SIX QUESTIONS Is photo informative; is it interesting? Do photographic techniques reinforce message? What words will strengthen message? Will a crop help content, composition? What s minimum size for readability? How will design convey message? 1
Although this is an interesting photo, the photographer did not ask permission to take it, nor did he see permission to use it after he took it. For commercial purposes, this photo cannot be used. Commercial photographers obtain model releases and pay those who serve as models. MESSAGE Does the photo make clear statement? Does it meet ethical standards? Does it invade privacy or libel subjects?
AESTHETICS Composition organized and appealing? Does composition help tell the story? Red is the most difficult color to use ina composition. In this picture, the red of the tomatoes balances somewhat with the orange of the marigolds, but the lower right corner of the picture feels empty; it is overpowered by the bright colors in the rest of the photo. 3
TECHNIQUE Do camera and digital techniques enhance the message? Is it press-reproduction quality? This photo has been digitally altered. The tree is real and the moon is real, and in the right location. But the moon has been enlarged slightly. Techniques like this have no place in news photography, but enhancement of photos for advertising is standard operating procedure. This photo also might suffer from reproduction by anything less than the best offset press because of the subtle dark colors in the branches.
THREE BASIC SHOTS WIDE SHOT Sometimes called the establishing shot, it is the macro view. The wide shot provides context; it sets the scene. The wide shot does not focus on details; because it takes in so much, the details are often lost or unreadable. Wide shots often need to be used large so that the content can be read by the viewer. WIDE MEDIUM SHOT Provides the greatest storytelling power. Includes a balance of context and detail. CLOSEUP Isolates one or two details that communicate on an iconic level. Lacks context; the closeup must be used with other shots. WHAT IS CONTEXT? Context is made up of things in the picture that put you at the scene. Context is made up of things that people recognize and can associate with a place and time. Context in a medium shot is most often in the background. MEDIUM CLOSEUP 5
THREE BASIC ANGLES BIRD S-EYE The high-angle shot puts the viewer in the position of power. Sometimes called God s-eye view because it gives the feeling of omnipotence. Can be wide, medium or closeup. EYE-LEVEL Puts the viewer on the same level as the action in the picture. Requires viewer involvement. Must be used with purpose and not out of laziness, or you will get the 5-foot-7 syndrome. Can be wide, medium or closeup. EYE-LEVEL ANGLE (HUMAN EYE) WORM S-EYE The low angle shot puts the subject in a position of power; the viewer is subservient. Extreme low-angle shots can make the subject of the picture seem menacing. Can be wide, medium or closeup. AVOID THE 5-FOOT-7 SYNDROME Good photographers seek high places to stand while they shoot, and they are not afraid to get down on the ground. Get in the habit of thinking through a shot as you seek the high and low angles. HIGH ANGLE (BIRD S EYE) LOW ANGLE (WORM S EYE) 6
WATCH YOUR BACKGROUND Good photographers check the edges of the frame in the viewfinder to find the best combination of near, middle and far elements. Check the viewfinder to make sure that nothing in the background interferes with the main subject. Be vigilant for sprouts. If you see a sprout, shift position slightly to eliminate it. THREE DISTANCES FAR DISTANCE Things in the distance are most often background items. Good photographers vary their shots by occasionally placing the main subject in the far distance and putting the context in the middle and near distances. SPROUT ALERT NO SPROUT MIDDLE DISTANCE By placing the subject in the middle distance, we provide room for context. By placing the subject in the middle distance, we have several options for framing the subject. As with anything, too much of a good thing can be boring. NEAR DISTANCE A photographer can place the main subject in the near distance and a secondary subject in the far distance, creating meaning on two levels. Closeups, by definition, are near-distance shots. 7
BASIC COMPOSITION The rule of thirds The Rule of Thirds is a simple way to avoid static, symmetrical pictures. First divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically. Some viewfinders have guides for this. Then place your main subject at the intersection of the thirds. This works with horizontal and vertical shots. dead SPACE Dead space is space within the picture that adds little or no information. By eliminating dead space, we focus in on the real subjects of the picture. Dead space often can be removed by cropping. This is necessary because the photographer can t always get in the ideal position to frame the shot. To eliminate dead space, you must look within the frame and seek out the best picture within the unedited picture. 8
THE DECISIVE MOMENT The phrase comes from French photographer Henri Cartier- Bresson. In 1952, He published a book titled Images à la sauvette. The English translation was titled The Decisive Moment. Photography is not like painting, Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever. Today, photographers often use the saturation method. They compose the picture, then let several frames run off when the decisive moment is near. The picture that best portrays that moment is selected in the editing process. PEAK ACTION PEAK ACTION In shooting action, try for the moment just before things come to rest. The peak of action is sometimes the top of the arc, before something starts to come down or collapse. The peak of the action sometimes is just before something lands. PEAK EMOTION In shooting people or animals, seek out the emotional peak. This is when the subject is most expressive. Often the emotional peak involves gestures or other body language. EMOTIONAL PEAK 9
PHOTO EDITING Use Adobe Bridge or another lightbox software to view and sort your images. Look within the frame. Seek out the meaningful image that might be revealed with a bit of cropping. Look within the frame for things in the foreground or background that could disqualify the picture, such as unwanted objects or people out of character with the scene. Study facial expressions, relationships between actors, subtle differences in posture or body language. Try to imagine the photo on the page or as part of your composition. 10 Which photo is better? The top one. The photographer was in a slightly better position to see the second and third shooters in line, and by opening up the shot, he give you a better look at the faces of the first two shooters. The top photo is composed better; the first shooter has space behind him, putting him closer to the intersection of thirds. The top photo will require less cropping.
basic steps for editing a picture to be published Crop the photo A well-composed photo will need very little cropping. When you do crop, seek to eliminate dead space and emphasize the main objects or actors. This photo is cropped to draw attention to the people watching from the escalator and to enphasize the relationship between them and the dancers. TONE THE PHOTO Adjust colors to be true to life using the histogram (IMAGE MENU ADJUSTMENTS LEVELS) Use the highlight eyedropper to adjust tone; seek out an area that should be white and click the eyedropper on it. Photos also can be toned for effect, such as a yellow cast for a warmer tone or a blue cast for a cool tone. SHARPENED UNSHARPENED SHARPEN THE PHOTO Use the unsharp mask filter (FILTERS MENU SHARPEN UNSHARP MASK) for a crisper image. Sharpen as little as possible; with a well-taken photo, 50 percent to 100 percent will be enough. 11
PHOTO RESOLUTION WHAT IS RESOLUTION? A photo is made up of squares of color called picture elements, or pixels. We need enough resolution so that the pixels are not visible. Photo resolution can mean one of two things: 1. Pixels per inch A photo at 100 percent of its size will contain a number of pixels per inch. For high-quality print, 300 ppi is considered ideal, although most presses will reproduce a 200-ppi image with no problems. Remember, that s at 100 percent. If you make a photo bigger than 100 percent on the page, the number of pixels per inch becomes diluted. For the web, 72 ppi is standard, but total pixels is more important. 2. Total pixels If you know the total number of pixels edge to edge, then you can adjust the size of the photo on the page to good effect. Example: If an image is 3,000 pixels across, you can use it 15 inches wide with a final resolution of 200 ppi (3,000 divided by 15). For web pages, a photo always displays at 100 percent in the web browser. So a photo 3,000 pixels wide will overwhelm the standard screen size of 1,024 pixels wide. So for Web pages, a horizontal picture that is 800 pixels on its longest side is about right. A pixelated image. The final resolution is too low, but the picture could be used much smaller (inset). 12 MINIMUM RESOLUTION The minimum resolution depends on the quality of the printer and the frequency of the halftone screen. High-frequency halftone screens require more resolution than low-frequency screens. Example: Most newspapers use halftone screens of 85 lines per inch. The minimum final resolution for an image should be about 1.5 times the halftone screen, or about 128 pixels per inch. Magazines and other finely printed publications use halftone screens of 100 lines per inch on up to as much as 144 lines per inch. Follow the same guideline above: 1.5 times the halftone s lines per inch. Ask your printer for guidelines on photo resolution.