Photography Fundamentals

As a journalist, we have to package, market and sell our stories – that the job description. And to entice these indecisive readers in, we must be able to catch their eye with an accompanying photograph. Often readers (especially online) will pass by news stories that don’t have photos to coincide with the story, simply due to the fact that the story was not visually appealing. The eye is naturally drawn to pictures over words – after all, pictures say a thousand words.

And so, the modern journalist must double as a photographer.

This week we looked at the fundamentals of photography – how to compose a photograph, so it will visually appealing (and can appear alongside a story).

RULE OF THIRDS:

The rule of thirds is when the subject of the photograph falls on a ‘third line’, creating an image that is visually pleasing. Often, professional photos adhere to this rule.

In western society, our eyes naturally read from left to right. This means the eye is most comfortable so when a subject sits on the right hand third of the image like so:

LEADING LINES:

Another commonly used composition tool photographers use – our mind naturally follows those lines before resting on the desired subject.

FRAMING:

Framing a subject within a photo is another common composition tool photographers use. Again, this is quite visually attractive.

Using these basic composition tools, as journalists we can use them to our advantage to create a photo that will help entice our readers in. Of course, the photo needs add to the subject of the story, making it clear what that article is about. The more action you have, the more people will read on. Be creative, sometimes the most unlikely idea can become a brilliant photo to coincide with your story.