Expert: Erin Reid Coker - 3/30/2008

Question
I'm a photgraphy student and am doing a career research paper on Photojournalism. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me?
1. How did you get into Photography?
2. Why did you want to become a photographer?
3. What type of photography do you do?
4. What types of cameras do you need to use in order to get your shots?
5. What type of schooling do you have that helps you in your job?
6. What does your job consist of?
7. What type of people do you deal with on a daily basis? 8. What is the most difficult thing about you Job?

Answer
Sorry for the delay...hope this helps you out.

1.  I fell into photography in college.  I was a business major and became bore so I took a photo class as an elective and pretty much knew right there what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

2.  Expression.  I wanted to use my work to give people some sort of insight to how I saw life.  I was also pretty shy and quiet and it was a great outlet to help me out there.

3.  I am a full-time photojournalist (10 years) shooting everything from sports, concerts to everyday news such as fires and accidents.  I also shoot higher end weddings on the side which I hope to do more of as I get older.

4.  For me, at work I carry Nikon D200's, SB800 flashes, 80-20 lens, 17-35 lens, 300mm lens, 50mm lens.  That's what I usually pack but days do vary.

5.  I had some pretty basic photo classes in college over 10 years ago that really didn't teach me much related to the job.  I learned more on the first day of work then in three years of school.  Since then I have done some training at Poynter in Florida and some sports workshops in Cali.

6.  Everyday is different.  In a perfect world, editors would schedule assignments better but news happens fast.  Most days I go in and see what has been assigned to me. If it's a quiet day, you go out and find some photos or a story.

7.  Type of people... every type.  That's a tough questions because I am out in the public eye every single day dealing with every type of person in the community.

8.  Making a photo out of nothing... some assignments really don't warrant great art but you have to make it work.  Having your work in the paper one day and forgotten about the next can be frustrating and dealing with editors and reporters who don't understand the importance of having a great photo to draw the reader in is tough as well.

Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions.

Erin Reid Coker
ercoke@hotmail.com
www.erinreidcoker.com
www.gallery9north.com