However, taking a photo that captures the attention of a media outlet – and their audiences – does differ from the typical point-and-shoot approach. 

So, how do you take a great newsworthy photo? Here’s a helpful checklist of what you’ll need to consider before taking any shots.

Checklist:

• Photos must be high-resolution, medium or a wide shot, with the person (or people) looking directly at the camera.
• Caption the image as ‘the company name, the person’s title and the person’s first and last name’ (i.e.: Company XYZ marketing lead Barry Johnson). If there are multiple people in the photo, ensure names are listed left to right – and make that clear in the caption, by saying ‘From left:’ or ‘L-R:’.
  • • • For example: From left: Company name, job title, person 1’s first & last name. Company name, job title person 2’s first & last name, and so on]

Top tips when taking a news photograph:

1. Look straight down the camera lens. Journalists want to see the person’s face and profile, so save the creative and artistic shots for marketing photos.
2. Play around with different angles. Explore the range of viewpoints such as crouching down and taking a low-angle photo, high-angle photo or front-on – all while your subject looks straight down the camera lens.
3. Face your subjects towards the sun. Media are averse to supplied images that appear to be altered or enhanced. This includes excessive editing of shadows. A simple way of avoiding unnecessary facial shadows is to position them towards the natural light.
4. Take the sunnies off. Eyes are the window to the soul and it’s what connects with readers. Always remove the sunglasses.
5. The rule of thirds. Every image is either a square or a rectangle, which can be sliced into thirds – horizontally and vertically. Ideally, you would have the person in one-third with some contextual background surrounding them (see concepts below).
6. Use your landscape to tell the story. We are fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful backdrops in the Queenstown Lakes District, however, great storytelling via photos is not limited to a just a scenic location. If you’re based in the city, you might choose to take photos in front of the business building or if the story relates to a development, take a photo on-site. Make the backdrop work for you and be sure you remove any unnecessary clutter too.
7. Maximum number of five people in a photo (with the rare exceptions). As every person in the photo will need to have their name included in the caption, the more people you have in it, the harder it is to cram the names in.
8. Take multiple photos – both landscape and portrait. Traditional outlets such as print and TV prefer to use landscape images, however, some online publications opt for portrait images. It’s safest to take multiple of both. Also, it’s better to take a bunch of photos than to not have enough.

When providing a client or photographer with a photography brief, we’ve found it most effective to use AI mock-ups as a tool to demonstrate photo composition. Here are some AI examples we’ve used previously:

If you’re looking for a great reference to draw inspiration from, consider these excellent client examples. And, if you find yourself stuck, let us know. We’re more than happy to provide personalised tips to help you take the best news photo for your story.