7 Photojournalism Tips

1. Anticipate

Play and shoot much more before you are in a situation to shoot an important picture because if you
haven’t tried this before if you don’t know when the moment happens, the moment is going to go past
you and you will be struggling with your camera, with your f-stop, with your exposure and thing will be
gone before you realize what you have to do so you want to shoot a lot before the real moment comes.

2. Research

The story doesn’t start the moment you land in a country, it starts way before, you have to know a lot,
you have to know almost everything about the places and the story that you will possibly cover in the
future.

3. Reach out

You’re not going to go very far in a field especially if you’re in a country that you have never visited or
only once or twice before you have to go and cover the story in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Korea. You want
to have friends there, you want to have fixers, you want to have translators, you want to have your
drivers, you want to have people who might help you if something goes wrong in your equipment, you
want to have your people everywhere, as many people as possible because you never know when you’re
going to need them.

4. Prioritize

Once you are in the heart of the story, you probably want to first know your priorities, you don’t want
to try to do everything at once. You your ambition, and what you’re good at and you will talk to other
members of the team and then you will focus on your particular corner of the story. This is how your
report is going to be much better.

5. Practice

The most important is that you know what your camera is capable of so you know how to use what
you already have. Know how to use whatever you have.

6. Interact

Knowing all the other photographers in the field is advantageous.

7. Be Invisible

You don’t want to be a photographer who enters someone’s personal space trying to capture reality
because then it’s not reality.
2 best compositions in basic photography

1. Story – the most important element

2. Wow effect – the shot has to be amazing, magnificent or mesmerising

Composition

- Place the elements of your picture within the frame and decide what to put in and what to leave
out. It simply means how your image is put together. The greatest subject in the world will not
automatically make a great image. You have to know how and where to put those elements on
the frame.
- Good editing can make the story of your picture more
- Crop unnecessary elements out of the frame.

Rule of Thirds

- one of the most important rules of photographic composition. Landscape photographers are
particularly fond of this one, but it works well for many types of subjects.
- The main subject should not be at the centre, it should be at one of the 4 intersections of the
centre square grid.
- Better to show more of the ground than the sky.

CAPTIONING

What is a caption?

- Caption (or cutlines) are the words that go with an image to explain what’s happening in the
photo.
- They are essential to the story.
- Without a caption, we might get the wrong information or the wrong impression.

How to write a good caption in journalism

1. Check your facts

- Make sure that anything stated in the caption is accurate.

2. Describe something that isn’t obvious

3. Do not start a caption with certain words

- should not begin with certain words ‘a’, ‘an’, or ‘the’.

4. Identify the main people n the photo

- should name important people, unless they want to remain anonymous.

- If you don’t know their names, just put who they are instead (e.g. “protesters on the streets of
Washington”)

5. Be specific as possible.

6. Label historical photos properly

- if using a historical photo, label it properly and include the date it was taken.

7 Use the present tense in the caption.

8. Avoid humour when the photo is not intended to be humorous

- Don't try to be funny if the photo you’re captioning is serious or in a sombre event.

9. Write in a conversational language

- don’t use overly complicated words, avoid cliches, slang and acronym.

10. Remember to always give the credit or citation

- include the name of the photographer or the organization

- In actual photographic magazines and publications, including the technical details of how the photo
was taken (e.g. aperture, film speed, f-stop, lens, etc.

11, Don’t be arrogant

- Keep things simple and clear and accurate. Consider your readers.

12. Avoid making judgmental statements

- don’t make assumptions based only on what you see.

13. Consider using a caption-writing formula.

FORMULA

[noun] [verb] [direct object] during [proper event name] at [proper noun location] in [city] on [day of
the week], [month] [day], [year]. [Why or how.]
Elements of Photojournalism

A photo’s purpose: It must tell a story.

For a photo to be photojournalism, it has to convey information such as who, what, when, where or how.

1. Action – it means there’s something happening such as a game, discussion, event or movement. It can
be as simple as that or it can be something specifically not happening. Action may also include energy or
reaction but try to capture authentic action as it happens. What’s important is: what does the story tell?

2. Energy – School spirit, friendship, enthusiasm: they all represent forms of energy to tell a story but
while there’s actually emotion here, there’s also great energy.

3. Emotion – means the photo captures the visible joy, sorrow, anger, heartbreak, elation, or other
powerful emotions. But we must make sure to respect the privacy of others and consider the long-term
effect that any photo we publish may have on the subject

4. Reaction - this means the photo captures the response to an action or emotion.