As I’ve described in the past I do a lot of work for a local newspaper. They know what they like from me and as a result I’m usually assigned similar assignments. For instance, i cover almost all the basketball for one of our three local high schools and cover every football game for this school.

As a result I’ve got a pretty nice routine down for these events that i do frequently. But it wasn’t always like that. I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten to a shoot only to realize that there were no batteries for my flash. One time, while taking a family portrait for a friend, I actually forgot the battery for my camera. There simply is never an excuse for this. You must be prepared in every aspect that way when it comes time to start taking photographs, the only thing on your mind is clicking the shutter.

1. Make sure your gear is ready. The night before a photography shoot, make sure you have your gear in order. Get your flash cards formatted and your batteries charged. Clean your lenses and make sure that you’ve packed the lenses and lighting equipment you need for the shoot.

2. Know why you are photographing . It doesn’t matter if it’s a wedding or a football game. You are going to be there for a reason and more than likely it’s because someone has asked you (hopefully paid you) to be there.  You should have an idea what they are going to use and what they need. Sometimes my editor will explicitly tell me that he needs a vertical shot, for example. If the only good shot I captured was a horizontal photograph, I have failed. Getting your client what they need is the only way you can gain respect as a photographer.

3. Know what you are photographing. I can’t tell you how many great photographers I’ve seen show up to a baseball game only to come up short because they didn’t understand what was going on.  This doesn’t just apply to sports photography though.  A wedding photographer needs to know when things are happening. A photojournalist covering a political event needs to know who the important speaker is.  In short, you must do a little research before you dive into a shoot. Understanding the subject allows you to photograph it more effectively.

4. Have a plan. Now that you know what you need to get, and you know your subject, try and plan how you’re going to get the shot.  I recently had to gather some photographs of some local landmarks.  The one shot of the series that I planned the most was of the tunnel in town (page 7).  This is a tunnel that only allows for one car at a time to go through, and is mostly used as a train is coming through town as it avoids waiting at the crossing.  I thought a bit about how to capture all of this in one photograph.  The only way was to get a picture of a train crossing the tunnel and two cars coming towards each other.  I looked at the train schedule and picked a time that correlated with a lot of automobile traffic. Having a plan allowed me to get the shot I was hoping for and it only took one try.

5. Be Flexible. Nothing ever goes to plan. Camera gear breaks. Batteries die. You may fail to follow rule 1. The star athlete may be hurt. The priest may not want you on the alter. What you envisioned in your head may end up looking like crap. It doesn’t matter how it happens but it’s going to happen–something isn’t going to go to plan  and you simply have to be prepared to switch gears.

To Conclude…

Photography is never easy and it is isn’t usually routine. However, simply having a routine to prepare yourself is a surefire way to ensure that you will consistently get quality results for yourself and your clients.

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This soccer photograph was the first photograph i had published. This lead to another job with The Daily Iowan which in turn lead to other work.

For the 10 of you that follow this blog (ok, 3 of you), I hope a common theme has become apparent. Flexibility.  As a photographer,  you have to be flexible.  Many young photographers have an idea in their mind that they want to be, say, a “sports photographer”. And so they start shooting nothing but sports in the hopes of someday being at the Super Bowl and while having goals and motivation is a great thing, it is not the only thing that will advance your photography.

Recently a blog i enjoy wrote about the need for people to stray from their most commenly traveled path. The notion being that doing things outside of the comfortable pushes personal development. This, as he points out, conflicts with some previous thoughts he had about sticking with what you’re good at, the argument being that there are people who want to be something they can’t be. Instead of focusing on what you’re bad at, you should focus on the things you’re good at.

This photograph (never published as the brand name was too dominant) was taken for an editorial on energy drinks at college campuses. The look of this image was honed at automobile and track races (panning). I honed this skill shooting sports, then given the opportunity applied it to something completely different.

I don’t think these two perspectives are mutually exclusive. As a photographer, you should try and focus on your strengths, but within that context it is very important to expand your talents and your vision.

If you want to become a great photographer you need to expand your photography skills beyond what you are comfortable with. However, at the same time it is important to focus on your strengths as becoming good at one form of photography will allow you the fortune of experimenting and learning at other forms of photography.

I’ll use myself as the example.

I primarily shoot sports. It’s where I make 90% of my photographic income.  I think it is my favorite form of photography. I enjoy the atmosphere of competition and I enjoy capturing that atmosphere.  It is also, I would argue, the form of photography that I’m best at.

Sports photography is my strength. It is what ultimately landed my first published photograph. Through that first photograph at the Woodstock Independent i was granted the opportunity to shoot many many more photographs for the Independent–sports or otherwise.  With that portfolio i went to The Daily Iowan (a school paper, perhaps a portfolio wasn’t needed) I was hired as a paid intern where i continued to shoot sports but primarily worked on day-t0-day photojournalistic shots–politics, editorials, biographies, breaking news, etc.

Since i first picked up a camera about 10 years ago I have worked to hone my strengths and relied on them to advance my photographic career, but the entire time I have worked very hard to broaden what I consider my strengths.

At the end of the day, the great photographers are great at photography–of any kind. By this, I mean that they can take a camera to any sort of event and photograph it. This may be a concert, it may be a football game, it may be a wedding, or perhaps a family picnic. Photography is not about becoming a great “sports photographer” or “concert photographer” or “horse jumping photographer”. It is about becoming a great photographer. For that to happen, you must embrace all forms and you must become great at them.

This is a photograph published in The Daily Iowan of an MTV Marketing Exec (on the large screen) giving insight to a buisness lecture at The University of Iowa. This was certainly not sports but ultimately my skills as a sports photographer led me to this shot.

To prove the point, i encourage you to check out these photos  at sportsshooter.com.  Yes, most of the subject matter are sports, but the sporting events are merely canvases in which great photographers have painted great photographs.

I would also encourage you to check out Magnum Photo’s.  The subjects of these photographs are often vastly different but the result is often the same: you will find yourself staring at the photograph.