Photojournalism

Introduction to
Photojournalism
“Photojournalism is about
capturing the human
experience and making your
own art.”
- Jennifer Cox
•Photography is an important part of journalism.
It, along with the words that we use, is a vital
part of telling the story we have to tell.
•Photography gives the audience for journalism
another dimension of information that they
cannot get with words.
•It often gives life and form to the words that
journalists use.
• It helps to entertain the audience as well as to
deep their understanding of the information
in a story.
•Photography is a way of impressing a story
onto the brain of a reader.
 2 WORDS
PHOTO
Representation - captured by camera

+
JOURNALISM
Timely reporting of events/happenings - relevant

PHOTOJOURNALISM
Alexandra Copley
Differences
Photojournalist Photographer

Capture action verbs

(cries, explodes, fights)
 news angle
Capture nouns (people, places, things)
 artistic beauty of an image
 concerned about the
 concerned with clarity, colour and
compositional focus,
or emphasis of a picture quality of a picture.
Photojournalist and Ethics

A key aspect of photojournalism

is to present accurate pictures that
don’t compromise the integrity
of the actual picture.

ANNA SHORINA
Chuvash State University
BASIC IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Color
Lines

Shapes
 BASIC IN PHOTOGRAPHY
LINE AND SHAPES
 Diagonal lines are
dynamic lines and
it gives
movements
 Horizontal and
Vertical lines give
the sense of
stability
BASICS IN PHOTOGRAPHY
LINE AND SHAPES

Photo by JC
 Colors
Lines
Shapes
Perspective

Poto by
Clemme T. Cane
FUNTASTIC Phil
TEXTURES
COLORS
FORMS
 Graphics – no merger/background, should
be light (to maintain the form such as circle-
round/sphere, square-cube)
 What a photojournalists must look
out for in Pictures? (Dr. Joe Obe)
Drama: Pix that will hold viewer’s attention.
Action: Pix that depicts movement, keeping
viewers in suspense of what happened
before and after the pix was taken.
Expression: The photo that captures expression
tells a good story.
Unusualness: capture the unique or bizarre
moments of people’s lives
 the three kinds of photos
Long range/establishing
shots. These are pictures
taken in a scene in its
entirety. They give the
viewer a good idea of the
environment of the
subject of the
photograph, but they do
not offer much
information about the
subject itself.
 the three kinds of photos
Midrange: These shots
bring the photographer
closer to the subject and
give more specific
information about the
subject. But they still
show the subject within a
setting so that the viewer
has some idea about the
environment in which the
subject if placed.
 Close-up: The best and most
interesting pictures generally
are close-up shots. These
pictures bring the viewers
face to face with the subject
and allow them to get detail
information about the
subject. Good close-up
pictures cut out all of the
environmental information
about the subject.
The Rule of thirds
This is a way in which
photographers think about
the composition of their
photographs so that they are
more interesting and
informative. The rule of thirds
helps direct the eye of
the viewer in a natural way
toward the important parts of
the photo. The concept and
the application of the rule of
thirds are both fairly simple
LANGUAGE OF THE

IMAGE
IN
PHOTOGRAPHY
M
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P
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P I
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S V
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 S
C H
O A
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O E
R S
PERSONALITY
PORTRAIT
JUXTAPOSITION
GRAPHICS
I
M
P
A
C
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POINT OF ENTRY
MOOD
RULE

OF

THIRDS
SENSE OF PLACE
LAYERING
1ST ELEMENT 2ND ELEMENT
3RD ELEMENT

POINT
OF
ENTRY
 Some
TIPS
in taking pictures
#Jennifer Cox
Try to avoid posed pictures
Try to capture emotion
Get faces; not backs
Who is the star of the picture?
Get up close!
Let your pictures tell a story
Use different angles/levels
 Caption Writing

According to the American Press Institute, photo

captions should accomplish four things:

Explain the action: Tell where and when.

Name the principles: Don’t leave out anyone who’s in
the picture.
Tell why you’re running the photo: Go beyond the
obvious. Try to pull the reader into the story.
If their not important, crop them out.
Note important detail: Explain all mysterious objects
or circumstances. Allow for a longer photo caption if it
will help the reader understand the story.
 Examples of Good & Bad Captions

Example  of Bad Photo Caption: 

Young Ms. Riding Hood walking briskly to her
grandmother’s cottage during a dreary fall morning.

["Yes, I can see that, but how young is she? Why is she
walking briskly? Where is her grandmother's cottage? It
doesn't look all that dreary to me."]

Example of Good Photo Caption: 

Red Riding Hood, age 9, carries a basket of flowers
in Fable Forest to attend to her sick grandmother in
Yorkshire
Required information
Who is that? (And, in most cases, identify
people from left to right unless the action
in the photograph demands otherwise.)
Why is this picture in the paper?
What's going on?
Why does he/she/it/they look that way?
How did this occur?
When and where was this?
Namigay ang anti-‘pork’ group ng mga flyer sa mga nagdaraang motorista upang
manawagang makiisa sa gaganaping noise barrage bukas ganap na alas-12:00 ng
tanghali, na tinawag na ‘Mag-ingay Tayo’ para ipanawagang tuluyan nang buwagin o
tanggalin ang pork barrel ng mga mambabatas sa kahabaan ng Bustillos sa Sampaloc,
Manila, Setyembre 18.
Pila sa pagsakay sa military truck ang mga residente ng iba’t ibang barangay ng
Zamboanga City matapos ipatupad ng pamahalaan ang ‘forced evacua­tion’ para hindi na
madagdagan ang hawak na bihag at human shield ng sumalakay na MNLF rebels. (AP)
 2015 NSPC
Winning
Picture

Hanazel Superal

Taguig Rescuer helps each other carry a playing injured patient during
their demonstration for disaster risk reduction at the covered court of
Upper Biicutan Elementary School on April 14, 2015. They are
showing viewers a victim on a spine board.
Nagtitinda ang
maglolang sina Rosenda
Cruz, 59 at Michelle
Cruz, 12 ng panindang
pultogan sa Plaza ng
Nasugbu, Batangas,
Enero 27, 2013.
Sinasamahan ni Michelle
ang kanyang lola sa
paglalako araw-araw at
ang kanilang kinikita ay
ginagamit sa kanyang
pag-aaral.

2013 RSPC Winning Picture

By Ferlynn Fonacier (Burgos NHS)
PREPARATION
The Camera

Before you begin, become familiar with how

your camera works. You should make sure that
you do the following:
Make sure that your camera has fresh
batteries and film/memory card.
Become familiar with the available features
of your camera such as the flash and zoom.
Learn and practice the art of taking pictures.
The Subject
The first step to taking any photograph is choosing a
worthy subject. Look for physical landscapes, cultural
markers, and people that can help to tell a story.
Photograph large scenes (such as a river scene with
buildings in the background) or small objects (such as a
non-native flower) to tell one part of a larger story.
Look for subjects that represent culture—cultural
markers—that tell a story about the people who live in
a place:
Restaurants, businesses, stores, etc. reflect the
histories of those who constructed or occupy them.
 Architectural styles and signs point to the
influence on our lives by certain groups of people.
Put a "face" on the story. Find a person who
can make a good photographic subject.
Talk to people. Get to know them and your
portraits will become more interesting.
Be sure to get a signed release (permission)
from any person you photograph.
Examine these subjects to find one which is
"representative" of the story as a whole.
Take pictures that can convey the mood of
the story.
The Composition
The composition, or arrangement of subjects in the
picture, is a very important part of telling the story.
Use these photographers’ "tricks" to create interest and
movement in a photograph, and help the picture come
alive:
Capture a Moment—Look for an expression or
gesture or quality of light that elevates an image
beyond the ordinary.
Try Different Angles—Think about how you would
normally photograph a scene. Then shoot it in an
entirely different way.
Get Closer—Many photographers make the mistake
of not getting close enough to their subjects. To get a
cleaner shot, zoom in or move closer.
Frame the picture—As you photograph, be aware of how
much of the subject appears in the photograph.
 You don't need to take a picture of the entire object or
person.
 Sometimes taking a picture of a door instead of the
entire building, or a face instead of a whole body, will tell
a different story.
Include foreground subjects and background subjects—
Objects that are closer to the camera are in the
foreground and those that are further from the camera
are in the background.
Show the importance of a subject by placing it either in
the foreground or background.
 Show context in the photograph by photographing more
than one object. Placing a flower in the foreground with a
factory in the background can tell a more powerful story
than just the factory alone.
Alberto A. Peña
Ang UHAY
Times news snapper Ben Gurr’s top news
photography tips:
1: Photographers have to be totally familiar with
their equipment. You should not need to think
about the technical side of things. Take lots of
photographs and your thinking will soon be
devoted to the image.
2: Study your subject and do not forget the
background.
3: Use the light that exists naturally and record the
scene as you see it.
4: Try not to influence or “mock up” your subjects.
Let them behave as though you are not there.
5: The camera is a simple tool: do not get carried
away with gadgets.
6: Advances in camera technology mean that
mistakes are rare but if you do make one, learn
from it.
7: The use of computer software to enhance images is
overrated and overused.
8: Captions need to enhance and explain your picture
and must be 100 per cent accurate. Always check
the spelling of names.
9: Talk to people: they are full of useful information.
10: And just for good measure: ensure your batteries
are charged, keep a few coins at hand for parking
meters, always have plenty of fuel in your car and
be ready for anything!