Monday, March 22, 2010

Readings

I think the chapter about presenting ideas is a chapter all freelance photographers should pay attention to. It is truly vital for freelancers to understand how to pitch ideas if they want to be successful in having their ideas accepted by publications. I feel that it is important for photographers to understand the importance in being able to present ideas strongly because some people feel that photographers only take pictures, and it is the reporter that comes up with the ideas. We are just as smart and eligible to take part in presenting valid and newsworthy ideas. We just need to understand how to present our ideas’ importance. I have heard this from the very beginning of photojournalism: you must know your market. This is important so that our ideas aren’t redundant, because they will be immediately turned down by a publication, unless we can express their importance using a different viewpoint or way to tell the story. Another important aspect of presenting ideas is the fact that we must express our knowledge in why we must do a story on our idea. It is not enough to just say, “I think we should do __.” We must include valid reasons as to why our idea is important enough to pursue. We have to persuade editors the importance of our ideas by giving them facts and helping them understand why our idea would be so strong for their publication. I also think that it is important for photographers to understand how to pitch their story ideas. Our ideas aren’t anything if we can’t get editors to even consider them because our pitch isn’t right. Being concise, knowledgeable, and understanding what to include in the pitch (like a portfolio or examples of the visual possibilities) is key for editors. I hope that more photographers can take this advice and show that reporters or editors aren’t the only people that can think of valuable ideas for publications. This chapter has helped me take more into account when thinking of ideas for the future and how I would go about getting them into a publication.

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