By Natalia St John


Our educational spotlight is on Bryan Frank, Broadcast News Photographer for CBS2 and KCAL9. Bryan’s photography is being shown at NoHo Gallery LA (5108 Lankershim Blvd) thru June 6

How did you get started in Broadcast News photography?

I've worked in television production since graduating from Long Beach State University and was always struggling in the industrial/instructional areas of video production. Back in the early nineties, people I knew at the time were leaving Los Angeles and getting work in the smaller outlying TV markets (I'm talking Bakersfield, Fresno and Palm Springs). I really wasn't sure if it would work out for me, but I managed to get hired at KBAK, the CBS affiliate Bakersfield. It was pretty difficult because I couldn't uproot my family. I got the smallest apartment I could find and made the commute every week for a year. It was a gamble that payed off. It was a difficult year. I was just happy to discover a love for covering the news. After a year, I started knocking on doors and got a shot at freelance work with KCAL. After only two days of freelance work in Los Angeles, I gave notice in Bakersfield. After five months of freelance, I was offered a staff position. That was about twelve years ago.

What is your favorite Broadcast photographer and why?

I've seen a lot of work that really impresses me, but I don't know that there's any particular person I could name as a favorite. As TV news photographers, much of what we do is anonymous. There are guys I work with who have my respect for their ethics and their willingness to go all out in getting the story, but I might never know who shot what on any particular day.

What do you feel are your professional weaknesses?

I'm probably not aggressive enough in news situations that are more tabloid in nature. I've always managed to get the shots I need to illustrate the story, but when there's twenty or thirty photographers fighting to get a shot of Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan leaving court, it's a pretty good bet I won't be the guy in the middle of that mob.

What is a typical day working in TV as a photographer?

We work scheduled shifts, but I could get a call to come in early to cover a breaking news story. After I get to the station, I check out a microwave van and get assigned to a story with a reporter. The reporter and I will go to the location of the story, interview people and try to get the information we need to put the story on TV. I’ll be shooting video to edit with the interviews and information the reporter and I have gathered. Together we edit the story into a “package”. I’ll set up the microwave truck, lights, audio, and camera for the liveshot and I’ll feed the story back to the station. When it’s time, we’ll take our positions in front of and behind the camera, do the liveshot and repeat for the later shows, or if it’s the end of the shift, pack it all up and head back to the station. I gas the van up and put it away for the next shift. Sometimes we have hours to put the story together, but more often the time can be counted in minutes.

What advice would you give to a young photographer wanting to become a Broadcast News Photographer?

Study composition and lighting. Make sure you have better than basic computer skills. Understand that the entire broadcast news industry is changing at a faster rate than it has in previous decades. What we do as part of our jobs today might be different in the coming years. Also, you should be willing to work in another part of the country to get the experience you need to get a job in the news market where you'd like to live. Get a broad education that covers other areas as well as journalism. Learn to do as many of the jobs in the newsroom as you can. Our industry is consolidating and many people are juggling jobs that would have been done by multiple people in the past. Learn to write and report if you’re a photographer. Learn to edit and eat a microwave burrito while driving the news van if you’re a reporter.

What do you feel is the best training to be marketable in Broadcast News Photography?

Many roads can lead to news photography. Part of our strength as a staff is the diversity of experience we bring to the job. Go to college. Get an education that covers the electronic side of Electronic Media and learn the difference between a good journalistic story and "infotainment". I believe there's room for both in the world, but if you're going to work in news, it's good to know which one you're covering.


For the past 4 years Bryan Frank has written a blog “beFrank” about photography. Check it out at www.coolshots.blogspot.com.