Until you step in my shoes

You ever get pissed when your story gets cut, or gets buried in favor of less important shit, or gets stuck with a crappy headline?

You still get paid, but you still get pissed.

 

Do you seriously think a photographer with a digital camera would drive an hour to a game, take four pictures and call it a night? I've never seen or heard of a photographer that lazy.

 

Well ..... not one that would complain about photo play. I will give you that.

 

Try going up to your editor and saying, "maybe you shouldn't send me to a game four hours away if you're only going to use 6 inches/8 inches/or bury me on Page 4."

The editor will respond, "maybe we shouldn't send you to games at all."

Oh shit yeah. I worked with a guy who, quite regularly, would drive an hour or more to a game, and take ONE PHOTO.

Half the time, they looked suspiciously like they were shot from 400 yards away through a telephoto lens, i.e. from the parking lot (a couple of times, he was stupid/lazy enough to leave the frame of the car window in the shot).

Backs of heads, players facing away from the camera -- check.

He figured if he went to the game site and came back with some kind of photographic image, he had fulfilled the assignment with flying colors. He's moved on to "the next level," but many of his proteges remain.

 

Yeah.

 

I've worked with a couple of terribly self-important photogs. I've also worked with some who are not only terrific at their profession, but also are the sorts who would give you the shirt off their backs.

It's SOP for some people to bark. To me, it's not much different than the approach to budgeting a section given management who actually trust its staff and understands how important balance is. In some cases, that local package is worthy of centerpiece treatment. In other cases, it's Page 4. We all know how many varying factors play into what gets space, how large a photo can be played and where it's placed in the section. This isn't news to anyone on this board.

Goalmouth nailed it with the online slideshow. Another possibility is file art should a piece need to be done later on involving one or both of the teams who played in that game. I worked in at least one place where photos which weren't used in the next edition did not go to waste.

The trick is to decipher which people are griping because they are passionate about an issue, and which ones suffer from a terribly overinflated ego. It doesn't take long to figure out which is which in your newsroom.

 

a very good post ...

 

Tell her sorry, you'll try to use more shots the next time. If that doesn't work, remind her that she got paid for the ride and the shot.

 

But if the pope shit in the woods and no one hears or sees it, did it still happen?
I'll just say I haven't personally encountered any photogs that lazy over the years, but one with that work ethic should find other work. There are a lot of hard-working photogs that would be willing to take the job and actually work.

 

just because she sent four photos doesn't mean she took only four, or even only 50 ... when I make an assignment for a photog, I tell them to send in their best stuff -- usually four or five shots unless it's a special event that we're going to play huge ... i don't want to look through 400 photos and pick out the best ones -- that's the job of the photographer -- just like a writer isn't supposed to write about every play, but to boil things down to 500 or 750 words, etc...

 

I'm sorry, have you ever met a columnist?

 

This.