Five challenges facing student photographers – and how to overcome them

"If you're going to work as a photographer today in news, it's absolutely necessary to learn video," says Canon Ambassador and photojournalist Magnus Wennman. "You will never get a job if you don't know how to use video. It's just a natural part of being a photographer today because the printed newspapers barely exist anymore, and everything is online. So we need video to be able to compete with other news media.

"I'm pretty sure that many students are already better than me at the technical part of video, but my advice would be to learn the journalistic work: how to find unique stories that really engage and get people interested. If there's something we really need more of, it's the unique stories around the world."

While it may be easier than ever to get your work seen by an appreciative online audience, pitching a successful story idea to a commissioning editor is another matter.

The trick is to be clear and concise, says Fiona Shields, Head of Photography at The Guardian in London. "Make your pitch in a pyramid form. Give it a headline, then a brief outline, then in the third element of it go into depth about what that may be. Indicate why it's topical or why it's useful at that particular point. And then show a PDF of your images, so that any photo editor can see, at a glance, the quality of your work.

Your portfolio of imagery is your route to getting a foot in the door, but what you leave out is just as important as what you put in. "I think you have to see photography as food, in a way," suggests Thomas Borberg, Photo Editor-in-Chief at Politiken newspaper in Denmark.

"You have all of these images like ingredients. You have to take the best, and you have to put them in a pot and let it boil, and that's the editing process. And then you have to make a beautiful presentation. But you need really good ingredients. If you have images which are not good enough, they shouldn't be part of this pot of food. You have to be able to serve it in a way which really makes me curious. Instantly, you want my attention."

Rickey Rogers, Global Editor at Reuters Pictures, agrees that being economical with your selection is the way to go if you want to avoid losing the interest of busy commissioning editors: "We've hired people just on the basis of a five-picture portfolio because they were so incredible. And sometimes we get a 50-picture portfolio, which is very hard to wade through to be honest. So you need to present your best work – and less is better."

Social media is, of course, vital to powering your photography, with a carefully curated collection of images helping to define your brand. But how do you make your profile stand out?

"I don't care at all about the design," says Lars Lindemann, Director of Photography at GEO magazine. "It's all about the photography. Videos can be a good addition, where you can get a better idea of how he or she works. But it's not the design or how you arrange your posts or how often you post, it's the quality of the visual work itself.

"What I find important is that some people on Instagram or Facebook use really strange names, which I think goes back to a time where many people tried to be more anonymous when using social media, which I understand. But I think if you use it professionally you should use your real name for your profile."

Canon Ambassador, Laura El-Tantawy, underlines the value of the text included with your images on social platforms. "It's important to put some weight on the words that we put next to our posts because oftentimes those can be problematic, if you use the wrong hashtag referring to something that somebody else disagrees with. So I think there's a responsibility that comes with the imagery, but also the words that we use."

Immersing yourself in a story that personally involves you or focusing on a subject that you feel passionate about can bring depth and meaning to a body of work. It also requires a level of responsibility, both to your subjects and to yourself. How far should you push your personal boundaries when searching for those moments of truth?

"Whenever I edit work, and I look at an image which I'm uncomfortable with, I always think of myself first being in that image. Would I be comfortable being represented like that by another photographer?" says South African documentary photographer and Magnum Associate member, Lindokuhle Sobekwa. "After that conversation, I take it back to the people depicted. What do they think about this photograph? Usually they have their own ideas and then collaboration follows."

Canon Ambassador Bieke Depoorter says that she often crosses the line, especially while working on her long-term project, Agata, which explores the complex relationship between photographer and subject, and focuses on a woman Bieke met in a strip club in Paris. "It became something I never expected. On the cover of the book, I say I want to quit, because actually it became too close to me. But you always realise that it's too much after you cross the line, of course. So I think it's important to take breaks and to not feel pressure from the outside to show something."

Lindokuhle says that running two or three projects at the same time helps to relieve the tension for him. "If I feel that a project is becoming too much for me, I will go to another project. And then when I go back, I can revisit it with a fresh mind and eye. You have to care for yourself. You could meditate, or you could try writing things down. It also helps to share any frustrations about your work. There are always tools that can help a photographer to deal with those things."