I’m Not a Photojournalist But I Play One in Kolkata

For over twenty years I’ve enjoyed the pleasure of telling stories with video. I’ve honed my craft, expanded my knowledge, and know my way around everything from a T2i to a C300. I’ve written books on the topic of video, given speeches, tutored, trained, appeared on podcasts, and write or have written for a number of magazines. Video is my comfort zone.

When it comes to taking photos however, that’s a whole different ball game. However, recently I was on a video shoot of all things, when I had the opportunity to try my chops at real, honest to goodness photojournalism. I’d love to share with you what I learned as a newbie PJ photog.

“Streets of Kolkata” by Ron Dawson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Setting – Kolkata, India

Peachtree Church is a long-standing client of mine that does a lot of work aiding global causes. One such cause is the fight against human trafficking, particularly the sex trade. A couple of organizations in particular they partner with are International Justice Mission (IJM) and the Mahima Homes in Kolkata, India (aka Calcutta). These are a group  of after-care homes for teen girls rescued from the sex trade.

The very first video series I ever produced for Peachtree included a segment about Mahima. At that time, Peachtree didn’t have any of its own video footage from India. Other than the interviews, the footage I used was from another Mahima partner, Discovery Church in Orlando, FL. So this year Peachtree decided to capture its own video. And that’s where I come in. I was sent along with their mission team this year to document the event for the purposes of making another video that will aid in their campaign to raise funds and recruit future volunteers. The experience was…surreal.

I would like to save my specific feelings and experiences from the trip for a future blog post when I’ll share the final video. Frankly, as I only returned last Saturday, I’m still processing everything I saw and experienced. Nothing can fully prepare you for a visit to a city like Kolkata. There’s a lot to take in.

For this blog post I just want to share my experience as a “wannabe” photojournalist. I think the lessons I learned can be helpful to those of you out there considering it as a career or hobby.

Lessons Learned

So without further ado, here are the top 7 lessons I learned during my first go at being a photojournalist. Critiques are welcome in the comments. (Seriously, please offer input on the good and the bad so that your comments can help other readers as well).

1. Know Your Gear and Your Craft

I know this goes without saying, but it still begs repeating. As I mentioned before, when it comes to using a DSLR or mirrorless camera for video, I can practically do it with my eyes closed. However, knowing the intricacies of using a camera to shoot stills is completely different. Naturally, there are aspects of filmmaking the easily cross over. But a lot doesn’t translate that well.

For this shoot I was using the Sony A7s. I chose that camera because of its amazing low light capabilities. (I wasn’t able to bring lighting gear on this trip.) Auto was my friend when shooting stills on this trip. But every now and then I’d bounce to “P”, “S” and “M” (that sounds dirty). I remember hearing a talk by friend, client and celebrity wedding photog Joe Buissink about how he often shoots in “P-mode.” But I’m guessing that when you’re Joe Buissink, you can pretty much shoot in any mode you want and get amazing photos.

2. Single Shot Stories

It was really important for me to do more than just compose nice shots and get my exposure right. I wanted to find images that told a story in one shot. It’s easy for me to tell a story at 24 frames per second. But when you have to tell a whole story in just ONE frame, well, that’s a tad more challenging. Even more so when you’re driving down a bumpy Kolkata dirt road.

Here’s one that even now still haunts me. Who is this woman? Why is she there? Why is she alone? Is she lonely? Did she escape one of India’s red light districts and is now hiding from her pimp. She didn’t seem like a typical Kolkata homeless. She kind of reminded me of “Afghan Girl.”

3. Happy Accidents Count

So it’s my theory that some of the best photojournalist shots are happy accidents. Where you’re looking at one thing, but later on discover you captured something else you didn’t even notice. That happened a few times for me on this trip. Here are a couple of my favorite.

Driving down the dirt road to the Sundarbans Islands, I saw a villager walking his cows. But that’s not all he was doing.

This photo reminded me of Zack Arias’s #de_Vice street photo series. However, I was looking at and aiming for the little kids. It was a glorious discovery to find later that the girl on the left was checking out her texts.

4. Contrast Is Not Just for Light

Keeping with my theme to go “beyond the basic,” I was constantly looking for contrasts. Not in lighting, but in the subjects I was shooting and the environments they were in.

Here was a beautiful, serene hut on stilts. Something you might see in some Fiji Islands resort…

That is until you see the backdrop of where it’s actually located…

All you need do is look at the streets around Kolkata to see the irony in this billboard.

Lastly, here’s a shot of the garden in one of the Mahima homes. It’s a tranquil oasis of greenery, peace and quiet in a loud and very brown and grey Kolkata. But even among its serenity, there’s a reminder of where the girls come from. Barbed wire lines the walls, designed to keep out those who might try to take back their “property,” but also to keep newer (and often scared) girls from running away.

5. Engage With the Locals

When you travel to an exotic country like this, you’re bound to run into exotic people. But it’s easy to forget that they are people. Not buildings or landscapes. Imagine if you were walking down your neighborhood street, and some stranger comes up to your face and starts taking pictures of you. How would you respond? (assuming you’re not Pauley Shore) Well, that’s basically what we were doing when we went out to the Sundarbans villages. (What must they have been thinking?) Anyway, I didn’t want to be a “hit and run” photographer, so I made it a point to try to communicate with them, show them the photos, and ask for permission to shoot their kids (although they had no idea what I was saying).

When I met these precious little kids, I kept pointing to myself and saying, “Ron.” I’d then point to them with that expected look on my face, hoping they’d tell me their names. For the life of me I could not get them to understand what the heck I was doing. They kept looking at me like I had a horn growing out of my head. It always works in the movies. 🙁

6. Worlds Collide!

Jumping back and forth between shooting video and photos is a pain in the arse. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you’re hired to shoot both photos and video for an event, find dedicated shooters for each. (For the record, Peachtree didn’t hire me to shoot photos, it was my choice to take photos in between the times I was shooting video). Never mind the fact that your brain is in a different creative mode when shooting one vs. the other, but you’re camera settings are going to be widely different for each as well. (And heaven forbid if you’re just a wannabe PJ shooter and don’t know what the heckfire half of the photo settings mean or do. 🙂

7. Stamina

Last and certainly not least, I learned that it takes stamina to be constantly shooting photos on a trip like this. I can’t tell you how many cool shots I did NOT get quite simply because I was too freaking tired. I kept thinking, “Eh, one of the other guys will get that on their iPhone.) Granted, I was also shooting video throughout the day, but I would’ve been just as tired had I been shooting stills. (And frankly, I was getting frustrated at the ratio of blurred photos to usable images. 🙂 (Have I mentioned already my frustration with that whole P, S & M thing? By the way, doesn’t “S” mean Shutter priority, wherein you pick the shutter speed and the camera picks everything else? If so, shouldn’t aperture and ISO be “locked” in that mode? They weren’t on the A7s. Am I missing something?”

Critiques Welcome

So there you have it. You can see a collection of m favorite shots from the trip below. Clicking on any image will  launch the carousel image gallery. I truly would appreciate your photo critiques. Again, share the good and the “room for improvement.”

Enjoy!