So, You want to be a Photojournalist...
Q) Skip, I'm very passionate about photography, and would like to break into photojournalism. When I'm looking through my city's dailies and weeklies, I think I can duplicate stuff like that with ease. I know I'm a good photographer, but I'm also somewhat sensitive about my images and sometimes wonder if my ego can stand a lot of criticism. Can you give me any pointers?
A) I may or may not have some answers for you. Everybody's situation is different, especially in terms of where they are, where they really want to go, and what the realistic steps are to getting there. I could tell you what I did, but that might not work for you, especially if where I am is not where you want to be ;-)
I do believe, though, that to get anywhere in photography (or anything else, for that matter), you have to always be doing it, and doing it passionately. You have to be pushing yourself to learn and improve, and you have to really be able to relish the moments that you are doing even the most mundane things. When people ask me how they can improve or how they can get somewhere, I first ask how many images they shoot a week. If you're not where you want to be and you're not shooting at least 1000 frames a week, it's going to take a while to get there...
One of the things I did when I started getting serious about photography was to join a challenge site, specifically dpchallenge.com. It's not a mamby-pamby feel-good photo-sharing site. It's seriously competitive and it can be pretty rough on the ego. If you can stomach it, it's one of the best places you can go to learn the ins-and-outs of photography. There are parts and people, though, that you have to take with a grain of salt, especially considering it's an international, online community.
Here's some things you may or may not have considered or done. I mean no offence because I don't know you.
1) You can NOT be sensitive about your images and be successful. You have to be able to separate your love for what you do and how others respond to it. Otherwise, you'll live the life of a tortured artist.
2) It's not enough for you to feel you can 'duplicate stuff like that with ease'. I felt like that when I first started, and boy was I wrong, especially about the 'with ease' part. Photojournalism is about the most difficult artistic pursuit there is. It is WORK and it is never automatic. Some situations are less difficult than others, but the thing is, you never get your pick and you have to be ready for anything. And, you have to be able to shoot ANYTHING (sports, features, art, spot news, politics, business, etc) in ANY CONDITIONS (low light, no light, hot, cold, nasty) at ANY TIME, many times with NO TIME, and you have to be able to do it well and do it creatively. You have to have the proper equipment and you have to be able to show up on time, every time, and get the job done and delivered. And you have to suck it up when things happen that are beyond you're control, whether it's bad directions, awful assignments, or whatever. All that crap goes with the territory.
3) Consider this. You got a couple volleyball shots in your slideshow. Did you shoot the whole game? Have you shot a lot of games? Have you shot enough games to be able to walk into the last 5 points of a match and get at least 5 excellent photos that really capture the essence of the contest? You might 'think' you can, but until you have to do that on deadline, you won't really understand the stress that goes along with this type of work. It's not enough to just point the camera at bodies in motion, shoot in burst, and hope for something to come out in focus (not saying that's what you do, but that's what happens a lot of times).
4) Lastly, I preach the gospel of 'Reliable Competence'. A successful photojournalistic career ultimately comes down to being able to make a living at it, and that happens either by proving yourself worthy to capture a staff position that pays more than a living wage, or by being able to generate enough freelance income to be able to support yourself. Either way, it is a matter of establishing a reputation of people being able to count on you to show up when you're supposed to and then at least meeting or exceeding their expectations. As simple as that. The competition is fierce, especially with everybody and their brother being able to afford a digital camera and wanting to do it. The thing is, once most people realize just how much work is involved in really getting the job done, they quit. And that's what makes opportunities for those who can be counted on to show up and get it done.
I know this might not be what you were looking for, but I think a lot of people gloss over the hard stuff without realizing just how much work is involved, especially if you want to do it right.
Good luck!