INTRODUCTION
This subcourse will not turn you into a full-fledged photojournalist like
Robert Capa or Margret Burke White overnight, but it will get you started in
the right direction.
Many people learn to do specific photographic jobs
technically correct. A school photographer may shoot hundreds of pictures a
day against a fixed background with fixed lighting and exposure; or a
military photographer may excel in recording damage to equipment; another
may consistently produce aerial photographs with sharp detail.
Are these
people only good technicians or merely good craftsman?
Who then, are the
photojournalists?
These are the ones who can sense and capture the feeling and emotions of a
situation and transfer them through his pictures to the viewer. A fashion
photographer can make you desire the latest style in a gown.
The news
photographer is able to capture and make you feel the tragedy of an accident
or the joy in the face of child. A combat photographer can make you feel
the anguish of war. These are the photojournalists!
Intangibles such as these mentioned are not learned in a short time.
Indeed, they may never be developed unless you begin thinking about
photography in terms beyond the technical. To be successful you must study,
develop skills, and be receptive, sensitive, and concerned. But above all,
you must have a desire to share with and communicate to others.
Technical competence is necessary.
The foremost requirement to be a
successful photojournalist is to master your equipment and have it ready for
use at all times.
These things, plus your imagination, are the means by
which you can produce pictures that will be appreciated by a great many
people and be satisfying to you.
PART A - NEWS/SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
1.
News.
a. Qualities of a News Item. To consider an event or subject as
news
or newsworthy, it must be of interest to the general public to which it
will
be presented. That may sound simple enough, but in reality there are
some
specific characteristics or qualities which separates a news item
from
ordinary information. Those qualities are:
(1) Immediacy (timeliness).
This is why news is NEWS.
People are
interested in current events. What happened today?
(2) Proximity.
People are interested in what is going on in their
own community.
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