By Austine Kananji

Lilongwe, June 19, Mana: Renowned freelance and award-winning photojournalist, Ras Peter Kansengwa has emphasized the need for photojournalists to be equipped with the knowledge of professional digital camera to stand out as the world is advancing in terms of technology.

Kansengwa made the remarks on Thursday during the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training at the Malawi News Agency (Mana) Headquarters Offices in Lilongwe.

He noted that for a photojournalist to create and compose a good, appealing image needs to differentiate an image captured by a mere phone camera and a digital professional camera as these items produce different products.

“In this modern world of photojournalism, in the newsroom there has been a disregard tendency whereby other journalists go with a mere phone camera to capture images, while others take a digital professional camera the results of which are different as the image produced by digital camera will stand out for a long time professionally,” he observed.

Kansengwa emphasized that the rules applied in digital professional camera, including white balance (WB), and ambience aspect, which promote the background of an image help in enhancing image creation by composing a well-stood-out photo.

He, therefore, urged photojournalists to be active and vigilant when sent to events, citing the need to manage time effectively to capture images for news articles, saying: “This is particularly important when covering online events, as it is crucial not to miss important scenarios as the event unfolds.”

Speaking in a separate interview, Managing Editor for Mana, Tione Andsen underscored the need for photojournalists to be equipped with the requisite knowledge of photojournalism as the world is evolving every day in terms of technological advancements.

“This is an eye-opener, it has have refreshed other people’s minds, while others are getting this information for the first time and also it is an opportunity because nowadays we are combining writing and taking of photos in the news room segment.

“So when you are equipped with both writing and taking photos you are better placed in a news room setup as it makes gives you an edge over others in this digital era,” Andsen said.