Academic photography is a unique challenge. Unlike sports photography, which seeks to capture an awesome moment, classroom photography is about creating the awesome moment through composition. A budding photographer needs to learn to slow down and see. But how?… EDFAT.
Student photographers still need to capture great moments even when they do not have a staff camera in their possession.
Photographers who consistently capture good, storytelling images for the yearbook do so in part because, like great journalistic writers, they rely on the strategies of great reporting.
Perhaps the most common reason to crop a photo is to get it to fit a layout. This is fine if the photo has some areas that can be removed without ruining it. However, when cropping to fit lessens the visual effectiveness of a good photo, it is time to change the layout or select another image.
Getting caught up in sports action is fine for fans, but editors need to look beyond the contact sheet frames showing action on the field. When the game-winning play fails to score or a key player is out of a big game, it is the easily overlooked sideline image that often tells the story best.
A photo can tell several stories, depending on how it is cropped. Leaving this photo full-frame shows the three runners who are leading the pack of bunched-up runners farther back.
Lesson ideas using photo websites that teach students how to judge effective images and write their reactions.
Photo web sites that provide good examples, inspiration, great discussions, and information on jobs and ethics.
The article in the spring 2009 issue of Idea File magazine, “Photo ethics – a blurry line,” had interviews from four yearbook advisers with differing views on photo ethics. As technology continues to evolve, the question of what is right and wrong regarding digital imagery is always being asked. So ask yourself, ethically, what would you do in these circumstances?
In the past year, a photographer in North Carolina was disqualified from a prestigious competition and had to return his awards because it was found that he had over-darkened the background of his winning images. He also was suspended from his newspaper without pay. Professional publications are taking the misuse of Photoshop very seriously and so should everyone in scholastic publications.
