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1. PHOTOJOURNALISM
LEO IMPROGO TAN III
CAMPUS JOURNALISM INSTRUCTOR

2. FUNCTIONS OF
PICTURES AND
ILLUSTRATIONS
To attract attention. It catches the
reader’s interest so that he will be
enticed to read the texts that go with
it.
To beautify the page.
To complement, support and give
visual meaning to the news.
To illustrate a point in the story.

3. To tell the story itself through the
help of the caption
To tell a story in sequence of photos
or illustrations
To give visual relief to the design or
make-up of the story
To help the readers know how the
person or place mentioned in the
story look like

4. GETTING BETTER
PICTURES
 Simplicity. The picture is not
crowded or cluttered, unless the
purpose is to show how big the
crowd is. Rarely should have
more than five people in a
picture. Anything distracting to
the picture should be
eliminated. Anything that helps
a picture tell a story, of course,
should be included.

5.  A focal point. Viewers should not have
their eyes pulled in three or four
directions. Instead, eyes should be
drawn to the main subject, and then the
viewer may look at lesser figures.
 Action. In almost all cases, a picture of
people doing something will be much
better than one in which a person is
staring into the camera.

6.  Subject. A good photojournalist
seeks variety in subjects: young and
old, the garish and the plain, the
ordinary and the extraordinary.
 Technical quality. The picture must
be in focus, without blur caused by
camera movement. The picture
needs sharp, clear difference
between the various light and dark
shades.

7. A story. The picture may show
gloom or ecstasy, pleasure or
pain, success or failure,
interest or boredom. But the
picture usually tells more. It
should convey information
about an event, a string of
events, a person, a building or
a lace.

8.  Mood. A picture should capture the
mood of an event. A picture of a
stage show may place the artist in
bright lights, smiling broadly, with
the faces of the audience laughing
in the darker auditorium.
 Truth. A picture should give an
honest account of what happened.
Certain props are fine, if they don’t
distort reality.

9.  Size. Unless a published picture is
big enough to see easily, the
message probably is lost. The shape
of the picture can also help the
reader to get the point in a glance.
A vertical picture of a four-story
school building, for example, would
have more impact than a horizontal
shot. A vertical picture of a jubilant
fans running onto the football field
would look out of proportion.

10. Beauty. Sometimes, the
purpose of a picture is not
only to convey news or
information, but only to show
beauty, like in a beauty
pageant, the grace of a cheer-
dancer, or a field of waving
golden rice.

11. FACTORS AFFECTING
THE QUALITY OF
PICTURES
The taking of pictures.
Be sure to know the workmanship of
your camera, its every part and
function.
There is a need for mind-eyes
coordination when taking pictures. The
photojournalist should make it sure
that the angle he is taking is a newsy
one.

12. Pictures to be set for layout
 Sharp pictures. All the details of
what you wish to bring out in a
picture are well-defined and
emphasized.
 Message-laden. The picture should
tell a story.

13. Pictures to be set for layout
 Well-cropped. The important detail
of the story is being emphasized or
highlighted by eliminating
unnecessary parts of the pictures.
The quality of printing press

14. THINGS TO REMEMBER IN
PHOTOJOURNALISM
An action photo can vividly tell its own
story that no need of caption to go
with it. Editorial cartoon as an
illustration does not have caption, but
it tells a story or make a point.
A series of pictures can tell a story
with minimum caption. This is known
as picture story. This is usually used to
illustrates “how to” article.

15. ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE
PICTURES
Prominence. Picture of celebrities and
those who are in the newsmaker of our
society attracts reader’s interest. They
are always good subject for photo.
Timelines. The immediacy of the
picture can also enhance its value
Action. “Action speaks louder than
word” as they say. Photojournalist
should make it sure that there is
movement or story in his photo.

16.  Human interest. Pictures of persons
during their unguarded moments
show emotion that readers can
relate to. Shots of wailing mother
whose child is trapped in their
burning house, a triumphant bloody
faced boxer raising his fist after he
was proclaimed the winner or
animal that acts like human are
interesting to the reader.

17. TIPS FOR ASPIRING
PHOTOJOURNALIST
Know your camera. A camera
needs not be expensive. You
just have to be well
acquainted of what you have
by constant practice.
Try squatting or kneeling down
or standing on your toes or on
a chair when shooting
pictures.

18.  Take portraits of people doing
their thing. Candid shots and
action pictures are the best.
 Do not hesitate to ask the
subject to do what you believe
will make the best shot.
 Concentrate on facial
expressions.
 Look for focal point of interest.

19.  Take more than one shot of
every scene to be assured of the
best angle.
 In photos of exhibits, it is better
to have someone viewing the
exhibits than to just picture
them.
 Be always at the look out to
take unusual pictures.

20.  Read manuals of photographer to
learn techniques in picture-taking
 Prefer action and more interesting
scenes that shows:
Struggle Action
Emotion Romance
Oddity Beauty
Humor and others

21. Avoid the following:
Ribbon cutting picture
Handshaking during
awarding celebration
Posed picture (firing squad
picture)
Group picture that say
nothing

22. PARTS OF A
CAPTION
A caption is the text
accompanying pictures,
artworks or illustrations. It is
also called cut line or
underline. If it is placed like a
title or explanatory matter
above the picture or
illustrations, it is called an
overline.

23. The following are parts of a caption:
 Catchline – a brief catchy title of the
caption usually in capital letters and
bold face
 Body – explains or describes the
picture or illustration, in italics with
font size bigger than the text of the
news story
 Credit - attributes the source of the
picture

24. TIPS FOR WRITING
CAPTIONS
OR CUT LINES
Be brief and to the point, but do not
make it too short that it leaves
readers wondering about the situation
involved.
Use simple, short caption except for a
caption story – a series of picture with
minimum words like in “how to”
articles.
Supplement and explain the pictures,
but do not state what is obvious.

25. Do not repeat lengthy facts from
the articles: if the story can be
told through the caption, omit the
story.
Do not omit words that are
important for smooth reading.
Be accurate and careful with the
names of the persons concerned.

26. Identify the people in the pictures.
Identify them from the left, followed
by their full names. In case of several
rows, begin with the front row. If the
people are in a circle, have the
caption read from left, clockwise.
Check the number of persons against
the number in the caption.

27. As much as possible, say when and
where the picture is taken, especially
if it is a news picture.
Use present tense to describe action.
A half-body picture without any
message at all except for
identification should bear his surname
as caption.

28. Vary your caption type from the body
type to achieve variety. Use italics, bold
face, or a larger size than the body type.
A good caption fills nearly every line.
Caption in which the last line is only
one-third complete look less attractive
because they leave a gap of white space.