out there?

 

For the second question.... If you are an employee of the company, the take generally belongs to the company. You'll have to talk to your boss to see what the policies are. More and more papers are finding reprints to be fairly profitable :- ).

 

If you're a contractor working assignment by assignment, then you have to negotiate who owns what. Most shooters sell one-time rights with the fee based on the circulation of the publication.

[graham_line]

For Frank's other question: Large newspapers generally supply each photographer with a basic set of equipment, a couple bodies, a range of lenses etc. There's generally a pool of more specialized lenses and lighting gear.

 

Some small papers expect the photographer to furnish their own shooting gear; others have an annual equipment allowance to draw on. How they operate is important to know before you accept the job. If they want night football and there's no 300/2.8 in the cupboard ... that can be expensive.

[allan_l.]

"any general advice for people doing this sort of thing?"

 

chris, it's hard to give advice without knowing what your assignment is going to be. but one good tip, if you're going to be covering an event would be to show up at least an hour early (depending on how familiar you are with the place) and scout out the area looking for good places to shoot from, keeping in mind what you would like to have in the background/foreground etc.

apart from that, it all really depends on what the assignment/event is.

as far as equipment goes, the prime lenses are great lenses, but when you're out on an assignment, having to change lenses will cost you time, and you will possibly loose a few pics during that time. you might want to consider saving up for a good zoom, something in the 24-80 range would be good, then you would only have to take that and your 75-150 and you're all set. the primes would come in very handy if you are shooting at night though.

best of luck, and congrats on the new job!

[tim_gruber]

Don't worry about your equipment. Know it well enough to the point you don't need to think about it and from there focus telling stories with images. Watch and anticipate for those moments that'll help you tell the story.

[allgone]

Have updated local road maps in your car. Hit area recreation centers, senior centers and libraries and pick up monthly calender of events and keep those in your car as well. Be on top of National and World news and look for ways it hits the local level. If you're a working at a weekly I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about a police scanner and chasing spot news. For the most part it's old news by the time you process your film and get the photo in the paper. Work on developing contacts within your community, much like a reporter. You will meet these people along the way as you start going on assignments.

[rick_helmke]

I think newspapers are some of the most fun you can have with a camera. You'll also wonder what the hell you were thinking some late evening waiting for a grip n' grin at the end of a very boring banquet or when you see your paycheck. It sounds like you will be working for a smaller paper and also sounds like it isn't a daily. As such most of your deadlines won't be high pressure. A lot of the assignments are going to be dull and the fun stuff will be what you make of it.

 

Get to know the local cops and firefighters. Once they know you and like you you'll get all kinds of good access. You will likely be asked to shoot some stuff for them at crime scenes. You might read up on how to do crime scene and accident photos for legal use but it won't happen often. It will be gross at times so be prepared. Give it to them for free and you will develop tons of good will, something invaluable for any kind of journalist. You will also get calls from lawyers representing accident or crime victims who want photos you made at accident and crime scenes.

 

Being with a newspaper can get you good access to college and sometimes pro sports events depending on where you are. If the paper doesn't want to pay you to go, see if the sports editor will at least get you press credentials and go to the games. Shoot them and the paper will use them while you get experience and portfolio material for the next job.

 

For better or worse, nearly every paper and magazine in this country has gone digital so as soon as you can, get a good digital body, in your case a Nikon. I reccomend a D100 since prices will be dropping like a rock as the D200 has been announced. If you can round up the bucks (always a problem in the news business) get a D200. Find a longer zoom too, you will need it. Also get a second film body and do it right now. A decent FM or something like it or an old Nikkormat will see you through for very little money. You need a back up. An editor doesn't give a damn that your camera broke. He wants pictures not excuses, ALWAYS and if you do this every time that's the reputation you will get. You'll need the digital experience as you move up the ladder. As you go to bigger papers they will provide equipment but I always preferred to have some of my own.

 

As to ownership of the images, if you are employed by a paper and are on assignment for them, they own the images. That's already been fought and decided. There was a series of shots in the Oklahoma City bombings as I recall that went to court over this issue. If you are not on assignment and shooting for fun, are on your own time with your own equipment and film etc. you own them. Some papers will argue with you on this especially if money is involved but not often. As you move into bigger papers it may not be worth fighting about.

 

Photojournalism is a great way of life, better if you are single because the hours and pay both suck. You will get to see things and go places normal people never do. You are in the door now so you are ahead of the game. Staying there is up to you.

 

Rick H.

[daniel_smith6]

Do you think the paper would hire writers with this limited experience? Nothing negative on you or your efforts intended. The editors apparently have the mindset so many of their kind have... "give someone a camera & they are a photographer". They think anybody can do the job.

With that in mind, do more than is required & turn in the best work possible. Judge your work by the top guys in the business. Just because you may be at a small paper doesn't mean second class photography for the paper. Look at good work & produce good work. Any situation can be done well if you work at it.

[scot]

All the above advice is good. Here's something I've found important when getting paddock and pit shots while covering motorsports, that I think you'll find equally useful if you're shooting fires, police action, etc.: Learn to get the shot while staying out of the way. You need a good relationship with the cops and firefighters, and they'll repect you a lot more if they don't have to get you to move. They're not going to want to work around YOU...

 

Here's something else: if you're at a disaster scene, (a big fire, say) you may find yourself in a spot where the rescue crews haven't gotten yet. Getting the shots can be such an adrenalin high that you forget your own safety. Watch it out there.

 

Scot

[bill c.]

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Here's something else: if you're at a disaster scene, (a big fire, say) you may find yourself in a spot where the rescue crews haven't gotten yet. Getting the shots can be such an adrenalin high that you forget your own safety. Watch it out there.

**********************************

 

Good advice. And don't park too close, either. If additional units are coming in, they'll block you in. I once had to wait hours for equipment to move before I could file my shots, when I got there before any of the fire apparatus (my house was closer to the scene than the fire stations). Walking a couple hundred yards could save you a couple hours.

 

Shoot lots, learn lots, be nice to everybody, never be snobby, give prints to the cops and firecheifs.

 

One video shooter around these parts purchased an ex-police cruiser that looks like an unmarked cop car, and wears dark pants and a black tactical vest. He doesn't pass himself off as an officer, but on an incident scene there's enough doubt about the car that it doesn't get questioned when it's parked, and the outfit can give him fifteen seconds of time on an incident scene before the cops (they're horrible around here, no matter how nice you are to them) toss him out, which is usually enough to get something salable.

 

While I'm on the subject, I should probably start up a thread about nasty cop stories, but it's late. Maybe next week.

 

Happy shooting. -BC-