Time for a new wardrobe?
There’s been a lot of gloom-and-doom in the photojournalism world lately – shrinking photo staffs at publications, pay freezes, an increasingly competitive freelance market coupled with shrinking payments, “doing more with less,” etc. It’s hard sometimes to not get frustrated with the current state of news photography.
So, sometimes it’s helpful to take a step back and have a good laugh at something photo-related.
Go here for a really good laugh and then go out and make some good photos.
–Gordon King
Game On!
One game down. About 74 more to go.
The Washington state class 1B basketball tournament has started in Yakima. It’s the first of three four-day-long basketball tournaments to hit town. Photographing these tournaments is a hoot because of the intensity and emotion of the players, coaches and fans. Every game matters and it’s reflected in the level of play and emotions.
This is the first photo I shot of the tournaments – taken on the way into the SunDome for the first game between Bickleton High School and Lummi High School.
David Clinton shows his support for the Bickleton High School girls' basketball team at the Washington state class 1B basketball tournament which starts in Yakima Feb. 24, 2010. It has been 29 years since the team has made it to the state tournament. His daughter Katelynn plays on the team. Wednesday is the first day of the four-day tournament.
Of course we’re all excited about shooting state tournament basketball now. That excitement may have waned after three weeks of tournament, countless bad renditions of old rock tunes by school bands and days of gut-wrenching, over-cooked coffee from the 30-cup urn provided by the tournament (but hey – it’s free!).
The photo staff of the Herald-Republic will be shooting about six games a day (or more) on each day of the tournament. To see photo galleries of the tournament, go here or here.
–Gordon King
Get a two-fer
I just purchased the newest edition of Ken Kobre’s now-classic photojournalism textbook.
Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach/2008
It’s kind of spendy ($46.70 on Amazon) but well worth the money. Besides being the definitive textbook on photojournalism it’s a great photo book with outstanding photography to illustrate the text. I’d recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn more about photojournalism or simply refresh and perhaps expand their current knowledge about photojournalism. It’s thoroughly up to date with sections on multimedia.
This is the sixth edition of the book. I’ve still got the first edition that was published in 1980. It’s pretty beat up with a tear in the dust jacket.
Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach/1980
Though some of the book is dated (photos are all in black and white and of course, there’s no mention of multimedia, digital cameras and computers) but many of the principles of photojournalism and photo editing were the same then as they are now.
This is the first book about photojournalism I ever purchased and so it’s always got a spot on my bookshelf.
–Gordon King
Adjusting attitudes
These days, the traditional media landscape is not a pretty sight. Scores of photojournalists have been laid off as newspapers have cut staffs, reduced publication days and in some cases, closed altogether. “Do more with less” and “right sizing” have become part of the workplace lexicon.
So it’s easy to become discouraged as newspapers lose their position in American society.
I came across this video a couple of weeks ago. It offers a different way for us to approach our job as photojournalists.
Celebrate What’s Right With The World
Lazarus! – The Resurrected | MySpace Video
The video gets a little syrupy at times but don’t lose the message in that sweetness.
And if you’ve lost your job or you’ve just finished a five-assignment day and have an overbearing editor looking over your shoulder this video is not going to make things right. But it does, at least, offer another perspective on how to approach life and work differently and how, perhaps to make it better.
–Gordon King
