[Mister Chimp]

I found this written and geared towards a sports photographer, but I think many of us can learn something from it.



Eight elements necessary for success


Talent - Natural talent is something you are born with. You either have it or you don't. If you don't have it, you can still go a long way on the other six elements.

Skill - This is something you can learn, like hitting a baseball. Or photography.

Knowledge - You need knowledge both of your craft and of the game you are photographing. Study the game. For instance, in baseball, if there is a runner on first base and the ball is hit in the gap, where will the play be? Hint - not at second base!

Practice - Photography is a physical as well as a mental skill. Practice will make you better at both. Skills improve dramatically with practice and atrophy with disuse.

Desire - Your philosophy and attitude will affect your work. When I go out to shoot a game, I want the great peak action moments and the ones with great content. I expect to get them. I get really mad when I don't. I'm greedy. I want it all and I expect to get it all. My goal is to combine a great moment and great content in a single picture in every game I cover.

Work - Make a commitment to excellence. Don't stand around picking your nose just because baseball is mostly boring. Shoot it like you would if you were playing the game. Concentrate on every pitch. Figure out the situation beforehand. If you are in left field and there is a runner on second, and the ball is hit to you, where are you supposed to throw it? Be in a "zone of your own" of concentration. Know the game situation and what's going to happen.

Opportunity - You can't always control what opportunities you have, but you have to seize them when then come along. I was in my last semester in college with only 11 credits left to graduate with a degree in journalism from Louisiana State University, when I quit school to take a job as a photographer at the Jefferson Parish Times, a small suburban newspaper just outside of New Orleans. It was a job that would not have been there when I graduated, and it was in a city where I wanted to live and work. I finally went back to college about a decade later and finished up my degree.

Luck - Some say you can't control it, but it favors the prepared.


For a bunch more good stuff on becoming a sports photographer, continue reading here:
http://www.astropix....X/NSC/NOTES.HTM

[Chimper]

I read word for word and realized how true it is.
Only one more thing that we were just talking about the other day.
You need the foundation of good equipment to make your skills shine. And to help keep frustration from overtaking a good moment!