Study Photojournalism Techniques

by Rolando Gomez, founder, Phototherapy.org

Today, both fashion and glamour photographers are employing more photojournalistic styles, producing images that stand strong and often make statements. I’ve been fortunate enough to have almost thirty years of photojournalism experience that often kicks in when I’m photographing glamour models. If you don’t have this type of training, I recommend that you study photojournalistic images by looking through news magazines and observing what you see printed in your local paper.

A great book I highly recommend, old but still available, is The Picture: An Associated Press Guide to Good News Photography (Associated Press, 1989). It’s thin, concise, and lays it out like a dictionary. This book covers terms used to describe photojournalistic styles of photography, which are becoming more popular in photography today, and also helps give you ideas for your poses and styling of the set.

A term that most photographers without photojournalism training do not know is juxtaposition. In juxtaposition, a photojournalist tries to add a second element in the frame to help tell the story–or sometimes just to add something funny or even serious. In glamour photography, this can be applied by keeping the main focus on the actual glamour subject, but adding another model, sign, or element to enhance the story. Normally, this element will be out of focus to prevent distraction.

Still another term used in photojournalism is the picture story. While every image tells a picture story, sometimes a series of glamour photos can tell a story too. Normally, I approach all my shoots like a picture story and previsualize various poses and scenarios to accomplish that feat. This often includes a headshot, three-quarter shot, bust-up shot, and some type of shot emphasizing more of the back of the model.

Photojournalists are trained to get the shot in any situation–to keep their eyes open and constantly be looking for ways to tell stories through images. In glamour photography (and many other genres), these skills are also invaluable and well worth fostering.

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