Students get Glimpse into Photo-Journalism

When Robert Inglis of the Sunbury Daily Item newspaper stopped by the Milton center to take pictures, he wasn't aware that the students were going to "ambush" him with questions about photo journalism. Mr. Cromley has been running a writing unit on newspapers. A copy of the Daily Item was pulled apart and taped up on the walls from the previous day's lesson. Mr. Inglis was the photographer who had taken the picture on the front page of the edition.

The students asked good questions. When asked what makes a good picture, Mr. Inglis quickly snapped a picture of the student from the front of the classroom. He then went over and took a close-up of the student. He then had the students gather around the camera and showed them the differences, explaining how angles and composition change the "feel" of the shot.

When asked about training, the importance of continuing ones education was made clear. Mr. Inglis explained that most photo-journalists have more than a high school diploma and that, in a competitive market, you need to have a solid education.

The question of ethics brought up new terms that the class had not been exposed to. "Hard News Photos" are photos that are shot live. They are not staged or posed. To do so would violate the ethics of photo-journalism. One of the few exceptions to this rule are what Mr. Inglis called "Grip and Grins", photos that you would take of a group of people at an event like an awards ceremony or ribbon cutting.