It is often said that a photojournalist is like a regular journalist except that he or she uses a camera instead of a notebook. There is little doubt that this is a rewarding and enjoyable career. However, like many others it requires a great deal of preparation.

Education

A photography degree is by no means essential if you want to become a photojournalist. Much more important is that you can demonstrate in your work the ability to take a good photograph that captures the moment and gives an accurate portrayal of the truth.

An education will help you but it will not transform you into an expert photojournalist.

Study And Practice

The first thing you should do is to find out who the expert photojournalists are. Alongside photographs you will usually see the name of the photographer.

Take this name and perform a search on the Internet. This should return many photographs by the same person. By doing this, you can study their style and see the hallmarks of their work.

Next, you should start to take your own photographs. While you won't be able just yet to gain access to restricted events, there are still many things that you can take shots of. What you are doing here is developing your own style and creating a portfolio of your work at the same time.

Networking

It is often not what you know but who you know. This holds true for many careers and especially photojournalism.

Where possible, try to attend gatherings where photojournalists may be present. Ask interesting and inquisitive questions and you will find that most people are only willing to help, to inflate their own egos if nothing else!

One new avenue that you can explore is Internet forums. There are several photojournalism forums and message boards on the Internet where you can meet people on a similar path to you.

Technology

These days, photojournalists work all over the world. You must know how to operate a computer and upload photos. If you don't own a PC then now is the time to purchase one and get up to speed.

Internship

Consider an unpaid internship with a newspaper. If possible, you should try to get permission to accompany one of their existing photojournalists on the job as the news breaks.

Even if such an opportunity does not arise, you can still use an internship to learn and network with other photojournalists as they return to the office.