[Reechard]

Hi all,

I am applying for a trainee photographers post and was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom or advice?

I am still fairly new to photography, although I feel I am improving, and just hoped that you guys, who seem to take very good pictures could help me at all

Thanks

A nervous Rich

[kBm]

Im sure it will be like any other job -
why do you want the job?
Who inspires you?
Whose work do you admire?
What do you shoot?

Im guessing for a trainee its less about your technical skills, more about having the right creative eye & mindset to understand photography.

Show us some of your work....

[Reechard]

Yeah thanks for the advice.

I just wondered if there would be any specific photography related things they ask, want you to display if anyone knew.

I'll put some up. Be nice lol

[Lewis201]

Originally Posted by Reechard

Yeah thanks for the advice.

I just wondered if there would be any specific photography related things they ask, want you to display if anyone knew.

I'll put some up. Be nice lol

It'll depend entirely on what the job is surely. A trainee photographer post isn't particularly specific. Is it as a portrait photographer, a wedding photographer, a photojournalist, a sports photographer etc?

[Reechard]

Its for a sports and general news photographer I believe.

Here is my flickr Photostream. Need to sort it out really, Been slightly neglecting it.

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Flickr: Reechard7's Photostream

[kBm]

Have you got a portfolio ready to go, that would be 1st on my list a collection of A4 size prints.

If your only at the applying stage is there a requirement to send any photos in, maybe a cd or link to a website like FlickR. If so, your FlickR needs a little housekeeping in creating sets etc.

[Reechard]

Yeah I was going to sort it a few weeks ago but my dad was taking to hospital. I am going to sort it out that I have a few shots just to show them something.

I like the portfolio idea, I'll try and get one made up.

They said 8 media shots but that is for the senior photographer position but not for the trainee.

Thanks for the advice.

[OrbitalPete]

Some constructive (I hope) criticism on the flickr stream. There's some really great shots in there but they're not being set off well.

1. There's a lot of photos that would benefit from post processing. Are you shooting in RAW? if so you should, for example, be able to tweak the background exposures on those cricket shots which look rather dark and flat to me.

2. The night-time architectural shots are great. Make a set out of them so that they're not being showcased next to what appear to be every-day snaps.

3. Your Coombe Abbey shots have a vast number of very similar shots, many of which aren't really adding anything. Use Flickr to showcase the best shots rather than uploading everything.

4. There's a few of your shots where the framing seems a little odd. I would personally either crop harder so it's looking at a specific feature, or shoot the whole object. To have a picture, for example, of a fern where the frame crops out the tips of the leaves but has the whole rest of the plant seems a bit peculiar.

[Reechard]

Originally Posted by OrbitalPete

Some constructive (I hope) criticism on the flickr stream. There's some really great shots in there but they're not being set off well.

1. There's a lot of photos that would benefit from post processing. Are you shooting in RAW? if so you should, for example, be able to tweak the background exposures on those cricket shots which look rather dark and flat to me.

2. The night-time architectural shots are great. Make a set out of them so that they're not being showcased next to what appear to be every-day snaps.

3. Your Coombe Abbey shots have a vast number of very similar shots, many of which aren't really adding anything. Use Flickr to showcase the best shots rather than uploading everything.

4. There's a few of your shots where the framing seems a little odd. I would personally either crop harder so it's looking at a specific feature, or shoot the whole object. To have a picture, for example, of a fern where the frame crops out the tips of the leaves but has the whole rest of the plant seems a bit peculiar.

Thanks alot Pete.

I have only been taking photos for a few months and so all criticism is greatly appreciated. Im here to learn from those who have more skill and knowledge! I havent done any post processing, still getting to grips with photoshop and pictureproject.

I did originally just upload everything as I wasnt looking at taking photography as a career. I am slowly editing everything so I only have my better shots.

[OrbitalPete]

I would suggest the following workflow to start you off on post processing.

1. Shoot everything in RAW
2. Download photos onto your PC.
3. Open all the photos in your RAW editing programme. Adobe Camera RAW sounds like your best option. I would recommend using Adobe Bridge to manage your folders etc in general.
4. Go through each photo in Adobe RAW. Discard those which are out of focus. The rest go through individually and tweak contrast, saturation etc.
Once that's done, go through and look for any similar duplicates. Is there a reason you're keeping 2 versions of a near identical photo? If not, ditch one OR process one of them differently.
5. You should now have got to a point where you have a selection of focussed, processed images. Select those you wish to upload and convert these to JPEG. By this point you may have got to a point where you are intending to upload all of them anyway.

Stage 4 is the time consuming one. As you get more and more of a feel for it you will be able to set up preset adjustments that you can apply singly or in bulk to individual or batches of photos, vastly speeding the process up.

[Reechard]

Thanks for more help Pete

I shoot in RAW already. I will start trying to do it your way and see how I get on.

Hopefully I will be able to produce some decent pictures, and get the job to help me improve.

[ChasH]

If I can add something from a non tech point of view.

What I really love about sports, news or editorial and documentary photography are those great iconic images that show more than just what's happening at the time.

There was a beautiful photograph of the Great Sir Bobby in yesterday's paper - I don't know if anyone saw it - he was in the pouring rain, umbrella up , pacing the touchline, back turned to the camera. It spoke volumes about the man - you just knew that he was deep in thought about the game be played.

Trying to tell a story with the camera is a difficult thing to master and I would suggest you look for a local project or issue that's close to your heart and document it - try and be a journalist but instead of a pen, the camera is your tool of trade.

This may sound like overkill for a trainee 'sports and news' photog position but it isn't, great photography is an art and demonstrating your ability and desire to 'feel' a story, no matter how trivial, will set you apart from the masses.

Good luck with it, your night time shots are very nice, you certainly have an eye for composition, the only thing missing? People.

[Reechard]

Thanks Freddy.

I really appreciate everyones advice and guidance. I would be lost without it, and now feel like I am much better prepared should I recieve an interview offer.

I havent taken many photos of people, I am trying to work on that and also add some portaits to my work. Although I do have a few candids lying about that need uploading.

Everything seems to come at the wrong times, trying to juggle working two jobs, applying for photography jobs and caring for my dad whose just had major surgery. At least my time management has improved and I am being more productive.

Beats sitting about any way.

Thanks again to everyone for you help