What does pj involve?
A. C. Miller
the whole concept of photojournalism. What exacly does photojounalism
involve? What types of pictures do you take as a photojournalist? Is
it required for all photojounalist to write articles for their
pictures? What type SLR camera and fim is best for photojournlism? I
would appreciate any info regarding this. Thanks.
-andrew miller
acmi...@cris.com
Neil Barker
>
> I've just began reading this group and need some help understanding
> the whole concept of photojournalism.
Don't we all :-))
> What exacly does photojounalism involve?
Oh, errr, any of the following :-
Getting wet, a lack of sleep, 'lunch' becoming a swear-word, occasional
violence and dislike of you, monotony, you name it....
:-)
Seriously, whatever you want it to.
Yes, the hours can indeed be long. If you want a job with regular hours
then it is definately not for you. If you are prepared to put in the
time, then it can be one of the most rewarding careers I can think of.
Being largely an 'outside' job, you *will* get wet. You *will* get cold.
You *will* get sunburnt. Though not necessarily at the same time, I
would hope....
This might all seem 'a bit negative' to start off with, but I believe in
telling it to you how it is - I'm not going to lie and tell you it's all
sweetness and light, 'cos it aint.
But, when I look back on the things I have done, the places I have
been, the people I have met, the sometimes crazy situations I have been
in, in the last 8 years I have been doing this job, I wouldn't swop it
for anything. No siree.
For example I have, in these years found myself doing the following :-
Many trips with the Army :-
To Germany on a 'Milan Concentration' - firing Milan anti-tank missiles
down a range. Especially fun when, right next to me, a team 'fires' a
missile - it arms but doesn't leave the Milan unit. Right-o - you've got
20 seconds to move before it blows up.... We did.
To Denmark, preparing for a forthcoming trip to the Falkland Islands.
To the Falklands for a week.
Finding myself upside down on the end of an abseil rope at the top of a
ten story building....
Spending weekends in the back of various Police Cars, seeing 'the
sights'....
Photographing celebraties, the British Royal Family....
Doing high-speed laps as a passenger in British Touring Cars, on race
circuits....
There's lots more.
> What types of pictures do you take as a photojournalist?
Anything and everything, really. It may take the form of a single image
to sum up the story, or several telling the story in pictures.
You need to be able, or willing to try, to photography anything and
everything. One moment you might be doing studio work, the next you're
outside a court building waiting to do a 'snatch' picture.
> Is it required for all photojounalist to write articles for their
> pictures?
Not necessarily. I don't do so, though others might. No hard and fast
rule on this one.
> What type SLR camera and fim is best for photojournlism?
No hard and fast answer for this, either.
If you see a group of photographers, you'll observe that probably 100
per cent of them use either Nikon or Canon systems. The reasons behind
this are threefold :-
1) Range of equipment.
2) Quality and durability
3) Backup when it goes wrong.
This is not to say you cannot use others cameras, for you most certainly
can.
If you're starting out, you're often well advised to start off with a
relatively simple manual camera, learning from 'ground-up'. This way,
you'll be able to handle virtually any camera you end up using.
Yes, the modern generation of cameras certainly help - personally, I
wouldn't like to be without such luxuries as auto fill-flash and modern
metering systems, but I *CAN* manage perfectly well if presented with a
'bog-standard' manual camera.
> I would appreciate any info regarding this.
You're welcome. If you need further elaboration, feel free to ask.
--
Neil Barker : ne...@nbarker.demon.co.uk
Birmingham, England.