Practical skills of news photography

News photography is a form of communication, which takes real-time images of news facts that are happening and reports them with text descriptions. News photography has become the most active factor in contemporary photography culture, and its presentation form is intuitive, vivid and true, with strong sense of scene, ideological and guiding functions. At present, mainstream city daily newspapers use a lot of news pictures in their pages, trying to embody the news connotation through news pictures. I sorted out the practical skills of news photography for you and shared them with you!

Practical skills of news photography: preparation before news photography

In the process of interview, photographers often not only have to undertake the task of photography, but also take charge of writing records. Therefore, recording pens, notebooks and wireless network cards are also the equipment we need to keep. If the shooting scene is selected in a concert hall, a stadium or a large venue, it needs to be equipped with equipment such as a monopod, so as to successfully complete the task when the lighting is dim or the flash is not allowed.

After receiving the interview task, we should strive to arrive at the interview area in advance, fully understand the environmental facilities and lighting conditions in the interview area, and it is best to get the agenda of this meeting or activity, so as to be aware of it and not to fight unprepared.

Practical skills of news photography: how to make good use of live light

In the process of news interview and shooting, photographers should be familiar with the conventional expressions of various topics, fully understand the agendas of various activities, observe the terrain on the spot, and choose the best shooting angle. In addition, we should also consider the influence of outdoor light on the activity site, whether the indoor lighting illumination is appropriate, and how to set the flash. If possible, you can shoot in different setting modes to ensure foolproof; When shooting outdoors, we should consider the influence of sunlight on shooting, and fill the light with a flash when necessary.

There are three situations that need to be photographed with the help of live light: First, the flash is not allowed in the news scene. In this case, it is necessary to properly improve the sensitivity of the camera and the shutter speed to ensure the imaging quality of shooting; Second, the shooting scene is too big or the subject is far away from the shooting location; Third, the photographer should highlight the atmosphere in the picture.

Practical skills of news photography: how to shoot leaders' speeches and panoramic views of the venue

Before shooting scenes such as leaders' speeches and speeches, we should fully communicate with them and tell them that they can keep smiling properly, adjust their sitting posture, and try to cooperate with the photographer when they feel ready to take pictures. Photographers can also give the leader a gesture or hint before preparing to take pictures, so as to grasp the best shooting opportunity for continuous shooting and snapshot. In the shooting of the press conference, we should always be on high alert and pay close attention to the movements of the spokesman. When you find that the speaker is getting better and better, you should go to continuous shooting immediately and put his best expressions and gestures in the camera.

It should be noted that the microphone, water bottle and other items in the venue may block the main body and destroy the composition. Meeting photography should pay attention to finding the best angle and avoid obstacles as much as possible.

It's really difficult to shoot at the venue. We should make full use of spotlights and flashlights. When shooting a large conference attended by hundreds of people, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the audience, the leaders of the rostrum and the exhibition board of the rostrum. At this time, it is necessary to skillfully use the flash. I found a trick myself: turn the external flash up slightly. At this time, the flash output is the maximum flash, which ensures that the distant podium is fully exposed, and objects close to the lens will not cause overexposure. When there is enough light in the venue, you can turn off the flash, choose a larger aperture and shutter speed (pay attention to the minimum shutter limit mentioned above), and measure the average light according to the LOGO on the back of the podium or the people sitting on the podium.

Practical skills of news photography: picture balance

The so-called balance refers to the visual balance of the composition elements presented on the left, right, left and right of the picture with the center of the picture as the fulcrum. Specifically, it is to make the visual images of the left, right, up and down in the picture not too full on one side, too empty on the other, or too heavy on the other. Balanced composition gives people a sense of stability, comfort and harmony. Uneven composition gives people an unstable and abnormal feeling. The composition of TV pictures should generally balance the pictures. But the picture balance can be broken, and the unbalanced picture is its performance feature in open composition. It is often used to express an abnormal mental state.

Why should the picture be balanced? There are many different explanations for this. "Happiness theory" holds that all human actions are to pursue happiness and happiness and avoid those unpleasant things. Balance can make people happy. Another explanation is that composition balance is due to human body balance, and maintaining human body balance is the most basic need of people. Uneven composition makes people feel uncomfortable. Another common explanation is that there is a general state of balance in human life. For example, when we decorate a room, we always put the bed, table, TV, sofa and other big things in the proper position to balance them. No one will put them all on one side of the house and leave the other side empty. The need for balance in this life is a common aesthetic psychology of people. Because there is balance in life, people's aesthetic psychology requires balance, and the balance of composition has an objective basis. But composition, as a form of expression, is highly subjective. Balance is the method, so is imbalance. Balance and imbalance have their own ideographic characteristics. For example, if you report a messy scene of an underground food processing factory, it may be more beneficial to report this incident with unbalanced, chaotic and poor composition. The balance and imbalance of the picture are relative. The balance of the picture is a means, not an end. The means is to express the content or theme. The balance and imbalance of the picture must have a certain purpose. In order to express a specific meaning in film and television works, it is deliberately regarded as imbalance.

Practical skills of news photography: how to choose news photos

The press release forms of news photos mainly include single photo, group photo and thematic photography. A single photo is the most commonly used publishing form for photographers in their daily work. The basic requirements for shooting a single picture are: to show the typical instantaneous value of the image, and to pay attention to details, emotions and body language of the characters.

A group photo can be a description and expression of different aspects of the same news scene, or a combination of different scenes under the same theme. Group photos are mostly used to show news events from many sides and angles and deepen the theme. I participate in the news and photo reports of the National People's Congress every year. After the two sessions, I will select the photos of the meeting site, the delegates' discussion site, and the delegates and members' inspection, exchange and writing proposals, form a group photo and publish it.

Thematic photography refers to reflecting a news theme from multiple angles through multiple photos. Every photo tells a story or a plot, and there must be an opening photo, an climax photo and an ending photo, which are connected in series to form a complete story. Special photography should pay attention to the use of different scenes such as big scene, middle scene and close-up, as well as the collocation of horizontal and vertical photos, which has a long time span and diluted the timeliness.