Shooting commercial - ditching photojournalism?

I’m set to graduate from photojournalism school in June once I’m done with my internship.  Obviously what’s next for me is to find employment to pay the bills!  Aware even before I entered school that photojournalism jobs are scarce and even more discouraging that newsrooms are downsizing, I have to figure out how to utilize what I’ve learned from school and aim for something that could still use the skills learned at school albeit non-journalism photography.

Sad news as it may seem for the North American media, there are still photojournalism jobs in smaller, rural newspapers.  Being a city-born and bred that I am, I’m not going to places that are not city enough from my perspective just to have a journalism job and be called a photojournalist.  I just love multicultural places such as the Greater Toronto Area because for the simple reason that the culture is there.  I can’t think of any small place in Canada that can replace what the city and its environs have to offer.

Of course there are still exceptions to what I’ve said but for now, this choice of mine stands.

Rantings aside, I’ve decided to rebuild my portfolio geared towards commercial photography. It’s been close to two years since a shoot that I can consider “commercial”. Now it’s time to collaborate with make-up artists and models that can help me build a portfolio.  Luckily there is modelmayhem.com where you can get willing participants to do it for free in return for photos.

I will be building a wedding portfolio soon and hopefully I can get paying gigs in the future.

I didn’t forget photojournalism completely.  It just has to take a backseat for awhile while I beef up my commercial portfolio.

Good thing I still remember some Post processing work which I thought have already been forgotten because most PS techniques used in commercial photography are not allowed in photojournalism.

Model: Anchal Bhasin

Makeup artist: Amal M Esbhani

Photographer: Who else?

Notes:  Thanks Anchal and Amal - not only did she provide makeup but she provided the Bollywood set as well.

My photo essay featured on Invisible Photographer Asia

Thank you Invisible Photographer Asia for seeing the true value in this photo essay.  You definitely made my spending a week in this hinterland community well worth it!  

The website features photo stories about Asia.  Most of the photographers have established portfolios.  Can’t believe my work has been featured alongside them.

I nearly threw in the towel for this.  Good thing I didn’t.

Can’t wait to do more of this type of documentary. 

Some stuff I shot during the weekend

Had two assignments last Saturday for our student paper, The Pioneer. I think that this was the most diverse assignments I had in one day.

Shot hockey in the morning in Stirling, a 30-minute drive from Belleville.  What’s special about watching this is, it is not the typical hockey played in arenas but hockey being played in a more traditional small-town setting with the help of the frozen pond!   If finding a true blue Canadian tradition is what you’re after,  then watching one should be on your list.  

After a quick lunch of grilled hotdogs, off I went back to Belleville to shoot a “baby bump” event.

My documentary project on the Toronto Star - actual layout

Finally got the actual layout file from The Star’s Insight Editor, Dan Smith.  I’ve been bugging him about this as I would like to put this on my website.    I really would like to thank him for keeping his promise to send me one as I know he’s one busy editor at Canada’s largest paper.

Though not on the front page, there’s a teaser about my stuff on top of the paper.  How do you call that part of the paper again?

Actual article - double truck!

First assignment for The Pioneer

I was assigned two stories for next week for my college paper, the Loyalist Pioneer.  One was for the Belleville Chinese community’s preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year.  Second is the Loyalist men’s and women’s volleyball games against Cambrian.  Latter’s done photo-wise and once I’ve uploaded them, off I work for the write-up.  One more story to go!

Although it looks like they won, they did not.

My favorite shot of them all