Photojournalism Distance Learning Course

• Start any time, study anywhere, learn from experience, qualified, professional tutors.
• Learn about what to photograph and how to photograph it.
• Learn about dealing with publishers and their requirements.
• Learn about text and caption writing for your work.
• Undertake a practical project to gain experience to complement your studies.

Prerequisites

Lesson Structure

Under the guidance of a mentor (a writing/editing tutor), you will learn to produce images according to specific criteria, deal with a publisher, and communicate effectively with others involved in the publishing process. And, you will come away with at least one published work (maybe more), which will set you on the path to a career as a writer. No matter what you want to write, you will find this a great learning experience. 

This course gives you hands-on experience in writing for a publication. You will work with a tutor (member of our academic staff) who will oversee your role as writer for an online publication, for one edition of that publication.

Course Aims

• Discuss the nature and scope of photojournalism.
• Explore issues of ethics in photojournalism and develop an understanding of your own biases.
• To explore the composition of photographs and associated legal issues.
• To revise basic terms used in photojournalism.
• Understand the photo story and the effect of editing and placement on the meaning of an image.
• Research International web sites for publishing and looking at work.
• Explain publishing specifications, and apply that understanding to specific photography tasks.
• Develop an understanding of online management systems.
• Improve your Photography Style and submitting images for publication.
• Develop your writing abilities to accompany your images.
• Revise your Submitted Work.

• A high quality portfolio in printed form, on portable media and online.
• High quality stationary.
• A well prepared resume/CV.
• A good cover letter.
• A tracking method to keep record of all your letters/applications for jobs.
• A willingness to move quickly and maybe permanently.

You must make sure you have all of this prepared BEFORE you apply for any jobs.

Make a Portfolio

One of the important steps in applying for work is ensuring that you have a high quality portfolio available to demonstrate your skills.

A portfolio is a set of images that show the photojournalists technical and aesthetic skills. There are no universal guidelines on how to prepare a portfolio. Obviously this is a creative art, as well as a technical one, so some aspects rely on the photojournalist themselves. But there are some general guidelines.

• Consider the client that you are hoping to impress. You need to show appropriate images that suit the client’s requirements. All images in the portfolio you show to a potential client must meet THEIR needs. So it may be that if you are looking for a range of different jobs, you may have a portfolio for different jobs you are applying for.
• Clients may vary – magazines, newspapers, book publishers, trade publications, record companies, travel markets, galleries, other business clients.
• There may be other clients that a photojournalist might consider, such as commercial organisations, such as stock companies, design firms and so on. A photojournalist may still work in these fields, although there could sometimes be a conflict of interest.
• Clients are interested in the photographs as documents of reality, so may rely on the photojournalist’s ability to take high quality images in a range of different settings.
• The presentation of images should be professional and well organised.
• Start and finish with the strongest images to create a lasting impression on the client. There is the idea in psychology of primacy and recency effect. This is the idea that we remember the most the first information we see and the last.
• If a client has seen thousands of images, the photojournalist wants the client to remember his/her images the best. So there is only one chance to create a lasting impression. A weak image can destroy the overall presentation and quality of a portfolio, so choose the images carefully.
• Don’t add print and shoot photographs that anyone could have taken. This will insult the editor and won’t get you the job. Make sure your images are all high quality and show your technical skills.
• Know your market.  Research the market you are interested in. Look at the specific outlets of the market. Understand the images the client use and why they use them.
• Find out what the client expects from photojournalists they use. If they want someone who can fly off around the world at a moment’s notice and you can’t do that, you are wasting your time and theirs by applying for the job.

Find out more

Our courses have been developed and taught by highly experienced, specialist tutors - experts who have real world experience within their industries.

Whilst students study with us, they benefit from the support and guidance of our tutors.

If you have any questions about the Photojournalism Practice course, or any of our courses, please get in touch with us today.

You can phone us on (UK) 01384 442752 or (International) +44 (0) 1384 442752, or

Submit your questions to our specialist Photography tutors - they will be pleased to help you.