Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The guts to get a great photo

I found the photography guide extremely helpful and accessible to me, a student with little photojournalism experience. Finding myself admiring the photos of the year or photos of my peers, I have always wanted to learn the rules of composition and what sets the great photos apart from the ones that I take with my digital camera at home. I think the most helpful aspect in the photo guide is the need to be curious about people. Emotions are essential in feature as well as news photography and a curiosity about the world can certainly help with that. Another interesting aspect was the fact that photography is about action and reaction and the differences in approaching both of these issues.

I also found the ideas for where to go for pictures extremely interesting. For example, I would not have thought to search the want ads in a publication, but where else could you find the idea for a horse “dentist.” Another valuable insight was subscribing to newsletters to localize the news and find out what is going on in the community in which we report. I really like the idea of approaching photography by viewing the interaction among people and the relationships with one another.

David LaBelle captured this idea in his street photos, with which I was really impressed. I thought that he captured the emotions of his subjects very well. He also mentioned that he was timid when he started, which is my issue of photography. I do not want to step on people’s toes or annoy them when I take photos, but I have to get close. This is something that I need to work on. I will immensely more successful if I can get over my fear and do whatever I need to get a great photo.

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