Freelance photojournalist speaks to Harker journalism

Freelance+photographer+Stephen+Lam.+Lam+came+to+speak+to+journalism+students+today+during+second+and+third+period%2C+staying+through+lunch+to+answer+students+questions+about+photojournalism+and+photography.

Kathy Fang

Freelance photographer Stephen Lam. Lam came to speak to journalism students today during second and third period, staying through lunch to answer students’ questions about photojournalism and photography.

by Eric Fang, News Editor

Freelance photojournalist Stephen Lam visited Harker journalism today during period two and period three to speak about his path to becoming a professional photographer and to give advice for how student-journalists could improve their photo coverage. In his presentation to periods two and three, Lam emphasized the need to remain “curious” and “creative” in order to ensure the best quality pictures. He also shared many of the photos he took for major news organizations such as Reuters, the San Francisco Chronicle and Getty Images, explaining each picture’s back story and giving useful tips and tricks.

“Don’t be afraid of failure because there will be plenty of instances when you might miss the photo or the picture is too blurry or just not focused,” Lam said. “It’s fine when this happens. You’ll learn from it and usually, you’ll just end up making a better one and learning.”

Additional reporting by Nina Gee.