CASE STUDY Steve Mitchell - Picture editor, Nottingham Evening Post
Before becoming a picture editor, Steve Mitchell spent a number of years as a full-time sports photographer for the EMPICS (now PA Photos) agency, shooting everything from football to Formula 1. Now he regularly gets phone calls and emails from aspiring sports photographers looking for their first break.
“If your football photography isn’t up to standard, you’re not going to get far. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t consider shooting other sports. I have six staff photographers, who I keep busy 7.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, so I’ll often turn to freelancers for events outside those hours, such as boxing. It will vary from paper to paper, but if a photographer contacted me explaining that they were going to shoot a particular event that I wouldn’t send one of the staffers to, I might try and help them out with getting good access to the event, in return for some free pictures.
“I do get a lot of photographers contacting me, but I wouldn’t let that put you off. I suggest polite persistence is the best way to go. Picture editors are very busy people; so don’t expect an individual response to an email. By all means send an email, but then follow it up with a phone call. Be positive at all times, and be prepared to be asked to call back later. I may ask to see examples of your work, but ultimately I’d be more impressed by someone who came across as being serious and trustworthy. As a test, I’d typically give a photographer a local league football match on a Saturday afternoon. Photographers have to make this opportunity count and deliver 12 to 20 usable pictures. That means that they’re sharp, with the action filling around three-quarters of the frame, and have the ball in the shot.
“Technical ability is only half of the story, though, caption detail is just as important. For this reason, I’d advise all photographers to arrive at the ground early, get team sheets from the club secretary and check all the spellings of the players’ names. Don’t rely on the match day programme for this. Then, when you’re taking pictures, be sure to do ‘back shots’, so you capture the action, then do a quick snap of the player’s number so you can identify who was involved when you’re editing the shots later. If you don’t get the names, there’s little point in you taking your camera at all.
“It’s also worth getting stock shots of players in action, the managers on the touchline, the mascot, even the ground itself. We may only feature a local team once a month, but we might run a quote from the manager once a week so it’s handy having this type of shot in the bag.
“Staff photographer positions tend to be rare, but one of our current staffers, Dan Matthams, worked his way up in exactly this way and now he’s winning awards for his pictures.”
