I've been working for a local newspaper for the past three years and have been doing freelance stuff here and there as well, but now that I'm starting college I have to get my portfolio together.
I never remember to set a few images aside (I'll make a habit of it now) but after a week like the week leading up to the March 4 Ohio primary I finally took the time to go through some of my latest stuff.
This is more spot news, sports action, and of course event coverage with the rallies.
I don't really know what editors are looking for, but I'm sure if you're applying to cover sports for a paper, photos of ducks in a pond won't suffice
1st one woudl be better if cropped or framed tighter but good action.
tighter framing would help on 2nd too.
3rd would be better with Obama not centred by cropping.
Last one is pretty good but I would crop off a sliver of light top leeft and a little higher on bottom lady since framing through joints/waste not recommended.
Excellent set of shots though. Good lighting and focus and you have caught some hard to capture shots.
It is a good set to show off your skills with the crops suggested.
Great set of photos! i only have a couple of suggestions.
The democratic race pictures are beautiful and i know its a large issue right now but i would personally only use a couple. I know it shows you can make great pictures out of a hard lighting and large crowd situation but from the sports shots i have seen i think you probably have a couple of other really nice ones you can add. My only other suggestion would be the two pictures of the woman singing, i would DEFINITELY keep the second,it has beautiful movement and it have her expression. The second one however is just her hair moving, nice capture but i think the second get the better message through.
No pictures of the McCain campaign? Lemme guess, you're not Republican
The editorial portion IMO is uni-dimensional-- it only shows the Democractic primary race (I'm not counting the two music shots). There isn't any breadth of news coverage there. If you're looking to be a sports shooter, submit a portfolio of only sports shots. If you're going for a general PJ position, include other news stories (and captions!!! that's important) and fewer sports.
OF course take my advice with a grain of salt- I am neither a sports shooter or a PJ
I disagree with the others on the cropping of the first photo, getting the crowd of the team in there conveys some of the emotion of the moment.
If your goal is to display your PJ work then I agree with the others that a greater diversity of subjects would help. However it sounds like you are pulling your portfolio together for college, in which case I think subject diversity is less important than showing you have a good eye.
As to your specific images. My favorite of the bunch was the one of Obama with his hand on the guys shoulder. It conveys some emotion and a different take on the person (vs the one at the rally, which is a difficult capture but a fairly common one.)
The portrait framed shot of Hillary is one I'd probably cut. Clearly she's at a rally or something and it doesn't tell any of that story. The harsh light makes it difficult to get a true portrait out of it so I think you get stuck in no-mans land between a portrait and PJ.
If you're trying to showcase your PJ skill specifically I'd drop the swimmer also. It's an interesting shot (and worth keeping for a more general portfolio) but one that seems more fitting to advertising than PJ.
Finally I'd crop in around the guy breaking through the green banner much tighter, with his fingertips and a little touch of green still in the frame. The size of the banner minimalizes the true subject of the shot (the players) without adding anything.
