Today almost every one who carry a smart phone can be a potential photojournalist if he or she have been happen to be in the right place at the right time of a newsworthy event.
This could be witnessing an election, protest or demonstration, a political rally, an horrific car, train or plane accident, terror attack or even a natural disaster.
To tell a good news story with photos you will need to produce a set of 6-10 images to accompany a feature about the event.
Typically you will need to have headline image, following by a number of further images to support the story.
Your headline image will benefit your best so it should be striking and tell the story with immediate impact.
Once you selected your shortlist of 6-10 images write a brief caption for each one of them and use The five Ws checklist:
- Who? – asking about a person or other agent
- What? – asking about an object or action
- When? – asking about a time
- Where? – asking about a place
- Why? – asking about a reason or cause
As soon as you are ready contact newspapers and magazines to see if they are interested in buying your photos.
Remember that in many countries you have the right to take pictures in a public space however alway bee sure to check local laws if you are shooting outside your home country.
Finally if you are interested in photojournalism try to get press credential to special events if you can as you will be able to be close to VIP and celebrities and have a better chance to get a great photos of them.
Just remember photojournalism is very hard ,demanding and dangerous professional job but can also be very rewarding especially when you see one of your photos published in a front page.