Basic techniques for photojournalism

Basic Techniques for Photojournalism Part 1

Preparation for Photojournalism

Nowadays, photojournalists generally use digital SLR cameras to take photos. In actual photojournalism, lenses with different focal lengths, external flashes, spare memory cards, and spare batteries are essential.

In daily photography interviews, I usually equip three lenses with focal lengths of 17-35mm, 28-70mm, and 70-200mm. I choose the corresponding lens according to different shooting materials.

When interviewing without purpose, I mostly only carry a 17-35mm lens. During interviews, photojournalists often not only undertake the task of taking photos, but also take care of written records. Therefore, voice recorders, notebooks, and wireless network cards are also equipment that we need to have on hand.

If the scene you are shooting is in a concert hall, stadium, or large venue, you will also need to be equipped with a monopod and other equipment to successfully complete the task when the lighting is dark or the use of flash is not allowed.

After receiving the interview task, we must strive to arrive at the interview area in advance to fully understand the environmental facilities and lighting conditions of the interview area, and it is best to get the agenda of the meeting or event, so that we can have it in mind Be prepared and never fight an unprepared battle.

How to make good use of on-site light

During the news interview and shooting process, photojournalists must be familiar with the conventional expression methods of various themes, fully understand the agenda of various activities, and observe the scene. Terrain in order to choose the best shooting angle.

In addition, we also need to consider the impact of outdoor light on the event site, whether the indoor lighting intensity is appropriate, how to set up flash, and other issues.

If conditions permit, you can shoot in different setting modes to ensure nothing is missed; when shooting outdoors, you must consider the impact of sunlight on the shooting, and use a flash to fill in the light when necessary.

Normally, company meetings and large-scale events are held in low-light atmosphere, which puts higher requirements on our photography work.

There are three situations where photography using live light is required: 1. The use of flash is not allowed at news sites. In this case, it is necessary to appropriately increase the sensitivity of the camera and increase the shutter speed to ensure the imaging quality of the shot; 2. The scene being shot is too large or the subject is far away from the shooting location; 3. The photographer should highlight the scene in the picture atmosphere.

When using ambient light for photography, we should try to choose a large-diameter lens, such as 70-210mm/F2.8, 28-70mm/F2.8 and other lenses. This type of lens has a larger aperture and can ensure a certain shutter speed, so the image quality will be better. Generally speaking, we mostly use hand-held cameras for indoor shooting, which requires the shutter speed to be no lower than the minimum. For example, when shooting with a 17-35mm lens, the shutter speed should be controlled at about 1/15-1/30 seconds; when shooting with a 28-70mm lens, the shutter speed should be controlled at about 1/30-1/60 seconds.

How to use flash

The flash we are talking about here refers to an external flash, and the flash head can adjust the angle at will. We should have this experience, the flash hitting the subject directly will easily cause overexposure.

In this case, we can try to adjust the flash head to a certain angle, extend the reflector, and the light source is reflected through the reflector and the ceiling. This operation can eliminate the projection of the subject and improve the impact of uneven lighting; if the conference space is small and the subject is relatively close to the lens, the flash can be adjusted to 90 degrees to reflect light from the ceiling and surrounding walls. Brighten the subject.

In daily practical photojournalism, we can try different flash methods and continuously accumulate experience in using flash. When shooting leaders’ speeches or fleeting scenes, I suggest you adjust the flash to TTL automatic mode. This can save us a lot of time, have a higher success rate of shooting, and a greater insurance factor.

How to shoot leaders’ speeches and panoramic shots of conference venues

Before leaders’ speeches, speeches and other scenes, it is necessary to fully communicate with them and tell them that they can smile appropriately and adjust their sitting posture during the speech. , when you sense that the photographer is preparing to take pictures, try to provide a certain degree of cooperation.

Before preparing to take pictures, photographers can also give the leader a gesture or hint to seize the best shooting opportunity for continuous shooting and snapshots. When filming a conference, you must always be highly alert and pay close attention to the speaker's movements. When you find that the speaker is getting better and giving an unscripted speech, you should immediately step forward and take continuous shots to capture his best expressions and gestures.

It should be noted that microphones, water bottles and other items at the conference site may block the subject and destroy the composition. We should pay attention to finding the best angle during conference photography and avoid obstructions as much as possible.

It is really difficult to shoot at the conference. We need to make full use of ambient light and flash. When photographing large-scale meetings with hundreds of people attending, we must fully consider the audience, podium leaders, podium display boards and other factors in the composition. At this time, we must use flash skillfully.

I figured out a trick myself: slightly adjust the external flash upward at an angle. At this time, the flash outputs the maximum flash volume to ensure that the rostrum that is far away is fully exposed, and the rostrum that is far away from the lens is fully exposed. Close objects will not cause overexposure. When there is enough light at the venue, you can turn off the flash, choose a larger aperture and shutter speed (pay attention to the minimum shutter limit mentioned above), and use the LOGO on the back panel or the people sitting on the rostrum as the standard. Average metering.

How to select news photos

The publishing formats of news photos mainly include single photos, group photos and feature photography.

Single photos are the most commonly used form of publication by photojournalists in their daily work. The basic requirements for single picture shooting are: to express typical moments with image value and representativeness, paying attention to details, characters' emotions and body language.

Group photos can be descriptions and expressions of different aspects of the same news scene, or they can be a combination of different scenes under the same theme. Group photos are mostly used to express news events from multiple aspects and angles and deepen the theme. I participate in photojournalistic coverage of the National Two Sessions every year. After the two sessions, I will select photos of the meeting site, the scene where representatives discussed, as well as the scenes where representatives and committee members inspected, communicated, and wrote bills, etc., to form a group photo for publication.

Feature photography refers to reflecting a news topic through multiple photos and multiple angles. Each photo tells a story or a plot. It must have an opening photo, a climax photo and an ending photo to connect a complete story. For thematic photography, attention should be paid to the use of different scenes such as large scenes, medium shots, and close-ups, as well as the combination of horizontal and vertical photos. The time span is large and the timeliness is downplayed.

The photos we finally choose to publish must have the following elements: 1. The movements and expressions of the subjects are natural; 2. The moment that best represents the essence of the news event; 3. Both close-ups and large scenes; 4. , The picture composition is reasonable and ornamental; 5. The picture is dynamic; 6. The picture is captured.

Photojournalism should give top priority to visual impact

"News value" and "image value" have always been considered the two major elements of photojournalism.

The image value of news photography mainly refers to the visual impact or visual appeal of news photos. For a long time, many researchers and practitioners of photojournalism have believed that among these two elements, news value is the first, because photojournalism belongs to the category of journalism rather than art.

However, in recent years of photojournalism teaching, students have been asked many times to choose their favorite 10 news photos in any newspaper or designated newspapers. It was found that the students’ selection criteria are first and foremost photos. The picture effect itself, the news value of the photo is secondary.

When discussing with students why the news value of news photos is not considered first, many students said that news with significant news value has often been learned from written reports in newspapers or from television and radio, so when viewing When taking photos, you tend to pay more attention to the effect of the picture.

Re-examining my country’s long-standing practice of photojournalism and readers’ evaluation of photojournalism in newspapers, and putting the visual impact of photos in the first place should be more conducive to improving our photojournalism reports and making them more It is conducive to the innovation of photojournalistic reports and is more in line with readers’ needs for photojournalism.

1. Pay attention to readers’ visual experience and choice. News propaganda should be “close to the masses”. Studying the characteristics of readers’ visual experience and choice has strong practical significance for improving news photography reporting.

Journalism photography belongs to visual journalism, which disseminates news information to the public mainly through visual images. The title of the picture is relatively subordinate to the text description. When readers choose news photography reports, they first choose the image of the picture.

Because people’s acceptance of photojournalism begins with accepting the image of the picture, and then they will read its text description.

If a news photo itself has no visual appeal, few readers will continue to read its caption. Of course, just as the judgment of anything has many sides, photos with strong visual impact or appeal may not necessarily be good photos, but good news photos must have strong visual impact or appeal.

Human vision is a highly proactive visual form with strong selectivity. The word "turn a blind eye" that people often say means that things included in the scope of vision can still be "invisible" or "not seen". This is the selectivity of vision.

It only sees objects that attract it, that is, objects that have strong stimulation and impact on it. From the perspective of photojournalism, what kind of objects will have strong stimulation, impact or attraction to the reader's vision?

Psychologists have long pointed out that visual objects are the least favorite. Things are those that are static or those images that are constantly repeated. This is the so-called "turning a blind eye". Only when vision faces an unfamiliar object will it "open its eyes wide."

Human vision has a tendency to seek novelty and accept differences, which requires that if news photographers want to make the photos they take attractive, they cannot be satisfied with shooting content and forms that are generally visible to people. Instead, we should focus on turning the content and form that are generally “invisible” to people into “visible” photo reports. Photojournalistic reports that are both unique in content and form are undoubtedly the most popular among readers; photojournalistic reports that are unique only in “form” (i.e., the effect of the photo) will also attract readers’ attention; and just “ Photojournalistic reports that are “unique in terms of content” are of the third level because the visual effects of the photos themselves are “familiar” to readers. News photographers should find ways to take photos that give readers a fresh feeling by “seeing them for the first time”.

2. Strengthen the application of novelty-seeking thinking in news photography. Novelty-seeking thinking has a distinct quality of loving novelty. Its thinking direction is active, positive and upward.

Toward objects that have never happened, seen, or reported in the past. This kind of thinking is consistent with the nature of newspapers and periodicals. Newspapers exist to report news, and everything focuses on the word "new".

The novelty thinking of photojournalism is mainly reflected in two aspects: first, seeking new content; second, seeking new form.

The pursuit of novelty in content requires news photography to search for and discover objects worthy of reporting. In the article "Analysis of Factors Affecting the Discovery Power of News", Mr. Nan Zhenzhong, Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency, proposed six main directions for attack: First, be good at discovering or finding news that has not been widely disseminated through mass media in the world so far. Fresh little-known facts. The second is to be good at discovering or clarifying the truth of major events in society where there are different opinions and disagreements. The third is to be good at discovering or refining fresh experiences that can help solve various current difficulties and social contradictions. The fourth is to be good at discovering and capturing new ideas that can inspire people, and to profoundly reveal the new changes in people's concepts in the tide of reform and opening up. The fifth is to be good at discovering and expressing typical figures who best embody the spirit of the times and have a greater motivating and inspiring effect on people. Sixth, be good at discovering new signs and new trends that can reflect the laws of development of things, and accurately predict and describe the development trends of things.

3. Pay attention to capturing typical moments Modern society has entered the era of picture reading. Photojournalism is not the only medium through which people obtain image news.

Compared with television news, from the perspective of news dissemination, photojournalism is generally in a weak position.

The former is "moving", the latter is "quiet", the former is sound, and the latter is silent; the former can transmit reports simultaneously when the news is happening, and the latter always has a certain Only after a lag can you meet the readers. Faced with this disadvantage, does photojournalism still have any advantages? The answer is yes.

The advantage of photojournalism lies in capturing typical moments of news objects and freezing the essence of news moments so that readers can savor them carefully.

If photojournalism wants to attract more readers’ attention in competition with TV news, it should use its strengths and avoid weaknesses and focus on capturing typical moments. Basic Techniques of News Photography Part 2

1. Definition of News Pictures

"Chinese News Practical Dictionary" explains news pictures as: "a combination of the intuitive image of the picture and a brief description of the text A form of news reporting that reports news and disseminates information." This explanation shows that "news" and "information" are the "core" of pictures, and pictures are just the "shell" that carries "news" and "information". If there is no "news content" in the picture and only the "shell" of the picture is left, the picture will lose its meaning.

(1) Definition of visual impact

Visual impact refers to an intuitive image that is presented directly in front of the audience without the audience’s imagination, and can leave an impression in the audience’s mind. force.

(2) Physical shooting methods that make news pictures impactful

Emphasize a distinctive part of the scene to make it have a strong visual impact. All you have to do is get closer to the subject, and you can get better visual impact than shooting from a distance. In addition, the selection of shooting points must be unconventional, and the photography language must be concise and clear.

2. Methods to make news pictures have visual impact

(1) Be good at capturing moments with high information content

News photography is mainly based on momentary images. To reveal news facts and disseminate news information. The more information a news photo condenses, the greater its news value and the more innovative it must be. For example, in the Netherlands, when a car accident occurred, two photographers from the German Press Agency and the Associated Press were present. A reporter from the German Press Agency filmed the moment when a car hit the wall and went through the building. The Associated Press reporter captured the moment when the car passed through the building and collided with an oncoming car. As a result, most newspapers used AP photos. Because the photo taken by the Associated Press reporter not only reflects the plot of the car hitting the wall and passing through the building, but also explains the ending of the car colliding with another vehicle after passing through the building, the information content is even greater.

Two aspects of information content: one is factual information content, and the other is emotional information content

In the practice of news photography, we often find this phenomenon: some news photos It doesn't seem to contain much information, but it is still very popular among readers. What's the reason? This is because the information content of news photos includes two aspects, factual information content and emotional information content. Although many news photos contain little factual information, they contain a lot of emotional information, so they are equally popular.

A photo of a girl with big eyes in the "I Want to Go to School" series of photos taken by "China Youth Daily" reporter Xie Hailong is a typical example. Compared with another photo in the group photo, "Teachers and Students of the School," this photo obviously contains much less factual information. In "Teachers and Students of the School", images such as rural background, big rolling mill, rural teachers in Chinese uniforms and diligent children condense various specific information about the learning of children in impoverished mountainous areas. However, the previous photo contains more emotional information. The beauty of the little girl is in sharp contrast with the dangerous environment of the impoverished mountainous area. The big eyes of the little girl reveal innocence, simplicity, persistence and hope, like searchlights. It also stares at the conscience and soul of the audience, strongly impacting the audience's soul, making you unable to escape. Because of this, both authors and readers have become accustomed to using this photo as the representative work of the entire series of photos. Even the organizers of the National Hope Project also used this photo as the logo for event promotion.

(2) Be good at capturing symbolic moments

It is a moment that is known for its generality and allegory of images. Its images often reveal some kind of bright or dark meaning. It symbolizes some kind of connotation outside the painting, and more deeply penetrates the photographer’s subjective understanding, thoughts and emotions. This kind of momentary image often does not express the conveyed information intuitively and clearly on the screen, but relies to a large extent on mobilizing readers' "re-creation" and arousing the audience's deep thinking and supplementation. Therefore, the information capacity is larger. , higher news value, stronger visual impact, and more innovative.

In addition, symbolic moments do not seek to reflect the entire event, but only highlight the most profound and symbolic corner or part of the event, so that people can see the whole thing at a glance. Therefore, it is sufficient for reporters. Give full play to your subjective initiative to shoot innovative pictures, providing a wide and free space.

The world-famous news photos "Disaster in Bhopal" (photo by Pabrao Bartholomew) and "The Consequences of Drought in Uganda" (photo by Mike Wells) That's a good example. These two photos reporting disaster news did not describe the disaster in detail, but only selected the most symbolic corner of the disaster to show the disaster. They were novel and unique, and achieved excellent communication effects. The former chose to bury the moment when the child was poisoned to death, highlighting the victim's wide-open eyes that had been fatally injured, symbolizing his unwillingness to die in peace; the slightly moving lips seemed to still contain the moans and accusations he made when he died. The latter image is a close-up of a white, broad palm holding hands with a black boy's palm that resembles a chicken's claw. The dry and thin palm is used to symbolize the consequences of the drought in Uganda.

(3) Good at capturing humorous moments

In the development process of most news events, there are many humorous moments. This is a moment that on the surface seems to have little or nothing to do with the meaning and essence of the event, but in fact reflects the meaning and essence of the event from another angle and side, and is also enlightening and relaxing. Capturing this moment requires photojournalists to have humorous thinking. Humorous thinking can enable people to break away from the usual connections between things and observe the world from another perspective. Humorous moments often endow images with magical and novel meanings. Taking this moment is the main way to create new ideas and visual feelings in news photos.

On December 7, 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union finally made a breakthrough in negotiations on reducing intermediate-range strategic nuclear missiles after seven years, and signed an intermediate-range missile agreement. American photojournalist Tim Clary captured a humorous moment in this very stylized and serious news event - after Gorbachev and Reagan signed the agreement and exchanged texts, they were about to shake hands and congratulate each other without shaking hands. The moment they are held together. In the photo "Deal", Reagan and Gorbachev are like businessmen. After some haggling, they finally reached a deal. It is very innovative. Although it does not have a strong visual impact, it has an impact. people's thoughts.

(4) Good at capturing novel moments

That is, at the scene of the news event, due to the reporter’s special shooting position and angle, the news events captured are refreshing and refreshing. A momentary image like no other. This kind of moment is distinguished by the novelty and uniqueness of the picture.

Most of the subjects faced by photojournalism are stylized and seldom-changing subjects, such as awards in sports competitions, the annual National People's Congress, etc. Capturing novel moments is the main way to make your photos stand out from the crowd of competitors. For example, at the National People's Congress every year, the rostrum has the same layout. Under such circumstances, it seems difficult for photographers to take good and refreshing photos. However, when a session of the Seventh National People's Congress was held in 1988, a photojournalist tied a camera to his hand and stretched out his arm. In this way, the shooting point moved several dozen centimeters forward, and the shooting angle also changed. change. Therefore, the photos he took of the conference made readers feel fresh.

"The Birth of a New Record" shot by Hu Yue is also a good example. Chinese high jumper Zhu Jianhua broke the men's high jump world record at the Fifth National Games with a score of 2.38 meters. Amid the warm cheers of the audience, Zhu Jianhua circled the field to pay tribute to the audience.

At this time, many photographers rushed forward to follow the shooting. Hu Yue stood calmly in the stands and took the unique news photo "The Birth of a New Record" - followed by enthusiastic audiences and sports reporters. , in front is Zhu Jianhua cheering and greeting the audience - the picture is novel and refreshing.

(5) Take exclusive photos

Innovative news photos are often exclusive photos of the news scene. Full preparations must be made for photography, in addition to necessary interview preparation and technology In addition to preparation, it is more important to carefully observe the situation at the news scene and be aware of it.

The exclusive news photo "Sleepless Night in Beijing on September 23" taken by China Youth Daily reporter Liu Zhankun is a typical example. The content of the photo is the moment when Samaranch announced that Sydney would host the 2000 Olympic Games. People at the "9.23 Beijing Night" live broadcast on Beijing TV showed various expressions of surprise, hope, or confusion. This is an exclusive photo, and its successful shooting undoubtedly benefited from the reporter's prior on-site observation. At the filming site at that time, only Beijing TV reporters were allowed to take pictures from the front of the venue. All reporters were arranged to the second floor and could only see the backs of everyone in the live broadcast hall. Liu Zhankun quietly surveyed the terrain and even knew which door had the shortest distance to the front of the venue. When the moment that touched the hearts of hundreds of millions of people came, he quietly and quickly rushed downstairs, nimbly jumped to the front of the venue, and took pictures of this fleeting moment very calmly.

(6) Carefully observe the character’s movements

Expressions and movements are the external expression of the character’s inner emotions and are the key to revealing a person’s spirit, temperament and character traits. Photojournalism must express the inner spirit, thoughts and feelings of characters through people's movements. Actions are the most basic characteristics of the image used to "speak" in news photography, that is, an active image, or a certain plot image in group activities. In news photography, the use of actions to express a character's personality must be linked to the expression of the character's thoughts and feelings, that is, through the characters' distinctive expressions and emotions in their movements, the characters' thoughts and emotions are shown.

(7) Appropriate use of staged shots

Regarding the phenomenon of staged shots, Wang Wenlan, director of the photography department of China Daily, vice chairman of the China Photographers Association, and academic member of the China Press Photography Society, once said: "In the world of Chinese photojournalism, the debate over snapshots and staged shots ended with the Cultural Revolution, because the difference in shooting methods at that time came from the falsification of many photos during the Cultural Revolution, which continued to cause a long-term controversy. Now this The problem is no longer a problem. Judging from the photos of Hesse, many of them were staged, designed, and planned, such as the facial mask that won the second prize in the technology category, but it did not affect the authenticity of the photos and the reliability of the news events. And readability, but through the design of the picture, it improves the impact. No matter what method you use to shoot, capture, or pose, the effect of the picture should be your only criterion for success. ”

3. Respect the laws of news photography and give full play to the characteristics of news photography

The planning of news photography reports must be able to give full play to the strengths of photography: that is, visual impact. The principle when considering planning themes is to have a sense of lens. There are three measurement criteria for the so-called lens sense: first, the news subject can be shown in the picture, especially the inner world of the character; second, the news background and its environment can be shown in the picture; third, the news scene has a strong impact, that is, whether it can Through the news and picture composition, a thrilling climax is formed.

The impact of news pictures has nothing to do with the size of the picture.

At present, there is a phenomenon of false "bigness" in newspapers. That is to say, the layout of a newspaper is useless without pictures, but there should be a certain degree of "bigness" and "smallness" in the editing and distribution of news pictures. The ruler to grasp the fate of this "degree" can only be the "big" or "small" of "news content". However, in the eyes of some editors and reporters (including a few chief editors), they believe that the larger the picture, the better the visual effect and the stronger the impact.

As a result, the trend of greed for "bigness" in picture editing seems to be intensifying. Long and empty text is often dismissed by readers as the smelly and long "lazy woman's feet". Similarly, large and empty pictures without "news content" are a kind of "bubble". Although this kind of news pictures seem to be "large" in length, due to their bland, tasteless, pale and hollow content, they not only have no impact at all, but can only squeeze out, waste and even pollute precious space.

Basic News Photography Skills Part 3

1. Preparation before the meeting

First of all, you need to communicate with the client to understand the purpose and requirements of the meeting shooting. "If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools." Meeting news shooting must take into account not only the shooting of large scenes such as the conference venue, but also the shooting of close-up scenes such as leaders' speeches. Especially for important meetings, the photographer cannot It is too close to the leader, so the lens preparation must consider that the wide-angle end is wide enough, and the telephoto end can meet the requirements for close-up shooting.

Before the meeting begins, first ask for an agenda from the conference affairs team. It is best to arrive at the shooting site one day in advance to inspect the size of the venue, lighting conditions, the location of the guest of honor, your own camera position, etc. Clothing must also be prepared. You must wear a suit and tie for international meetings, and this should basically be the case for domestic large and medium-sized meetings. You should get a badge from the organizer for easy access.

2. Pre-meeting shooting

Generally, the meeting ends in half a day, which is relatively simple. Some large-scale meetings may be divided into main venues and sub-venues, ranging from a few hours to a few days, with a large agenda. During the meeting, the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as some meeting activities with the participation of major leaders and important figures, must be photographed. the focus. The photographer should have a clear understanding of these situations in advance and clarify the shooting requirements and priorities. On the day of the meeting, you should arrive early and have all the equipment properly arranged. Before the meeting, you can take photos of some meeting background materials, such as the layout outside the venue, banners and other promotional slogans, so that the audience can know the main content of the meeting at once.

The formal shooting begins at the sign-in area, and shots of important guests signing in should be captured. When important guests check in, staff will give them corsages, so it's easy to identify who is the guest of honor. The main guests must rest in the VIP room before the meeting starts, and the shots of shaking hands and talking between the main guests must be taken;

3. Meeting shooting

When shooting the venue, The best time is to shoot after the meeting has been going on for a while, or after the leader speaks for a while. This can avoid the presence of many photographers in front of the rostrum, which will affect the cleanliness and beauty of the picture. Another thing is to try to find a high point to shoot, so that the photos taken can have a larger scene and a better sense of layering and perspective. When the conference officially begins, it is necessary to take photos of the host entering and presiding over the conference, shots of all delegates applauding, a panoramic view of the rostrum, and a panoramic view of the venue. Then came the speech at the conference, and every speaker had to be photographed. When we take photos, we must be familiar with and good at using the lens in our hands, and try to include as much useful information as possible in the limited picture space. Let the photos speak for themselves. It is of course necessary to take meeting news, take good photos of the venue and leaders, but just doing these is not enough.

When we shoot meeting news, in addition to shooting the necessary meeting agenda, we also need to "do two things at once" and pay attention to discovering and shooting some things other than the meeting agenda. In other words, while filming the prescribed actions, you should also deliberately shoot some interesting moments outside of the prescribed actions, such as the "highlights" collected and written by journalists. These "highlight" photos are a useful supplement to the main news photos of the conference and can easily be adopted by newspapers. Especially after the newspaper reports the main news, if it wants to publish a special photo page for further reporting, it will need a large number of such photos.