There’s no one official career path for being a photojournalist—some made plans and got a degree in a relevant field, while others turned their photography hobby into a career. If you want to become a photojournalist, check out the following steps:
Get outside and take photos. The most important thing you can do to become a photojournalist is to practice taking pictures that tell a story. Take your camera with you everywhere you go and document what’s going on around you. Give yourself assignments and see if you can tell a story using only a series of photos.
Take classes to build your skills. Taking pictures is only one aspect of photojournalism. To become a photojournalist you’ll need to learn more about what it entails. Taking photojournalism classes can help you build your skills and contacts. If you’re in high school, look for photography or journalism classes or clubs. Many universities offer degree programs in photojournalism, as well as separate degrees in photography and journalism; while a photojournalism degree (or any bachelor’s degree) is not necessary for the job, it will definitely give you a leg up on the competition.
Build a professional portfolio. In order to land good photojournalism jobs, you’ll need a strong portfolio with a wide array of examples of your best work. As you accumulate images from your shoots, choose the photos that best represent your talent, edit them using editing software, then place them in a portfolio that you can show to publications who could hire you as a freelancer or full-time. Look around for photojournalism internships or entry-level gigs that will give you invaluable on-the-job training experience.
Search for work. Once you’ve built up a strong portfolio, you’ll be a competitive candidate for good freelancing gigs, where publications will send you assignments to complete for publication. If you prefer a full-time job instead of being a freelance photographer, you can start applying for staff photographer jobs at prospective employers—contact publications that tell the types of stories that match your interest and submit your portfolio.
What Is Photojournalism?
Photojournalism is the art of taking pictures to tell news stories—whether it’s a shot of a burning building, a melting glacier, or a group of people in a warzone. Many photojournalism shoots are candid, heat-of-the-moment reporting, in which the journalist carries handheld camera equipment and follows the action wherever it goes.
What Does a Photojournalist Do?
The job description for a photojournalist can include a wide variety of responsibilities:
Take photos. The sheer amount of photos that one journalist takes on a given day may seem surprising to most people. Since photojournalists usually don’t stage their shoots, and instead hope to capture the action as it unfolds, they have to be constantly ready to look through the viewfinder and snap hundreds of photos, hoping for just the right one.
Edit photos. After photojournalists take their photos, most of them upload the photos into a post-production photo editor software to adjust the levels, color, and balance of the best photos. Image editing is a crucial part of any photographer’s job—executing proper editing techniques can turn a good photo into a great one. Learn basic photo editing techniques in our guide here.
Travel for news stories. While you can be a photojournalist in your hometown (whether that’s in the United States or elsewhere), many photojournalists choose to travel the world to document news stories in locations both far and wide.
Establish freelance contacts. While there are full-time photojournalism positions at many online and print publications, the majority of photojournalists work on a freelance basis, either taking specific assignments or submitting their work for consideration. A major part of a freelance photojournalist’s job is establishing connections with organizations that will publish their work.
What Are the Qualities of a Successful Photojournalist?
Here are a few essential qualities of a successful photojournalist:
Deep understanding of photography. While many photographers can take their time out in the field to perfect a specific shot—changing the angle or adjusting the aperture, for example—professional photojournalists often find themselves capturing photos in the midst of a breaking news story. To do this, a photojournalist needs to have an acute knowledge of the necessary technical skills, including how your camera works and how to compose a shot.
Knowledge of current events. Photojournalists aren’t just professional photographers—they’re reporters, too. A great photojournalist knows what’s happening in the world, so they can follow specific events and be in the right place at the right time for great photos.
Determination. Photojournalism isn’t an easy job—in fact, you’ll often find yourself exposed to inclement weather, turned away from venues, or in dangerous situations. In order to be a great photojournalist, you’ll need to push past these barriers and do a lot of hard work to capture the best shots you can.
10 Things to Know Before Getting Into Photojournalism:
Here are ten things you should know if you are considering this career path:
- Develop your eye
Some people think that being a good photographer is about having a good camera. It definitely isn’t! A good camera might help the quality level of your shots, but what is important is having that photographic eye. If you don’t have this, you won’t be able to take good shots. Develop
your eye by constant practice – frame and reframe the world around you. What works? What doesn’t?
- Protect yourself
Photojournalism jobs can be dangerous. You might be working in a war zone, or at a protest, or even just walking along a street where a traffic accident could randomly happen. You need to protect yourself as much as possible. Have insurance for both yourself and all of your gear, and consider using automatic Cloud uploads so that your work is backed up at all times. You don’t want to risk life and limb only to lose your images! Keep your mind on safety and try not to compromise yourself in a way that would cost your life or cause serious injury.
- Know your stories
While there’s something to be said for being on the ground at the biggest news stories of the year, this isn’t always the best tactic. Working with what you know can give you better results.
For example, if you’re really involved in climate change movements, you would be better off photographing protests and other climate change events rather than chasing a serial killer or providing coverage of skirmishes in Syria. You know the key players, you know the narratives, and you have insider information on what might happen and where – it’s just good sense to use these advantages.
- Be business-minded
Photojournalists are often freelancers, and this means you will essentially be running your own business. You need to know how to manage finances, negotiate contracts, protect your rights, and so on. Even if you are hired as an employee, you should know your worth and whether you
are getting paid enough. Understand what to charge, how to negotiate, and how to navigate your legal rights.
- Embrace rejection
Get ready for rejection – a lot of it! You will need to pitch images in the thousands if you want to have hundreds published. Don’t send a single pitch and wait for it to come back – move onto the next one and keep going. This is the only way you’ll get enough of an income to live on. Rejections can happen for many reasons other than the quality of your work: the editor might have had another submission already, they may have a staff photographer working for them, they might not be covering the story, they might wish to show a different viewpoint…
- Expect less photography
As a photographer, you might think most of your time will be spent taking pictures. Not so! You will find the majority of your time taken up by editing, pitching, invoicing, negotiating, chasing payments, managing your archive, updating your website, marketing yourself, and so on.
- Stay ethical
There is, sadly, a lot of unethical photojournalism out there. There have been countless scandals of Photoshopped images, misrepresentation and staging, and so on. Don’t be tempted to let your own opinions, or the chase for big bucks, to lead you into these tricks. When they are discovered, they can be career-ending. Stay true to the ethics of photojournalism, which require honest observation only. Don’t interfere or try to change events as they unfold around you.
- Don’t expect riches
Think photojournalism will get you rich? Think again. While there have been those singular instances of images going viral and becoming long-term royalty earners, most of the time this doesn’t happen (and if you sold your rights, you won’t see any further profit anyway). According to a survey done in 2016 by World Press Photos, the vast majority of professional photojournalists earn less than $40,000 a year. You’ll need passion to drive you forward in this industry, not a desire to get rich.
- Prepare for a lack of diversity
There isn’t a whole lot of diversity in photojournalism – white men make up the wide majority of the professionals working in this field. If you don’t fall into that category, prepare to meet some resistance. Things are starting to get a little better, with representation groups and calls for
more diversity in the industry, but it will still be a struggle to make it.
- Develop a personal style
The quickest way to get noticed in this field is to develop your own personal style. It will help you to stand out from the crowd – and make your pitch the one the editor chooses out of all those in your inbox. It’s also more likely to get you assignments, where you know you’ll be paid
at the end of it.
Conclusion:
If you came here wondering what is photojournalism, you now have your definitive answer. As to whether it is the right career path for you, only you can answer that. You will need determination, guts, passion, and business sense to succeed – as well as the ability behind the lens. But if you can work alongside the top names in this field, you may just contribute something to our history books – and make a name for yourself that will never be forgotten.
