Photojournalists

Experience as an intern, volunteer, or part-time employee at a newspaper, news magazine, or a related employer is recommended for aspiring photojournalists. 

People skills are essential to photojournalists as well as an eye for art and photography and a working knowledge of camera equipment and computers. It is also important to be able to work flexible hours, write well, and perform research.

Because of the timely nature of many assignments, photojournalists must also be able to work under the pressures of a deadline. They may be assigned to shoot pictures of people in trying situations, such as house fires, car wrecks, or military combat. In these cases, the photojournalist must be extremely sensitive to the people at the center of the story, ask permission to take photos, and when possible, ask for details about what happened. To do this, photojournalists must be extremely tactful and polite and work well under stress.

Photojournalists must also know how to use Photoshop and other photo-editing software and have a good familiarity with social media trends.