REQUIRED PROJECTS

PROJECTS
2 Sport events
1 Profile (of someone of a different culture/ethnic background) - assembled in the style of NYTimes videos.
1 Profile (of someone else) - assembled in the style of NYTimes videos
1 A Day In The Life Of...(someone over 25)
1 of the following subjects: human interest, lifestyle, fashion, editorial)
1 News story (Conflict) (Local or State related)

*If you choose digital, double the number of projects in each category.

Sports
Sports photography is a specialized version of general news. It involves high action and the photographer must have an excellent sense of timing. In sports photos, you want to show conflict and emotion. This usually means having players from both teams in the photo and the thing they're fighting for (typically a ball). The emotion comes by showing the faces of the players. That can be difficult because of flailing arms or helmets, but the best sports shots don't just show action, but show the emotion, too.

Spot News
Spot news is, in some ways, the opposite of general news. Spot news is an unplanned event like a car accident or fire. During these types of assignments, information is the most important thing. You need information to stay safe and to make the photo that best tells the story. You need reporting skills to get the information about who was involved in the situation and what actually happened. Being skilled at dealing with law enforcement or emergency rescue crews are often required in these situations. You can see a spot news photograph later in this tutorial.

Portraits
Photojournalists also shoot portraits. While they usually never pose photographs, portraits are the exception. Journalistic portraits usually show a person in their environment; a judge in their office, a painter in their studio. The subject is usually looking directly at the camera so the viewers know that it is a portrait. The subject isn't usually doing anything, again because the viewer should not be confused as to whether the photo is a posed portrait or a real, documentary piece of journalism.

The Photo Essay
The last type of assignment is the photo story or long-term documentary project. This type of work requires the photographer to spend an extended period of time documenting the actions of a subject. Photo stories usually involve multiple photos which flow together. An example would be following a family of refugees or documenting the life of a family with a sick loved one.