How to Shoot News Video

It was a dramatic moment the night rescue workers pulled two teens through the final few yards of raging water to safety. An incredulous Chuck Dennis shut down his Zenith VM 7070 camera, took one last look at the rain-swollen creek and thought of the incredible event that had unfolded before his eyes.

His efforts had paid off. As he had anticipated, no other camera person had arrived on the scene to document the incident. The rescue happened too quickly for any of the three local television stations to respond. As the amateur videographer raced to the local broadcast affiliate, he moved little bit closer to his goal of becoming a professional news videographer.

As an anchor, reporter and photographer for that station, I've watched Dennis transform himself into a valuable asset to our station and I have no doubt he will achieve his goal. Although I was skeptical of his abilities at first, my perception of him soon changed from that of a pesky wannabe cameraperson to an excellent spot news videographer with an instinct for being in the right place at the right time. (In my experience, most good video-journalists begin their careers with this dubious stigma, until their work proves otherwise.) You may not have the same goal, but let me show you how Dennis broke into the professional news business and you'll probably learn some helpful tips about working quickly and unobtrusively on any video proj…