Lovely student photos

Without reading Rachelle’s captions, I knew immediately what her story was about. Note how Rachelle — who has attended photography school — takes the images from different angles and doesn’t worry about getting too close. Though she was just in one place, she took several types of photos — didn’t stay with just one person. For your future assignments, you will need to focus your...

Last photo post: A photographer’s winter Olympics

My former photo editor Troy Wayrynen shoots the Olympics every other year, lucky dog, and posted his images to this site. I wouldn’t normally post yet more photos, but what makes these ones interesting to you, dear students, are his captions. Troy explains what it took to get these photos — going for his own gold medal of sorts. He tells us, the viewer, where he shot the photos and what camera...

NPR’s The Picture Show

Strong captions, strong photos at NPR’s The Picture Show Blog. (Thanks to my friend KTA for the link.) Study these images and note that they’re taking from various heights, and that the photographer takes color into consideration. When you read the caption, take into account that it reads like a mini story — which is important because a lot of people read only the captions beneath the...

Q: Audio, photo, interview all at once? HOW?!

From one of my students: “When doing the next assignment with audio and photos, how would I get both audio and photos at the same time? I have an audio interview set up for thursday and I have made a list of questions I am going to ask him. Do I go about asking him if I can take photos of him, or what kind of photos would you suggest me taking?” My response: I’ll outline what I would do,...

Ira Glass on telling stories

Ira Glass, the master storyteller behind “This American Life,” shares tips on telling and finding stories. These are four short and excellent clips that answer about half the questions I’ve fielded from students. On the basics: On finding good sources: On good taste: On two common...