By Derek Sijder

LEARN HOW TO USE FILL FLASH

I hardly used flash for my photographs, but by the end of my internship I never left home without it. Natural light is the first thing a photographer should look for, but we often face unfavorable lighting conditions. I found my flash particularly helpful when shooting indoors and when shooting outdoors at midday when the sun is directly overhead. In these situations, adding flash fill can prevent the subject from being lost into shadow and can open up the details of the subject.

GET QUOTES

Yes we are photographers, but we are journalists first. Our job is not complete until we write the caption. I learned to ask more questions, talk to people and write down everything they say. My editor thanked me for getting quotes for every story I shot. Quotes in captions can provide readers with a more complete sense of what the subject might be experiencing.

Caption: Cancer survivor Linda Enriquez awards her husband Tony Enriquez with a “caregiver” sash during the opening ceremony at Cupertino’s third annual Relay for Life at De Anza College. “This is a very emotional and beautiful day,” Linda said.

CHANGE YOUR ANGLES

It is important to provide visual variety when on assignment. You can add instant interest to pictures by shooting from a unique elevation. Try shooting from above, then change your angle and shoot low. Try to avoid shooting all pictures at eye level. “Get down. Get dirty. Get your camera where the action is,” says Orange County Register photographer Bruce Chambers.

Caption: Phil Aramoonie stands on his two-acre property in Cupertino, where he cuts the weeds. Aramoonie and a few dozen other property owners were charged a new $298 inspection fee by the city and the County of Santa Clara.

GET CLOSE

A close-up adds drama to a photograph and slams the reader right into the subject. When I shot the District 12 Little League Championship, I used a telephoto lens to capture the celebration of the winning team. But for the victory lap, a closer position yielded a more intimate photograph. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough,” Life photographer Robert Cappa said.

GET CREATIVE

If you have an idea, don’t hesitate to try it. Remember that you were chosen for your internship because of your photographic and storytelling abilities. If there is a picture that you want to make, then shoot, shoot, shoot. Don’t be afraid to add a little artistic view.

Caption: Volunteers help build a playground in one day at Blackberry Farm. The project was sponsored by Cupertino, the Rotary Club of Cupertino and KaBOOM!, a non-profit, playground-building group.

PEAK ACTION

When it comes to sports, editors are looking for one thing: peak action. Try to anticipate the play, if possible. This means understanding the game in order to know what might happen next. Use a fast shutter speed and take lots of pictures.

Caption: Aaron Couch of the Willow Glen Giants hits a pitch from Los Gatos Americans Kevin Martig in the bottom of the second inning. The Giants won 5-2.

KNOW THE STORY

Caption: Market-goers shop at Sunnyvale’s farmers market at its new location in the Sunnyvale Caltrain Station parking lot. The market temporarily has been relocated from Murphy Avenue because of construction.

I found it helpful to talk to my editor and writer before assignments to exchange ideas and learn exactly what they might be looking for. Here, my editor wanted a photo of the temporary location of a farmers market in the Cal Train station parking lot. “Try to get a photo of people shopping while at the same time indicating that this is a train station,” my editor said. The shooting was difficult and I was unhappy with my photos. But after putting my thinking cap on, I climbed onto a freeway overpass, waited for an hour until the next train came and captured this establishing shot.

Derek Sijder is a photojournalism student at San Jose State University. He was a Summer 2009 Chips Quinn Scholar at the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers in San Jose. He is a staff photographer for the Spartan Daily, the student newspaper. In spring 2008, he was photo editor for El Espartano, a newspaper produced for a multimedia boot camp in Mexico City. Sijder was one of 10 students to participate in a working university journalism trip through the historic South, ending in Washington, D.C., for Barack Obama’s inauguration. He has had photographs published in the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Jet magazine, and his work has aired on NBC-Bay Area and CNN.