Student Yearbook Guide

Student Yearbook Guide

Reporting

1.     Good Reporters

a.     Look and listen for their readers

b.     Everyone at an event is a potential source

c.     Some sources offer better insights than others

d.     Who, what, where, when, why, and how

2.     Research

a.     Helps reporters understand their stories

b.     Start research with previously published material

c.     Primary sources provide background and material that may become part of a story

3.     Interviews

a.     Better questions = better answers

b.     Active listening provides better results

c.     Good notes need direct quotes and facts

Writing          

1.     Notes

a.     Writer uses questions to focus the story

b.     If notes seem incomplete, there is more reporting to do

c.     Organize notes to help make final decisions

2.     Stories

a.     Best stories put information in a human context

                                               i.     Lead – opening sentence/paragraph introduces story

                                             ii.     Quotes –word for word statements form sources

                                            iii.     Transitions –help understand what the sources are talking about

                                            iv.     Conclusion – ties the end of the story back to the lead

b.     Quick reads offer an alternative to features

3.     Good Writing

a.     Depends on angle and substance

b.     Tightly written and lively

c.     Uses narrative elements

d.     Fresh and original

Writing effective headlines requires creativity, effort, and attention to details

Make sure the lead is catchy and sets the tone and angle of the article. Remember that readers like to read about people not events. Quote more than one view of a specific event. End the story so that it refers back to the lead.

Describe the 3-step process to writing dynamic headlines

1.     Solid understanding of content

2.     Word play & brainstorming

3.     Guidelines lead to quality and consistently

Captions                        

1.     Content

a.     Do more than state the obvious

b.     Answer reader’s question about a photo

c.     Requires reporting

d.     Direct quotes from individuals in photo add depth

2.     Describe the 3-step process to writing captions

a.     Range from identification to mini stories

b.     Sports captions require specific details and understanding

c.     Joke captions should be avoided

Processing the News

The article talks about how today is a difficult time to be a photojournalist because of the controversy that comes with photographers editing or altering their photos. Photojournalists agree that alteration to the image by putting in or taking out a certain item is going too far, but the controversy is seen in the subtle changes made. The new digital age makes it easy for a photographer to fix the lighting or colors in a photo but people question whether this is a true representation of reality. Photojournalists do not all hold the same standards for how much they "fix" their photos. The article ,however, says that the underlying content never changes. 

Penn Live

PIAA swimming: Hershey closes out AAA girls' championships with four wins, two records

http://highschoolsports.pennlive.com/news/article/3649710779997320758/piaa-swimming-hershey-closes-out-aaa-girls-championships-with-four-wins-two-records/
a. The article was about Hershey's win of the PIAA Class AAA girls' swimming team title last year.  The article talked about a specific girl and the four state records she set. The journalist interviewed her about her last time swimming for her high school. The journalist also gave the times and records set by other athletes at the meet. The article included 17 photos from the competition. A majority of the photos were of the athletes swimming, but there were also photos of the audience, the coaches, and photos of the team after they won. Each photo had a caption that went along with it, further explaining the picture.  The article also included a video of one of Hershey's athletes winning her last individual race as a member of Hershey's swim team. 

b. I found it interesting that the journalist included a video in their article. I also found the information in the article interesting because I knew  a lot of the people that were talked about. 

c. I think I can take a lot from this article to benefit my final project. I choose this article because I thought of doing my project of the dive team which would have similar aspects to this article. I think I can read through the writing of this journalist as a guide for what I can write for my captions and what to ask any athletes or coaches. I also think it was interesting that the article included a video. If I end up doing my project on the dive team I think a video could be beneficial.

Photojournalism Project Proposal

For the photojournalism project, I plan to take pictures and talk to people about CV mini-Thon and the work that goes into it throughout the year. I already have some pictures of the Harlem Wizards game which supported Thon and I think I'm going to work around them. I want to talk to some of the people who worked during the game and are involved in Thon. I also want to get pictures of the Thon room or "behind the scenes" pictures. I might use pictures from other Thon events that go on throughout the year as well. 

I'm on the communication's committee for Thon and I love participating in the club and being apart of the cause. The money Thon raises can do incredible things and it's exciting to be a part of it which is why I decided to do my project on this idea. 

Actions

B&W

Technical

Color

Expression Panel

Portraiture

I took pictures of my best friend, Aditi. She is very happy and always laughing so a lot of my pictures showcase her smiling. The serious black and white photo was meant to represent her dance. She dances as part of her Indian culture and is very serious about it. I tried to showcase this with her facial expression and outfit. She also brought peacock feathers with her because she is obsessed with peacocks. The rest of the photos generally show her happy and cheerful personality. I also wanted most of the pictures to be simplistic without too much editing.

I really enjoyed this assignment because I really like photographing people. I think my end results turned out good and I'm happy with my final project. Aditi was also really happy with the photos that I took. 

Some tips I would give for this assignment would be to find different locations, outfits, and poses to get a variety of pictures. 

I think the most challenging part about the assignment was working with the photos in photoshop because we were using actions which I wasn't familiar with. I think I did well with getting a variety of photos from one shoot.