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With a phone attached to their hands, most people come in thinking they’re good photojournalists. But I believe there’s another level that we all want students to reach in our publications. Here are some of the strategies I’ve used to help them reach that level. Show quality photojournalistic images often Thirty minutes to showtime and…
“Who took the photo at the last football game?” “Didn’t the photo of the mascot get saved somewhere?” “What’s the file name for that great photo of the drum major?” I remember these conversations in my classroom. I remember the frustration. I remember asking advisers and others about ways to keep photos and photographers organized.…
The websites Humans of New York and StoryCorps are great examples of written and visual storytelling. Use them to teach your students how to get more personal interest stories into this year’s book if there’s time, or to start training next year’s reporters. One of a journalist’s primary jobs is to tell compelling stories. Telling…
Help your student photographers improve with plenty of practice and informal and formal critiques When it comes to photographers, it can be hard to know how to help them grow and how to keep them motivated. There is no panacea. Trust me, if there were, I’d have bottled it and sold it for some serious…
Students need to select the best story-telling photos for their spreads. The advice here will help your students with their remaining deadlines, or if your book is complete, can be used to train your next staff. At a major school event, hundreds of photos may be taken in just an hour. After you’ve sorted out…
So you have a photo assignment for your publication and your teacher says get some “candid shots.” Well, you know how to take a selfie, but what is a candid shot? And is there a button on your camera for it? Candid photography means no posing of any kind. We are so used to posing…
Photographers. Without them, we would have no yearbook—at least not one people would want to look at or buy. I tell my staff that on the first day of class each year and remind them as needed throughout the year. Photographers are the backbone of the yearbook. Without dedicated photographers, no one’s job on staff…
Great yearbooks make their schools look cool, not by featuring the “cool” kids but by capturing the excitement that comes with being involved. From warm-ups to rehearsals, game-winning plays to playing with puppets, students are constantly doing. Photographers need to be where the action is and ready to capture the moments that matter. 1. Take…
Yearbooks have come a long way from the days of being limited to class photos, as we strive to tell stories about the people and moments that make each year unique. But headshots are still part of that process, appearing in profiles and secondary coverage. What do your mug shots look like? Are they helping you to tell the story?
White, or negative, space is a beautiful, beautiful thing – unless it’s unplanned and takes away from the quality of your pictures. A photo with content that fills the frame has power. It compels the viewer to stop and take notice. You have two chances to compose the perfect photo: once when you take it and once when you place it.
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