Three Duties for a Newspaper Photographer

Choose Appropriate Photos for Stories

A newspaper photographer is also a journalist, meaning he must try to present the overall mood, feeling or action in a story through pictures. Before going on an assignment, he confirms the particulars of the event location and names, as well as the angle of the proposed story. This ensures he knows what to look for. When he returns from the assignment, he works with either a photo editor or a reporter to choose the photos best suited for the story.

At some newspapers, it is also the job of the photographer to edit the images, which can entail downloading, cropping and adjusting the colors and tone. Any adjustments she makes on the computer will be similar to those that could be done in a darkroom. Editing is an important duty that assures the quality and appearance of the photo is acceptable for printing.

Newspaper photographers use their journalistic abilities to pen captions that go along with the pictures they took. Each caption should describe the "who, what, when and where" of the photo. To ensure that information is correct, photographers meet with or call the appropriate person while on assignment.

Newspaper reporters generally manage their own schedules. They plan their assignments each day depending on the priority of the stories. After completing an assignment, they may return to the office to upload the images and then head off for another assignment. Because newspapers cover breaking news, their photographers also must be prepared to adjust their schedules as needed. For example, on a given day a photographer might be planning to shoot a community bake sale, but a five-alarm fire sends him elsewhere. As a result, newspaper photographers may work odd hours, such as evenings and weekends, to complete their duties.