Photojournalism's role in modern media.

Photojournalism is a type of journalism that tells a story through the use of images.  Photojournalism can also be used to described video journalism.

Unlike other branches of photography like documentary photography and street photography, photojournalism is generally known for timeliness, objectivity and the creating of narrative.

Timeliness refers to publishing images that have meaning in the context of recently occurred events.

Being objective means shooting images that are a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone.

Creating narrative is combining the images with other news elements to help tell the story at hand.

A photojournalist must follow the same ethical and deadline guidelines as a regular journalist.

One of the main ethical concerns for a photojournalist is to not alter a photo so it changes the original meaning of the photo.  Cropping a photo and "playing" with the light levels and tone of an image are generally acceptable, but it is unethical to change the content of the photo or distort the way the image is to be seen by a viewer.

The main tool for a photojournalist is a camera, but in today's world of digital cameras and video, a photojournalist must be able to use a computer and all types of digital imaging software.  Most, if not all newspapers have closed their dark rooms, so effective digital photography has become the norm.

While shooting photos is the main objective, photojournalists need to make sure they write proper cut lines to help describe what is going on in the photo.

When possible, a photographer should always tell the reader what is going on in the photo, where and when it is happening and who is involved in the photo.  The photographer must give the reader as much information as possible to help tell the story.  

In many cases, a photojournalist will also be responsible for writing a story to go along with the photos.  In this case, the photojournalist must be able to report accurately and professionally, just like a full-time writer.

Capturing a quality image is just as important for a photojournalist as it is for any photographer, so a photojournalist needs to capture the proper light, lines, emotions and moments any photographer would want to catch to produce a great picture.

In my daily job, I do a lot of writing, but I am also called on to act as a photojournalist from time to time. Below are a few of the images I've had published in The News-Press during the past few years.  All of these photos accompanied stories in the paper.

The Urban Jazz Coalition performs at Jazz in the Park at Veterans Park in Lehigh Acres on Saturday.

Victoria Collins, 6, clearly enjoys this ride more than Dikota Shocky, 6. The two attended the 2007 Lehigh Spring Festival with their parents Friday.

Riverdale's Mikah Fellows competes in a wrestling match against Lemon Bay Thursday.

Amanda Ferguson, 3, performs with members of the Susan Katz Show Team during the Lehigh Spring Festival on Wednesday. The festival continues through Saturday.

East Lee County High School's Jessie Davis hauls in a touchdown reception during Friday night's game against Palmetto Ridge.

Susan and Tom Cianfrani wait at Southwest Florida International Airport on Monday to learn whether or not their Southwest Airlines flight to Philadelphia is going to be cancelled. The flight has already been delayed a hour. Winter storms in the northeastern United States have caused hundreds of delayed and cancelled flights throughout the country.

Rober Volk surveys the fire damage to his Cape Coral business Volk Electric. The building caught fire Friday morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A four car crash at the intersection of Gunnery Road and Lee Boulevard in Lehigh Acres sent two people to an area hospital Friday.