With Camera In Hand

I think it’s fair to say that when most people see me, standing majestically with my Canon DSLR and its equipped 75-300mm lens with attached Speedlite flash, they think, “Now there is a man who could stand to lose a few pounds.” And then they would think, “Also, that is a man who should be capturing on film–er, digital images, the happenings of the day.”

To be fair, I think that whenever someone picks up a camera body that can have lens swapped, there is just the ripple of emotion that passes through you to record and document the world around you. To expose the fraud and lies of those in power. To get in the front of the line at a bakery grand opening under the pretext of getting a good shot but really you just want to be the first in line for those fresh doughnuts.

The storied profession of reporting is filled with bringing to light events and scandals that those in power wish to conceal. Things that rattle our beliefs and challenge our blind acceptance of authority.

Watergate.

Spotlight.

The amazing Bat Boy.

Well, I have heard the call to be part of that noble, totally flawless profession, and have taken up camera and lens to do battle with the forces of misinformation and ignorance! For, I am ready to venture forth with my newly minted press pass!

[Pause for dramatic music.]

And no, I am not letting this go to my head.

Especially since I might get like 1 or 2 photo gigs a month, and what I would be most likely documenting would be a business association’s 47th annual potluck dinner or maybe a town festival if I am lucky.

Okay, a bit o’ backstory.

Way back in the summer I had attended a job fair (which I wrote about in this very blog no less!) and one of the tables I stopped by was for a group that published a series of weekly community newspapers. The conversation went something like this:

“Hi! My name is Matt Plotecher, and I was looking to see what positions you might have open? I do have some experience writing.” Then in my head, I am thinking, “Please ask if I have a blog, please ask if I have a blog, please ask if I have a blog…”

“Have you ever written articles for a newspaper?”

“...Well, no.”

“Ah, sorry, we’re looking for people with previous experience, or at least a degree in reporting.”

“I understand,” I said, fighting back sobs, but as I turned away to shuffle off in shame, she felt sorry enough for me to speak up again.

“I mean, can you do any photography?”

“Oh,” I said, sniffing and looking back. “I have had experience taking photos, yeah. Did it a while back at a company.”

“Okay, well, sometimes we bring in freelance photographers. Let me have your resume and I’ll leave a note on it.”

“Okay, thank you!” I sheepishly turned over my resume, as it honestly had nothing on it – zero, zip, nada – about my photography skills. But she took it anyway, and I like to think that she literally slapped a sticky note on it with the writing, “Knows how to operate a non-cell phone camera.”

It was very kind of her, but given that it was really just my word, I wasn’t expecting anything from it. Hence, imagine my surprise when I actually got a call for the photo editor months later, in October.

Now, I did send him a link to my photos page of my website as well as my Instagram account, but I think it was the fact that I had a DSLR and a few lenses that he was most interested in. I suspect that he probably has had a number of people offer to just use their cell phone, and while that can work from time to time, the flexibility of the camera and lens combo is hard to beat.

I went in for an interview the next week, where he went through a lot of information. I was expecting it to be just maybe 30 minutes but it turned into more than an hour as he covered the types of assignments that they give out, how he determines who gets them (often it’s whoever is closest, as these events pop up through Long Island), how he takes pictures, how to upload them, and he even took me back to see their actual printing press, which, even better, was currently running..

But for me, the most interesting part was him talking about how this is photojournalism, not just photography. If I am getting photos of people, (which is like 90% of what they want) I need to make sure that I get their names and permission. We don’t need a release form, but we do need to have a verbal okay if we are printing them with their names.

So, I’ll need to bring along a notepad and a few pens, and dart about to get this info. Sometimes it’ll be easy, because it’ll be the organizers of the event. Other times, it can be hard, as you might get a really good job of getting a candid photo of a kid throwing a baseball, but then have to track down their guardian to get permission and their name. The photo editor had a lot of good tips for handling this, but the key part is that except for crowd shots, if we don’t have a name, we can’t print the photo.

Now, to be clear, I just picked up the press pass this past week, and as I mentioned, they might only call once or twice a month, so I have not gotten a call yet and might not get one for a while. And, because I would need to be able to drive out to the event, this might not work out at all if they only call for events that conflict with me picking up Gracie or maybe even another job.

Nevertheless, I am hopeful that I get to do this a couple of times this month, to start with.

And, to top it off, I am not going to lie – I am getting some Peter Parker vibes here.

Ahem. For any philistines that may have wandered into the audience, Peter Parker is the man behind the mask of Spider-Man, and actually got his start as a freelancer photographer for The Daily Bugle.

Hey! Maybe I should try and get into a local live science experiment involving radioactive spiders in hopes that one bites me!

Then again, saying that out loud makes me think it would be an extraordinary bad idea.

Maybe I’m better off just watching the movie “Nightcrawler.” I heard it’s a great film about how to have ethics and professionalism as a freelance member of the news.