3 Pieces of Advice for Your Next Event Photography Gig
Gig work can be a great way to build experience, contacts, and your portfolio. In today’s age of multimedia, it is important to diversify your skills as often an robustly as possible. Here are some important suggestions for taking an event photography job and performing your duties well.
Establish Expectations
First, begin by establishing what your client expects of your work. Be honest about your abilities and the type of work you normally produce. This is also a great time to discuss your rate if it is a paid gig. Do not be afraid to set boundaries with your client to ensure your work is reasonably compensated. Make sure to consider:
The style of photos to be taken
When the product will be delivered
How payment will be facilitated
How long you are expected to be at the event
Be Personable
One way to ensure you receive future work is by being personable. Not only does it endear you to the employer who hired you, but it makes your subjects feel more comfortable. Great photos come when subjects are comfortable and excited about being on camera. Don’t be shy about complimenting the people in your photos, especially when taking candids!
Smile and talk to your subjects (nobody likes a stalker)
Ask if people would like to see the photo you just took
Be willing to retake photos
Showcase Your Work
After your gig is done, remember to keep your work. It is best to keep a running portfolio or website with your work experiences. If you’re looking to maintain a younger clientele, Instagram is a great tool for showcasing work. Once you have provided your client with your product, take the time to post your photos to a business Instagram account with detailed captions and hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to draw new clients to your page and maybe even drum up some new business after they see your skills!
Opinion: Journalism Degrees Don’t Bring Big Money, and That’s Not a Bad Thing
Every journalism student’s favorite conversation is the one about the fate of the career. The truth is, even though news is a public industry and almost every person engages with it in some manner, most people don’t understand how it works. When you tell your worrisome aunt you are majoring in print journalism, she will probably tell you newspapers are dying. She will ask you if you have found a job. And she’ll frown if you ever dare to share your starting salary with her. Now this is just a hypothetical, but as every journalist knows, there is a growing distrust and disapproval for their industry as a whole. I am here to tell you to keep moving forward and remember why you’re doing it!
The Purpose of Journalism: The 4th Estate
Sometimes people forget, there is an essential quality to journalism’s existence. In the words of philosopher Edmund Burke, “there were three Estates … but in the Reporters Gallery yonder, there sat a fourth Estate more important far than they all.” There are three estates within western society, and outside of these three estates, there is the press. The press is the fourth estate which ensures the efficient and ethical function of the other three estates. Therefore, it can be argued that just as society hinges its existence on the first three estates, it does so also on the fourth: the press.
Clergy
Nobility
Commoners
The Press
It’s a Responsibility and It’s Not for the Weak
In regard to the money, there isn’t a lot of it. Whether we, as journalists, agree with this fact or not; people do not want to pay the media for their work. This doesn’t mean that the work isn’t essential. Experts have argued that the only way to gain enough of a respect for the industry that people will pay for the news product is to take the time to prove there is a need. We are in an interesting age of news transition and these experts also see some major changes to media ecology in the coming years.
Journalism may be a tough industry today, but it’s necessary. We need journalists who are willing to prove their reporting is worth having. That means we don’t need journalists who want fame or money. So, I would argue, if you choose journalism, and you didn’t do so for the money, then you chose it for the right reason. Any journalist who is doing for the money is not one worth having… even if they really should be making more.
My Favorite Enterprise Piece to Date
One of the most rewarding types of reporting is enterprise reporting. According to an article by ThoughtCo., “enterprise reporting involves stories not based on press releases or news conferences. Instead, enterprise reporting is all about the stories a reporter digs up on his or her own.” In my case, I became fascinated with a local man in State College.
Pursuing the Story
I walked by Ron, the homeless man in army green, almost every day as I went to class. I wondered about him. How did he get here? Why did he sit in that specific spot? How old was he? One day, I stopped at the bench where Ron sat and asked if he would mind speaking with me sometime. We met three times over the coming weeks: on his bench, at Panera, and at the local library. He told me his life story and we narrowed down his unique perspective on homeless life.
Framing the Piece
The best enterprise stories work in a greater context. They can be a great opportunity to use a feature story to showcase something bigger. In this scenario, I was able to weave Ron’s story into the larger context of a local housing crisis. Through the visual of a single man, we created a piece which impacted readers and told a story. Feel free to read the final piece here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gentlemen-yet-familiar-homeless-man-state-college-emma-kelly/?trackingId=poNFc1S2QkCbOqg0ETUdtQ%3D%3D