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PHOTJOURNALISM001

This document provides an overview of photojournalism basics. It discusses that photojournalism tells visual stories that complement written text. It can involve documenting important community events, wars, and disasters. Effective photojournalism requires an artistic eye to find unique visual perspectives and capture moments in time. Composition techniques like framing, rule of thirds, and capturing motion are also discussed.

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26 views27 pages

PHOTJOURNALISM001

This document provides an overview of photojournalism basics. It discusses that photojournalism tells visual stories that complement written text. It can involve documenting important community events, wars, and disasters. Effective photojournalism requires an artistic eye to find unique visual perspectives and capture moments in time. Composition techniques like framing, rule of thirds, and capturing motion are also discussed.

Uploaded by

estrellita.lantaca
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Photojournalism Basics

• Photojournalism is
the use of photos to
either tell a story on
their own or
complement the text
of a story. The
reality is that nearly
as many people look
at the paper for the
photos as they do for
the stories.
Thrills and Chills
• Being a
photojournalist can
be one of the most
exciting jobs in the
world. It can mean
traveling to and
taking photos of
wars, natural
disasters, and key
political events.
Close to Home
• Being a photojournalist
also means documenting
the things that are
important to people in the
community. People want
to see photos of the
Heritage Parade, Girl
Scouts selling cookies,
and kids fishing at the
local pond.
The Artist
• Being a
photojournalist is
also much like
being an artist. It’s
using the camera
to paint a picture.
It means looking
beyond the
obvious and seeing
the world in a
unique way.
Tools of the Trade
• A photojournalist’s
most important tool
is the eye. Cameras
come in many forms,
from the cheapest
disposable point-and-
shoots to elaborate
digital SLRs, but
“seeing” the shot is
how it all starts.
Three Types of Photos
• In a very general
sense,
photographs for
newspapers and
magazines can
be broken into
three categories:
news, feature,
and sports.
News Photos
• News photos
attempt to
capture “a
moment.” That
moment can be
as dramatic as
the Space
Shuttle
exploding…
News Photos
• … or as subtle as the
tears of a Hurricane
Katrina survivor as
she cares for her little
sister.
Feature Photos
• Feature photos should
be strong enough to
stand alone with little
more than a cutline.
They are often just
something or
someone that catches
the photographer’s
eye. They can be as
basic as two girls
playing on a
swingset…
Feature Photos
• …or as abstract as a piece
in the Museum of Modern
Art.
Sports Photos
• Sports photos attempt
to capture that which
occurs in the fields or
competitive or
recreational sports.
They can be shots as
action-packed as Barry
Bonds hitting his
record-breaking home
run…
Sports Photos
• …or as emotion-
packed as Jerome
Bettis and Hines Ward
embracing after the
Pittsburgh Steelers’
Superbowl victory.
Composition
• There are many things that go into making a great photo.
Sometimes just being in the right place at the right time –
and a dash of luck – is enough to get a great photo, but
most of the time, the photographer needs to apply certain
composition techniques. Some techniques are very basic,
while others require a bit of creativity.
Gestalt
• Many of the basic principles of composition are derived
from the theory of Gestalt perception, which refers to the
way the mind views images. The five basic laws of Gestalt
perception are:
• Figure-Ground

• Proximity

• Similarity

• Closure

• Continuation
Figure-Ground
• The mind
separates a
subject from its
surrounding area.
The object is the
“figure” and the
background is the
“ground.”
Proximity
• Proximity occurs when
elements are placed close
together. The are perceived
as a group.
Similarity
• Similarity occurs
when objects look
like one another.
People perceive
them as a group or
pattern.
Closure
• Closure occurs when an
object is incomplete or a
space is not completely
enclosed. If enough of the
shape is indicated, people
see the whole by filling in the
missing information.
Continuation
• Continuation
occurs when
the viewer’s
eye naturally
follows a line
or curve.
When those
lines lead to
the subject of
the photo,
they are
called leading
lines.
More Composition Basics
• There are many other basic approaches to taking photos.
They include, but are not limited to:
• Shooting Angles

• Rule of Thirds

• Framing
Angles
• A great way to make an
old subject look new is
to shoot it from a unique
angle. In addition,
getting low and shooting
upward at a subject will
often reduce
unnecessary clutter in
the background.
Rule of Thirds
• Imagine a tic-tac-toe
pattern drawn onto your
photo. The eye is drawn
to objects that appear at
the intersections of
those lines or along
those lines.
Framing
• A good way to
draw attention to
your subject is to
frame it. A
photographic
frame is an
object in the
photo that acts
as a border for
your subject.
Capturing Motion
• There are three basic ways to capture motion. They are:
• Stopping the action

• Blurring the action

• Blurring the background


Stopping the Action
• Stopping the action makes
the subject of the photo
appear caught in mid-motion.
Both the subject and the
background are in focus. It’s
important, however, that the
movement is clear.
Blurring the Action
• Blurring the action
makes the subject of the
photo appear to be
moving. The
background is sharp,
however, to ensure the
illusion of motion.
Blurring the Background
• Blurring the
background and
keeping the
subject in focus
also makes the
subject of the
photo appear to
be moving. The
camera must
move with the
subject to create
this effect.

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