Diploma in Photojournalism

Syllabus

Introduction to Photography

In this fundamental course, the students will investigate the impact of photography as a medium of visual communication. History of photography with emphasis placed on materials, processes and techniques. Difference between analog & digital photography.

Camera Workflow

Fundamentals of digital photography. Working with your DSLR. Components of a camera, Understanding light and exposure. Controlling exposure with Shutter, Aperture and ISO, Using camera to capture mood and emotions and as a tool to tell stories. Learning and exploiting all the tools available for correct exposure.

PHOTO JOURNALISM

Basics of journalism. Introduction and importance of photojournalism. Specialization in photography-crime/ sport/ fashion/ wild/ travel/ web based/ war/ spot news). Career opportunities as a photojournalist. Life as a photojournalist. What it needs to be a successful photojournalist. History of photojournalism and the roots of printing press in the world as well as in India. Different phases and variations occurs in the process of printing with time.

MASS COMMUNICATION

In this course the student will be introduced to communication its concept, nature, process and development of human communication. Communication theories and models. The overview of 7 c’, barriers and function of communication. Development communication. International and inter-cultural communication.

ADVANCE exposure techniques

Understanding exposure, DSLR’s built-in exposure meter and its various patterns such as average, centre-weighted and spot reading. Hand held external exposure meters. Exposure bracketing. Incident light reading, grey card reading, understanding of dynamic range, creating HDR.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION

Basics color principles, including line, shape, hue, texture, form, value and intensity are studied. Students investigate color as seen in black and white and its relationship to composition through harmony and contrast in a variety of formats and media. Students will also learn the usage of classical rules of composition to make a visual statement.

MEDIA LAW AND ETHICS

Introduction to law. Norms of photography.Cinematography act: 1953, IPC, PIL, freedom of speech 19(1). History of press laws in India. Ethical problems of media including privacy, right to reply, communal writing and sensational and yellow journalism. Ethical issues related with ownership. Press Council of India and its broad guidelines for the press.

REPORTING

News, feature, photo feature, and editorial -definition, nature and structure. Sources and types of news. Type of interview and Columns. News writing styles, types of Reporting- science, sports, economic, agriculture, life style, elections, parliamentary, proceedings, defence, war, conflict, personality profile.

Light Theory

Advanced understanding of light. Handling difficult light situations. Understanding light and shade. Understanding light direction, throw of light, soft light, contrast or hard light, the Light cage, etc. Understanding color temperature light quality, advantages and problems.

EDITORIAL PORTRAITURE

Concept of Portrait photography. Tools and requirement: Studio, camera, lenses, film etc. Natural light portraiture vs artificial light portraiture. Introduction to Natural and artificial lighting for on location shoots. Working with bounce lights. Conceptual Portraiture.

CONCEPTUAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography as a fine art. Developing a creative eye. Artistic understanding of light and composition. Using camera to capture mood and emotions and as a tool to tell stories. Understanding Documentary photography/photojournalism. Creating Conceptual photography. Working with textures.

RESEARCH

Meaning of research and its Concept, scope, need and importance of communication research. Research area of communication including source analysis, message analysis audience analysis, media analysis and effect analysis Research Problem. Use of photography as a research methodology and photo research. Research problem. Formulation of research problem. Research Design. Synopsis. Hypothesis. Data Collection and Analysis. Methods of data collection. Research Report. Bibliography. Index Appendices. Footnotes.

ADVERTISING AND PR

Origin and Evolution of advertising. Definitions of advertising and types of advertisements. Role of photographs in ads. Ad agency management. Various specialist departments in ad agency. PR concept, tools and scope. Significance of photographs in public relations. Role of PR in crises communication, role of PR in public, private & government sector. Writing for media; Ad appeals, Ad campaigns, SWOT Analysis of media, Media buying, lobbying, branding, counselling

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

Introduction and importance of social media. Tools, service and software’s of social media management. Social media and photography.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Concept of Human Rights Human Rights and Journalism and Media. Importance of Human Rights in Democracy, Education and environmental issues. Human rights at the time of Communal Riots. Human Rights in the terrorized areas. Human Rights of a women, Accused persons and child. Child labour and trafficking. Bonded labour. Women trafficking. Human Rights and death. Torture in police lockups. State Commission for Human Rights. National Commission on Human Rights - Human Rights and right to freedom of speech and expression.

IMAGE MANAGEMENT
In depth hands on training on the practical usage of Digital Imaging software. Tethering Techniques. Linking your dslr with your computer. Capturing images using digital softwares. Analysing photographs for flaws and areas of improvement. Working with raw and compressed image format. Organizing and cataloguing photographs in lightroom.

PHOTO RETOUCHING AND MANIPULATION

Adobe Light Room Interface. Preparing the image for editing. Understanding the histogram. Working with the develop module. Global image correction techniques: Cropping, lens correction, white balance and tonal changes, noise reduction and sharpening, hue and saturation and curves panel. Local adjustment tools available in lightroom.

Introduction to Adobe Photoshop. Productively utilizing the photoshop environment, including the use of layers, panels, channels, paths and the toolbox. Methods of creating and saving selections. Creating masks. Applying painting, retouching, filters and adjustment methods. Local editing to photographs using selection methods. Image compositing methods in photoshop. Photo retouching for commercial photographs. Image manipulation to create stunning surreal images. Creating black and white photographs with lightroom and photoshop.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Understanding the commercial photography industry. Working with people (Art directors/clients/modelling agencies/etc). Studio management. Copyright laws. General business protocol. Understanding professional goals, business plans, marketing tools and photography markets.