HELP!!!!!

[nightphotohunter]

hi, i have no idea where to put this so i figured here is the best bet (i hope im right). anyway, im going to photograph for a newspaper(not a fancy one, if u know what i mean) (ive always wanted to) as a photographer/digital editor/ mabey writer. i was hoping for some tips on the kind and teachniqe of newspaper photos are taken. right now, im 99% sure they dont even have a photographer, but instaed, resort to some poory focused pictures with their slr or snapshoot cameras, i will most likely be using my vivicam 3.3 mp digital camera because they are not sure they will reiburse me for film (both me and them are little short for film money). They have about 7 photos in the newspaper, most were taken off the internet, stories left without pictures, and mabey 1 taken by them (im not trying to insult but its kinda sad). any tips? write em' in the fourm, PM me, E-mail, anything please, thx.

(P.S. VERY short news paper come out once a month)

 

[Eric Rose]

What grade are you in?

 

[nightphotohunter]

Does it matter?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You will probably get a better response if you use a more informative title like "Photojournalism" instead of "HELP!!!" and if you format your posts using capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and paragraph breaks.

That said, start looking at the work of the classics, like Weegee (Arthur Fellig--Read _Naked City_), Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Some of the contemporary photojournalists that I like are Martin Schoeller (frequently in _The New Yorker_), Sylvia Plachy (_Village Voice_), and Susan Meiselas (Magnum--see particularly her book on Nicaragua). Look at the Magnum website for lots of excellent work:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/c/Home_MAG.aspx

APUG is mainly for discussion of analog techniques, but for digital, you should definitely take a look at:

http://digitaljournalist.org/contents.html

 

[bstguitarist]

hey nightphoto hunter, really strange because im in the same perdicament(hopefully i spelled that right).

 

[Lex Jenkins]

When I wanted to be a photojournalist I just looked at the work in print that I admired and emulated that. Seemed to be working pretty well.

Then I enrolled in journalism courses in college and discovered I was doing things, if not all wrong, not very well.

Unfortunately I can't think of a way to condense several years of experience in J-school and newspaper work into a single post.

 

[nightphotohunter]

soory for the "HELLP!!!" title but i was kinda in a rush and wasnt thinking well.

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Jorge]

Now Eric, bubba.....c`mon. Lets not go down the PN road. ok?

 

[Eric Rose]

Jorge I was trying to best answer this request with information suited to the audience. Nothing more.

 

[bmac]

Not to go off topic, but I dont think Eric was out of line at all...

 

[Sean]

It's the nature of internet "chat" to sometimes misinterpret what people say. You hear no tone of voice, see no facial expressions. I hope everyone understands that and doesn't read too much into it...

 

[Tom Duffy]

Always imagine a person's tone, motivation in the best possible light. it sets a nicer tone and you can always get blunter later.
Most of APUG's members are experienced photographers. One of the objects here is to bring the newer photographers along, so that they might develop the same passion most of us have for traditional photography.
APUG is a polite, compassionate site; it's really what differentiates us from the others.

 

[Eric Rose]

Exactly. It would have been a waste of the original posters time (and mine) if I gave them an answer constructed either above or below their comfort level.

If in doubt as to ones motivation I suggest using the PM function to clarify matters privately rather than jumping to erroneous conclusions in a public manner.

I agree APUG is a compassionate site and I love it for that. Sean et al have provided us with a wonderful set of tools to keep it that way as well.

 

[bmac]

ok everyone.... GROUP HUG!!!

 

[Lex Jenkins]

If Eric had written "Are you a student?" or something similar instead of "What grade are you in?" perhaps his intent might have read better.

But it's easy to dissect the intent of others after the fact. Best to chalk it up to a simple misunderstanding and move on.

 

[Jorge]

Well, let me give my slant on this as moderator. When I see a response I have to judge if the response contributes to the question, if not, does the response offer some kind of information or at least some levity and humor.

Thankfully Night did not rise to the bait, but if he had been a hot head (like me) he could have answered something like "one grade higher than yours" which would probably trigger a response from Eric and would have turned into a veritable flame war, as commonly happens in PN.

I hope Sean agrees with me on this, but I think one of the main or most important roles APUG has is that of introducing analog or classic photography to new generations and to those who are just starting on photography, no matter what their level of intelligence, education or abilities within the photographic field. If someone new to the group gets this type of slight then he will, correctly IMO, assume that APUG is nothing more than a bunch of Luddites patting each other on he back. THAT, I think is the wrong impression we should be giving to our new members.

I say this with all due respect to all of you, none of you have written a post or response which did not at some time contain grammatical or orthographic errors. If I, as a person to whom English is a second language, was to judge your "worth" or level of intelligence by some of your responses or the way you write English which is YOUR native language, then many of you would be in trouble.

Some might think I am going overboard with this and "flexing" my muscles as moderator, but I think the proof is in the pudding. APUG is one of the most pleasurable sites to participate and get answers and I think is due to the hard line attitude I have adopted with Sean's support.

So once more, if you see a post you don't like, if the guy for some reason ticked you off, if you think the question is stupid and beneath your contempt, BY PASS IT and let me be the judge. It will maintain APUG as one of the better photography discussion sites and will make the experience more enjoyable to all of us.

 

[bmac]

IF we are adopting a hard line attitude, then this post should have been deleted right away. The original question (remember that one?) was basically, how do I take PJ photos with my digital camera.

 

[Jorge]

IF we are adopting a hard line attitude, then this post should have been deleted right away. The original question (remember that one?) was basically, how do I take PJ photos with my digital camera.

Actually I thought about it, much along the same lines as the photoshop 7 question. But I preffer to keep an open mind, after all I dont think this is an "anti digital" site, and thought that many of the responses would still be useful to those who use hand hel cameras, even if they are not digital.

My comment was geared to the way we respond on the site. While I was typing my comment Eric has gone an clarifyed his response, and it seems I might have jumped the gun a little, but still I think a lot of it applies so I decided to leave the comment.

In the end, Lex is correct, if the response had been phrased in a different manner it might have been subject to less misinterpretation. Frankly I was surprised by Eric's response as I know him to be one of the good guys here and in other forums...at least in my book...

 

[nightphotohunter]

The original question (remember that one?) was basically, how do I take PJ photos with my digital camera.

well, thats only partly true. As a new photographer with a GREAT paission for film, digital is really only for those p&s moments or when i dont have the film camera, or when i dont have enough money to get the prints back in time within the deadline.

I do think that this topic has stirred people up a bit because of #1: it's refrance toward digital photography and #2: the topic of the question.
Now, these are my opinions and they could be terribly wrong, i don't know if they are. I thinbk that most people are going a little overboard, but, hey, who really cares, their not doing this all the time.

Don't get me wrong, i've gotten ALOT of informatin from the fourm and e-mail. I would like to say thanks to everyone who has contributed to this topic.

 

[Aggie]

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