"Most of the photos that people send us are from their phone," photojournalist Berford Gammon tells Marquette journalism students.
Berford Gammon admits he is a "cropaholic." So when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's photography director visited my Digital Journalism II class yesterday, eliminating wasted space was a constant theme in his critique of the students' first photojournalism assignment of the semester. So was avoiding redundancy, ensuring story clarity and details, knowing when to use your flash and shooting far more photos than one might think necessary.
Gammon – a native of Columbus, Ohio, who graduated from Ohio State University – and I worked together several years ago at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Using Journal Sentinel photos from the Milwaukee Brewers' playoff run and a feature story about midwives, he also talked about meeting deadlines, maximizing internships, managing photographers, writing captions and working with reluctant or difficult story subjects so you get the best photos.
The photography director also advised the students to stay relevant in their campus or professional organization. Take newsrooms, for example: "You've got to have an opinion on something in journalism. If you don't have an opinion, say, 'Let me have a look at it and I'll get back to you.'" Communications skills are also important. "I always tell my photographers, 'If you can explain your photo to me, and why it's important, then we'll get it in the paper."
While discussing photos shown on the classroom wall, Gammon often called on the class to identify the correct photographic element from among the 14 cited in the NewsU "Language of the Image" module. That so many raised their hands for him to critique their work surprised him. "I love this class!" he said. Based on their tweets afterward, the class appreciated him, too. "Teaching us all how to be real photojournalists," Erin Caughey tweeted.
Gammon – a native of Columbus, Ohio, who graduated from Ohio State University – and I worked together several years ago at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Using Journal Sentinel photos from the Milwaukee Brewers' playoff run and a feature story about midwives, he also talked about meeting deadlines, maximizing internships, managing photographers, writing captions and working with reluctant or difficult story subjects so you get the best photos.
The photography director also advised the students to stay relevant in their campus or professional organization. Take newsrooms, for example: "You've got to have an opinion on something in journalism. If you don't have an opinion, say, 'Let me have a look at it and I'll get back to you.'" Communications skills are also important. "I always tell my photographers, 'If you can explain your photo to me, and why it's important, then we'll get it in the paper."
While discussing photos shown on the classroom wall, Gammon often called on the class to identify the correct photographic element from among the 14 cited in the NewsU "Language of the Image" module. That so many raised their hands for him to critique their work surprised him. "I love this class!" he said. Based on their tweets afterward, the class appreciated him, too. "Teaching us all how to be real photojournalists," Erin Caughey tweeted.
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