1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

58 Journalism Online
away and it can be dominated by the surroundings. If you
position the subject off-centre, it can add perspective.
Informative – surroundings that are inconsistent or even
contradictory to the subject weaken the message. For example,
you would not take a picture of protestors seeking safer speed
limits in their neighbourhood and show them standing by an
empty road. However, if your background is unnecessarily
busy, it will distract from the primary subject-matter. Simple
backgrounds can show your subject off to best effect.
Of course, these considerations of how to frame your shot tell only
part of the story. They would apply equally well to your holiday
snaps as a news picture. What about the editorial value of
pictures? How can they contribute to your storytelling or tell
stories of their own?
This extract by Bill Pierce on the ‘Digital Journalist’ web site
offers a vivid insight into the work of the photojournalist –
constantly evaluating the editorial content of each picture while
also constructing the shot and getting it pinsharp:
You zoom back and show the candidate against the flag. You
try several frames with him at the edge of the frame. The
frame on the flag is exact. And the depth-of-field preview
shows that the flag is recognizable. The candidate starts to
sweat under the heat of the television lights; so, you zoom in
as tight as you can. You feel bad about not including the press
secretary looking bored and eating Cheese Duds at the edge
of the frame, but you’re going for the impact colour cover, not
the revealing side bar that will end up in the wastebasket.
Wait a second, you’ve got a zoom and a motor. You zoom back
just a hair and knock off just one frame that includes the bag
of Cheese Duds. It won’t make it into the mag, but it may be
good for the contests. 3
In this piece Pierce was in fact discussing the relative merits of
two different cameras, but as an insight into the editorial power of
the photojournalist, well . . . you get the picture.
3 www.dirckhalstead.org