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A Gear Guide For Going Freelance By David McIntyredavid-mcintyrecloseAuthor: David McIntyre See Author's Posts (2) Recent Posts * Nine Essentials (Besides a Camera) You'll Need as a Freelance Photographer * A Gear Guide For Going Freelance David McIntyre is a photographer for Black Star based in China and Hong Kong since 1995. Prior to becoming a freelance photographer, he was a staff photographer for The Phoenix Gazette. He has also worked for UPI, the Associated Press, EPA, Asiaweek Magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Baseball America, and the minor league baseball teams in Denver and Phoenix before they had Major League teams. Visit David's Web site. in Business of Photography on March 13th, 2009 I've read the articles and postings about newspaper layoffs, and I've gotten my share of e-mails from former staff photographers asking for guidance. As someone who's been freelancing for most of my career, what's the first advice I would give to those of you striking out on your own? Get the right equipment. A lot of corporate and editorial assignments require portrait work, for example - which requires lighting gear. But most new freelancers don't realize they will need more than their one shoe mount strobe. Others may have more or less gear than what I find works best. But here are my recommendations for the equipment you'll need to fulfill the majority of requests from potential clients.

There are a myriad of options out there right now when it comes to tools for multimedia storytelling. The combination of tools you use can be your greatest strength or your greatest weakness. The important thing is to find the right combination of gear that fits your style of shooting and allows you to tell the best story possible. Below is a list of tools that we may use a combination of on any given multimedia shoot. Again the importance is to find what combination works best for you. Multimedia tools are constantly evolving. There are many options on the market from which you can mix and match to best suit your needs. The following describes our current field production kit.

"I know this can be a controversial subject. I know there are passionate beliefs built up over years of personal experience. This list, like any list of its kind is bound to have some short comings. In the spirit of that acknowledgment, please feel free to leave additions or suggestions in the comment section. This list will inevitably be outdated within a year, so an updated comment section would be of real value to everyone. For this post, I've created three separate gear lists (budget, moderate and high-end) with three budgets in mind. "

Sunday, March 19, 2006 Lighting 101 Intimidated by the idea of off-camera lighting? Don't be. We are pretty much starting from scratch, so no worries. The first posts will be about what kind of gear you will need to do the minimalist strobe thing. When we are done having our way with your wallet (remembering that light gives you far more bang-for-the-buck than does fast glass or the latest digital camera or 300/2.8) we'll move into basic technique. And after that, we'll keep it going with periodical essays and ideas on how to improve (or refresh) your lighting ability. When you've worked your way through the basics of designing your light kit and learning how to use it, make a point to browse some of the examples in the "On Assignment" section. Those will be updated constantly, too. So keep checking back. You will likely have some questions along the way. Sadly, it is not possible for me to take the time to personally answer all of the one-to-one lighting questions that pop up. So try to resist asking them in the comments section. The only people reading this behind you are the people who are, well, behind you. You will find the one-to-one knowledge bank you seek in the Strobist Group on Flickr. There, you can ask away and get the diversity of response that you need. These are the lighting grad students, so to speak. They know this stuff, and are very enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge.

Centurion conducts its flagship risk assessment and hostile environments training courses nearly every week in the UK and once a month in the USA. Our scheduled Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) courses are open to all-comers and encompass a wide range of subjects geared towards minimising risks to personal safety for those who live or work in volatile regions. These residential training courses include discussions and practical exercises on Mines and Booby Traps, Weapons and Ballistics, Emergency Navigation, Kidnapping, Personal Security, and a great deal of field emergency first aid training that assumes definitive care is not immediately available. At least 68 per cent of our training takes place outdoors. Each week our instructors pass on life-saving skills to those who travel to places that are exposed to a higher than normal degree of danger.

Defending the Barricade On Feb. 1, 2006, Associated Press photographer Oded Balilty was in the West Bank settlement of Amona when a violent confrontation broke out between Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces. The troops were attempting to enforce a government order to tear down nine houses built on private Palestinian land after Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by the settlers. Balilty, camera ready, stood about 3 meters from the end of the barricade. Crowds lined up on a wall overlooking the holed-up settlers, while Israeli troops in riot gear advanced. "Nili, a young settler ... was standing 15 meters away, biting her fingernails, when she saw them coming and ran toward the barricade," Balilty said. Said Nili: "I felt a stranger pushing me to defend the barricade. It was God who gave me the courage." Moments after Balilty took the photograph that won him the Pulitzer Prize, Nili was beaten by club-wielding police.

Avoiding Freelancer Freefall By Mike FoxmikefoxcloseAuthor: Mike Fox See Author's Posts (7) Recent Posts * Avoiding Freelancer Freefall * How to Work with NGOs: Two Approaches * Print Media Layoffs Are an Acceptance of Defeat -- Not a Strategy for the Future * Online Tools to Stay Competitive in the Digital Age * Six Strategies for Getting Closer to Your Subject San Francisco-based freelance photojournalist Mike Fox has worked all over Europe, South Africa and the United States, with assignments also taking him to other parts of Africa, the Middle East, Haiti. Mexico and Southeast Asia. In his 15+ years as a photojournalist, Mike has been doused in tear gas, nearly attacked by a wild donkey, and brought in to land on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. His work has been featured in many leading daily, weekly and monthly publications as well as on MSNBC, CNN and other news-related web sites. Mike specializes in corporate photojournalism and has a substantial client list, many of which are located in the Silicon Valley area. Visit Mike's Web site and blog. in Business of Photography on November 17th, 2008 Just yesterday, a colleague sent me a Facebook message saying that she had been laid off from her newspaper. She wanted some advice on finding freelance work; I know she is not alone. Over the years, I have seen many newspaper staffers suddenly find themselves without the support structure that a corporation can provide -- no camera gear, no assignment editor, no benefits, no work, no salary. It can be a rude awakening.

1854 brings you a daily dose of photographic news, from the latest gear to the best exhibitions to the best insights on ongoing and upcoming trends in the industry. 1854 is written by the editors of the British Journal of Photography, the world's oldest photography magazine