Chapter 6: Visual Storytelling with Photographs
“Show, don’t tell.”
Journalists are told of this phrase many, many times. Rather than describing the scene of news happening, it is better to find ways to take the audience to the scene. Photographs has been the most effective way to connect the audience with what the writer actually saw, and has evolved the most with the emergence of digital media. Nowadays, anyone can publish photos with just a few clicks — making the photojournalism more readily available to anyone.
However, equipments do not immediately make an amateur photographer a professional photojournalist. There are basics of how to operate the camera and how to work with the subject for the best outcomes.
Tips for starters:
- Take as many pictures as you want
- Immediately see if the picture you just captured is what you wanted
- Upload the pictures and show to friends and family
- Edit the pictures — crop them, enhance them, toning them, etc.
— Pixel: Abbreviated form of “picture element”, pixel is the visual representation of data in a digital image or graphic
There are standard resolutions used in each medium. On computer screens, pictures are shown in 72ppi (pixels per inch), therefore the photos should be compressed to 72ppi to be uploaded on Web. Thus, printed newspaper uses 200ppi and glossy magazine uses 300ppi.
Ownership, Copyright and Fair Use
Photographs are easy to be shared digitally. They also can easily be infringed of copyrights. Basically, don’t steal. Images found on search engines such as Google or Yahoo may be protected by the fair use clause of the U.S. Copyright Law, but users must be aware that the search results are not limited in the U.S. Use Creative Commons to search images that are legally approved for the fair use.
Two Kinds of Digital Cameras
- Point-and-shoot: Compact cameras that are easy to use and more affordable. Most of them are equipped with lens and flash
- Digital SLR (DSLR): Professional-level cameras that are equipped with larger image sensors — up to 10 times larger than point-and-shoot cameras. Most of them can have lens and flash replaced. They are more expensive and more complex to use.
How to Use Digital Camera
- Camera modes: Usually the camera is equipped with a dial to select camera modes such as the following: portrait, sports, landscape, low-light or automatic mode.
- Zoom: Point-and-shoot cameras offer optical zoom and digital zoom and DSLR cameras use optical zoom. Digital zoom affects the image quality while the optical zoom does not.
- Flash: There are usually automatic, red-eye reduction and manual modes. Flash can also be adjusted for the angle of the light.
- View/delete: This function lets the photographer browse through the pictures that were captured and decide which to keep and which to not.
Lighting is the most important aspect in photography. There are three ways to provide lighting:
- With natural (or ambient) light only — guarantees the best image quality, especially in cloudy and partly sunny days.
- With flash only.
- In mix of natural light and flash.
Image by Illusive Photography via Flickr
To take better photos, practice the following:
- Hold the camera steady
- Fill the frame — try to fit the head of the subject to the top of the frame
- Focus on one thing — focus on the subject’s eyes to produce the sharpest portrait picture
- Get closer — don’t be afraid to move all around the space to catch the best angle for the photograph
- Go vertical — when the subject is vertically oriented, flip the frame to fit the subject
- Shoot action — capture the action at the shutter speed of 1/500th second.
Mug Shots
Avoid flash and strong sunlight. Use the flash as the last resort. Pick the right, neutral background. Position the subject away from the walls. Make sure there is no pole-like subject “growing” out of the person’s head.
Working with Digital Photographs
Store them well. Always remember to backup your pictures to prevent loss in case of computer failure, bad memory card, etc.
Manage them well. Categorize your photos and store them in separate folders. It will make the photos quickly accessible when you need them, without browsing through hundreds of pictures.
Edit them well. There are tons of options out there: iPhoto, Windows Photo Gallery, Piknik, Snipshot, Picasa, Flicker and Photoshop.
- To learn how to use Photoshop, visit www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing for guided assistance to edit photos.
There are a few simple steps to follow when publishing your photos:
- Never post original photos. Edit them for the better.
- Crop the photo to omit unnecessary parameters.
- Resize to fit your needs
- Compress the resolution to fit your needs
- Tone and color-correct
- Save a Web version — compress your photos to 72ppi and save them as separate files. Posting pictures in higher resolution will result in slow loading time of your Web page.
- Keep it simple — if all you need to do about your photo is to crop, use simpler applications such as Piknik. This will save time in editing.
Publish Your Photos Online
- Wrap text around photo
- Use intuitive alternate text. It will optimize your post for search engines, as well.
- Remember that it is only a link to a photo — storing images in image-hosting websites will make the process more efficient
- Use a screenshot and a link
Even with all the technological knowledge, however, creativity and fearlessness makes one a great photographer. And it takes a lot of practice.
