COMM 242, Advanced News Photography

Photojournalism Assignments

Processing and deadlines

You are responsible for arranging your own film processing/digitalization, so that you have
images available for work in Photoshop. (Negatives may be scanned to save money on
printing, or photos may be burned into a CD.) Those still relying on film need to use color
negative film (Kodak Gold 100 often seems to be on sale), which is current non-digital
photojournalism industry standard, but you may use any photo finishing service as long as
it’s fast.

Note: These should all be new work. I can’t accept photos you took last summer, or photos
pulled from your album. I’m counting on your honesty here; if something in an image
makes clear that it was taken before this semester (like a football game), I can’t give you
credit.

Assignment One
a. Dramatic angles. Shoot a film or so of people or scenes around campus from unusual
angles. You might shoot down from the top of a stair. Or shoot up lying on your back. Or
shoot someone framed by something else. Or really close in on something. Or shoot a
seldom-seen view of something. Use your creativity, as long as: 1) it’s not the common
viewpoint; 2) at least half your photos have people in them. Prepare for critique at least two
unusual angles. I suppose I don’t need to tell you not to try anything dumb like lying on the
railroad tracks or shooting down the campus smokestack? Hey, it’s been done.

b. Meeting folks. Shoot a film or so of people doing things on campus, preferably outside,
but in well-lit buildings (window light recommended) if it’s too cold. Take candid (unposed)
pictures of people you do not know. After taking their picture, approach at least two or
three of these subjects. Explain that you are doing a class photojournalism assignment, and
ask for their names, including proper spelling. Right down names on a notepad, numbered
in sequence so you can later match your names to photos (you may wish to also describe
surroundings to help you later match the name to the image). Prepare for critique at least
two which you believe best show life on campus, and include cutlines with idents.

Assignment Two
Light fantastic. Photos relying on several common qualities of light. Include at least three
different examples from these options:

 strong natural light, dramatic shadows and highlights. May be sunlight, strong
window light.
 flash on camera, pointed directly at subject. If you don’t have a flash, try setting up
a potlight or lamp.
 flash off camera, bounced off a ceiling or wall. If your flash won’t bounce, try a white
hankie or Kleenex to diffuse the light.
 diffused light, cloudy day, classroom, filtered through window.
 colored light: incandescent, fluorescent, candle. NO FLASH--turn off flash, if
automatic.

Include people in at least half your photos. Prepare at least three examples; include written
cutlines describing the light.
Assignment Three
Compose yourself. Identify elements of photo composition, and compose them in a way you
believe produces a more dynamic photograph. Try to emphasize a single element you think
dominates more than any other. Shoot a few frames you know to be considered
“composition mistakes,” to compare differences. At least half your photos must include
people. Prepare at least four examples, including cutlines describing the compositional
element emphasized, or the “compositional mistake.”

Requirements: from now on we will abide by minimum professional expectations in

photojournalism:

 Photos each carefully adjusted in Photoshop for cropping, levels/curves, color

correction, sharpness, and whatever else might be necessary. Grades will suffer if it's
clear you didn't run your photos through this process.
 Complete cutlines, written as noted in a class lecture. If people are easily
identifiable, they must be identified with both first and last names. If I catch you
making up a name, zero for the assignment! (People have tried this, believe me. It's
called "lying.")
 Number of images specified (no more than number required, please), saved as jpgs,
and attached to email. Write your cutlines in the email message.

Assignment Four
Special topic, news and features. Choose a newsy event to cover: a speech, a press
conference, a meeting, a protest, a concert, bad weather, an accident, etc. Shoot at least
20-30 pictures, trying to emphasize unusual angles, getting in close, interesting lighting,
etc. Photos must contain people, and include idents, unless people are part of crowds or too
far away for easy identification. Submit at least three photos with photojournalism-style
cutlines for critique.

Note: Try to avoid unattractive flash on camera. Try bouncing flash using cardboard, the
walls, or the ceiling. Or natural lighting, of course.

Note: If you must use flash, soften the effect using the Photoshop technique from Lesson
Two. Don't forget to go through Photoshop to crop, adjust for exposure, adjust to correct
color, sharpen, and improve whatever else you think necessary. Don't hand in photos
directly from the camera!

Assignment Five
Special topic, travel photography. Take an opportunity over spring break to offer a “sense of
place” through a photo story. Prepare at least four photos, including:

 one long or medium photo to establish the scene.

 one photo of a significant detail.
 one informal portrait of a person doing something.
 other photo you think helps tell the story, emphasizing people.

All photos must include cutlines, although you don’t have to get idents for this travel
feature. Also include a paragraph or two of copy describing the place in journalism style. By
the way, snaps of your friends at the beach or in the bar don’t constitute a “sense of place”
for this assignment. If you’re not going anywhere, use your home town or even Fargo as a
travel project.
Assignment Six
Special topic, personality portraits. Shoot at least 20-30 pictures emphasizing personality
portraits: people doing things that help to tell a story of their character. You may rely on
friends or relatives as subjects, but they CANNOT 1) just stand or sit there looking directly
into the camera (formal mugshot); 2) be talking on the telephone, sitting at an office desk,
shaking someone’s hand, typing at a computer or reading a book, unless you can find a
radically new and different approach. Submit at least three photos; all photos must be of
people, no more than one, two or three together, with full idents and standard cutlines.
Avoid lighting with flash on camera. Try bounce flash, or preferably, natural lighting, looking
for direction of light that resembles styles we discussed in class, such as "Rembrandt,"
"butterfly," back-lighting, or even texture (side) lighting for an interesting craggy cowboy
look.

Assignment Seven
Special topic: sports. Choose any sport you like, and shoot at least 20-30 pictures of
dynamic action shots emphasizing the excitement of the sport. Recommended are daytime
outdoor sports, as these offer most forgiving light needed to stop fast action. Try to get as
close as you can to the action; some sports are difficult to photograph without telephoto
lenses. Parlor games (a chess tournament, for instance) probably don’t count for this
assignment, but if you can convince me with great photos, okay. Indoor sports action
photos may be taken with flash on camera, although I discourage it. Try higher ISO and
available light instead.

Final portfolio
Part One: Choose five to ten of your photos to present to a (possibly hypothetical)
employer. All should emphasize photojournalism principles (that is, no sunsets or spring
break photos), and all should be your very best work. Try to find photos representing
diversity of your abilities: news, feature, sports, portraits, illustrations. Note: these photos
do not all have to be from class assignments. After adjusting in Photoshop using techniques
we've discussed this semester (save as jpgs), create a PDF portfolio in Bridge, using the
Quick Tip in Photoshop Lesson Nine. Attach to email message and send to me for grading.

Part Two: Write cutlines for each of your photos, and a few lines describing yourself,
including an email contact. This material will be linked to your online student portfolio, so
someone interested in your work can get ahold of you. Note: if you don't wish to have your
portfolio online, it's not required, and won't affect your grade. But you still have to submit it
to me.
1. Abandoned Buildings 43. City Hall 83. Events
2. Abstracts 44. City Skylines 84. Eye Glasses
3. Amphibian 45. City Street Scenes 85. Eyes
4. Anger 46. Close-up 86. Farm Animals
5. Arches 47. Clouds 87. Feathers
6. Architecture 48. Cold 88. Feet
7. Autumn 49. Colours 89. Feisty
8. Back Alleys 50. Columns 90. Feline
9. Bad Weather 51. Computers 91. Femininity
10. Bald Heads 52. Contrasts 92. Fences
11. Balloons 53. Covered Bridges 93. Fetes & Festivals
12. Bare Feet 54. Critters 94. Fetish
13. Bark 55. Culture 95. Fire
14. Barns 56. Curves 96. Fire Engines
15. Bees 57. Custom Cars 97. Fireworks / Fire
16. Bicycle Parts 58. Dancers 98. Fish
17. Bikes 59. Decorations 99. Flags
18. Birds 60. Demonic 100. Flower Petals
19. Black and White 61. Demonstrations 101. Flowers
20. Blimps 62. Devilish 102. Food
21. Blue 63. Digital 103. Forks
22. Bolts 64. Disappearing 104. Forms in Nature
23. Bones Professions 105. Fountains
24. Books 65. Disappearing 106. Framed
25. Bottles Technologies 107. Freeways
26. Bridge 66. Dishes 108. Frozen
27. Bridges 67. Documentary 109. Fruit
28. Broken Glass 68. Dogs 110. Games
29. Bronze 69. Dominating 111. Gardens
30. Brown 70. Doom and gloom 112. Gates
31. Bump 71. Door Knobs 113. Gears
32. Butterflies 72. Doors 114. Geriatric (older
33. Butterflies / Bees 73. Dots / Dashes / folks)
34. Campsites Diagonals 115. Glamour
35. Car Details 74. Drawers 116. Glass
36. Catching People 75. Duplicates 117. Gold
Unaware 76. Easter 118. Graceful
37. Cats 77. Eggs 119. Graffiti
38. Celebrations 78. Elation 120. Green
39. Choice 79. Embrace 121. H Hands
40. Church Windows 80. Emergency Situations 122. Halloween
41. Churches 81. Enthusiasm / eager 123. Hallways
42. Circles 82. Environmental Trash 124. Handles
125. Hands 167. Letters 209. People Walking
126. Happiness 168. Light Dogs
127. Harbours 169. Lightning 210. Peppers
128. Harvest 170. Lights 211. Perspective
129. Hats 171. Locks 212. Pets
130. Hidden 172. Machine Parts 213. Pictures in
131. History 173. Macro Pictures
132. Holiday 174. Marine life 214. Piles of Things
133. Horizon 175. Masculinity 215. Pink / Purple
134. Horses 176. Masks 216. Polished
135. Hot Rod Cars 177. Mass flowers 217. Porches
136. Hunger 178. Mirrors 218. Quad
137. Ice 179. Money 219. Quarters
138. Inclines 180. Monuments 220. Queens
139. Indian Ruins 181. Mood 221. Railroad Cars
140. Indigenous 182. Movie Theater 222. Railroad Tracks
Things Or People Marquees 223. Raindrops
141. Industrial 183. Muse 224. Rainbows
142. Insects 184. Mushrooms 225. Red
143. Inspiration 185. Neon Signs 226. Red Barns
144. Iridescent 186. Night 227. Reenactments
145. Iron 187. Night lights 228. Reflection
146. Isolated Objects 188. Nighttime 229. Reflections in
147. Jails 189. Nonsense Glass
148. Jets 190. Noodles 230. Reflections in
149. Jewelry 191. Numbers Water
150. Jobs 192. Nut 231. Religious
151. Joints 193. Nuts 232. Roads-capes
152. Journalistic 194. Objects 233. Rocks
153. Joy 195. Odd Couples 234. Round Things
154. Jugs 196. Old Everything 235. Rows of Things
155. Junk Yards 197. Olympic 236. Rust
156. Keys 198. Opposites 237. Rustic
157. Kids 199. Opulent 238. Sand dunes
158. Kin or Families 200. Orange 239. Sand Patterns
159. Kite 201. Pairs 240. Sea Shells
160. Kites 202. Paper Abstracts 241. Seascapes
161. Knives 203. Parallel Lines 242. Seasons
162. Landscapes 204. Patterns 243. Self
163. Lazy 205. Peacocks 244. Shadows
164. Learning 206. Peeling Paint 245. Shoes
165. Leaves 207. People 246. Signs
166. Legs 208. People At Work 247. Silhouettes
248. Skulls 287. Transport 327. Zombies!
249. Sky 288. Tree Knots 328. Zoos
250. Sleeping Animals 289. Trees
251. Sleeping People 290. Ugly Everything
252. Small Furry 291. Umbrella
Animals 292. Umbrellas
253. Smiles 293. Ungulates
254. Smoke Stacks (hoofed animals, pigs,
255. Snow goats, deer horses)
256. Soft Curves 294. Uniforms
257. Sorrow 295. Urban
258. Spanish Moss 296. Utensils
259. Speed 297. Vacation
260. Spoons 298. Valves
261. Sports 299. Vegetables
262. Spring 300. Vices or Habits
263. Squirrel 301. Views
264. Stacks 302. Vignettes
265. Stairs 303. Vines
266. Statues 304. Visitors
267. Steam Railroads 305. Watches
268. Still life 306. Water
269. Strange Signs 307. Waterfalls
270. String 308. Weather
Instruments 309. Weathered Wood
271. Structures 310. Wet
272. Summer 311. Wheels
273. Sunrise 312. White
274. Sunset 313. Wide Angle
275. Superstitions Everything
276. Sweets 314. Wildlife
277. Swings 315. Windows
278. Tattoos 316. Winter
279. Teddy Bear / toy 317. Woods
280. Textures 318. Xenon
281. The Local School 319. Xenophobia
282. The spot (X 320. Xylophones
marks it, you know) 321. Yachts
283. Toads 322. Yellow
284. Tombstones 323. Yo-yos
285. Tools 324. Zebras
286. Tools of the 325. Zig Zags
Trade 326. Zipper