What is the difference between a reportage shooting and a regular photo shoot

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

It has become a long tradition that all significant events, be it an event of national importance or a book exhibition, sports competitions or a film festival, are covered not only by journalists, but also by photographers. A series of pictures that capture individual moments, episodes of what is happening, are called a photo essay or reportage shooting.

Process specifics

Reportage shooting is fundamentally different from the usual. Fundamentally different, first of all, approach to the selection and presentation of material. For a photo session or traditional shots, the artistic side of nature is important, i.e. what is photographed and depicted on the card. Therefore, any photographer to some extent is also an artist. He tries not only to show the distinctive features of the subject being shot, but to do it beautifully, with a twist, creating an artistic image.

The photographer carefully plans the composition of future photos, chooses the right lighting tone, color range. He can ask his models to smile or make a sad look - depending on the plot. And even if the photos are commissioned and must meet certain requirements, the photographer still has a lot of room for improvisation. Reportage is not like that.

The main task of a photojournalist is objectivity and truthfulness of work. Photographing the president's visit to a foreign country or his meeting with the people in the provincial outback, taking pictures at the scene of another accident or from an opposition protest rally, the reporter creates a chronicle of the country, writes its history. Reportage shooting is done impromptu, on the go, and the photographer must have time to guess the right angle, choose the most successful shooting point, its moment. You need to act quickly so as not to miss a special facial expression, gesture or movement, a “talking” background, and such details that will turn the picture into a photographic document. Thus, a kind of photo story is obtained, which should be presented in an interesting, exciting, bright, lively way. Often, for the sake of one correct frame, the reporter presses the “start” button dozens of times, and then selects a few of the most successful ones. He is an eyewitness, and through his pictures the viewer joins what was happening, plunges into the thick of events, becomes a participant in them, feels the intensity of passions and drama, experiences unique moments of history.

It is clear that reportage photography is a complex matter, requiring high professional skills. It is not possible to learn how to present the material “simple, but with taste” in one day or a month. The hand and eye are "stuffed" for years. After all, the selected pictures should be vital and convey the spirit of events. Therefore, we can say: reportage shooting is a storytelling in “pictures” about your contemporaries and your era.

Often a series of photographs accompanies textnewspaper article or blog post. Therefore, the content of the photo essay must correspond to the text, and often without prior agreement. Such consistency is also one of the signs of professionalism.

Creating a holiday

One of the types of photo essay is shooting holidays. Like reportage, it includes almost all genres and types of shooting: portrait, landscape, “from nature”, interior, i.e. household, static and mobile. Holiday photography should convey the appropriate atmosphere, moods, emotions. And then the photographer turns into an artist. It captures the brightest and most colorful moments, the most touching and happy, funny and interesting. After all, such a report helps to preserve the memory of solemn events for many years.

The profession of a photographer is a profession by vocation. It must be loved, it must be lived, it must strive for perfection. Only then can one become a true master photojournalist.