In Your Face!

Off the top of my head, I do have a few things I'll throw out at you. One, if you really are 17, be patient. Shoot as much as you can, but make sure you are learning from what you shoot. Shoot to find and develop a style that will make your photography immediately recognizable as 'yours'.

Next, in addition to shooting on your own, you really might consider going to school for it. Looking back over my thirty year shooting history, I really wish I had gone the school route. Not only do you learn the technicals, but you make a lot of contacts, and you are considered for work that only goes to people with either experience and/or training. At the very least, study it with obsession. When I was really getting into it, but going to school for it was out of the question, I bought a ton of books, as well as a training program on tape. I still buy lots of books.

And--this is really important--I subscribe to the daily paper, primarily to collect examples of what is getting published; they provide me the benchmarks I use to compare my work. If I can't look at my stuff as being good enough to make their pages, I need to work harder.

Also, don't put everything you have into trying to freelance just for the local daily. Make yourself available to every publication in the area, especially the weeklies. Most importantly, though, if and when you get assignments for smaller publications, is to shoot them as if you were shooting for the daily. That's the number one downfall of shooters for 2nd tier publications--they treat their work as if it doesn't matter. And, again, be patient. It takes time to develop a reputation of 'reliable competence'--which is what it takes to succeed as a freelancer. To make your age work for you, you are going to have to work harder to prove that people can count on you to both show up AND get the job done.

Lastly, most daily publications do not take contributed work. Smaller publications will, but they typically do not pay. What you want to do is to shoot as many events--sports, festivals, shows, whatever--as you can, developing a photojournalistic eye and building your portfolio; that way, when the opportunities present themselves, you will have something to show what you're capable of.

Good luck, and hang in there. just remember, it's all about the journey...