In photojournalism do u have to write an article or do u just take a photo and write the caption?

Question

i really love photography and i'm trying to find careers in photography and i was thinking about photojournalism except i'm not the worlds greatest writer, so i just wanted to know if writing is a big part of it.

Answer 1

As a photojournalist, your main job is to capture an image, and just write the basic fact. The cutline (caption) are usually done by other writers. This is a site that best explain what a photojournalist is, and what they do.

http://markhancock.blogspot.com/1996/01/...

It is better to take a class on photojournalism to have a better understanding of the in and out of the business. Only requirement is to have manual capability camera - usually.

Answer 2

Writing is not a big part of the job. You need to be able to communicate facts accurately and write a good cutline (caption). Most of the time you will be working with a writer who will write the cutlines. If you are working alone on feature photos or photo essays, cutlines should be good enough. If you are covering breaking news and don't have a writer, you are required to gather as much information as possible. You are not required to put it into a finished article.

Answer 3

The word journalism says enough.

Just keep practicing, you will get better.

Answer 4

I found that if I could write an article to go along with the photo I make more money.  My first time was when I took some photos of a cattle drive in Eastern Oregon many years ago.  I submitted it to a Pacific Northwest magazine and the editor contacted me and asked if I could supply a short article, around 500 words.  I did, they used it and I made $200.  One article I did netted me around $500 total as it had been published by 4 different magazines including one in England called Eva.  The last magazine bought all rights to it.

Answer 5

photo is from the Greek - Fos which is singular for light, photon, blah blah

now the second part of the word - journalism, as the first answerer answered

so yeah a bit more writing that a caption usually,

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Answer 6

It is a team effort ... many times if find myself on assignment and for whatever reason, the writer assigned to cover the story is either delayed or never makes it to the location.  It is therefore incumbent upon me to collect all the information necessary to write a good enough story so the managing editor has enough to wordsmith my scribbles into a story that is publishable.  

Writing cut lines is sometimes required, but if there is enough information attached to the image, the photo editor usually has a better idea of what the wording needs to be to blend with the story.

In my life I have had to write a polished 2700 word story that featured two of my photos, other times my photos have been made into a photo essay, with just twenty or so words beyond the cut lines.  You never know.