Archive for the 'Yearbook Photojournalism' Category

Plan Your Yearbook Before You Act

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Planning and executing a yearbook takes a great deal of team work and everyone has to be on the same page before any action is performed. Get your team working together by having numerous meetings and events so everyone can brainstorm ideas together.

This will allow a team to work much more closely and efficiently resulting in a great designed yearbook. There are many resources out there so brainstorms ideas. If you are thinking about design go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and find some designs books together and take a look at layouts, styles and colors. Do this together so you can all agree on a design at the same time. This will prevent any future hiccups and disagreements. Design is very subjective but really great design can be appreciated by many. The only way things will stay organized and on track is if everyone is on the same page. You will want the photographer to take photos that compliment the design and you will want the writer to compliment the photos so it will be crucial for everyone to agree.

Make the meetings fun and interesting. They don’t have to be done at school. Meet at the local coffee shop and enjoy the atmosphere while discussing the plans. Have the person in charge bring their laptop if they have one and show everyone the progress of the layout.

What Makes Yearbook Photojournalism Great?

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

It`s not always easy to create great yearbook photojournalism layouts. The marriage of words and image can be a powerful thing, but only when done right with the correct amount of care.

Taking top quality photos is the best way to start your yearbook photojournalism off on the right foot. Pay careful attention to color, imagery and lighting. The best photos will be portraying something that can only be enhanced by explaining it. If you are captioning something that is too obvious, the caption will lose its potency.

The words you choose for the yearbook photojournalism are also very important. They need to convey the essence of what is going on in the photo without dragging on. The caption should be kept as short as possible. Word choice is vital, use descriptive words where possible.

Yearbook photojournalism is something that needs to be treated with care. If you do it right, you`ll be able to capture people`s minds and emotions and they will be that much more inclined to keep buying yearbooks.

Yearbook PhotoJournalism: Using Speech Bubbles

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

One way to keep yearbook photojournalism interesting is to use speech bubbles for your text, essentially turning your page into a comic strip. In fact, you can have a lot of fun by cropping pictures and turning them into a comic book page, if you like.

Speech bubbles have the potential to go terribly wrong if you aren`t very careful, so be sure to take the time to check any work done by students. Avoid anything that could be construed as offensive or making someone look bad.

Having a comic strip with real students can be a huge amount of fun and if you do it right, everyone will love it! Use older comic strips as inspiration or take a look at some of the older ads that are found in magazines like National Geographic.

Yearbook photojournalism is something that can be treated in many different ways to really bring out the interest in your yearbook. Have some fun and get creative.

Yearbook Photojournalism for Small Yearbooks

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

If you are working hard to keep your yearbook size down, then you`ll want to make use of photojournalism to conserve space without short thrifting the students at all.

The best way to make your small yearbook really pop is to fill it with top quality photos and some writing that really is worth reading. You`ll find that if you put your best yearbook writers on the job, the yearbook photojournalism will make the book really worth reading.

In smaller yearbooks, there really isn`t much room for pages that are photo only layouts, so make sure you get that writing in there to explain the photos. Many yearbook coordinators actually find it helpful to shorten the length of the articles that will be used in the yearbook photojournalism sections, as well.

If you are looking at doing a smaller yearbook this year, then consider yearbook photojournalism to keep things tight.

Yearbook Photojournalism: Finding the Groove

Monday, August 18th, 2008

Yearbook photojournalism involves using text and photos to create a fun, interesting page in the yearbook. The use of photos to go along with the photos is the best way to draw interest and make the yearbook better.

Some ideas for your yearbook photojournalism:

  • Use at least 3 photos. The more visual interest, the more likely students are to pay attention.
  • Be descriptive. Using active verbs and plenty of adjectives will help to convey the point of the story.
  • Highlight important points. Try selecting specific, important parts of the article to put in a highlighted box to catch the eye.
  • Use bullet points and subtitles. This will make it easier to read the story and students will be more likely to actually read it.

These tips will help turn your yearbook photojournalism into something that students look forward to reading.

Yearbook Photojournalism: The Key to Tying It All Together

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

Some students prefer the articles in the yearbook, others want the photos. But tying the two together with yearbook photojournalism layouts is the best of both worlds. Photos don´t always tell the whole story and can even be a bit confusing at times, but if you have the chance to combine journalism with them, you´ll have a great story that contains enough of both photos and text to keep everyone happy.

The best way to incorporate yearbook photojournalism is to team staff members up. That way the writer will know just what was going on when the photo was taken and they can even collaborate on the layouts. It´s a great way to encourage teamwork within the yearbook class.

Yearbook photojournalism can really bring more interest to the photo sections of the book. It´s also very useful years in the future when your students don´t remember why so and so had a weird look on his face at the basketball game. That´s when it comes in handy to have a little text to go along with the photos, explaining the back story.

It´s a good idea to incorporate at least some yearbook photojournalism into your layouts. Students will appreciate it.

Yearbook Photojournalism Made Fun

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

There´s no reason to make yearbook photojournalism a big chore. In fact, it can be a lot of fun, if you put the right students on it and are enthused about the task yourself! A lot of times, students base their attitude on that of the teacher . . . if you are bored with the yearbook, they will tend to be as well. Keep the enthusiasm up with these fun tips.

Yearbook Photojournalism Fun

  • Brainstorm. Let the students come up with their own ideas, or evolve yours into something they can really take ownership of. When they get excited about an idea, they will be far more interested in carrying it out.
  • Assign the best students. Some students are just better at yearbook photojournalism than others, so you will want to take advantage of that and put them on assignments that they enjoy.
  • Step back. Letting your students work on their photojournalism story with minimal input from you is the best way to get great results. Many students actually work better without hovering, so just check occasionally to make sure that the students are on track and leave them to it.

Getting your students excited about yearbook photojournalism is the first step in creating a great yearbook. You want them to be interested and having fun with the yearbook, since that results in a better book. Make sure you are enthusiastic and they will be too!

Yearbook Photojournalism: Finding the Story

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Yearbook photojournalism is often used to tell a story, at least that is the original purpose. Actually finding a story depends on the prowess of both editor and photographer. You need to know where to look. Some news is pretty obvious, but that isn´t the most interesting part of yearbook photojournalism.

The big news will be remembered for a long time to come, but you can rest assured that the side stories are the ones that will be forgotten . . . unless they are captured with yearbook photojournalism. So, when you are capturing those big stories like the school quarterback getting a scholarship, look around and see what else you can find to report on.

Sometimes there is a back story, too. Maybe people didn´t realize that the star quarterback was in a car accident as a small child and overcame great odds to learn to walk again . . . keep in mind that there are details we don´t know. Talk to the people involved and pick up the side stories, too.

Keep in mind that some of the best yearbook photojournalism involves stories that no one even knew was news. If you discover something interesting about a student or teacher, ask permission and then see if it won´t fit into the yearbook somehow. For example, you might have a yearbook photojournalism section on school heroes and cover various “heroic” acts done by students and teachers. Use your imagination to find new angles for common stories and turn them into something fascinating.

13 Yearbook Photojournalism Copy Tips

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

Writing yearbook photojournalism copy can be quite the chore and if not done well, it will bore the heck out of any student who reads your captions! Take a look at the following tips and learn to create fascinating yearbook photojournalism copy.

  1. Use quotes.
  2. Describe sights, sounds, smells, etc. with descriptive adjectives.
  3. Write in the third person.
  4. Use active voice (”he grabbed the paper”, not “the paper was grabbed”)
  5. Write facts, not opinions.
  6. Spell numbers one through nine.
  7. Report this year, avoid predictions for the coming school years.
  8. Use colorful, vivid words.
  9. Write with verbs.
  10. Avoid overly long and fancy words. Plain language is best.
  11. Don´t use labels (”the high school assembly 4th of July”), they are dull.
  12. Tell a story.
  13. Proofread.

Yearbook photojournalism really adds something special to the yearbook and if done right, the copy will evoke emotions and memories that will last for the rest of your students´ lives. Remember that the yearbook is to bring them back to this time, even after they are old and long since done with schooling.