Newspaper Photography Jobs 101. News photography is a field many photographers overlook in pursuit of a career in the industry. While larger newspapers are typically staffed with full-time photographers, there are many great opportunities with smaller town/city news rooms. Yes, it can be quite difficult to land a full-time position at a major papers, newspapers with smaller circulations often rely on freelance photographers for much of their content and is an excellent place to start.

Skills Required to be a great News Photographer.

• Story telling ability. Due to the limited amount of space permitted for any given article, every photo should tell a story. Many novice photographers have to ability to record excellent exposures and images, but photo editors will be looking for your “story telling” abilities when reviewing your portfolio. Do not overlook this key requirement. In most photography classes, students are taught to get closer to your subject. While this may be great advice for some aspects of photography, remember that normally only one photo will run with any given story. The next time you are out shooting, practice telling a complete story with only 1 image.

• Become deadline oriented. When I first started with my local weekly newspaper covering sports events, I would stay for the entire game, shooting tons of images and printing a stack of photos that were rarely used. It did not take long for me to realize this was a tremendous waste of time and money. If you are shooting for a large newspaper, you will have several assignments for any given day. Plan your course of action for each assignment, hit and move on. The ability to pre-plan what elements you will probably want to include in your photos is a huge time saver.

• Always be prepared. Many assignments you will be asked to cover are planned well in advance, i.e., ribbon cuttings, group photos, “grip and grin” photo ops with local politicians, and school events. In other cases, news worthy events can be thrust upon you at the drop of a hat. One of the beauties of being a news photographer are the unexpected moments. Always assume that something big is about to happen and plan accordingly. Never leave the office or house without a fully charged camera, spare batteries, spare memory cards, etc. A career changing photo opportunity could be minutes away from happening, so don’t miss out because you weren’t prepared.

• It’s not about the money. The average starting salary for a newspaper photographer in the US is around $35, 000. The size of the paper you work and your location has a major impact on these figures. Once you’ve become established and your skills are proven, your salary can dramatically increase. It is important to realize why you choose to enter this field in the first place…for the love of photography. I am a firm believer that if you love what you’re doing, the money will take care of itself. Focus on creating excellent images and success will follow.

Top 10 Newspapers  – Photography