Do what it takes to make the city safe for pedestrians. Here in Washington, DC, every few months a man hole cover blows up into the air putting people in danger. This New York City mitigation process caught my eye. I was safe from the steam. I’d like to spend more time there. Everywhere else really is “the sticks.”
Underwater in Florida, looking up at fish swimming in the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. I don’t really have anything to write about, photography wise except that I visited the Newseum in Washington, DC on Saturday and saw every photograph that has won a Pulitzer prize. Photojournalism makes my work look predictable for so many commercial reasons; I knew who was paying the bill and they never paid me to capture sadness or human misery.
I only spent a few months working on a small town daily newspaper and it was the best job I ever had. I was covering for a person on leave. I hope that I’ll get to return to a small paper someday. While the large papers are loosing readers, the local papers should continue to do well, at least that’s my prediction. They just need to keep the local news off line.
Sure… I have a camera.
When some people believe that they are something, like a photographer, that’s good enough, that’s what they are. It’s not really a lie, because they believe this, until whoops - so sorry. There are others who think that loving something makes you what it is, like loving to read makes you a writer. Others think that having a good camera, or reading photo magazines or knowing famous photographers makes you a photographer. I can usually tell if a person is a photographer by how they hold the camera - but that’s not always reliable.
Part of my day job is to evaluate photographer’s portfolios and resumes and try to decide if there is a fit with what we do. The organization has many photographers on reserve and could have 3 or 4 out in the field working at any given time. Over the years I’ve come to see this process as kind of learning experience for me, a dance, if you will. I’ve finally decided that I need to ask direct questions in order to see if we have a fit.
Question #1 - Have you ever been paid to make a photograph or photographs? This could be the base line. I can’t train photographers to shoot while they are in the field, they have to have that, I have other things that I need to train them to do. Loving to take photographs and having a good camera really isn’t enough. Newspaper photojournalism experience works here and in many cases is preferred.
Question #2 - Do you have Photoshop knowledge, skill and ability? This is the digital age, if you don’t have Photoshop you can’t be on the team, we have to pass. I know requirements aren’t fun but we are all stuck with them. If you are a photographer and take courses to learn the program there is a good chance we would come back to you. Computer skill is a given, it’s not a question I ever ask.
Question #3 - Have you ever written a caption? This may seem like a funny question after asking Question #1 and it won’t disqualify a good shooter, we’ll just need to train them. Usually commissioned work for ad agencies and magazines don’t require the photographer to write a caption - commercial photography never requires a caption and magazines usually have people to write captions. We require a caption and we don’t have anyone to write it for you. We will give you guidance but it’s your job, it’s part of the assignment.
Next - the caption. The home page of bkoplitz.com has changed again. I just didn’t like my street photography, it not really something that I do.