Photojournalism 101

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Photographing Your Story

These are some basic pointers to help those without professional training take professional-looking photos. I'm not going to get very technical here, other than to strongly recommend using a digital camera (preferably one without a delay between when you hit the button and when the picture is actually taken) and that you set it to as large a file size as is possible given the storage space available to you.

Know the basics of the technical functions of the camera you’re using – but don’t get too caught up in the gadgetry of it.  Mess around with your camera a bit to find a setting that works for you, and then stick with that.  Most of the special functions are much more trouble then they’re worth.

Make a plan – As you go into reporting a story, think about the kind of shots that you want to get and what purpose they will serve in the final package.  As you go along, keep re-evaluating this plan in light of what seems realistic, what good shots you’ve already gotten, and how many different photos you need for your story.

Get Action or Characters – Always try to photograph some sort of action or event that relates to your story if at all possible.  Press your sources for some sort of happening relating to the story that will make for good visuals.  If it just isn’t happening, then fall back on taking great photos that humanize the characters in the story.

Be ready – Have your camera out of its case, turned on and ready to shoot as quickly as possible as often as possible.

Take tons of shots – Erase the bad ones later.  You’re that much more likely to get something good, and as your subjects get used to you constantly taking their picture, they’ll act more natural and forget you’re there.

Don’t be shy – The confidence you exude when taking photos plays a surprisingly large role in the reception you get from your subjects.  Act like you know what you’re doing and have every right to be doing it and the people around you will pick up on your confidence and assume the same.  On the off chance that someone gets really mad, you can always delete the picture.

Beg forgiveness, don’t ask permission – It’s polite to ask if you can photograph someone, but it can actually be a bad idea (unless you’re pretty sure they’ll say yes).  If you just do it and then they protest, you can always offer to delete it.  Once you point out to them that you’re taking their picture by asking if it’s okay, they’re likely to stop acting natural and start posing.

Humanize!  Pictures without people in them are almost always boring.  Your story is probably about people, so show us what they look like. 

Get close – Extreme close ups of people’s faces tend to humanize them more in the eyes of the viewer.  Action up close draws the viewer’s attention more. The more you are physically closer to the subject and the less you rely on zoom or telephoto, the better, because you will have more interesting angles and higher resolution from up close.

Maximize depth – Put as many layers as possible in your photo.  If you want to show a landscape, put something in the extreme foreground to make the picture more interesting.  If you’re close up on someone’s face, think about what’s happening in the background in the rest of the frame.  If you’re showing a crowd of people, make sure there’s at least one person relatively close up for the viewer to immediately engage with.

Work the angles – Move yourself (and by extension your camera lens) around as much as possible.  Zoom in and out with your body rather than with the zoon whenever you can.  And move around in vertical space, crouching low to the ground and getting up on your tippy toes (or climbing up on something).  This will create a much more dynamic visual experience.

Watch the edges – The main subject of your picture will probably be somewhere in the middle of the frame, but what’s happening around the edges of the frame can make the difference between a good picture and a great picture.  After you compose the shot, scan around the edges of the frame to see what’s there.  You may want to recompose your shot the tiniest bit based on what you see.

Rule of thirds – A general rule for visually appealing photos: put your subject or the focal point of your shot off center, dividing the frame into thirds from side to side and/or top to bottom

Get up early – Everything looks a hundred times better just after sunrise and just before sunset, so if you have a choice, try to shoot in early morning or late afternoon.  (Also, if you’re inside, a light source coming from the side is better than one directly overhead)

Do it now! – If you see a photo you want to take, TAKE IT! Even if it means stopping a car or running after someone.  Don’t put it off, thinking you’ll get another chance to take that photo later.  Chances are you won’t.