10 Questions to Ask Before You Take A Photo Photojournalism

1. What story am I telling? Why am I taking this shot? What is its purpose, and what am I trying to convey? Historical record? An emotion? Art?

Tell a story This was the runner’s first 5k cross country race ever. The coach cheers her on at the one mile mark, when she was 100+ yards ahead of the rest of the field. She ended up as the first girl from this school to be all-conference and the first girl to qualify for state competition.

2. What is the visual focal point of this shot? Think rules of composition: Rule of thirds Center of interest Balance Leading lines, curves Patterns, repetition Framing Angle

Visual focal point The viewer is drawn to the eyes. The leading lines in the brick point there. The depth of field in the image is narrow enough that the subject emphasized.

3. What competing focal points exist? Be critical of everything included in the image.

Competing focal points The brightness of the referee’s shirt draws your eye. The orange jug immediately behind the ball draws your eye. The girl handing out water draws your eye.

4. What are the background and foreground? The pros obsess over the backgrounds.

Background and foreground The foreground in this image includes the first baseman who has been purposely placed out of focus by the narrow depth of field created from choosing a wide f/2.8 aperture. This also blurs the background, which includes the opposing coach, the athletic trainer and a person blowing their nose in the dugout, none of which really adds to the story told in the image.

5. Am I close enough? Fill the frame.

Close enough This is a multi-faceted issue. Are you allowed to get close enough to be effective? Photos you view in the professional press almost always are closely cropped for maximum impact. The photographer cannot go on stage during a performance. They are limited to how close they can get to the field of play during a sporting event. Are you far enough away to place the subject in context? In this photograph, the publication needed an image to illustrate the fact that this was the only boy in the drama class in their small school this particular year. It is a great example of close enough for impact, but far enough away to feel his loneliness and place him on the stage.

6. What is the main source of light? Are you using the right ISO for the shutter speed you need? Do you need to brace the camera? Do you need a flash?

Light source Sometimes the available light is so poor that an artificial light source in the form of a flash needs to be added. For maximum impact, consider taking that flash off the hot shoe. This flash is 10 feet to the right of the photographer, casting the light directly in the rider’s face and creating interesting shadows behind him.

7. Is my framing straight? Perfectly straight horizons lead to perfectly vertical lines.

Straight framing Is it distracting that the edge of the lake is crooked?

8. From what other perspectives could I capture this subject? Make your images stand out from the crowd. Find creative and fresh angles.

Other perspectives Nearly every softball and baseball field has a brightly colored plastic piping along the top of the chain link fence for safety. By climbing up in the bleachers on the first base side, the photographer can shoot at a slight downward angle. This eliminates the ugly horizontal line that shows up in every photo taken from ground level.

9. How could holding the camera in the other format change this shot? We see the world horizontally. Web almost always requires horizontal photos because a vertical photo on a web page requires scrolling.

Vertical or horizontal? The same image has been cropped as a horizontal and vertical image. In this case, a vertical orientation eliminates much of the busy background behind the subject.

10. How does the eye travel through this image? Does your eye flow to the main subject? Does the main subject hold your attention? Are there portions of the photograph that distract and draw your eye away from the main subject?

Eye travel through the image How does your eye travel through this image? One possibility is you are drawn to the face in the middle, then to the face on the left because it is the other one in focus, then to the painted face that is slightly blurry to the right of center. Your eye is subconsciously drawn to the most dominant elements of the image, in the order of dominance. Have you controlled where the viewer’s eye moves?