What is photography and how to do it. Ten Common Mistakes in Reportage Photography
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education
Yugra State University
Institute for the Humanities
Department of Journalism and Literature
Photo report. Method of work.
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………….....3
Chapter 1. Photojournalism …… ………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.1.
The system of genres of photojournalism ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6 1.2.
The history of the development of photojournalism in Russia ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..7…………………………………………………………………..………………………………………7.
Chapter 2. Photo essay. ………………………………………………………………………….. ….10 2.1.
The history of the emergence and development of photo reportage in Russia ..............................10 2.2.Principles and methods of photo reportage…………………………………………………………………………………………………11 2.3.Technology creating a photo report……………………………………………………….13
2.4 Selecting illustrations……………………………………………………………… …………………..14
Chapter 3. Analysis of photo reports published on the official website of the World Championship in biathlon and cross-country skiing……………………………………… 18
3.1. Analysis of own photo essay. Photo report №1. “Russian Paralympic athletes shared their experience with young athletes of Khanty-Mansiysk ” (Appendix) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18 3.2.Analysis photo essay No. 2 “Athletes of the Canadian team got acquainted with Khanty-Mansiysk” (Appendix)……………………………………………………………………………………………… ………..20
3.3 Analysis of Photo Essay No. 3 “Erik Angstadt: It is necessary to achieve independence and sustainable development of each sport”……………….…..21
Conclusion ………………………………… ………………………………………………………………..…24
Bibliographic list……………………………………………………………………………..27
Introduction
Photography has become an integral part of modern life.
In a short time, it has penetrated almost all spheres of human activity. Photography was especially widely used in the press, becoming an indispensable means of information and propaganda. There was a special branch of journalism - photojournalism. The advent of the mass illustrated press and the possibility of replicating visual information made photojournalism a powerful factor in influencing public consciousness. But, unfortunately, the presence of photo reporting in traditional media is becoming less and less noticeable. Traditional illustrated periodicals and socio-political magazines give photojournalism less and less space.
And there are many explanations for this. The practice of journalism in the light of global corporate associations is dictated by the material expediency of publications, the desire of investors to return the invested funds. In general, journalism has become a "business" in which accountants and managers have no less influence on how events are covered than editors. Then, pressure from advertisers increased, which also affected the editorial policy. And finally, representatives of many publications argue that the audience demands from them more and more detailed coverage of the world of show business, thus limiting the possibilities for publishing reportage or documentary photography. On the other hand, the number of printed publications is steadily growing, and in many countries where economic and political reforms are successful, new magazines are published every month.
Moreover, publications that previously did not support the genre of photojournalism (for example, glossy women's magazines) are beginning to need to talk about more serious topics, which forces them to use high-quality photography more often and better. A definite outlet for photographers is, first of all, online media. In addition to presenting photographs in multimedia format, there is a demand from non-profit organizations, structures involved in the development of various business areas, government and city administrations, etc. In our time, when the concept of "communication" is applicable in all areas, many structures have begun to realize the informational value of photographic images. Therefore,
the topic of this course work is quite relevant , because the photo essay is faced with two conflicting problems: the lack of demand for traditional illustrated periodicals and socio-political magazines, and vice versa, increased demand from non-profit organizations, structures involved in the development of various areas of business, government and city administrations. The scientific novelty of the study
is that for the first time we used a photo report of our own production (from the competitions of the Parabiathlon World Championship 2011) as an analysis. The purpose
of this work: to consider photo reporting as a genre of photojournalism and methods of working on it. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
- define the concept of "photo essay" and study its types;
consider in detail the methods of working on a photo essay, as well as study the technique of linking photos with text;
see how the methods learned are applied in practice.
Subject of research: Photo essay and methodology of its creation.
Research methods:
Methodological base: the theoretical chapter was based on the works of such researchers as ID Baltermants, Ya.D. Feldman and L.D. Kursky.
Chapter 1 Photojournalism
- Photojournalism genre system
- Time
- snapshots matter in the chronological context of the development of events. Objectivity
- the situation assumes that the photographs will be honest and will faithfully reproduce the captured events. Narrative
- Snapshots, combined with other elements of the news, inform and give the reader or viewer an idea of the essence of events.
Photojournalists must act, make decisions and wear photographic equipment in the same environment as the participants in the events (fire, war, riots), often at the same risk as them.
News photojournalism is just news. The news can be more visual (the opening of the monument), verbal-visual (theatrical premiere) and just a clarification of the verbal news (portrait of the speaker who published the sensational news).
Reportage photojournalism is almost the same as news journalism, but stretched out over days or weeks. This may be a publication addressing one topic in several issues (reporting on a strike or from a major international exhibition; coverage of a lengthy trial or international sports games, etc.).
Documentary photojournalism is the same reporting, but no longer enclosed in a rigid time and editorial framework. 1
- The history of the development of photojournalism in Russia
On January 13, 2010, on Russian Press Day, Russian photojournalists for the first time protested on Red Square in Moscow, where since 2008, by order of the Federal Security Service of Russia, photography using any professional photographic equipment, in particular with a lens longer than 7 centimeters, has been prohibited. A group of 20 photojournalists from newspapers, magazines and world photo agencies held a flash mob (pre-planned mass action), during which they took photographs using professional equipment. 2
1.3 Crisis of photojournalism
Since the 1990s, television, which had incomparably large budgets thanks to advertising, has developed rapidly, changing the presentation of news - instead of an announcer in the studio reading from a piece of paper, live broadcasts from the scene came into use. Television companies did not skimp on expensive high-quality reports either. As a result, the circulation of printed publications, color illustrated magazines, which are not able to compete with television in efficiency, began to fall. The economic crisis has hit most of the world's photojournalism agencies. This was followed by a partial loss of copyright, lowering the rates of photographers. Three of the world's major news agencies, previously focused mainly on textual information - Associated Press, Agence France Press and Reuters hired high-class professional photographers for a fixed salary, thereby dramatically improving the quality of their news photographic products, which newspapers and magazines began to willingly buy at an inexpensive price. annual subscription. As a result, most of the small and medium-sized and even large agencies that were unable to offer such dumping conditions were forced out of the market.
The advent of new technologies, in particular the appearance on the market of royalty-free photographs, for which you do not have to pay, only exacerbated the crisis. Newspapers and magazines began to willingly buy amateur photographs for nothing, and the Internet became oversaturated with visual information, which significantly affected the level of photojournalists and contributed to the ruin of journalistic agencies.
In Russia, at the beginning of the 21st century, the disregard of the copyright of photographers and the theft of photographs from the Internet for the purpose of publication on the pages of print media became the norm. Many reportage photographers had to go into commercial photography in order to survive.
In 2009, Jean-Francois Leroy, founder and director of the VisaPourl'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France, condemned major photo agencies (primarily the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters) for "carefully digging a grave for their profession" by offering the media subscription schemes based on very large discounts. Leroy argues that this worsens the situation for photojournalists, who have to conclude that this type of creativity is unnecessary.
In August 2009, one of the world's leading journalistic agencies, Gamma, which had existed since 1966, declared bankruptcy. According to the French newspaper L'Umanite as of September 2009, more than 20 percent of photojournalism agencies around the world closed in a year. According to the journalist of the newspaper, publications began to be interested only in the fastest possible speed in obtaining photographs from the scene, and not in the quality of the material and the thoughtfulness of the photographer in working on topics and reports.
Only agencies that are subsidized by the state at the expense of taxpayers, such as France Presse or Ria Novosti, remain afloat.
- Chapter 2. Photo essay.
- 2.1 The history of the emergence and development of photo reporting in Russia
A reportage can be a series of reportage shots, reflecting both one event and the key moments of a series of events. It can be a series of successive or, on the contrary, chaotic events, united by one theme from the area of the unknown, not yet mastered by this category of viewers and readers. The phenomenon of such a photo essay was especially widespread in the press of post-Soviet Russia. In a fairly short period of time, information from all areas of human knowledge and ignorance, human activity, natural and unnatural nature surrounding a person poured onto the pages of newspapers, magazines and books.
Each photo essay should have its own plot, clearly defined spatial and temporal coordinates of the image. Researchers of photojournalistic creativity distinguish the following varieties of the genre:
- chronicle photo essay;
photo essay-report;
photo essay with an estimated start.
Within the genre, such popular trends as political photo reportage, industrial, agricultural, scientific, event, sports, criminal, environmental and others have developed.
Photo reportage on the pages of newspapers, as a rule, is limited to a few diverse pictures. The "classic" newspaper photo essay consists of three photos - general, medium, close-up, text and subtext. There are reasons for this. First, the newspaper is limited by space and cannot afford to print more than three pictures. Secondly, in three diverse photographs, you can give the most detailed visual information about what is happening. You will also need a place for the text, it can be short, but you can’t do without it at all. As for a thick glossy magazine or online publication, you can publish several times more photos in them. 4
2.2.
Principles and methods of photo reporting Photo reporting has two methods of photography - reportage and staging.
With the reportage method, the photographer does not try to influence the course of events, he only captures the moment of a genuine event that occurs regardless of whether it is photographed or not. With the reportage method of shooting, the phase of capturing the event is important. Therefore, the photographer captures the most expressive moments, making a variety of takes. Then looking through the footage, he selects the most successful shots. The strength of the photo essay is its veracity.
Authenticity, documentary nature of the photo essay turns it into a powerful means of agitation and propaganda. The staging method consists in the preliminary organization of the plot for the purpose of photography.
A pre-prepared episode is recorded. This is close to the features of shooting a movie, shooting in a theater, in a photo studio. From the point of view of the perfection of the form of a photographic image, the staging method undoubtedly has much greater potential.
A photojournalist often does not have the opportunity to find the best lighting and compositional solution, choose the best shooting point, etc.
His pictures can be protocol, and sometimes they are not meaningful enough, because often there is not enough time for this. They may lose in artistic terms, but win in the authenticity of the facts. Each reporter shoots an event in his own way, and this subjectivity of his will not affect the event in any way.
But the reporting method can lose its veracity if the people depicted in the frame react to the presence of the photographer.
The heroes of the meeting need to adapt, get used to the photographer. The report is valuable for its truthfulness.
This refers to the justice of movement, gesture, the truthfulness of the emotional phase, all this is directly related to reporting. The picture can be taken as a reportage, but if the wrong moment of shooting and lighting is chosen, then the picture will look untruthful, unnatural.
In addition, reporting, especially newspaper reporting, is associated with great efficiency. If the photojournalist is late with the transmission of information about the event, it loses its meaning. Efficiency is the first commandment of a photojournalist. 5
2.3.
Working on a photo story When working on a photo report, the photo reporter receives a technical task, which describes in detail the topic and the main persons who need to be filmed.
Then the photojournalist arrives at the scene, gets acquainted with the room where the shooting will take place, evaluates the lighting and takes a few technical shots in order to check whether he has chosen the correct shooting mode. The main thing in the process of shooting is not to miss interesting exclusive shots of communication.
For reporting, it is very important to capture emotions, attitudes, gestures, and the process of communication. The purpose of a photo essay is to cover an event using a series of photographs and a short text; often a photo report is created without a descriptive part (text).
Main work plan:
- Take several shots of the general plan, showing the entire location
Close-up (how people are watching the event)
Capture the main persons of the meeting on camera
In order to “attach” people to the event, it is necessary to remove various “banners
” type of event.
For example, if a photojournalist is filming a business meeting, it is necessary to record a handshake, signing papers, etc. As for sports competitions, the important moments during them are: start, fall, finish.
If the photo report is accompanied by text, then the main thing is to depict the main points of the meeting: the venue of the event, who opened it, who participated, the reaction of the public, the closing of the meeting.
2.4 Choice of illustrations
The appearance on the pages of newspapers of good, high-quality pictures depends primarily on the photojournalist.
A photographer can improve the quality of their shots by following these tips: 1. Change the shooting direction.
It is not necessary to always shoot “head on”, see how the subject will look from below, from above, from the side - this will give the reader the opportunity to see different angles. 2. Each snapshot must have an action.
If there are people in the frame, they should be doing something, not posing for the picture. Characteristic facial expressions, relaxed gestures of people in the picture create the impression of liveliness and informality of what is happening. 3. Use the right props to keep people from looking into the lens.
Make something in the foreground the focus of their attention. 4. The composition of the shot should be tight, with no empty spaces between people or in the background - this makes the picture whole.
5. Each photograph should have a single compositional center that focuses the reader's attention.
If there are several, it dissipates. 6. The number of people in the picture should be limited.
If you are not trying to create the effect of the crowd, reduce their number to the most rational. A group of 3-4 people is preferable to 10-12. 7. Let there be people in the pictures. Firstly, it helps readers to estimate the size of rooms, streets, trees, etc., and secondly, it gives dynamics to the pictures. 8. Consider the “mood” of the shot.
Show the reader how the “subject” felt during the shoot. If the mayor of the city was angry at a meeting of the city council, and the politician who won the election smiled, let the readers see it. But don't ask people to smile if the photo suggests a serious or mournful mood. 9. Sometimes turn the camera around - this allows you to capture not only the action, but also the reaction to it.
Do not shoot only the participants of the match - the captured reaction of the fans to the goal scored can be much more eloquent. 10. You should make the highest demands on the quality of images.
Blurry, dark pictures are unacceptable. 11. A photograph should carry a message, not just take the reader to the scene.
Often a photograph, which at first glance does not literally illustrate the material, can tell the reader a lot. The photojournalist is obliged to know and understand the material and only then look for picturesque, “talking” shots to it.
Elements that grab the reader's attention
There are certain elements that should be kept in mind that particularly attract the reader.
This improves the readability of the content. Here are a few elements of the content of the photo illustrations. Children
. Just a good picture of a child, or pictures of children illustrating less important news. Animals
. Universal shooting objects that literally everyone likes. People, outstanding personalities
. A photo portrait with a caption can attract the attention of readers several times more than a short article on the same topic. Unusual photo
. An ordinary event can be effectively filmed using non-traditional methods, including unusual angles, the use of special photographic equipment, etc. Humorous illustrations
. A photograph that makes the editor snort with laughter usually has the same effect on the reader. Genre photography
. Well shot, they are especially good on the first page. Color
. Draws attention and allows you to look for more opportunities for using illustrations. 6
Cropping
Illustration planning, great photography, great photo captions, good stripe markings - all lose their value if photos are cropped badly. 1. When framing a picture, choose the filled parts - the "heart" of the picture - and get rid of empty spaces.
2. Keep the original composition: if the picture was taken vertically, leave it that way. You can change the composition only with great care. 3. Save the compositional center of the picture.
If a group of people is photographed, two of which are looking in the center, and the third is looking somewhere to the side, the last one can be cut out. 4. Keep your shot rectangular.
Check that the horizon line, the lines of the houses are parallel or perpendicular to the sides of the photo and that the people in it are not tilted to the right or left. 5. Each illustration should be easy to "read".
When a schema is required, make it. If an arrow will help point the right person in the crowd, use the arrow. If you need to mark the new college building in the photo, make it in font using the overlay. 6. Avoid cutouts.
When a photo is cut out, it is more difficult for the reader to perceive it, especially if part of the captured event is removed. 7. Experiment with pictures in unusual sizes, such as one 10-inch column or six 2-inch columns, to engage the reader and add variety to the layout of the newspaper.
8. Consider the size of the pictures.
There is not much difference in the impact of 5-column and 6-column photographs. But the difference in the impact of 2- and 3-column shots is huge. Sometimes it is useful to reduce the number of shots per strip and increase the remaining shots. 9. You can not crop people's heads in pictures, even partially.
The crown, ears, chin - the absence of these body parts in the heroes of the picture irritates readers. There are almost no exceptions to this rule. 10. Look for a series of photographs, especially people. The governor at a meeting of the city council, the president of the city club, the politician watching the counting of votes, etc. The viewer catches only the moment of action, the newspaper must be able to catch facial expressions. 7
Conclusion
In the course of the course work, we solved all the tasks set for ourselves:
- They defined the concept of "photo essay" and studied its types
There are three types of photography:
- A) chronicle photo essay;
etc.................
Many are now busy with vigorous activity on the Internet, have an active life position. They maintain blogs that, among other things, cover various events and activities. Opposition rallies, opening of exhibitions, some kind of parties. Photographing an event in order to tell others about it is called photo essay . Let's discuss the technical side of this case.
Everyone knows the old truth: informed means ready for business. Information is the main tool in any business. Here we will try to arm you. We will tell you how to prepare for shooting a photo essay.
Photographer's equipment
The very first thing - you must be the owner of a comfortable photo backpack or trunk. A wardrobe trunk is a special bag for photographic equipment. It is difficult to be mobile with heavy and uncomfortable bags, it is simply inconvenient to move around with them. And you need to move quickly. The wardrobe trunk and backpack should be tight enough, preferably on a frame. This is so that in the hustle and bustle, the equipment in it is safe. In the days of film photography, craftsmen even made such strong trunks on their own that the photographer could safely stand on them in order to take a picture from the top point. The bag for the equipment, plus everything, should be roomy - after all, you need to place several cameras, lenses, a flash and a thousand other little things in it. Moreover, it is necessary to place all this in such a way that any item can be taken out in a second and without hesitation, on autopilot, so to speak, and put in place in the same way.
Photojournalist optics
Now about lenses. They need several. First of all - a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 16 to 35 mm. With its help, it is convenient to capture large spaces in the frame, without departing far from the current event. It is indispensable when shooting group scenes, architecture, the general plan of the event. And such frames are necessary in the report, they carry a lot of information.
With a long focus, it is good to shoot distant objects that are difficult or impossible to approach at all. These are individuals from the crowd of those present, and some details of what is happening, so as not to attract everyone's attention. For example, posters in the hands of opposition protesters.
It is more convenient, of course, to use one lens with a variable focal length. These are the so-called zoom lenses. In this case, there is no need to constantly change lenses during work (oh, how inconvenient it was for photographers 20-25 years ago, when there were no such miracles of technology yet). The best zoom option for reportage shooting is 16-300 mm. But the trouble is that there are quite a few high-quality lenses with such parameters and they are expensive. Therefore, you have to have at least two lenses - 18-70 mm and 70-300 mm.
The lens for shooting a photo essay must have a good aperture. It is far from always necessary to shoot in good lighting and in such conditions that it is impossible to use a flash. The meaning in it, for example, disappears if you are 30-40 meters from the subject.
Flash and accessories
A flash is also needed. When shooting indoors, it is most often indispensable. The flash should work well with your camera and its automation, have enough power. It is good if the flash is equipped with a diffuser filter. Do not forget about a sufficient supply of batteries. Flashes are very active consumers of their energy. You also need to take spare batteries for the camera with a failure, better - more than one set. And some memory cards. Why are there multiple flash drives? Everything is simple. It's better if one bugs out for 4 gigs than the same one for 32. All of them are so unreliable. And, among other things, small, easily lost.
If the event that you need to make a photo essay is planned on the street, and possibly against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape or architecture, it is good to have light filters with you. Why they are needed in this case, we will not digress now. You can read about it yourself in other sources.
Now let's talk about how to shoot.
Even before you start filming, before the start of the event, you need to understand what, in fact, you want to show and tell your viewers or customers. Set your main goal ahead of time. This will help you a lot in finding the right frame, in developing a general scheme, the concept of reporting. If possible, it would be good to read the script of the event in order to know who, when and where will come out and prepare in advance for this, without fuss to take the right shooting point.
The organizer of the event can also order a photo essay for you. The customer needs to be pleased, take as many frames as possible with his logo, shoot in such a way that the first persons of the customer company, significant guests of the event are often in the frame. The customer usually likes it. It may happen that he uses your pictures not only in his corporate album, but also in his own advertising. And this is another topic for conversation, both for you and him, and for you and me.
In a photo essay, you need to reflect the spirit, the scale of everything that happens. And these are the general plans. Medium plans are also necessary - the actual fact of the event: the presentation of a diploma, the speech of someone on the podium. Close-ups look advantageous, for example, the faces of the participants. Good baby faces. They are sometimes very emotional and help convey the mood of what is happening to the viewer. You can generally enlarge the details, show, for example, someone's eyes, the company logo on a cup of tea. Once again, pay attention - do not forget about important guests. This is your, so to speak, passive PR, advertising you as a photographer. This is important, this is a seal for the future.
- Please arrive early for the shoot before the event starts. You will have time and opportunity to evaluate the location of the event, shooting points, lighting options and much more to help you work without fuss.
- When shooting a report, do not refuse those present in a group portrait. Take pictures of those who ask. And then feel free to give them your business cards. Isn't this free advertising?
- Don't count frames. Shoot boldly and a lot. Fortunately, modern digital cameras, unlike old film cameras, allow you to do this. And when there is plenty to choose from, then the result will be better. To do this, you need to get a few flash drives.
- Try to be polite and smiling and in general - more positive. It wins people over to you.
- Capture more movement. Movement is life. Statics is still life. Dead nature.
- Don't forget to keep an eye on your camera settings. Perhaps, in the process of work, you could accidentally hit some button or lever and knock down the settings. Then you will regret.
- If you are not the only photographer at the event, if your colleagues are working nearby, try not to disturb them. Do not block the frame with them, do not climb into the frame of others. An experienced photojournalist should always support a friend and feel other people's lenses with his back.
- Keep an eye on the white balance when processing images using a computer. The exposure and tonality of the shots in the report should be the same.
- People love bright reportage shots. Try to make your report not only rich in events, but also rich in color. He can even be a little provocative in both respects.
Photo selection:
Today I decided to dedicate a couple of lines to such a concept as a photo essay . As in all educational institutions, let's start with the concepts, no matter how boring they are. Learning, as they say, high exposure, ignorance - low.
In a broad sense reporting is a type of newspaper and magazine activity or information that enters the media through the press and publications about the events of the current day. In short, everything that is written in the newspapers is a report from one place or another.
Reportage shooting is an integral part of photo reporting . In other words, it is the recording of interesting events in chronological order. For example, the story of your life in various situations, told through the pictures taken, is also called a photo essay .
The photo essay is used in presentations of various campaigns on various topics. Reportage shots are also interesting because they can include photos-plots, which are works of art.
A high-quality photo essay is the main material for designing booklets, postcards, as well as decorating websites. This is especially noticeable on wedding flyers. Every photographer should have at least a few of these photos in their portfolio (and not just from their own wedding).
Lively and interesting reportage shots , which depict, for example, attentive employees of the company, inspire much more confidence than just advertising photos.
Topics for a photo essay can be endless: business photos, science, technology, culture, art and sports. Even an ordinary birthday can be a good theme. Such pictures can be divided into two types: event and ordinary reportage.
The beauty of reportage photography lies in its persuasiveness and sincerity, showing the truth as it is, without excesses. This is often used by the paparazzi - there are a lot of photos of celebrities in ridiculous poses on the Internet.
So what is a photo essay ? This is a small, fluent story about life, so it is best to photograph at a fast shutter speed. It will help you get better detail and detail. Pictures and stories for newspapers and magazines just need it.
The stated goal of each photo essay is to convey a particular story to the target audience or to as many people as possible. Reportage photography differs from other photographic genres in its striving for maximum objectivity, seriousness and authenticity. If a reportage photographer has done a good job, the consumer of information will have the opportunity to form their own opinion.
Within the genre, it is worth mentioning certain areas of photo reporting: political, environmental, sports, agricultural, industrial, criminal, scientific.
Types of photo essay
Today it is customary to distinguish two large groups of reportage photography:
- Normal (everyday) reporting.
- Event reportage photography.
The usual photo essay captures scenes from everyday life. It can be the everyday life of people with interesting work. Or with uninteresting work, but from an unexpected angle. The objects of shooting can also be people with special talents and hobbies, people of different faiths and worldviews. Everyday reporting may reflect a specific event or its consequences. For example, how do you like this plot: “The uncleaned capital after the day of the city”?
Lipetsk after city day (2013)
Event reporting is photography of specific events - exhibitions, forums, scientific conferences, celebrations, football matches.
There are several key differences between commercial photography and photojournalism:
- In the first case, a reportage photographer works according to a clear brief from the client.
- Number of photos. At the end of the shooting day, the client should receive 300-600 processed photos from you. To put it bluntly, for 1 hour of shooting an interesting event (well-designed, beautifully branded), a reportage photographer should take about 100 photos.
- Photo quality. The client rightfully expects high-quality material from the photographer: processed photos, each of which conveys the spirit of the event, captures each speaker. Often, for some customers, a “literal” transfer of reality in a photo is not enough - the photographer may need the ability to somewhat “embellish” reality with the help of an interesting angle. How to photograph a speaker against the backdrop of a half-empty yawning hall as if he were at the Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood? If this is a mystery to you, you have a long road ahead of you to acquire the skill of a photographer, the first step to which is this article.
By definition, reportage photography is aimed at creating the most reliable picture. At the same time, the creation of objective images with the help of such a somewhat subjective medium as photography is completely impossible. Therefore, in most cases, some overly artistic techniques should be avoided, as well as significant image processing in post-production, as this can be detrimental to the purposes of reporting.
Reportage photography: choosing a theme
In order for a reportage to be successful, it is important first of all to choose an interesting topic and choose the right subject for shooting. The stated goal of each photo essay is to convey a particular story to the target audience or as many people as possible. In other words, it is about drawing the reader's attention to the topic and presenting different points of view on the issue.
Thanks to this, the consumer of information gets the opportunity to form their own opinion. The goals described above are achieved through a series of complementary photographs. It is advisable to look around and look at your surroundings.
High-quality reporting is impossible without a good acquaintance with the material, location, people and context. This knowledge comes only through intensive study of the subject over a long period. This allows the photographer to know before the photo session when the situations that are best suited for photography will arise and what technical details need to be paid attention to. In addition, a reportage photographer will experience less interference when working if he knows what to expect from the local population. A significant proportion of people react negatively when they are photographed without their permission. Therefore, you will have to learn how to either establish contact with strangers (but in such a way that the photo does not lose its naturalness), or photograph unnoticed by the subject. When searching for a topic, your first questions might be:
- What am I good at that I know better than others?
- Maybe my job or my city can provide material for an exciting photo essay?
- Whether others are interested in my hobby or my favorite sport
- What questions from my daily life might be of interest to other people?
Some large photo essays arose because the photographer in the family or in the circle of friends had people suffering from illness or disabilities, and it was about their fate that he wanted to tell the world. The objects of shooting can also be people with special talents and hobbies, people of different faiths and worldviews. Many small settlements and their features can be fertile material for creating a memorable series of photographs. What's more, if you're looking to develop your photo essay skills, then your vacations, the changing seasons in the woods and fields, and the festive events in your area can all be great subjects to practice.
And finally
Finally, a couple more questions. What have you long dreamed of understanding, but you did not have enough time or perseverance? What would you like to see again and get to know better?
Reportage photography is a great way to satisfy your own curiosity. And without a sincere interest in the topic, it is hardly possible to create an inspiring report, because photography is a means of conveying not only information, but also the photographer's passion for the subject.
What is a photo essay? This is a shooting of an event in which the photographer himself takes part, expressing his view of everything that happens around.
Reports with photographs taken by different photographers about the same events will always be different even with the same professional performance. Photographing the most important event by a master photographer is a guarantee of careful storage of photographs both in a personal archive and among friends. The desire to preserve your memory of the past is the task of a true photographer and his main difference between a professional and an amateur. It's like a black list of employers: you can always understand where your conditions and wishes will be fulfilled in a quality manner. It is worth noting that the photo essay is a fascinating and very interesting type of photography.
There is an opinion all over the world that a photographer of even the most beginner level is able to make a high-quality report of any event. But if you want to get a quality report, then you should not take risks. In this case, job reviews are the main trump card! Yes, events are different. What is there to darken: the people taking part in these events also differ in character. In reportage photography, in addition to the personal relationship of the photographer to the existing event, the task of photography set by the customer is also very important. Of course, the personal view of the photographer is very important, this is usually the reason for inviting Peter, for example, and not Ivan to conduct a photo essay. But the support in any process of this nature is made on the idea of the customer, his wishes or intentions.
A photo essay is a kind of narrative about a certain ongoing event, as if simultaneously from the inside, but at the same time, as if from the outside. Asking the participants to pose means breaking the whole sacrament, but shooting with profiles alone or from the back is also not an option. But just hiding and watching what is happening from the side, you can create a huge number of unexpected and at the same time wonderful shots.
An excellent condition for creating a fascinating photo essay is to work with a partner. Undoubtedly, the teamwork of partners is extremely important here. This, in fact, is the difference between any professional filming and amateur photography.
A photo reportage of the largest events, in which several photographers take part, is best done from an unusual angle so that the resulting shots differ significantly from those of competitors. For example, the shooting of the Victory Parade, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the victory, was carried out by several photographers from the top of the Spasskaya Tower and was the most unique! Feedback from employees of many companies was full of biting statements about the dexterity and thinking of these professionals.
With the advent of photography, that is, since the creation of the camera, nothing has changed - the light also falls through the lens, which consists of a whole set of lenses. But the evolution nevertheless took place: the film devices were replaced by a CCD with a matrix on which the image is processed, read and written to digital media. The lens has an integrated aperture with a drive and a zoom mechanism. Exposure in this case is carried out due to the difference in the change in the speed of reading from the matrix. There are single-spot and multi-spot meters that determine the level of light and exposure, as well as adjust the duration of the flash. All of the above combined allows professionals to create unique photo reports that are sent to the best archives and stored for centuries. If you want someone to capture the most important event of your life - do not be stingy, use the services of professional photographers.
