1. Photojournalism: Covering the News Visual Variety Cutline

2. Visual Variety Why? Many aspects to a story – cover all of them! Viewers tire of the same photo (esp. generic events: protests, speakers, …) More options for publication

3. Visual Variety: How-to Vary vantage point and perspective Vantage point: what direction are you looking from? Perspective: how far away are you looking from?

4. Visual Variety: Low vantage piont Standing-level vantage point -pretty boring Low (waist/knee level) vantage point -Same info, visually different, ergo interesting Extremely low (ground level) vantage point -Very visually different, though maybe less info

5. Visual Variety: Low vantage piont Get to the same height as your subject Kim Johnson /Wichita Eagle

6. Visual Variety: Low vantage point Low vantage points can make subjects feel larger and more imposing The sky can also provide a cleaner background

7. Visual Variety: High vantage point Floor can provide clean background as well Perspective emphasizes higher things (protest signs) Skyler Reid /Daily Californian

8. Visual Variety: High vantage point Moving to a much higher vantage point -sometimes clearer view -less distortion from perspective -unique angle that even eyewitnesses don't see

9. Visual Variety: Changing perspective Move farther away: far perspective -easier to isolate subject -cleaner foreground,background -focus on detail

10. Visual Variety: Changing perspective Move closer: closer perspective -more dramatic -greater emphasis on closer things Dean Coppola /Contra Costa Times

11. Visual Variety: How-to Timing of capture Safety shots "Decisive Moment" Outline the story: rising action, climax, conclusion Capture different scales of subject Large-scale "Overall" shot Mid-scale "Medium" shot Small-scale "Close-up" or "Detail" shot

12. Visual Variety: Safety Shot The moment you get on the scene, take an image What it does Conveys the upfront, literal info Why take it? Things can go wrong: Access cut-off Unexpected emergencies Bad shooting luck If everything goes wrong, at least you have the safety shot to publish

13. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment "…photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event is proper expression… Inside movement, there is one moment at which the elements in motion are in balance. Photography must seize upon this moment and hold immobile the equilibrium of it." -Henri Cartier-Bresson What. Touchy-feely: the essence of every scene can be summed up in a single "decisive moment" and this is what you capture Realistically: Any action scene will have moments of "peak action" Non-action scenes do not have such moments Recognize when peak action occurs, and catch it

14. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment Build-up to peak action: watch for cues, be ready

15. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment Peak action: capture it!

16. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment Peak action is over: too late

17. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment Speaker photos: generally boring, but they have "peak action" too

18. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment "Peak action" can be extremely subtle, but still makes a world of difference Even if you've found the right subject and the right framing, sometimes you have to wait for the right timing

19. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment Static scenes don't have peak action – shoot at will

20. Visual Variety: Decisive Moment How to capture peak action: Watch for cues (visual, audio) Brute-force approach (multi-shot) Digital affords almost unlimited continuous shooting Good if there are multiple peaks of action in short span Caveat: even fastest cameras (8-10fps) have 0.1s lag May miss specific moments Good timing skills are better in this case

21. Visual Variety: Outline the story What: Photojournalism is story-telling Almost every assignment has a "story", with beginning, middle, and end Why: Single image sums all aspects into just one moment Sequences show how the story progresses over time Most compelling image may not show up where you think

22. Visual Variety: Outline the story "Rising action"

23. Visual Variety: Outline the story "Climax"

24. Visual Variety: Outline the story "Conclusion"

25. Visual Variety: Scales of subject Large-scale “overall” photo - “Subject” is often size of most of the scene Useful for Context: where, when is the scene? Size of the subject (ex. how many people?) General makeup (ex. what are most people doing?, how are most people dressed?) Not useful for Expressions – individual faces are too small Actions – what are individual subjects doing? Not necessarily wide-angle!

26. Visual Variety: Scales of subject Mid-scale “medium” photo - “Subject” is size of one or a few participants/elements Useful for Expressions – faces can show mood, sentiment Actions – what participants/elements are doing Smaller objects – things participants/elements are interacting with Not as useful for Context – when, where is the scene? Other participants/elements (ex. how many other people, who are they, what are they doing?)

27. Visual Variety: Scales of subject Small-scale “close-up/detail” photo – “Subject” is smaller than a participant/element Very useful for Expressions – faces can show mood, sentiment Actions – what participants/elements are doing Smaller objects – things participants/elements are interacting with, details of participants/elements Not useful for Context – when, where is the scene? Participant/elements themselves – can’t see the whole person, for example

28. Cutline- the 5 W’s Who or what is in the Photo? First and last name, other pertinent info (age, year/major, city) Spell check! What is the photo describing? What is the event? What is/are the subject(s) doing? When was it taken? Time, date Where was it taken? “Sibley Auditorium” or “Lower Sproul Plaza” Why is the subject matter relevant?

29. How to gather Cutline Smile, be polite, explain who you are and why you took the picture Exactly what to say: "Hi. I'm (insert name here), and I work for The Daily Californian. I took a photo of you a moment ago while you were (doing something), and wanted to get your name for the caption info."

30. How to write Cutline A standard cutline is written as such: (Noun) (verb) (direct object) during (proper event name) at (proper noun location) in (city) on (day of the week), (month) (date), (year). Why or How. E.g. Dallas firefighters (noun) battle (present-tense verb) a fire (direct object) at the Fitzhugh Apartments (proper noun location) near the intersection of Fitzhugh Avenue and Monarch Street in Dallas (city) on Thursday (day of the week), July (month) 1 (date), 2004 (year).

31. Making a Caption Why Who, What, When Where, Why to the International Space Station Top Left: Astronaut Michael Barratt trains for a trip to the International Space Station at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan while celebrating the holiday Bottom Left: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men dance while celebrating the holiday at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood Bottom Right: In the northern city of Mathura, Hindu devotees celebrate the festival of Holi by throwing colored powder on each other

32. Making a Caption: Who, What, When, Where, Why Ralph Nader, the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate, speaks at a memorial Peter Camejo at UC Berkeley’s International House on 2009 November 23. Camejo, who died in September after a battle with lymphoma, helped found the California Green Party in 1991. Members of the Support IAS Coalition engage in a debate with Associate Vice Chancellor Robert Price (2nd to the right) outside of California Hall on 2009 April 15. The Support IAS Coalition is concerned over a lack of transparency in an announced restructuring of the International and Area Studies (IAS) department.

33. Assignment Cover a subject in a photojournalistic manner Public events are good, but anything can be a photojournalism subject Some events listed on the assignment page Get good visual variety! Bring a notepad and record cutline information for every subject