By Bob Gould, former NPPA president I teach broadcast news at Michigan State and one day last year I decided to take the students out and shoot a story with the students watching me work. I figured it was much easier to SHOW them as opposed …
How many times have you heard this advice? Make sure your story has a beginning, middle and end. Even the great Lewis Carroll shared a version of the standard counsel in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "'Begin at the beginning,' the King said, very gravely, 'and …
Picture this. You're on day two of a TV news shoot out-of-town, working with a freelance crew. Location: a high school auditorium. Day one was a morning session and the house lights were on. The photographer got plenty of shots of the action on stage …
What's the connection between photography and terrorism? Apparently, it depends on where you sit and when you ask the question. Just after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, investigators urged anyone who'd been near the finish line to share photos or video they'd taken around the …
Missed it! It's an awful feeling. You've been waiting and waiting for a specific shot for a story and when it finally happens, you hit record just a wee bit too late. Maybe you've captured some of what you need, but it's going to be …
Can you be a good TV photojournalist and a lousy storyteller? Absolutely. Fabulous images alone won't tell a great story. Award-winning videographer Nathan Thompson thinks of each story as a puzzle with five main pieces. If any one of them is missing, he says, the …
Great photojournalists are sticklers about their gear. They check it thoroughly before and after every shoot. They supplement the standard-issue package with specialty items, from dimmers to clothespins to GoPros. They experiment and improvise, always on the hunt for new accessories that will save time or …
Video journalist Anne Herbst firmly believes in preparation. She does research on stories before leaving the newsroom. She shows up to assignments early so she can meet people and figure out in advance who might be a strong character. And she writes fast--an essential skill …
Darren Durlach left television almost two years ago to try something new. He'd won two consecutive NPPA TV Photographer of the Year awards and, unbeknownst to him, was on the verge of winning a third. He's now senior multimedia producer at the Boston Globe, where …
How would you define a memorable TV news story? For reporter Boyd Huppert, it's a story that connects with viewers, that goes beyond the facts to touch people in some way. To achieve that goal, Huppert looks for a character and a concept that will tie …
A front row seat to history. The privilege of sharing life's most amazing moments. And the God-given right to eat behind the wheel. Nobody ever said working in TV news was all glamour, right? If you've ever been on a six-hour stake-out with no bathroom in sight, you've …
From part-time, overnight camera operator in market 83 to best TV news photographer in the country in just six years: How did Nathan Thompson do it? Natural talent? Not at all, Thompson told NPPA's News Photographer magazine. Instead, he credits hard work and a deliberate, …
