Most people agree that a beautiful picture conveys a thousand words. A camera operator taking stunning images with his/her device can achieve the same objective. For individuals who are looking to capture the essence of special events, landscapes, wildlife and people through their lens for their audience to see, photography can an exciting career. While this a very competitive field, practitioners in this occupation do get opportunities to work as cameramen in newspapers, publications and magazines. Some of them can even opt to work freelance and sell their pictures to the highest purchasers in the exhibitions they hold for the public.
Jack Elway, an American photographer says any person wishing his/her mark in this field needs to have certain qualities to make him/her stand out among the crowd. These traits are as follows:
- Ambition
A good photographer worth his/her salt needs to be very ambitious and seek to take advantage of all work opportunities that comes his/her way. Moreover, he/she should pay close attention to the developments that take place in the industry.
- A unique eye for detail
Knowledgeable camera operators focus on capturing minute details of the subject matter of their photographs and highlighting them in a significant way. Moreover, they have the ability to edit features that distorts the essence of the image.
- Business acumen and aptitude
A photographer needs to have exemplary business skills especially in the fields of marketing, administration and finance when working as a freelance camera operator.
- Creativity
Like all art forms, the practitioners in this field need to have a creative eye. They should to be able to adjust the brightness, focus, lighting and composition in unique manner. This is to ensure the images they take with their cameras seem like reality to their viewers.
- Familiarity and knowledge of legal documents
As most freelance photographers enter into contracts with other parties, they need to be familiar with the legal issues of entering into a contract. Moreover, it is important for them to know the salient points of copyright laws.
- Hand-eye coordination
A good photographer should have a unique hand-eye coordination to be able to manipulate his/her device to take stunning photographs.
- Networking Skills
Knowledgeable photographers need to have distinctive networking skills to approach people who are important in the industry and grab profitable deal from potential clients. This goes a long way in exhibiting their work and talent to the public.
- People skills
Good camera operators have distinct people skills that allow them to maintain a cordial and lucrative working relationship with potential clients and newspaper editors. In addition to this, the ability to make people feel at ease when they in front of the camera are one of the requisites of taking a perfect portrait photograph.
- Technical skills
A good photographer needs to have unique technical skill to be able to operate various equipments like digital cameras and lighting. In addition to this, he/she need to be computer-savvy to handle the software programs that edit the photographs he/she takes.
Jack Elway explains the above traits will go a long way in helping aspirant make their fortune in this occupation.