I want to Freelance...

Not sure about your college but I know at mine, the sport shooters can rent lenses out from the actual school. I've applied to my university school to be a sports shooter. I don't have the cash to sit on the sidelines with a 400 but the school has them. I would try the 70-200 F/2.8 non IS and try shooting some sports with that.

ECPrevatte wrote in post #10545703
Not sure about your college but I know at mine, the sport shooters can rent lenses out from the actual school. I've applied to my university school to be a sports shooter. I don't have the cash to sit on the sidelines with a 400 but the school has them. I would try the 70-200 F/2.8 non IS and try shooting some sports with that.

I'll look into that. I'm actually getting a minor in photgraphy (to ease my lab work). I know we have 5DII's, I'm sure there's glass to go with.

jacuff wrote in post #10542461
Download a trial version of Photo Mechanic.

Give yourself a deadline. For example, say a football game starts at 7:30 PM and you have to have your images into an editor by 10:00 PM. The editor has requested that you provide 8-10 images with captions and cutlines.

How fast can you do this in LR3?
How fast can you do this in PM?

Thats a pretty naive view of it all.

The only thing PM can do that LR cant is code replacement on hundreds or thousands of pictures. For starting out, I dont think its a big deal. Its even less of a deal when you need only 8-10 images with captions.

Id stick to LR3 for now. It really will do everything you need for now

AdamLewis wrote in post #10550001
Thats a pretty naive view of it all.

The only thing PM can do that LR cant is code replacement on hundreds or thousands of pictures. For starting out, I dont think its a big deal. Its even less of a deal when you need only 8-10 images with captions.

Id stick to LR3 for now. It really will do everything you need for now

What do you mean "code replacement"?

AdamLewis wrote in post #10550001
Thats a pretty naive view of it all.

The only thing PM can do that LR cant is code replacement on hundreds or thousands of pictures. For starting out, I dont think its a big deal. Its even less of a deal when you need only 8-10 images with captions.

Id stick to LR3 for now. It really will do everything you need for now

With the new LR3, I dont even use PM anymore at all, all captioning etc is done in LR3, faster than back and forth. What little time code replacement saved was lost in kicking an image out to LR or PS and then back, IMHO.

I pre-caption as much as possible, have all my other IPTC info pre-saved in LR before the game starts, sort, process, finish caption, export.

Staszek wrote in post #10552417
What do you mean "code replacement"?

Code replacement is a feature of PM, basically a shorthand editor so to speak. You enter a small code CB25 or whatever and it fills in the blank "Michael Jordan".

I see. Thanks Bill. MJ was #23 though haha.

liam5100 wrote in post #10556491
With the new LR3, I dont even use PM anymore at all, all captioning etc is done in LR3, faster than back and forth. What little time code replacement saved was lost in kicking an image out to LR or PS and then back, IMHO.

I pre-caption as much as possible, have all my other IPTC info pre-saved in LR before the game starts, sort, process, finish caption, export.

Exactly. With fast computers than can preview raw files quickly and with functionality of Lightroom increasing, there doesnt seem to be much need for Photo Mechanic anymore.

AdamLewis wrote in post #10566702
Exactly. With fast computers than can preview raw files quickly and with functionality of Lightroom increasing, there doesnt seem to be much need for Photo Mechanic anymore.

I'm still on LR2 and I do the majority of my on-site transmission with a netbook. I'll eventually go to LR3 (I usually wait until the x.1 or x.2 release), but for now PM is really fast on a pretty underpowered system.

jacuff wrote in post #10567541
I'm still on LR2 and I do the majority of my on-site transmission with a netbook. I'll eventually go to LR3 (I usually wait until the x.1 or x.2 release), but for now PM is really fast on a pretty underpowered system.

Ill totally concede that point. If you have an older or less powerful system, PM can be a boon for captioning and culling. However, if your wallet permits you to take full advantage of 2010, PM's prime has come and gone with the incessant march of technology.

Actually, though LR has a lot of the stuff you need, and definitely fits the OP's needs, it is still missing some fields that we require as an agency, and so does Getty and the others...will say that with an * though because not sure if there's a new version that has them, all I know is we get images with missing fields because the photographers are using LR instead of PM and it's really annoying.

clarence wrote in post #10543815
..... but found a 600/4L first - again, love it, but it's even a bigger beast.

Oh my Do you use it for sports? I can't imagine handling that beast on the sideliens

Staszek, I live in South SJ and have been to SJ state lots of times. There are a few things you should do to help get started. One is join both NPPA and EP (check my sig). I shot the SJ Giants, SF Giants and many other teams for Baseball America eons ago. I shot over at the Sunken Diamond too.

The first thing you need to know is that newspapers are dumping entire photo departments, of experienced shooters onto the street. So sports PJ is a very limited field to get work in, and freelance is very very tough. To shoot sports properly you need your own gear and there really is no way around it. The 70-200 w/ the 1.4 a really a crappy combo for sports. You won't get very sharp shots and if it is not sharp the editor is going to reject them out of hand. Sportsshooter is a great resource, if you can get someone to sponser you. SJ State has several sports ( I am sure you know) you can cut your teeth on and for most part they will welcome new shooters because they are rarely covered.

So there are very hard to get paid gigs, very hard to get the gear without some serious debt, very hard to get an assistants gig to learn the ropes, very very hard to compete with experienced PJ's who have the gear and just lost their newspaper jobs. Just check the NPPA website to see how many photographers are already in this area.

I am an idiot too, I still want to be a photographer when I grow up!! lol

Sibil wrote in post #10576180
Do you use it for sports? I can't imagine handling that beast on the sideliens

Yes, on a monopod with a gimbal. Unfortunately, lacrosse season was over when I bought it, but I've shot 5 baseball games with it so far and love it...

600-1.

Sibil wrote in post #10576180
Oh my Do you use it for sports? I can't imagine handling that beast on the sideliens

Yeah, it pretty much requires using a monopod, so it's not too bad. It's good for field sports. For example, in football you can setup in the end zone and shoot the action down field.