grade 7

3. Photographers
take pictures of nouns (people, places and
things).
Photojournalists
shoot action verbs ("kicks," "explodes," "cries ,"
etc.). Photojournalists also shoot some nouns.
These nouns can be standard photos of people
(portraits), places (proposed zoning areas or
construction sites) and things (name it).
However, the nouns we seek still must tell a
story.

4. Photojournalism is a branch of photography that uses
photos or images to tell a story. A person who practices
photojournalism is called a photojournalist. His photos
come out in newspapers and magazines, as well as in
non-traditional visual media like websites or blogs.
In some cases, photographers work with a journalist or
writer assigned to the news beat. This means that the
photographer takes photos related to certain news
stories while the journalist takes care of writing the
details of the events.
Many photojournalists, however, work on their own.
Their works are often published as stand-alone features
in newspapers and magazines. Photo blogs are also an
important medium for these photojournalists.

5. Photojournalism has qualities that make it
different from other branches of photography.
These factors help photojournalists come up with
images that stir the mind and touch the soul.

6. The main objective of photojournalism is to tell a
story better than the text or write-up that usually
accompanies the photos. Therefore, it should
capture images that have meaning or relevance to
the story being told.
For example, a story about a mother reunited
with her daughter after being apart for 20 years
will be more effective if it is accompanied by a
photo showing them rushing into each other’s
arms.

7. Photojournalism should tackle current issues. It
should feature something that’s on the news, or
something people are talking about. This will
make the images more interesting to the audience
or reader.
After her triumph in the London Olympics, for
example, numerous photos of US gymnast
Gabrielle “Gabby” Douglas in action were spread
throughout the Internet. These photos were
accompanied by short descriptions of how Gabby
captured the attention of the crowd and the judges.
The images helped people from different parts of
the world to experience her victory and celebrate
with her.

8. Photojournalism is not biased. It does not take sides.
Therefore, the images should accurately show events as
they are. Some photographers, however, argue that to be
completely objective is quite difficult. According to them,
the term “honest” is more appropriate in describing
photojournalism. No matter what a photojournalist
believes in; whether he prefers to be objective or honest,
the most important thing is for him to present the images
as is.
The secret is not to force the situation. For example, a
photojournalist shooting a burial scene should not force
his subject to shed tears because he wants to create a
dramatic effect. Real emotions are captured candidly.

9. Photojournalism works best if it is presented as a
narrative. The photos should come with a short
write-up or article stating important facts about
the incident or event. It should tell a story.
For example, a photo that shows two little girls
lifting a small box of old clothes tells a clearer
story than one that shows a box marked with
“Old Clothes”.

10. Photojournalists follow certain photography
principles that are intended to help them produce
photos that catch the attention of different
audiences.
Photos with the right focus, angle and color will
attract more people than those that come out
blurry or unfocused.

11. If you are a serious photojournalist, you should be
flexible enough as there are several
photojournalism fields that you may be assigned
to.

12. pertains to any event that is planned ahead of
time. Examples are press conferences, product
launch ceremonies and fund raising dinners.

13. refers to any event or incident that is unplanned.
You don’t know
where or when it will happen, and sometimes, it
shouldn’t even have happened! Examples: a
house or building fire, a burglary or a car
accident.

14. this refers to long term photography projects like
trailing a candidate during the campaign period or
documenting the life of an orphaned child.
Sports Photography – the most action-packed side of
photojournalism. You can take photos of any sport: a
basketball game, a football championship match and
even a special Taekwondo tournament.
.

15. This is not your typical portrait photo. In
photojournalism, portrait shots involve
significant members of the community shown in
their usual environment, like a race car driver
beside his car, a doctor inside the operating room
or the US President in the Oval Office

17.  Even if you’ve been taking photos for years, you
cannot be called a good photojournalist if you do not
know the basic rules of the practice.
 Good photos tell a story better than the text that comes
with it. And in order to tell a story, your photos should
have the following elements:
 humans or people
 emotions, i.e. facial or non-verbal expressions
 action
 something extraordinary or unusual (like a blind father
braille-reading a story to his kid)
 Your photos should focus on the faces of people, not on
their backs or the backs of their heads. Take photos of
people in action; of people doing things. Avoid taking
photos of people shaking hands or handing out awards
as these tend to bore the audience.

18.  Make sure that your subject is always in focus. Know
what your central subject should be. For example,
when taking photos of people stranded because of a
storm, your focus should be on the people, not on the
torrent of rains. If you want to focus on the rain, your
story should be about the storm, not the stranded
people.
 Think twice or thrice before deciding to take photos of
naked people. This practice can be quite tricky as the
photos might be misinterpreted by some groups or
individuals. Study the circumstances first before taking
the photos. For instance, when doing a story about
bare-chested native women, you need to determine
first how to take the photo in a manner that won’t
come out offensive, or in a way that can be interpreted
as gratuitous. Ask yourself if the nudity can really add
something to the story before making a decision.

19.  Always take note of the angle of the shots you are
taking. To make sure that you choose the right
angle, take a couple of shots in different
perspectives. This is similar to what film directors
do when they want to capture the scenes of their
movies in different points of view.
 Photojournalism is an effective way of telling
stories and disseminating information to a diverse
group of people. Compared to texts or plain
articles, photos are more attractive. People are
drawn to them because the images are colorful and
interesting. Best of all, photojournalism works
because it does not rely only in words and phrases;
photographs paint real pictures of events and
emotions.

22.  Your photos will often be published on low-quality
newsprint for a jaded audience easily distracted. Detail
gets lost. Photos strong enough to break through the
media competition focus on a single, frame-filling
center of interest. Generally no more than two or three
people. No more than a few objects. A clean,
contrasting background. Sometimes photojournalists
call this the "poster effect." This is why telephoto or
zoom lenses are the workhorses of photojournalism:
many photojournalists don't even use a normal
perspective (35-50mm) lens. If you can't get in close,
crop ruthlessly.
 "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close
enough” Robert Capa, one of the century's top war
photographers.

23.  If you're sitting or standing like everyone else,
you're probably going to take back some blah
photos. Kneel. Climb on a chair. Crouch. Lie down.
Shoot down a stairway. Get off your butt. Good
photojournalists are always moving.
 Corollary to this rule: If forced to take photos of,
say, a speaker at a podium (not an attractive
option, but too often necessary), never sit in the
chairs with the rest of the audience. Think you'll be
too noticeable? Everyone already knows you're
taking pictures--so what? If you're too shy to move
around in front of an audience, become a copy
editor.

24.  All subjects easily identifiable must be named.
Journalism is about people, not abstract art.
Most editors will reject photos without idents,
unless they are used as generic illustrations.
Beginners are intimidated by walking up to
strangers, but it's not really very hard. Simply
say some variation of, "Hi, my name is Irving
Nern, with the Spectrum. I just took your
picture, and I wonder if I can have your name?
Can you spell that, please?" Write names in
your Reporters' Notebook. Few people will
turn you down:

25.  Move in, move out, move high, move low, and
keep on clicking. You'll have more to choose from,
and you'll more likely have a strong image. Unlike
studio photographers, photojournalists have to
nab action as it's unfolding, so at least to some
extent are forced to trust on luck to bring back
good pictures. The old film rule used to be to shoot
one roll (24 ex.) minimum at any event you're
asked to cover, even a speaker at a podium. You
can interpret this in the digital age. Half a football
game should bag you 75 photos at least. How are
you going to have any choice at all if you return to
the office with a mere four shots? Pixels are free!

26.  How many photos have you seen showing people
talking on a phone? Working at a computer? At a
desk with books in the background? In a mugshot?
Shaking hands ("grip n' grin")? Making a lay-up to
a basketball hoop? For goodness' sake, promise
yourself NEVER to take a photo like this again!
Assigned a mugshot of a faculty member? Ask the
person to meet at the lab, engage her in her
research for a photo. Supposed to shoot a
basketball game? Dump the standard "armpit
shot," look for interesting floor action. Make your
shot stand out from the ruck!

27.  Sometimes you have to ask people to stand
someplace or do something, but that still
doesn't mean they have to just grin into the
camera. Try to make the scene appear natural,
as if the subject were involved in something
and the photographer just happened to come
by. Photojournalism aims to cover people
doing things, not people posing. That's for the
studio photographers.

28.  Available light is ideal, but usually its quality is hardly that.
Especially when you're shooting color, you need to control the
color balance of garish green florescent, or difficult combinations
of artificial and natural light. In some cases, light comes from ugly
angles (such as nearly every standard classroom or office), or is so
weak you can't even get close to stopping the action.
 The normal approach is to carry a portable electronic flash, but
NEVER to merely attach it to the hot shoe and blast away. That
looks 'way too artificial. Solution: bounce. Aim your electronic
flash straight up. Tape a piece of white cardboard at an angle so
the light bounces up and off the cardboard. Adjust for your
available light exposure, perhaps underexposing a stop. The
added flash will fill in the ugly shadows, but still maintain a
feeling of natural light.

29.  This is harder if your light is primarily florescent, as
your bluish flash will clash with the greenish ambient
light, but you should be able to adjust most color cast
problems fairly easily in Photoshop. When all else fails,
at least take your flash off your camera, hold it a few
inches away, and shoot directly. As an added note,
good photojournalists carefully analyze the light falling
on their subject, and find an angle which best enhances
the scene. For instance, if a subject is bending over, the
face may be in shadow. Wait until he stands. If a
subject is seated next to a window, wait until she turns
toward this attractive light source

30.  You just cannot use a blurry photo in a publication: any
slight fuzziness will be enhanced by poor quality paper and
fast reproduction. Most fuzzy photos can be blamed on
camera movement. If you're naturally jittery, get help: buy a
mini tripod and lean it on your chest, or buy a monopod
and lean it on the ground. In a pinch, lean against a tree or
wall. Rule of thumb: any shutter speed more than one stop
lower than the size of your lens will produce a fuzzy
picture, unless you use a mechanical aid. This means If
you're shooting at about 50mm or equivalent, you can't
hand-hold anything slower than 1/30 second. If you're
shooting with a zoom set at 200 mm, 1/125 is the limit. And
this really is the limit: you must make like a rock to get
sharp images even at this speed.

31.  Image stabilization in some modern lenses may help
steady your camera for slower exposures. But don't
forget to pay attention to your auto focus. Is it actually
focusing on the center of interest? I have found auto
focus to give me the wrong setting at least a quarter of
the time, and it hardly works at all in low light.
 Conclusion: automatic cameras are wonderful devices,
but you need to be aware of your settings, shutter
speed, f/stop and focus.

32.  Got a great shot, but the guy's face is in deep
shadow? Got a great expression on that cute kid,
but a telephone pole is growing out of her head?
What about that nice little blurry photo of the
sorority sisters' car wash? DO NOT submit poorly
exposed photos for publication, no matter how
much you like the image. On the other hand, BE
CAREFUL to expose correctly. Automatic cameras
are usually smarter than we are, but not always.
Study principles of proper exposure. It's still hard
to fix up poorly exposed images, even with
Photoshop software: you can't add detail when
nothing's there to begin with.

33.  Walk up to 10 people on the street, snap their
picture, ask for their name, write it down. Get a
floor pass to a rock concert (and wear earplugs!).
Walk as close to the sports action as you dare--get
a press pass if you need one. Look for interesting
expressions after the posed shots are done. Get out
there and shoot! Photojournalists are to a person
not to be counted among the timid. Sure, you can
overdo this--harassing paparazzi spring to mind--
but a courteous, assertive demeanor is nothing to
be ashamed of.