# photojournalism



## ade1971 (Jun 14, 2014)

hello has anyone got any advice on becoming a photojournalism as I am over 40 I was wondering if to late. I been looking on the internet for advice but all seem very complicated . Any thing made easy would help thanks


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## KmH (Jun 14, 2014)

These days photojournalism is a freelance, self-employed deal, and editorial photography pays the least per image of the main photography genres  -retail, commercial, and editorial.

Staff photojournalist jobs have all pretty much disappeared.
This is from a bit more than a year ago - Chicago Sun-Times lays off photo staff - Chicago Tribune

To make any money at photojournalism you will be competing with all those ex-staff photojournalists that were able to continue doing photojournalism because they had an extensive contact list that they developed over years of doing the job as a staff photographer.
Most of the staff photojournalist whose jobs disappeared now do something else.

An example is David Hobby who took a sabbatical from the newspaper he worked for in Baltimore to start Strobist.com and wound up developing a photography lighting seminar based business. He never went back to the newspaper.

Though it is possible to enter that field now, at least on a part time basis, few photojournalism photographers make a living doing photojournalism today.


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## sscarmack (Jun 14, 2014)

It's never too late. 

That's if you have enough money to quit your real job and pursue photography full time and not worry about putting food on your table. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Designer (Jun 14, 2014)

Hello!  I've been to Peterborough even!  Please take this from somebody who has never tried it.

Your primary task is to develop a contact list.  Try to meet as many people as you can who are in the news publishing business.  Hit all of your local publications, including weeklies, and non-profit orgs.

Be prepared to show them your portfolio.  Make sure your portfolio contains all or nearly all news type photographs.  Include only the good ones by paring your portfolio down to a dozen or so really good ones.  Better to show them 5 excellent photographs than 25 that are just so-so.  

Keep working on contacts as you never know when somebody will give you a shot.  Re-visit anybody who you haven't talked to in a month.  Keep at it.  

Meanwhile take as many news photographs as you can.  Follow the fire brigade and ambulance (at a safe distance of course) and try to get the story.  

Photojournalism is all about telling the story with a picture.  If you need more than about 6 words to fill in the blanks, then your picture didn't do it well enough.  

Once in a while, submit a photo of a current story without being asked for it.  

Good luck!


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## CAP (Jun 14, 2014)

Good to Know...


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## imagemaker46 (Jun 15, 2014)

It's never too late to give it a shot, but your main competition will be kids in their 20's that are willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck. I know a lot of really talented shooters in their twenties that are struggling to work, but they are working.

How long have you been shooting and what kind of gear are you using? I can probably give you a better idea having this information.


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## JoeW (Jun 15, 2014)

imagemaker46 said:


> It's never too late to give it a shot, but your main competition will be kids in their 20's that are willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck. I know a lot of really talented shooters in their twenties that are struggling to work, but they are working.
> 
> How long have you been shooting and what kind of gear are you using? I can probably give you a better idea having this information.



This.

There are a lot fewer jobs as "employees" and most photojournalism roles are as stringers or freelance positions.  Most of those people got their start in HS or college stringing for the local paper or college paper by shooting sports and local political events.  Do enough of that and sometimes it turns in to a job (though that's less likely now).  

As far as the international stuff, my understanding is that the majority of photojournalists right now covering Syria are not affiliated with any media outlet, they aren't even stringers.  They're just people (mostly guys) with cameras who went to shoot a war, and if they get some good photos, try to hook up with Reuters or Magnum and sell the photos with the hope that down the road it might turn in to a formal gig.  That's not the way it was when I got started by in the early 80's but that's apparently how it is now.

Increasingly media outlets aren't sending a journalist and a photographer to a destination.  Even big papers like the Washington Post will have some of their traveling journalists take photos of web quality and submit those with a story.  So you may want to view this as wanting to acquire journalism expertise as well.


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