Publishing photo books now easier than ever

Author Heather Graulich explains in her new article featured on the NPPA website that it is easier than ever for a photographer to publish their own book. Before photo books were thought of coffee table accessories from famous photographers. Now anyone has the ability to publish their own photo book by uploading photos online, adding in captions and checking the mail a week later to see a poorly made scrapbook of memories.

 But Graulich explains that now professional photographers can easily produce their own pro-quality book to help them with their brand. She explains "But for the majority of professional photographers today, publishing books of their work is no longer a lifelong career dream most won’t reach – it’s a very real, active part of how they publicize their brand; yet another important tool in marketing themselves in an increasingly freelance-based industry."

With funding available through donation sites such as Kickstarter and Emphas.is, photographers can receive help with monetary costs as well.

Matt Eich, pictured left, is a Norfolk, Va. photographer that recently published his photo book Carry Me Ohio. The book was well received, winning a people’s choice award in Blurb’s Photography Book Now competition.

Eich spent $5,000 on editing and printing costs for a 100-book digital press run with Edition One – a cost of $50 per book. He decided to price the book at $85 in order to recoup his costs and be able to keep a few of his books. He listed the books for sale on his blog – and sold 75 of them literally overnight. 

Denver Post photograher wins NPPA BOP award

A gunman slipped into a midnight premiere of the new Batman movie through an emergency exit, tossed two hissing gas canisters and then methodically, calmly walked up the aisle firing, killing 12 people and wounding 70. It was among the worst mass shootings in American history. Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members outside Gateway High School where he has been franticly searching for his son, Alex Sullivan, who saw "The Dark Knight Rises," in the movie theater where a gunman opened fire Friday, July 20, 2012, in Aurora, CO. Photograph by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

RJ Sangosti of The Denver Post was named the National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism 2013 Photojournalist of the Year in the larger market. Sangosti is most known for his photo from the Aurora theatre shooting over the summer.

When Sangosti got the call to learn that he'd won the title, Sangosti said, "It's been a hard year. But this is very flattering and humbling. I look at Tyler [Hicks] and Damon [Winters] work every day. Both of them are amazing."

Sangosti credits the advances the Denver Post has made on their website in terms of photography. "Photography has become really important to the Web site," Sangosti said, "in these days when the print product takes a bow to the Web, and on the Web photographs are really important, maybe it makes the newsroom approach things a little differently now than maybe they did before."

World Press Photo of the Year faked

It was just announced today that the 2013 World Press Photo of the Year is a fake. The World Press Photo has been around for over 50 years and is one the most distinguished photo competitions every year. The World Press Photo has not yet reprimanded the photographer, Paul Hansen, from his award. According to Extreme Tech, however, believes that he will lose his award this week.

The photo is of Palestinians carrying two casualties after an Israeli attack in Gaza City in November 2012. The reason that the photo was not caught earlier was because there were other similar photos by other photographers from the same event. The actual photo is not a fake however. Dr. Neal Krawetz analyzed the photo and found that the shadows of the top left corner were manipulated. The photo was shot at 10:40 a.m. in the winter and the sun would have been lower, creating a more noticeable shadow.




Finally the article brings up an interesting point of whether the photo is fake or just overly enhanced? What is unacceptable when it comes to editing? Can a photographer rotate a photo, burn and dodge, remove dust from the sensor?

From the Pros: How to get the perfect portfolio

Photography consultant Jim Colton recently published part 1 of a 3 part series called "The Perfect Portfolio: A Photographer's Guide." Colton was the photography editor of Sports Illustrated and has previously worked for the Associated Press and Newsweek.

He stressed 10 key points to focus on to achieve the ultimate portfolio. The biggest dilemma is creating a portfolio that is marketable and showcases their "photographic soul."



1. Be original. Show creativity in your thought process to be different from everyone else. Colton stresses that "imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery."

2. Content is King. Make sure your content is better than anyone elses. Since nobody wants to buy an inferior product, make sure your work reflects you and is your calling card.

3. Editing. “Your portfolio is only as good as your weakest picture!” With that in mind, keep your emotions out of it and only show your best work.

4. Quality. You need to follow the basic rules and make sure all your photos are appropriately exposed, toned, cropped, and captioned.

5. Personal Project or story. This part of the portfolio is key because it shows the photographer can tell a story all the way through with a beginning, middle, and end. Also it shows that the photographer can shoot a subject with variety of lenses and angles.

6. Portraits. Portraits are a key part of a photographers portfolio. If you are good at all portraits, sports, business, daily life, then it will help you land more freelance opportunities. They should be an equal balance of creativity and newsworthiness.

7. Clips. You should have PDF copies of publications that your photo ran in. It shows what editors think of your work and how they play them on a page. A 6 column photo says more than a 1 inch photo that ran the size of a postal stamp.

8. Promo Cards. Promo cards are an underutilized tool when it comes to promoting your work. Cards should have all of your contact information in an easy to read format.

9. Digital vs. Print Products. Both your hard copy portfolio and website need to be equally strong and impactful. They should both easily convey the strength of your work and be able to get you a job.

10. Keep it Current. Your portfolio should always be changing because ideally you should always be producing better work. Don't become emotionally attached to photos and know when it is time to replace one.

A look back at Boston

 Newspaper analyst Charles Apple recently published a blog post looking at the best and worst front pages from the day after the Boston Bombings. He commended the Virginian Pilot and  The Arizona Republic. Personally the Virginian Pilot was my favorite front page. However I do recognize that The Arizona Republic also did a solid job, especially considering the event happened on the other side of the country.

 The Patriot Ledger, along with several other papers chose to focus on the firefighters, police, and fellow runners that became heroes that day. He said that it was a great picture paired with a great headline.

However not all papers were as effective. The New York Daily News chose to run a gruesome photo that wrapped around the front and back of the paper. Charles Apple did not approve of using "Massacre" in the headline. "Yes, a lot of people were injured yesterday. But I’m not sure that three dead justify use of the word 'massacre.'"

Peacefully photographing police

Photojournalist Mannie Garcia is currently involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit in which he was arrested in 2011 unlawfully for taking photos of a police encounter and his camera and images were seized.

 "The Justice Department told the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in its filing today that it upholds an individuals' 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendment rights to peacefully photograph police as they are performing their official duties in a public place, and that their rights have been violated when police seize such recordings without a warrant or due process. "

Read the article, via the National Press Photographers Association here:
https://nppa.org/node/42647

The original Justice Deparment's Statement of Interests can be found here:
https://nppa.org/sites/default/files/Garcia_DOJ_SOI_03-04-13.pdf

Robbed: Photojournalists cannot do their job without gear

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Laura Oda, the chief photographer for The Oakland Tribune, has been robbed of her photographer equipment while on assignment twice since last August in Oakland.

It's a scary thought. Robbed at gunpoint by someone hoping to make quick cash stealing the thousands of dollars of camera equipment you have while on the job. In Oakland, Calif. the number of journalists being robbed has increased and every major news station has had at least one camera story.

The article was reported two days ago from The New York Times. I originally found this on the front page of NPPA. I learned of this story while at work today and everyone seemed concerned about the issue. I can't even imagine having to call my boss and tell him the horrific news.

Blog sources

I will be blogging about photojournalism ethics, issues, and other topics on the craft in this blog. Below are popular blogs I read and will be referring to.

Sports Shooter
http://www.sportsshooter.com/
SportsShooter.com is an online community and resource for sports photographers and other working photojournalists. It started off as an informative site for photographers that are going into a new venue or location. However throughout the years SportsShooter has gained popularity because of it’s blog a message boards that deal with all problems and issues that occur with photographers.         
                          
National Press Photographers Association
https://nppa.org/
“Across an ever-changing media landscape, the NPPA has fought to promote and protect integrity and excellence in visual journalism for more than six decades.” NPPA is the most well-known professional association for news photographers and their blog address’ important situations that occur and how to deal with them. Their code of ethics have set a precedent on how news photographers should work and they help deal with situations.

Student Press Law Center
http://www.splc.org/   
This site focuses more on issues that arise with students on college campuses mostly being restricted to use their first amendment rights. Their insight would come in handy for my blog if a college newspaper ever pulled or censored a photo. Although this has not happened at Elon yet, I’m confident SPLC would immediately become involved. I had first hand experience with them two years ago with a photo restriction issue at NC State and saw how they operated.

Bradley Wilson’s Photojournalism Blog
http://bradleywilsononline.net/blog
On a related note to SPLC, Dr. Bradley Wilson’s blog offers advice to young photographers from an educational perspective. Wilson has been a professional photographer for years and now teaches at Midwestern State University in Texas. He teaches and blogs about how to be careful with the use of photos and distributing them. I know Dr. Wilson personally and credit my dedication to photojournalism thanks to him.

College Media Matters
http://collegemediamatters.com/
College Media Matters is a leading student journalism industry blog and works with the Associated Collegiate Press. The blog “contains occasional editorializing built atop my belief in the power of college media.”Elon is frequently featured in College Media Matters, including last week with a squirrel article featuring my photo. A blog post was made last year about a photo I published in The Pendulum and their take on it.

Jabin E Botsford’s Photojournalism Blog
http://jabinebotsford.com/category/blog/
Jabin Botsford is arguably the best student photojournalist in the country. He previously interned at the Washington Post and this summer will be at The New York Times. I met him last year at the annual Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar and he is well-known as an up-and-coming photographer. He has personally seen photo issues arise in his own career and blogs from a unique student perspective. I will try to post from Jabin frequently because personally I look up to him alot.

Charles Apple: The Visual Side of Journalism
http://apple.copydesk.org/
Charles Apple is well-known in the online journalism community for calling it as he sees it visually. If a newspaper runs a photo the wrong way or copies someone else, he will call them out. I have read his blog on and off for a few years now and appreciate that he does his job to the best of his ability and doesn't take no for an answer. He has a level of expectations for newspapers and holds them to it. Locally, he talks about North Carolina frequently since he hails from Virginia.

New York Times Lens Blog
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/
The New York Times photographers (aka kings of the PJ world) blog about their experiences and weigh in on national photo issues. In typical Times fashion, their photographers think outside the box and have a unique view on most things in the photo world. The blog is well kept and features different sections including the "art of photojournalism" as well as the "craft of photojournalism.” I am certain I will refer to the Times blog frequently.

Sam Corum Blog
http://samuelcorum.wordpress.com/
Sam Corum is a freelance photographer based in Washington DC. He recently published a post last week called "Is it lying?" in which he addresses the issue of omitting caption information in order to convey a different message. His posts are well researched and offer insight from both sides of arguments. He tries to remain unbiased in order to be as fair as possible. This will be another site I will refer to when a major issue arises.

Luke Sharrett’s Photojournalism Blog
http://sharrett.blogspot.com/
Luke Sharrett is a freelance photographer for The New York Times in Washington DC. He is a friend of Jabin Botsford and I also look up to him and have a great deal of respect for him. Having worked for the NYT as well as the White House Photo Office, he remains heavily involved in political photography in DC. In his blog he offers his insight into political photo issues and new changes in the industry.