Patrick Semansky is a temporary staff photographer with The Associated Press. Semansky covered the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion and leak.
Semansky grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif., with a BA in English in 2006. Semansky moved to Louisiana in September 2006 and spent 15 months doing post-Katrina volunteer work. He has freelanced in and around New Orleans for the AP, The Advocate, Bloomberg News, EPA, Getty Images, MSNBC.com, and The Washington Post.
Vessels assisting in the capping of the Deepwater Horizon oil well are seen on the Gulf of Mexico off of the Louisiana coast Saturday, July 10, 2010. Undersea robots manipulated by engineers a mile above removed the containment cap over the gushing well head to replace it with a tighter-fitting cap that could funnel all the oil to tankers at the surface. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VS: Talk about how you started freelancing in New Orleans.
Semansky: “After graduating from college in California, I moved to Louisiana to do post-Hurricane Katrina volunteer work. When I graduated, I thought I wanted to teach high school English, but I was the photo editor at my college paper and enjoyed it, and I thought could at least give photography a try. If it didn’t work out, at least I tried, and hopefully I would be happy teaching.
My volunteer experience was rocky at first. The program was in disarray, and I didn’t think I’d last. My plan was to pursue photography after volunteering, but a month or two in, on a whim, I called the Times-Picayune and the New Orleans AP bureau. I figured I had absolutely nothing to lose. I said that I was my college paper’s photo editor, I had an interest in photojournalism, and I asked if they ever used freelancers. At the time, the paper passed. Thankfully, Bill Haber, the AP staffer, said to put some pictures together and come by the bureau and chat.
Things built up very slowly from that connection with Bill. While I volunteered during the day, I took whatever photo work I could find on nights and weekends, maybe once a week or so. I did a lot of assisting, and over time got to shoot a little more here and there. Bill had a hand in connecting me with The Advocate and as well as the New Orleans Hornets NBA team photographer, who I’ve worked for as an assistant for the past three seasons.
My volunteer commitment was open-ended, and after 15 months I was starting to burn out and decided it was time to stop. At the same time, my photo work in New Orleans began to pick up to the point where I thought I had a shot at focusing on it full time. I wanted to stay in New Orleans, partly for the work but also to stay and witness the area’s recovery, and thankfully it’s an affordable place to live.
As my confidence grew, I did more and more cold-calling and e-mailing. I’d guess nothing came of at least 75% of those attempts, but again I figured I had nothing to lose by trying.”
Rain falls on oil sheen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil well leak off the coast of Louisiana Thursday, July 15, 2010. Crew members onboard the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel prepared to skim oil this morning, but operations were put on standby after lightning was spotted nearby. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
“I’ve never participated in an internship, nor have I had a lot of formal training in photography. I don’t recommend taking that route. Without the experiences and connections that you gain in internships and journalism school, you have a little more ground to cover in order to compete. I was lucky that I met many supportive photographers and got the opportunity to learn mostly through real-world experiences.
I learned a lot by asking questions, listening, getting critiqued, making mistakes on assignments, and looking at other photographer’s pictures for guidance, especially when we covered the same assignment. It is amazing to see how two or three people can approach the same assignment so differently.
I also shot pictures of volunteers and clients for the organization I volunteered for, which was a low-pressure way to help me learn and gain confidence.”
VS: Talk about your relationship with the AP.
Semansky: “I love working with the AP. Since I became interested in photography, I’ve always been amazed by the reach and quality of work of wire service photographers, as well as their ability to cover a variety of subjects—news, features, sports, etc.—on a deadline and for a large audience. I hope that one day I can get to that point.
One of the things that drove me to want to volunteer in Louisiana in the first place was seeing the pictures that AP photographers sent out during and after Katrina. It’s been an honor to get to meet and occasionally work with some of those same photographers, and to learn about what they went through to get their pictures.
More than anyone else, retired AP staff photographer Bill Haber helped me find my way. If it wasn’t for his continued guidance, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
VS: Is that working relationship part of why you’ve covered so much of the oil spill for the AP?
Semansky: “I think so. I hope so. Thankfully, they seem to trust my work, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to help cover a story of this magnitude for them. I’ve always tried to treat any assignment, no matter how minor, as an important one. Every assignment is an opportunity. Arrive early, leave late, file on time, be dependable and flexible, all with the hope that if a bigger assignment does come along, I might be asked to participate. I also keep in mind that if I mess up or am lazy, the AP can simply move on and call another photographer. That has continually been an incentive for me to try to do well regardless of the assignment.”
BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward asks members of the media to step back as he walks along Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., Monday, May 24, 2010. Hayward visited the beach to observe efforts to clean oil that washed ashore from last month’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Smudged oil is seen on the hardhat of contractor Mark Perrin as he sits on a crew boat alongside the Pacific Responder oil skimming vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Wednesday, July 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VS: At what point did you realize the oil spill was going to be a big story?
Semansky: “I think a week into it, after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank and it became clear that there was a growing leak. The AP called me at 6 AM the morning after the rig exploded, and I ended staying up for over 24 hours to wait for survivors to arrive by boat in Port Fourchon, La.
The idea of a big oil spill never crossed my mind. At that point, the story was about the fate of the rig and its crew. After getting back from Port Fourchon the next morning, I took a nap and then covered a PGA tournament for three days, so I didn’t see anything beyond headlines and front- page pictures of the burning rig. The AP called me a day after the tournament to ask if I would go on a boat ride to the site of the spill, and when I saw the amount of oil that was floating on the Gulf was when I realized that this could be a big story.”
Harold Cline holds oil that he collected by vacuuming it into a drum in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, July 31, 2010. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that most surface oil in the Gulf of Mexico has degraded to a thin sheen and the incoming BP PLC CEO calls for a “scaleback” in cleanup efforts, local officials on the Louisiana coast say they are still finding new patches of heavy oil. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VS: “How have you grown as a photographer while covering the spill?
Semansky: “The biggest hurdle for me over the last few years was gaining confidence in myself as a photographer. When I didn’t have enough self-confidence, it showed in my pictures. Working on the spill has been an incredible learning experience—while I am constantly reminded that I still have a tremendous amount to learn, I also recognize how much I’ve grown as a photographer over the last few years. It’s a funny feeling to recognize that I am able to visualize and make a picture today that I couldn’t have seen or made a few years ago, and I’m excited to keep learning and growing as a photographer.”
VS: How has covering the oil spill affected you personally?
Semansky: “When I’m working on the oil spill, I feel a certain pressure to deliver since access hasn’t come easily. I’m extra focused on making sure I have a variety of pictures to file. For the most part, I’ve tried to stay focused solely on whatever it is I’m covering. I don’t own a TV set, and I tend to pass over oil spill news beyond headlines and hard facts. In the back of my head, I know this is a big story, and that it’s the biggest story I’ve ever worked on. At the same time, I don’t want to get distracted and overwhelmed by too much information. More than anything, I want to capture what I see fully, accurately and fairly. Sometimes, what I’m shooting doesn’t seem to fully dawn on me until later on. One night I looked back through my pictures from that day and came across one I filed of a fully oiled pelican. It shocked me, as if it was someone else’s picture that I had just seen for the first time.”
An oil drilling platform stands in the Gulf of Mexico behind Jerome Gollop, left, as he helps his grandson Rodney fix his fishing pole in Port Fourchon, La., Wednesday, April 21, 2010. The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded off the coast of Louisiana at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, and 11 workers remain missing. More than 90 rescued workers are scheduled to dock in Port Fourchon at around 8 p.m. today. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Captain Michael Nguyen stands on his fishing boat in Venice, La., Thursday, April 29, 2010. Local fishermen are worried about how their industry will withstand a growing oil spill that resulted from last week’s explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VS: What suggestions do you have for others who are trying to break in to freelance markets?
Semansky: “Look around and identify the photographer in the position you would like to be in one day, and figure out how he or she did it. I have always been interested in wire services, so I sought out the local wire service photographers and got to know them, and asked them what steps they took to get to where they are today (but not with the intention of stepping on their toes). With all of the competition out there, they did something that worked.
Before I started out, I had a fear that, because of the competitive nature of the business, photographers were jerks. I learned quickly that nine times out of ten, it’s the opposite. I am fortunate that I have grown to be good friends with many of the photographers who I work (and compete) with outside of work. Don’t be afraid to approach a photographer.
Be persistent and follow up with potential clients. If you don’t take an opportunity, there are many photographers behind you who will, and you may not get another chance.
That said, don’t shoot an assignment for free, in exchange for experience or for a photo credit. Your equipment isn’t cheap, you have to make a living, and working for free will hurt you and other photographers—the client will expect every future photographer they hire to work on the same terms.
Most importantly, be nice. There’s no reason not to be.”
A flock of white ibis lift off from marsh grass on Dry Bread Island in St. Bernard Parish, La., Wednesday, July 21, 2010. Crews found about 130 dead birds and 15 live birds affected by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Monday in the eastern part of the parish behind the Chandeleur Islands. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
VS: What are the pros and cons of freelancing?
Semansky: “Pros: I like the fact that I’m my own boss and I make my own schedule. Every day is different, and the drop-everything, last-minute-assignment aspect can be fun.
Cons: As opposed to a salary job, if I don’t have work lined up on Tuesday, I’m not bringing in income.
The business side can be hard to keep under control. Freelance photography often feels like two jobs in one: photographer and accountant. After three years, I think I finally have a good system in place for invoices, receipts, and taxes. I wish I took a business class or two when I was in school. Thankfully, I found a book, “Professional Business Practices in Photography,” that helped with some of the basics.”
VS: How did you build relationships with your clients?
Semansky: “My goal is to make a client want to work with me more than once. I try to make everything that is in my control go as smoothly as possible. Arrive early and leave late, be eager to work, follow up, be flexible, be personable and gracious, and don’t complain. No matter how lame an assignment might be, I won’t complain. I want the client to keep me in mind and call me back. Plus, I’m lucky to make a living doing something I love.”
A Black Hawk helicopter carrying Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal flies over wetlands during a tour to a man-made sand berm near the Chandeleur Islands on the coast of Louisiana, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Jindal is pressuring federal authorities to allow the dredging project to resume in an area that federal authorities say is environmentally sensitive. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
