PHOTOGRAPHY: 13 Half Or Completely Baked Ideas & Thoughts For Aspiring Photojournalists

Know every button on your camera!

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13 Half or Completely Baked Ideas & Thoughts For Aspiring Photojournalists

1. "If you’re afraid of rejection, find another line of work." - Michael Kamber, Photojournalist, Baghdad Bureau, New York Times.

2. "Learn every aspect of your camera, every button, every light, everything!" - Jason Pagan, former Special Projects Director at Black Star, New York, NY.

3. "A basic guideline with wide lenses is to mind your tilt. Instead of looking up or down at a subject, which massively increases distortion and the “ugly” effect, keep the camera level and change your elevation" - Alan Chin, Photographer/Bon Vivant, New York, NY.

4. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you are not close enough.” - Robert Capa, (1910-1954) Photographer, Magnum Photos.

5. "KEEP YOUR COPYRIGHT, DO NOT SIGN WORK FOR HIRE CONTRACTS" - Every Freelance Photojournalist, Planet Earth.

6. "Have money in the bank. Next month's income is not always certain." - Morten Svenningsen, Photojournalist, Director of GAIA PHOTOS, Kathmandu, Nepal.

7. "When you get an assignment, never assume anything […] Discuss everything, assume nothing. Listen and ask questions." - Andy Levin, Photojournalist, Contact Press Images; Curator, 100Eyes E-Magazine, New Orleans, LA.

8. "As photojournalists, our life blood is the story and not the source." - John Robinson, Photojournalist, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

9. "Reporting is, in reality, a meticulous and accurate reconstruction of facts. In other words, it is the news in its entirety, as events actually occurred, presented in a way to make the reader feel as though he actually witnessed them." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Journalist & Writer, Cartagena, Columbia.

10. "If you do decide to work on a traditional theme — prostitution, drugs, crime, war, gangs — then be sure to reinvigorate the theme and breathe life into the clichés, because they have all been done to death." - Jon Anderson, Photographer & Writer, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

11. "Don’t rely on others to do what you think should be done. Just forget about the overall printed press. QUALITY printed press has become a luxury product." - John Vink, Photojournalist, Magnum Photos, Phnom Penh, Center of the Universe, Cambodia.

12. "To live happy, live hidden." - Antonin Kratochvil, Photographer, VII Photo Agency, New York, NY.

13. "Read your camera's instruction book and be sure to remove the lens cap" - John Brown, Photojournalist & Writer, Cambodia.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN DOCUMENTARY PHOTOJOURNALISM ?

Are you a person who is interested in documentary photojournalism and photography? If so, perhaps you'll be interested in viewing it through the eyes of nearly 60 photojournalists whose photography and text stories appear on Gaia Photos.

Based in 37 countries across the globe, the Gaia Photographers were brought together by Nepal based photojournalist Morten Svenningsen to promote quality and diversity in documentary photography.

The photographers' imagery has been featured in publications spanning the likes of Newsweek and Vanity Fair to Berliner Journalisten and Business Week.

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