1. Photo & Video Basic Skills for Documenting Events and Constructing Narratives

2. Common Considerations for Photo and Video Before Shooting  Have a clear idea of your assignment.  Have a developed plan.  For video, create a shot list (wide, medium, close-up).  Use a storyboard if it helps.  Take the right equipment: camera, lenses, tripod, etc.  Be sure your camera battery is charged. Take extra batteries or charger if necessary.  Have enough space on your memory card. Take extra memory if necessary.  Know your rights and responsibilities. But have a backup plan in case your rights are violated by those who are neither moved by law nor ethics.rightsbackup plan  Take notes. Document enough information to write effective captions.

4. The Essentials  The quality of a photo depends on these essential elements:  Subject: The inherent qualities of what you shoot and how you compose it  Moment: The timing of your shot  Light: Exposure, shadows, etc.

5. Subject  Ask yourself these questions:  Is the subject of the photo relevant to the story?  Is the subject interesting?  Have I composed the shot well?  Use “hotspots” on your camera’s composition grid to guide your shots.  Strategies:  Look in all directions, including up and down, to find interesting subjects.  Patterns are interesting to the eye.  Consider foreground/background. Depth of field is interesting to the eye.  Color can be used to draw attention to a shot or convey meaning.  Focus on people (unless the assignment is on something else).  Get up close. Get faces.  Zoom with your feet.

6. Moment  Ask yourself these questions:  What the most interesting or relevant times for taking shots of the subject?  How do I set up in advance for the shot?  Are there special considerations such as fast movement by the subject?  Strategies:  You have to get over shyness. Take photos of people at events from close range rather than a great distance.  Don’t take staged photos; get people acting naturally. The latter is more interesting.  Look for action and reaction shots.  Captured moments that convey interesting narratives.  Practice! Simulate situations beforehand.

7. Light  Ask yourself these questions:  What camera settings should I use under the available lighting conditions?  Is there a way I can use light to my advantage?  Strategies  To reduce blur, use higher shutter speed and lower aperture.  It’s better to take slightly dark pictures than blurry pictures if you’re forced into a choice.  It’s also better to take slightly dark pictures than pictures that are overexposed. In the editing process, you can increase the exposure to add light.

8. Diversify Presentation Types  Single shot  Gallery  Photo Illustration  Soundslides

10. Video Capture  USE A TRIPOD  Check audio levels.  Check white balance.  Compose the shot well.  Similar considerations as still shots  No poles sticking out of people’s heads  Give appropriate frame spacing for things like displaying lower thirds (person’s name, title, etc.).  Have sufficient space before and after the clip.  Get enough b-roll.  But don’t get so much footage that it overwhelms you in the editing process.

11. Editing  Often, it’s easiest to start with the audio narrative.  Add video footage in step with the audio.  Create effective transitions.  Superimpose graphics.  Music can be obtained for free or at little cost from royalty free sites.  Audiojungle Audiojungle  Incompetech Incompetech

12. Other Considerations  As with other platforms, the power of the narrative is key.  Start with a strong lead. The viewer will give your video about 10 seconds before deciding to keep watching or move on to something else.  Be creative with editing.  Shinya Kimura Shinya Kimura

13. Resources  The Knight Digital Media Center is one of the most comprehensive resources multimedia journalists. You can go to it for tutorials and presentations on a wide array of essential skills and issues in journalism as it continues to rapidly evolve in the digital age.Knight Digital Media Center  You can learn a lot by following multimedia experts like Richard Koci Hernandez. Richard Koci Hernandez  Get inspired!  Explore videos on Vimeo.Vimeo