2.  Photojournalism is about capturing the human experience and making your own art; not just capturing the creations of others  Look at the good, the bad and the ugly  “If it doesn’t communicate anything, it might be great on someone’s wall, but it has to tell a story.” Bob Lynn

3.  Photographs are the first elements that viewers see and the reason students buy yearbooks.  Most important element in photography is the person holding the camera - the most important piece of equipment in a car is the nut behind the wheel.  Tim Harrower -- “A good photo is like a well- written story. It’s easy to read. It presents information that’s free of clutter and distractions.”

4.  the arrangement of the elements in the photograph (subject, foreground, background and so forth)

5. Fill the Frame  Photographs are competing with other items for the reader’s attention  Photographs must be bold and simple (some details get lost in printing when the picture is condensed for printing purposes)  Subject should fill the frame  Don’t leave empty space in or around the center of interest  Move closer to the subject until it fills the frame

7. Watch the Background  The background can be used to place the person being photographed in context (football player on field).  The background should be eliminated when it is distracting (trees, poles, etc).  Instead of moving people around and staging your photo, move yourself to minimize the background.

9. Observe the Rule of Thirds  A perfectly symmetrical picture is monotonous and boring  Moving the subject away from the center creates visual tension and a sense of motion  Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it. Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of- thirds#ixzz2JZ0WN3wu http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of- thirds#ixzz2JZ0WN3wu  Draw a tic-tac-toe grid over your viewfinder and position the subject at the intersection of any two of those lines

11. Use Leading Lines  Human eye tends to follow a line wherever it leads  Experienced photographers use lines to help compose a photo  Lines might be streets, fences or any kind of diagonal line  These lines draw the viewer’s eye into the photograph.

12. Frame the Photograph  Give your photo a three-dimensional feel by framing the photograph with a branch, a tree or any other object in the foreground.  Place one of these objects in the corner of the photo.

13. Depth of Field: the area in front of and behind the subject that appears acceptably sharp - one object in the picture is in focus while either the background or the foreground is out of focus

14.  Inanimate objects tend to be boring; always try to include people  No pictures of buildings, cars, etc.  Don’t just photograph a sculpture; photograph someone looking at the sculpture with an expressive look on his/her face

16.  Try to avoid posed pictures  Try to capture emotion  Get faces; not backs  Identify the star of the picture  Get up close!  Let your picture tell a story  Use different angles  Avoid inanimate objects; focus on people  Don’t crowd the picture  Action, good; blurry, bad!  Use the “Rule of Thirds”

30.  “If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that’s a good picture.” Eddie Adams