Hallelujah! Baseball season has officially started in Pittsburgh!

I think I grow most as a photographer during the spring and summer. Shooting everyday and covering the same venue over and over pushes me to look for different pictures every game – to give the viewer something they haven’t seen in 80 other games during the season. It’s my opportunity to take chances and make images that hopefully stand out from the competition.

This year’s Opening Day game didn’t have any of the pictures last year’s did (fan running onto the field, diving catches, etc) but I was quite happy that my first remote at PNC Park worked out and captured the only scored run of the game.

I look forward to many, many more baseball games to come…

 

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In Alexander Radulov’s first game back to the NHL in four years, I was asked to cover the game at Consol Energy Center against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Radulov, who left the NHL after the 2007-2008 season to play in his home country of Russia in the KHL. After his team, Salavat Yulayev Ufa, was knocked out of the playoffs, Alexander Radulov returned to the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2004 NHL draft.

Here are my images of the guy I’m sure many Predator’s fans are happy to see back in an NHL uniform. The entire gallery of images from the game can be seen on my archive: http://archive.wickphotography.com/

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Hines Ward is no longer a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It was sad news to hear from both a fan and photography standpoint as he always made for great images but he was such a great person to have as part of the Pittsburgh community. I sure hope that the Steelers organization brings him in as a coach and mentor to the young wide receiving core in Pittsburgh.

In honor of his hard-nosed play and always great attitude for life and the game of football, I’ve posted my favorite images from the two seasons that I was lucky enough to cover him for.

Happy Retirement, Hines!

 

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Apply, apply, apply.

Anyone who has applied for an internship will tell you how hard they are to get. Sometimes though, it’s not so much about your portfolio as it about the intangibles. Let me explain…

Everyone knows how much talent exists in photojournalism and how many schools are churning out photography students (especially if you read the article about the school where I graduated from, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh). All of the best colleges and universities are having their students apply for internships. So how do you think you can win over the editors and photography departments of the respective newspaper/magazine/wire agency that you are applying at? By simply wanting it more.

I will use myself as an example here. I had three internships while going through school: Pittsburgh Pirates, Getty Images, and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I know for a fact that the other students who applied for all three of these internships had much better work than I. In fact, I failed to get the internship with Getty the first time around. After working my butt off for a year and attending Sports Shooter Academy for a second time, I was asked to reapply and I did so with even more motivation.

Some are you are probably thinking, “Well, I’m not ready or think my portfolio is good enough for an internship yet”. Maybe you aren’t ready to get it THIS year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply for it. You are not going to be looked down upon for applying for an internship earlier than you should. It actually can help you in many cases. Just like with the images you make – you have to do all of the little things to set yourself apart from the competition. So when the DOP or person in charge of hiring the upcoming photography intern every year sifts through the many applications and recognizes your name from the previous year(s), they are much more likely to set yours aside for final consideration because it shows your persistence.

For those of you who may think your body of work isn’t strong enough to nail an internship, think about this. An internship is your opportunity to take chances. As a young, student intern you are expected to make some mistakes. Learning from those mistakes is sometimes the best learning experience you can have. In my opinion, to be surrounded by a group of supportive veteran photojournalists in a real world environment will help you grow as a photographer more than a semester of any college course you might take.

Most internships will ask you to write an essay explaining why you think you deserve it. Even if they don’t – as was the case in one of my internships – send one along with your application and portfolio anyways. The mere fact that you spent time to write an essay and went above and beyond what they asked for will speak volumes in and of itself. Even more so if that essay expresses your passion for photography and your desire to grow as a photography intern, your chances of being picked go way up.

The one thing most students or recent graduates looking for an internship or job don’t realize is that how well your personality fits in with the company is often times the clincher. Even if it’s just for the possibility of steady freelance work, it’s important. If you don’t get along well with others, your talents may not be enough to save you. This is a small community – even smaller with social media. Your reputation will follow you wherever you go.

Although most internships are announced and made public on many online photography forums (SportsShooter, NPPA, ASMP, etc), some come from referrals by meeting the right person at the right time. If you put yourself in the right situations by attending workshops (i.e. Eddie Adams Workshop, Sports Shooter Academy, NPPA Northern Short Course), your chances for these opportunities are much greater. Another way to find internships and learn exactly what each is like is to read the blog of the students who have already experienced it. They will show you and tell you things that aren’t written up in the description of the internship. That student can also be a great resource to recommend you for the internship the following year as well!

All in all, apply for and do as many internships as you can. No matter where it takes place, I guarantee that you will come away with some of the best images and experiences of your life.

And as my favorite editor picture editor at Getty, Trudy Laltoo, always used to tell me before every assignment, “Don’t fuck up!”

Here are a few blogs of students from various schools who completed internships this past year:

- Joel Hawksley (Ohio University) – Seattle Times

- Patrick Fallon (University of Missouri) – Dallas Morning News

- Patrick McDermott (Brooks Institute) – Getty Images Sport

- Brooks Canaday (Boston University) – Moline Dispatch & Rock Island Argus:

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Millions of people are photographers. Thousands have staff positions. And a growing number in this economy, including myself, are becoming freelance photographers.

Freelance photography is a two-part profession. The obvious part is the photo making part. The other half is where that same photographer must also become a businessperson who can successfully market themselves and their work.

There have been a lot of people who have talked or written about what it takes to be a successful freelance photographer. There is no right or wrong path as this is all still fairly new to everyone, including myself, but there are certainly things that have found proven to work. We all have our own personal experiences so I’m here to offer my own along with advice that I hope can help those starting out.

To give everyone reading a short back-story on myself and my experience, I’m an (almost) 23 year-old who specializes in covering sports in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. I’m a fairly recent graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. During my time in college, I was blessed with certain opportunities that I took advantage of including internships with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa) newspaper, and Getty Images in New York City. I now freelance full time for many clients including Getty Images and The New York Times.

When I first moved to Pittsburgh to pursue my degree in photojournalism, I started a job at a local restaurant cleaning dishes. Although this famous local chain paid fairly well, I couldn’t handle having a “normal” job doing something I didn’t love. After three days, I quit, and from there on out I knew that I would have to really hustle and work hard to pay the bills with my photographs. But in my mind, there were no other options and nothing else to fall back on. I essentially told myself that I would not work retail or in the food industry like the rest of my friends.

I also knew that starting out, assignments would not pay a lot and be few and far between since I had yet to establish myself. Since I was in college, I didn’t have a ton of bills to pay, which was the perfect way for me to start out. My photography would just be paying for my food and transportation. But I knew that six months after graduation, my mailbox would be full of letters demanding money from some woman named Sallie Mae (on top of rent, car payment, insurance, utilities, etc).

After becoming a SportsShooter.com member and regularly posting images from recent local high school and college sporting events, I received a phone call from an editor at ESPN. He told me that he found me via my updates on SportsShooter and asked if I would cover local high school football star, Terrelle Pryor, on National Signing Day. That phone call, three months into college, made me the happiest (and most nervous!) I had ever been! I have never prepared more for an assignment more in my entire life than I did for this. Even though it was just a press conference, I was going to have it covered from every angle. This was my first taste of the real world. I was hooked and I wanted more.

I see a lot of photography students only begin to take themselves seriously upon graduation. If you don’t take yourself and your work seriously, then why should an editor? The key to me not having to work a regular 9-5 job is because I started marketing myself while still in college. It takes time to make that transition to full time freelance. You can’t just wake up, quit your job, move to a city, and assume that you’re all of a sudden going to get a ton of freelance work. It takes time – so don’t get frustrated when you’re not immediately bombarded with assignments. The reason I’m able to pay my bills with pictures is because of years of relationship building and networking. And I don’t just mean just with established professional photographers either. Some of my best assignments (including one tonight as I write this) have come from other fellow recent photography graduates in the area who have another assignment that they’re already covering. The same goes for me if I am already booked on an assignment. That trust that they have in me to make the client happy and complete the assignment successfully is the reason that they call me. If I show up late or don’t produce images to the client’s expectations, it’s ultimately the photographer who referred me who looks bad. And they will most likely never receive assignments from that client, nor help me out, ever again.

I first created my photography website my senior year in high school. I also made sure to have business cards my first quarter at college (albeit poorly designed by my graphic designer roommate). Nonetheless, they had my information and a way to contact me. It was that lame website and poorly designed business card that I now have the amazing mentor that I do in Al Bello over at Getty Images. It’s the little things in your images that set you apart from the photographer next to you. The same goes when marketing yourself and looking for work.

Just because you specialize as a photojournalist doesn’t mean you can’t cover the occasional wedding or event either. I may cover primarily sporting events but in the past week I’ve covered just as many events as games. You’ll learn after your first year as a freelancer, which months are the slowest and where you need to work a little harder on picking up assignments. Those events earlier in the year can help get you through those months by putting aside some money for rent in case the work just isn’t coming in.

And finally, this may be cliché but it couldn’t be more true in the freelance world – what you put into it is a direct result of what you get in return. You are your own boss so you need to be independent and self-motivated enough to set aside time every day to email prospective clients, network with other professionals, and work on your portfolio.  At the same time you have a hundred other bosses that you must make sure are happy with the quality of your work as well. Don’t be afraid to be a go-getter, put yourself out there and take some risks. Be patient and don’t get discouraged too quickly. There is plenty of work out there if you know where to find it and are willing to work hard enough to get it.

No Comments » | Tags: 2011, 2012, AFC Championship Game. Hines Ward, Cleveland, Cleveland Indians, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, images, jared wickerham, Major League Baseball, Maloof Money Cup, MLB, NBA, New York City, Newport Beach, NFL, NHL, NYC, Ohio, Opening Day, photographer, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh editorial photographer, Pittsburgh music photographer, Pittsburgh sports photographer, Pittsburgh Steelers, PNC Park, Progressive Field, sports, Sunset, Surf, wick photography