How to get your name out there

Sorry its been a while, but sometimes life, stories and pictures get in our way. =) To answer a very good question, as with anything in art or a type of trade, you have to get yourself known. For starters, join your high school and/or college paper. Thats the best thing you can do. For writers, dont limit yourself to one type of writing, try everything, you never know what you'll be great at or love. There are so many opportunities for jobs, writing reveiws on movies, music, books, writing hard news stories, feature stories, sports and many more. I fell in love with sports writing by mistake. And ladies, let me just tell you, if youre good at it, its a great way to meet athletes. If photography is your game, start taking pictures for your school paper, newspapers need art, its just a fact of life, so there will always be room for a new photographer. But be creative, dont take boring shots.

And dont be lazy, fight for stories and photo opportunities, show initiative. Your advisors will see this matched with your ability and your stories/pictures will be published more. This gets your name out there. Then, once you have gained more skill, start sending in your work to writing contests or photo contests, there are plenty of them out there and it makes for great exposure. If you want to go further than that, and work for a big newspaper, put together a portfolio, have your advisor look over it, and call the editor/photo editor of your local paper and ask to set up a meeting. Share your portfolio with them and let them know you are looking for an internship and want a career in this field in the future. Its a great way to start and so many ways to get there. Go try it!

Taking a good Sports Photo

When you begin sports photography, it can be a little challenging. The timing is something to be learned with practice. But to make sure your photo is at least decent, pay attention and make sure to catch the ball in the shot and as much action as you can. No one likes a boring sports photo, the point is to capture the action and adrenaline rush of the play. And look for interesting angles, you dont want a picture of the athlete's back, however nice the jerseys may be, you want a shot with a face. And get low, get high, squat, get on a bench anything to get a different perspective.

Deadlines

Hey there,
On the staff of any and all forms of journalism, there are these widely hated little things called deadlines. You have to have your story/article/column/photo in by a certain time on a certain day. But why is that so bad?
From an editor's perspective, deadlines are a must. It prevents huge holes from remaining unfilled on the pages of your newpaper or magazine, it creates peice of mind and eliminates the last minute freak show of when you have your own deadline in an hour and none of your writers have come through, therefore causing you to dissolve into a flurry of curse words, spilled coffee, ruffled hair and tears.
As my advisor on my college paper said on a typical "production Monday", deadlines are called deadlines for a reason, mostly because as writers miss or disregard them, the editors typically feel like murdering them.
And sometimes it makes it easier to stay on top pf your deadline by making one for yourself earlier than your origional deadline. This way you know when you need to have things done and you can better organize your thoughts, strategies and approaches.
So a rule for deadlines; obey them, prepare for them and worship them. You will make your editors happy(no dragon lady/man breathing down your neck), you will be less stressed and will turn out more prepared, put-together work.

What it really means to look through the lens

Hello!
This is Journeygirl.
Through The Lens is a blog for those interested in any kind of journalism or photography. As a writer and a photographer, I love discovering a new angle; a totally different perspective, presenting an image or idea that makes us question what it was we saw before, how we could have assumed life was not 3-D. There is so much out there to see! We often settle for looking at things the way they are presented to us...but why? Think it over.
Till next time,
~Journeygirl