To help you organize the processing and editing of photographs, here are sample timelines for traditional and digital photography that can be followed by a yearbook photography staff. No matter what your staff size, I believe it is imperative that photographers edit their own negatives. This builds their own initiative and ownership of their work. I used this approach and found that shooters appreciated being able to help usher their images into print. Look at this from another perspective — should an editor select which quotes a writer must use in his story?

Traditional
PHOTOGRAPHERS

• after developing film and placing film in storage sleeves, do initial edit of negatives using sharpie or stick-on dots
• show edit to photo editors who verify assignment met; critique as needed; negs filed

PHOTO EDITOR

• with layout design in hand, edits negs for printed page
• reviews and selects with photographers who will be scanning or printing for the layout
• once final scans are in appropriate deadline folder on the computer, will place them on the layout; if staff is printing will check prints for quality and make sure they fit the layout
• sees that scans are backed up on zip or CD and negs are filed

Digital
PHOTOGRAPHERS

• plug cameras into IMACs and download assignments
• do initial edit, picking out 4-5 top images
• put raw selects into personal folder on network server

PHOTO EDITOR

• accesses photographers’ folders on network
• reviews, selects and makes appropriate editing decisions
• saves images in necessary folders for later digital toning, moving image toward being placed on page layout
• at least once a month burns CDs of all images for archives or further review
• after backing up drags image files off the computers

Article by Bill Hankins

Bill Hankins, a freelance photographer, taught high school journalism and photojournalism for nearly 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Journalism Education Association, and in October 2008, he was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame, one of only a few educators to receive the honor.

Bill has written 29 article(s) for the Idea File.