A Little News

5)  Every day, every assignment, push yourself to get better.

This may seem like a no brainer.  Isn’t this what we are supposed to do anyway?  They say honest confession is good for the soul but bad for the reputation, never the less, here goes an honest confession.  I fell into a rut a few years ago and I went from pushing myself to just going through the motions.  I turned in good photos but I was not getting better.  I was not pushing the envelope.  I was just going to work and getting paid.  That is a terrible way to shoot news.

How you ask, does one get himself out of a rut.  I’m glad you asked!  This post has three photos that demonstrate how to do it.  For the most part you are still going to be shooting the same jobs so you have to do something else different.  The first way is the best way.  Learn something new and start doing it until you have mastered it.  This first photo is a result of having found a blog about off camera lighting.  I had already made up my mind to get better at lighting and a friend recommended this site:  www.strobist.blogspot.com  It is the best off camera lighting site I know of.  Read it and do it. 

The next thing you can do is vary the way you approach an assignment.  This photo from a youth baseball game where I shot from behind the outfield fence.  Get you a reliable shot from your normal spot then challenge yourself to find another way to shoot.  Do this on every assignment.  Use a remote camera.  Use multiple flash.  Or just use your manual zoom (your feet).  Try anything.  Try everything.  Just do something.  Remember that a rut is just a grave with the ends knocked out.

Finally, this photo of the fire is a bit more of a challenge.  Try to find visual metaphors in your work.  This one is a bit obvious if you know your Bible.  The rainbow is a symbol of God’s promise.  This was a church fire so the rainbow forming over the firefighters represents a visual metaphor symbolizing the promise that the church will rise again.  Nice, huh!  The basic idea is to challenge yourself.  Most of the time the people you work for are not the ones who will challenge you.  If you don’t challenge yourself, you simply will stagnate and not get better, ever.  I once had a pastor who said that living things grow and growing things change so change some things and keep your career alive and well.

All photographs copyright The Decatur Daily, 2007    The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.