Need guidance, mentoring, a clue

lizzard_nyc

Ok so here is the deal.
I'm landing a photo gig here and there--it's still rare though. I hope to land more in the future, by photo gig, I mean portraits, no weddings yet.
However, my passion is still street/pj and other than posting here and flickr I am not sure what else to do with my photos. I have through flickr been published (I lose the term published very loosely because I didn't get paid and they just gave me credit and it was only used on the web) on The Gothamist. I had three photos that were used, all ones I posted here first. Other than that I don't know what else to do.

Virginia has I think half serioyusly told me to do something with Queens (the neighborhood in which I live), but I don't know what I would do with said photos. I don't want to do a Blurb book because other then myself and my parents, who else would buy it?

Is there some other outlet for us street photographers?
What magazines are good sources to send photos to and do they always charge for submitting photos?

What else what else! I want to do something, I want some guidance and I want to work towards something--in short I need a project.

HELP!

thoth

I know this doesn't address your desire to have your street photography published but how about approaching your new paid work from a street perspective? I try to approach my paid work (family, portraits, some seniors and weddings) the same way that I walk the streets.

Take a look at B.D.'s wedding stuff and you'll see what I mean (his is much better than mine ). It's street through and through, but solicited none the less.

I have never sold a street photo taken while just walking around. I have, however, sold a ton of "street" photos from paid weddings and portrait sessions.

michswiss

lizzard_nyc wrote: »

...

What else what else! I want to do something, I want some guidance and I want to work towards something--in short I need a project.

HELP!

Liz,

You're going to have to put yourself out there and by that I don't mean on Flickr or DGrin or any other photo sharing website. But you already know that.

I was itching just like this a year ago. I knew that I liked what I was doing and needed to work through what that meant to me. I've done a few gigs, presented at events and been published as well. Yet, the hardest, most valuable thing I did this year was to put myself in front of professionals, mainly editors and curators for portfolio reviews. These people look at this stuff for a living and won't show you any favours. I came away absolutely gutted but the feedback has become more valuable over time. Plus, it's a great way to network in real life!

There are bound to be events in NYC that you could attend, I charged my way into a festival run by the World Photography Organisation. Three days of lectures and reviews. You could also look at local colleges or art schools for opportunities to get some feedback.

2011 is going to be my year to test whether I do anything more with my photography than I have. I plan on offering myself as a second shooter at weddings to learn more about the practical side of the business. I'm going to prepare a Blurb book because I need to improve my editing and writing (Plus, I've had enough people ask for one that I might as well). I'm going to put time into building a solid set of macro stock images with a couple of agencies. And lastly, I'm probably going to join a two-week workshop in Africa focused on developing skills as a professional documentary photographer working with NGOs.

There seems to be something of a resurgence in Street Photography publications. I know you're on Flickr, are you aware of the SPN project? 52 weeks, one "instruction" per week each from a different established Street Photog. There are magazines and competitions galore, many of which will charge a nominal fee for a submission and then also want to take copyright ownership of your images. You need to be careful with these. I used to have a link with all this stuff, but it seems to have changed. I'll look around for some more info.

lizzard_nyc

thoth wrote: »

I know this doesn't address your desire to have your street photography published but how about approaching your new paid work from a street perspective? I try to approach my paid work (family, portraits, some seniors and weddings) the same way that I walk the streets.

Take a look at B.D.'s wedding stuff and you'll see what I mean (his is much better than mine ). It's street through and through, but solicited none the less.

I have never sold a street photo taken while just walking around. I have, however, sold a ton of "street" photos from paid weddings and portrait sessions.

Thank you Travis,
In one of my jobs, I had to take a photo of a two year old, and that's the approach I took. Basically I took him to the park with his parents and let him loose and just kind of followed him with his parents. I got some great pj style shots and the parents loved them, I also did get some portraits, but really it was not posed. He would be talking to me and laughing and I'd snap the shot--it was pretty thrilling for me.

I do hope to land some 2nd wedding photographer jobs, because I think my approach (meaning documentary, street) would be perfect for the second shooter.

Thanks for the advise Travis. It's the approach I feel more comfortable with for taking photos.

lizzard_nyc

michswiss wrote: »

Liz,

You're going to have to put yourself out there and by that I don't mean on Flickr or DGrin or any other photo sharing website. But you already know that.

I was itching just like this a year ago. I knew that I liked what I was doing and needed to work through what that meant to me. I've done a few gigs, presented at events and been published as well. Yet, the hardest, most valuable thing I did this year was to put myself in front of professionals, mainly editors and curators for portfolio reviews. These people look at this stuff for a living and won't show you any favours. I came away absolutely gutted but the feedback has become more valuable over time. Plus, it's a great way to network in real life!

There are bound to be events in NYC that you could attend, I charged my way into a festival run by the World Photography Organisation. Three days of lectures and reviews. You could also look at local colleges or art schools for opportunities to get some feedback.

2011 is going to be my year to test whether I do anything more with my photography than I have. I plan on offering myself as a second shooter at weddings to learn more about the practical side of the business. I'm going to prepare a Blurb book because I need to improve my editing and writing (Plus, I've had enough people ask for one that I might as well). I'm going to put time into building a solid set of macro stock images with a couple of agencies. And lastly, I'm probably going to join a two-week workshop in Africa focused on developing skills as a professional documentary photographer working with NGOs.

There seems to be something of a resurgence in Street Photography publications. I know you're on Flickr, are you aware of the SPN project? 52 weeks, one "instruction" per week each from a different established Street Photog. There are magazines and competitions galore, many of which will charge a nominal fee for a submission and then also want to take copyright ownership of your images. You need to be careful with these. I used to have a link with all this stuff, but it seems to have changed. I'll look around for some more info.

Wow Jenn,
I will have to reread this a couple of times it's filled with good information.
Ok really noob type of question when you say put myself out there with a portfolio, do you mean a real portfolio you can touch or a virtual one, is a smugmug account good enough for photo reviews by critics? Also if I need to print them, then I have a whole lot more to learn because I rarely print my shots. I know it's not as easy as ordering through smugmug or printing myself. I remember when Rutt was doing the Blurb book he had so many problems getting the photos just right, specially in b&w and I didn't understand any of it.

I am also trying to get myself hired to second shoot, but not trying hard enough. I have just posted my desire to get hired as a second shooter here on the "for hire" pages, but that's pretty much it--don't really know how else to approach it. Besides one look at my Olympus E620 and they all go running in the opposite direction.

Thanks for the info--lots to absorb. I'm sure I will have a few more questions.

Also, so proud that you were able to accomplish all this this past year and good luck to you this year, which sounds like a "make it or break it year". I hope you are able to do something more with your photos as well because you are truly talented.