Th
inSPire
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It takes THREE
Light, composition and moment
Managing the unmanageable
The answer for what to do with all those digital files
Enforcing photo ethics
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
L I F E T O U C H
FALL 2007
N A T I O N A L
Y E A R B O O K M A G A Z I N E
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
VOL_AD_NEWSLETTER
9/17/07
11:36 AM
Page 1
Editor in chief
She began teaching photography with used film cameras. What
a difference a few decades make. JUDY BABB is the Educational
and Creative Guru for Lifetouch Publishing. She advised college
and high-school publications for more than 30 years. At every
level, Babb’s programs have found success as her students garnered top awards in state and national competitions. Book and
ad sales soared. Babb was Texas Journalism Teacher of the Year
and JEA’s Distinguished Yearbook Adviser. She has CSPA’s Gold
Key and NSPA’s Pioneer Award among others. She is co-author
of a journalism textbook and created Lifetouch’s innovative curriculum, The Program Works.
Editorial board
He’s been captured by many a photographer shaking a pica,
shaking a pole. H. L. HALL is executive director of the Tennessee
High School Press Association after having advised yearbook
and newspaper for 39 years. His last 26 years were at Kirkwood
High School in Kirkwood, Mo, where his staffs won every state
and national award. He is recipient of the Dow Jones Newspaper
Adviser of the Year Award, JEA’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year
Award, JEA’s Carl Towley Award, CSPA’s Gold Key Award, JEA’s
Teacher Inspiration Award and NSPA’s Pioneer Award. He is the
author of NSPA’s Yearbook Guidebook and two textbooks.
DEB LEE is an 18-year adviser at Hudson High School in Hudson,
Wis., where she teaches business and advises the yearbook.
Lee has served as president and vice president of the Chippewa
Valley Student Press Association and makes it her mission to
learn about creating a solid, interesting publication. Lee received
CVSPA Adviser of the Year Award. Lee’s staffs have won state and
national awards. Her staffs have won CSPA Gold Merit Awards
with Columbian Honors and NSPA All American Awards with
Marks of Distinction.
To compete against other, larger programs, TERRY NELSON’s
staffs emphasized great photography and won. Thirty years later,
they still do. Terry is a 31-year veteran of teaching journalism and
advising publications. Currently at Muncie Central High School in
Muncie, Ind, the Munsonian newspapers and Magician yearbooks
have been named NSPA All-Americans and Pacemakers and
CSPA’s Gold and Silver Crown recipients. Nelson was Dow Jones
National Journalism Teacher of the Year and was a member of the
USA All-Teacher, First Team in 2000. She has won CSPA’s Gold
Key and NSPA’s Pioneer Award. She has served on the boards of
JEA, CSPAA and the Student Press Law Center.
John Haley Scott teaches visual media at Thomas Downey
HS (Modesto, Calif.) and graphic design at Modesto Junior
College. He advises the Knights Herald newspaper, Shield
yearbook, and co-advises the interactive yearbook at Downey. He
is a graduate of the Military Photojournalism Program at Syracuse
University and has worked or taught in the photojournalism field
for 31 years. His students have won nine NSPA\NPPA Pictures of
the Year, two NSPA\Adobe Design of the Year awards, more than
30 CSPA Gold Circle awards, the Gold Crown for both newspaper
and yearbook, the Pacemaker for yearbook and the Pacemaker
for interactive yearbook.
Howard Spanogle, copy editor for Communication: Journalism Education Today, has been thinking high-school journalism
for four decades. He began advising in North Carolina; then
moved to Glenbard East (Lombard, Ill.) and Highland Park (Dallas,
Texas). In addition to awards for him and his students, his book
credentials include Teenagers Themselves Trilogy, three studentwritten books for a New York publisher. He is an experienced
judge, program coordinator, editor, including Lifetouch journalism
textbooks.
Bernadette Tucker has naturally poor vision, and a recent
single-car accident gave her permanent “floaties.” Bernadette
says it forces her to take a closer look at a lot of things in life,
and that’s actually an advantage. The advisorial eye is not
housed in the optic nerves. Take a closer look at Tucker’s way of
seeing things. She’s dealt with her fair share of student press law
and ethics issues while advising Pacemaker and Best of Show
newsmagazines at two California schools. Now at Rancho Cotate
High School in Rohnert Park, Calif., she has just finished her first
yearbook and will coach both publications.
Expect the
unexpected
Judy Babb
That’s what Inspire is all about
When Lifetouch set about to create its own magazine, the first question asked and answered was
what do we want to accomplish. Hence came the name Inspire.
We didn’t want to create another me-too publication that readers flipped through when finished
with one project and then plunged onto an ever-growing stack of papers. No, ours would be a
must-have and a must-keep and would be timed to help with the must-do’s an adviser faces on a
daily basis. We plan to do that with this start-back-to-school
s issue appropriately fixed on the part of
yearbooking that consumes us all the most: photography.
That brought us to our second question: Who should be involved in the inspiration? Reading
the bios to the left and the stories that follow this introduction shows our dedication to inspiration.
More than 150 years of advising combine to create a plethora of ideas, experiences (and we’ll all
admit good and bad) and challenges. Involvement in state and national scholastics provides the
group with literally thousands of other experts we can tap to help create the lifeblood of the publication.
Look to Inspire to get you to think of photography in its most essential elements—light,
composition and moment. And look to the expert to help you see those things clearly as John
Scott introduces digital asset management using Adobe Bridge. H.L. Hall will teach the essense
of composition while Terry Nelson provides the know-how on capturing the moment.
And there’s more. Bernadette Tucker will also provide that all-important look at photo ethics:
what can we do and not do.
And we’re planning to offer far more than the print media allows. We won’t be limited by page
numbers as we make downloadable forms and the means to engage your staffs to create the best
possible yearbook they are capable and desirous of producing.
Look for our five-minute lesson on color-balancing that will change the entire look of your yearbook. Simply go to yearbooks.lifetouch.com to find John Scott’s quick method to color correction.
But this issue and the ones that follow will offer you far more than the quick fix although we
need as many of those as we can find. It will also provide you with what we hope will inspire, then
engage and finally create the experience we all want our students to emerge from our classrooms
with. We will look to the lifeblood of great publications—the adviser. We will also address how to
get past adviser burnout and turnover, help you to create content-driven yearbooks as we provide
life essentials that make being a part of your staff a must-have for the best and the brightest, for the
most creative and the most needed. LT
Colophon
The design for this issue of Inspire is loosely based on Collection IX
from the Designers Cut in the Lifetouch Volumes Template Book. Desiring to show you how your own touches can make these solidly and
creatively designed sets of templates your own, a circle shape became
part of the design elements. Fonts used in the magazine are Flare Serif,
one of Lifetouch’s new font offerings. Avenir is used as the sans serif
for sidebars and captions. Times is used for subheads and body copy.
Inspire procESS
A smooth
workflow
guarantees
ease when
placing
photographs on
pages
controlling the
using a digital workflow
By JoHN Haley scoTT
At the turn of the century, my students
were making 6,000 to 7,000 scans
from color negatives each year in the
production of the yearbook. Remarkably
no image or negative was ever lost.
Yes. No image or negative was lost.
And there were eight different students
scanning and working the images
throughout the day.
How? It was easy. We developed a
system that was uniform, practical and
easy to understand. When we moved
to complete digital capture in 2001, we
adapted that process and continue to
refine it as software updates offer better
tools.
Today the workflow we use at Thomas
Downey High School is similar to those
spelled out in recent articles about Digital
Asset Management (DAM). I think it’s
cool that someone came up with a fancy
name for what we have been doing with
our files for nine years.
I love the chaos associated with the
creative process, but lost or misplaced
design assets easily angers me. I am also
lazy so I want to be able to quickly locate
anything — and I also want to know
info about the file without opening it. A
standardized file naming structure allows
all that and more.
Simply by reading the file name,
we know the content, date taken,
photographer, number of images in the
sequence and status of the file in our
workflow. Key metadata information is
also viewable without opening the file
when using Mac’s Spotlight or details
view in Windows Vista.
A typical file name in our workflow
or DAM system would look like this:
VB_071101_CH_001.JPG.
VB is the event (varsity volleyball);
071101 is the date taken (year, month,
day); CH is the photographer’s initials;
001 is the frame number; and JPG is
the file type (in our workflow jpg files
are ready for print — they have been
converted to CMYK, color corrected
and set to the correct resolution for
publication). If the file is black and white,
it is saved as a TIF. All native or unaltered
original files are saved as PSD or NEF
files depending on their capture method.
Any file that enters our workflow is
first uploaded to an archived location
in the “Untouchable Zone,” an area of
our file server where the original files
are stored. If the files are from a digital
camera, they are uploaded to a folder
that is labeled by event within the
photographer’s RAW folder.
Using Adobe’s Bridge software, the
uploaded files are first culled for duds
(empty frames, out of focus, or incorrect
exposures) and then renamed using the
standardized naming structure. General
caption information and keywords that
can be associated with all the files in this
collection are entered and saved using the
FILE INFO command in Bridge. Later
more specific information is added to
individual images.
Bridge records anything that is entered
into the fields within the FILE INFO
dialogue box for future use. Previous
entries appear when clicking on the
triangle tab to the right of each field.
Computers store this information locally,
and it is advisable for students to use the
same computer whenever possible to get
the most of this feature.
Once the general caption information
is entered, files are edited more critically.
Final selections are processed for page
placement using PhotoShop and saved as
JPGs in the spread folders. By following
this process, the original files are never
altered and can be located easily because
the file extension is the only part of the
file name that is changed in the workflow.
The secondary benefit to captioning in
Bridge comes into play within InDesign.
Any information entered in the FILE
INFO can be acquired from a PLACED
image using the LINK FILE INFO…
selection under the triangle tab of the
LINK palette. The same FILE INFO
window that appeared in PhotoShop will
open, and any information can be copied
from there and pasted onto the InDesign
page.
I recommend that students write a
complete caption, one that is fit for
use, in the publication’s style in the
DESCRIPTION area of the FILE INFO
during the editing process. If the photo
credits are included as the last line of
the caption, ALL the information about
an image can be put on the page in one
action.
At Thomas Downey, we use a
simpler process for images scanned
for advertising. A folder is created for
each advertiser, and the size of the ad is
included in the folder name. Knowing
the size of the ad allows page designers
to shuffle the ads by size before copying
them into the spread folders. Any ad
scan includes the advertiser’s name and
position number as it is associated to the
dummy design to guarantee the client’s
instructions are followed.
This workflow has served my students
well and has kept me relatively sane for
years. I don’t pretend to be an expert
at using the process. In fact, it is my
students who make everything work — I
simply strive to remove variables and
to enforce the routine, which is what
guarantees a smooth operation for each
design and for each deadline. LT
• Study staff training information sheet
on page 6. Screen shots of the digital
asset workflow illustrate the ease and the
efficiency of this process.
• Laminate copies to use in the yearbook
lab.
Inspire 5
L
cUll YoUr dUdS • Use a Single Star Rating in
Bridge to label empty frames, out of focus or grossly
exposed images. Then sort by ranking and delete.
This process saves space.
to
BAtch rEnAME • Use a standardized nam-
ing structure for all your digital files — and stick to
it. Make sure to include the event, date, photographer’s initials. After the files have been renamed, use
a Five Star Rating to edit images for publication. Then
sort by rating and copy them to the desired location
(spread folder) and prepare the files accordingly.
linkEd info • Click
on any image placed in an
InDesign document while
the LINKS palette is open,
and its name will appear
highlighted.
Click the highlight, select
LINKED FILE INFO... from
the Options Tab (the triangle in the circle). That
window will open.
cAption iMAgES • Enter complete caption in-
formation in Bridge using the FILE INFO... under the
FILE MENU. This information will stay in the file and
can be retrieved by a number of applications.
A general caption can be applied to a selected collection
of images by selecting them at
the same time and then opening the FILE INFO palette.
copY And pAStE • Once the LINKED FILE
INFORMATION window opens, highlight the caption
in the Description and paste into a text frame. Format
the caption accordingly and continue to work more
efficiently.
Light: Turn readers’ eyes
to the school canvas
Photographers cannot create
light in the world, but they can
control how and often when
the light shines on the world
they are photographing.
They can empower their
lenses to open new views
to yearbook readers.
By JoHN Haley scoTT
Photography is an art and a science.
And there is an inherent process for capture,
evaluation and output that fall neatly into three
categories: Light, Composition and Moment.
Photo instructors are quick to make the
distinction between photography and painting.
The common quip, “Dumb like a painter,” is
often used to demark the differences.
Painters can create their own light.
Photographers are limited by the physical
properties of light and by the electromechanical
sophistication of their capturing device: the
camera. The camera works only when there is
light. A painter’s brush has an unlimited palette.
The camera can capture only the light that is
available while the brush needs only painter’s
imagination.
To capture an image, the first hurdle in the
process is light. In these days of automatic
everything, the camera — or better yet the
photographer — makes a decision regarding
exposure. Either decision maker has to balance
shutter speed with aperture (lens openings or
f/stops) within a selected ISO (sensitivity to
light) to ensure a correct exposure.
Shutter speeds and apertures are the A and
B of the exposure equation because one has to
balance the other. Consider the possibilities.
1. Faster shutter speeds stop more action.
2. Large lens openings shorten focus.
3. Small lens openings increase depth of field
or lengthen focus.
Inspire 7
But a camera can stop all the action and
have everything in focus only in bright sunlight
or in a room that is equipped with multiple
flashes because the quantity of light is the ISO
part of the formula. Even with high ISOs the
amount of available light is the limiting factor.
Mastering exposure settings is essential
to making quality images. Libraries are filled
with books about the subject, and every wellwritten photo textbook contains chapters that
address exposure equivalents as they relate to
stopping action and depth of field. Advisers,
photographers, editors and designers need to
take advantage of helpful resources on their
way to mastering exposure settings.
Every image starts with a choice. In
the capture process, photographers have
to consider the lighting of the setting
and its limitations. If they want
everything in focus, a smaller lens
opening will require a slow shutter
speed. However, the slower
shutter speed will stop less
action. If the room is too dark
and they want to stop action,
the faster shutter speed will
require a larger lens opening
that in turn shortens focus
or depth of field. In most
cases, stopping action is the
primary consideration.
Light makes pictures.
Knowing its characteristics
is the key to making images
that are rich in hue, have a
full range of contrast and
truly capture the mood of a
moment. Images captured
at high noon have short,
harsh, unattractive shadows.
Eyes squint to hold back the
brightness, and the contrast is
sharp and unflattering. Images
captured in the hours after
sunrise and before sunset have
long, attractive shadows. Eyes open
to drink in the warm hues, and its
contrast is long-toned and sensual.
The light from the north is diffused
and even toned. Open shade provides rich,
subtle light that has even tones and pleasing
contrast. Window light, depending on the time
of day, will provide a diffused version of the
light outside. Cloudy, overcast days have light
that is flat, short toned, with limited contrast
and less vibrant hues.
Yearbook advisers recognize that great
images are no accident. And they need to train
photographers and all staff members to think
the same way. Remind them that accomplished
photographers make mental or physical notes
about the light of particular settings long before
an image is ever captured.
To make students true believers, share
tips from landmark professionals such as the
following:
• During a presentation at Syracuse University,
Hiro, a famous New York fashion
photographer, said, “I never stop looking
for pictures. I even wash my hair with baby
shampoo so I can keep my eyes open in the
shower.”
• French photographer Henri Cartier Bresson
coined the term, “The Decisive Moment,”
to describe the relationship of setting,
content and the moment of peak action in
which all the elements are in perfect order.
His technique is simple: Find the setting
and wait.
Repeat this lesson frequently — always
with enthusiasm. The wonderful part is that
every aspiring photographer, whether a novice
or an advanced photojournalist, can achieve
this goal.
Capturing images in a school setting is
relatively simple. Most rooms have similar
lighting, predictable interactions, dozens
of opportunities and ample subject matter.
However, photographers must takes note of
where the light is and when it is best for making
images.
HOW TO SHINE LIGHT
Say no to gray and yes to light and life
in yearbook photographs. Use these tested
techniques:
• Highlight exposures, always critical, to
ensure that there is information (data)
in the whites because detail is data
dependent.
• Standardize and strictly practice color
correction or adjustment.
• Learn how camera controls affect
exposure.
• Consider purchasing noise removal
utilities so noise is less annoying when
capturing action at ISOs above 800.
• Be aware of bright objects in the
background because cameras typically
expose for those objects and under
expose the foreground as a result.
• Experiment with flash equipment, and
learn how to use it to reinforce existing
light.
• Capture often, capture more than one
image and capture from a variety of
angles.
• Keep the camera between the light
source and the subject to ensure the
subject is lit.
Every school has a long hallway with
beautiful leading lines that become dramatic
when the light is right. There are at least a
dozen sports that have contests in the hours
before sunset when the subjects are lighted
from the side, at times rim light, with brilliant,
spectacular highlights.
Advisers want photographers and editors
to think about what they see daily. Skilled
teachers usually have more success if they
require students to create a visual opportunity
notebook or visual coverage map as the first
step toward being in the right place at the right
time.
Photographers must learn to scout their
surroundings. They should examine how things
look at different times of the day. Then they can
capitalize on when the light is right and develop
a plan for handling situations when conditions
are problematic.
In addition, advisers and editors need to
establish a visual vocabulary for discussing
light and how it affects the capture process as
well as how it plays in the evaluation of images
to be used in print. The power of color in an
image amplifies its ability to convey the mood
of an event or subject. But the wrong color,
especially on someone’s clothing or in the
background, can also destroy the mood and
hence make the photo less usable or powerful.
There are times in the design process
for using images with extreme contrast.
It is essential for photographers, editors,
designers and writers to know how their
use of images will impact the readers’
perceptions of the visual content. A subtle,
somber story about a student recovering
from a serious illness will not meet readers’
expectations if the subject’s picture is taken
under the harsh lighting of the noontime
sun.
As photographers think more frequently
about light and view the world around them
in terms of light, they will take giant leaps
toward producing a yearbook filled with
truly great images. While the images will
demonstrate the photographers’ mastery of
the light available and the editors’ decisions
about good shots and high standards, the big
winners will be yearbook readers as they
benefit from the light on their world. LT
Inspire photo composition:
it’s an art form
Anyone can learn basic skills that result in stellar photos
BY H. L. HALL
Runners and dancers need feet, but
not everyone needs an entire head or all
parts of their arms.
Even if they have entire heads,
ceiling lights, trees, poles or bushes do
not need to grow from them.
When it comes to composing subjects
in a photograph, photographers normally
should get in close, but sometimes
they can get too close. Cross country
runners generally need both feet in the
picture. The same is true for dancers.
Both runners and dancers look strange
moving on stubs. That’s true of anyone
in a photo. If it’s impossible to crop a
photograph to leave in the feet, then it’s
best to crop at the waists of subjects
rather than showing them standing on
stubs.
At the same time, it’s not always
necessary to leave in the top of
COMPOSITION RULES
Ruthless cropping, framing,
leading lines, rule of thirds
and varying the camera
angle make these simple
photos shine. And, of
course, the rule of KISS
— keep it simple stupid —
keeps each from becoming
cluttered, having a simple
subject and does away
with distractions. Use these
principles and your photos
will have the excitement
you want them to have.
someone’s head or both ears. Ruthless
or tight cropping can actually make a
photo stronger. A good guideline is to
crop within two picas of the center of
interest unless the subject is moving
and the viewer needs to see the area the
subject is moving into.
Photographers should also be aware
of unsightly mergers. Sometimes it’s
best if photographers stand on a chair
or table or ladder to shoot down or to
avoid the illusion that ceiling lights are
growing out of people’s heads.
In addition, photographers also need
to be aware of background mergers
when composing a photo. Unsightly
mergers create clutter that detracts from
the center of attention.
Although it is possible to get too
close, photographers will probably get
better pictures when they get close.
“If your photographs aren’t good
enough, you’re not close enough,” said
Robert Capa, a former photographer for
“Life” magazine. Capa became known
for shooting war photographs during
World War II. Capa landed on Omaha
Beach June 6, 1944 (D-Day) with
American soldiers.
In his book, “Slightly Out of
Focus,” Capa describes his “up-close”
experience.
“The water was cold,” Capa said,
“and the beach was still more than 100
yards away. The bullets tore holes in
the water around me, and I made for
the nearest steel obstacle. A soldier got
there at the same time, and for a few
minutes we shared its cover. He took
the waterproofing off his rifle and began
to shoot without much aiming at the
smoke-hidden beach. The sound of his
rifle gave him enough courage to move
forward, and he left the obstacle to me.
It was a foot larger now, and I felt safe
enough to take pictures of the other guys
hiding just like I was.”
Capa got in close to the action, and
that’s what all photographers need to
do. Don’t stand on your team’s sideline
when shooting football pictures if the
action is on the other side of the field.
Zoom lenses help, but you can’t get that
up-close feeling without being up close.
In 1954, “Life” sent Capa to the
Indochina front to take more war
pictures. Again, he got in close to the
action, but this time he was a little too
close. American troops found his body.
He was still holding his camera.
Because Capa believed in getting
in close, he took his camera farther into
the fighting zone than any photographer
before him. He had a knack for
recognizing the peak of action, and he
realized the importance of getting close.
‘If your photographs
aren’t good enough,
you’re not close
enough.’
— Robert Capa
All photographers, when composing
a photograph, need to keep Capa’s words
in mind.
Don’t shoot a sea of faces in a crowd
at a sporting event. Get in close on two
or three fans who are cheering wildly.
Don’t shoot the entire band marching
onto the field. Get in close on two or
three band members with great facial
expressions that show the physical
exertion needed for the performance.
Don’t shoot the entire a cappella
chorus singing at a concert. Get in close
and show two or three members who are
singing with gusto.
Don’t show all the basketball players
lined up along the free throw line. Get in
close and capture the expression on the
shooter’s face.
Photographers need to remember
to play on the viewer’s emotions when
composing a photograph. Be sure each
photograph is an attention-grabber that
delivers a message. The best photograph
does not need a caption. The viewer
should be able to tell what’s happening
simply by looking at the picture.
Getting in close, capturing great
facial expressions and good cropping
are keys to strong photo composition.
There are, however, other techniques
photographers may use to strengthen
their pictures even more.
• rule of Thirds
In the viewfinder, mentally divide
the image into three vertical and three
horizontal areas, like tic-tac-toe. Place
the center of interest at one of the four
divisional points of the board. By using
the rule of thirds, the main subject of
the photo is off-center and balances
the weight with other objects. This is
generally more effective than placing
the main center of interest directly in the
middle of the photograph.
• angle
Don’t always shoot straight on.
Sometimes the best angles come from
above or below the center of interest. If
your basketball gym has a balcony area,
try shooting down on the action. Lie
on the floor to shoot a wrestling meet.
As already mentioned, to keep ceiling
lights from protruding out of people’s
heads, stand on a chair or a table in a
classroom. Also think of moving to the
side rather than shooting straight on at
people. Think of the image as you would
a clock. If the subject is at straight-up
noon, move to 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. to shoot
to avoid flat one-dimensional photos.
“The best lens God ever gave you was
your own two feet,” Douglas Kirkland,
famed Look photographer, said.
• Framing
To frame a photograph, find some
object in the foreground that leads the
viewer into the picture. For example,
a doorway might frame a science lab
or some other interesting classroom
activity. Frames don’t have to form four
sides nor do they have to be rectangular.
Shooting through a fork of a tree or under
the extended arm of someone can also
be frames. The reality is framing exists
almost everywhere — a fan standing on
the sidelines to a teacher standing over a
student at a desk and framing can usually
improve a picture. The frame does not
have to be focused, as the frame should
not be a distraction to the viewer.
• leading lines
Leading lines can help guide the
viewer to the center of interest. For
example, a fence might lead the viewer
to a horseback rider, or one line of the
marching band might guide the viewer
to the drum majorette. Use of leading
lines can add impact to the center of
interest.
• kIss—keep It simple stupid
As already mentioned, keep the
backgrounds uncluttered and create a
strong center of interest by keeping the
subject(s) in focus. If there is something
distracting in the background, change
your position. Sometimes, you can
simply change the way you’re holding the
camera. It’s logical to hold it horizontal,
but move it vertically, and you’ll capture
a totally different image. The reality is
when you fill the frame, more photos
will be better taken vertically than
horizontally. There is no one “right
way” to compose a photograph. Simply
be sure you are presenting the message
you are trying to deliver. If you have the
correct lighting, the correct focus and
the correct cropping, you should have an
effective photo.
Compose pictures that get attention
and deliver your message.
In general, good pictures result from
careful attention to the basic elements of
composition, together with appropriate
lighting and an interesting subject. There
is, however, no “right” way to take a
picture. Three photographers recording
the same scene may create equally
appealing photographs with entirely
different composition.
As a photographer, if you can truly
say the photograph you took is delivering
the message you wanted to present, then
you have succeeded. Chances are you
will deliver that message best when you
get in close. LT
Inspire 11
moment: a split second captures all
1
PANNING
Using a slow shutter speed and
moving the camera with the
action stops the movement of
the running back while his faster
moving blockers are blurred. This
kind of photograph comes from
planning and multiple attempts
to get just the right shot.
2
Occasionally it is luck,
but great photography comes
from following a consistent plan
and waiting for something to happen
1
2
HIP HIP HOORAY
Celebratory moments like this can be
captured only by thinking ahead, waiting
and being ready. This photographer
obviously thought ahead and moved
into position as the senior team
realized they had locked up the all-class
competition.
GREEN SLIMED
Finding out the plan and then following
the action allowed this photographer to
get the moment when the queen was
crowned.
By Terry Nelson
Seventeen-year-old Jordin Sparks had hers
at the season finale of American Idol.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning had his
in Super Bowl XLI.
Former vice president Al Gore’s may have
been at this year’s Academy Awards.
And my mother’s most certainly had to be
the birth of me.
And you can have it too.
This Magic Moment.
A fraction of a second in time, frozen for
media audiences to witness, respond to and
remember.
Throughout history, photographic moments
have brought back images and remembrances
of noteworthy events.
• Little John-John Kennedy solemnly salutes
the flag-draped casket of his father and
U.S. President as the funeral parade winds
through the streets of Washington, D.C. in
1963.
• A little girl, Kim Phuc, runs naked down
a street in South Vietnam as she flees a
Napalm attack that burns her skin, her eyes
and her limbs in 1972.
• The weary fire department captain carries
an infant from the wreckage of a federal
government building in the Oklahoma City
Bombing in 1995.
• The second plane hits the New York City
World Trade Center in an unbelievable
image that is published around the world on
Sept. 11, 2001.
A single photograph.
One-eighth of a second in time can equal a
lifelong memory.
The reaction of your injured starting
basketball player on the bench at the moment
he realizes the team has defeated their biggest
rival for the sectional title.
The laughter that erupts when two longtime friends share a table and a tale at lunch.
The clenched raised fist of victory
brought swiftly down into the body when an
academic team member nails the answer in the
Renaissance category at the state meet.
One moment in time.
Preserved in a book that is never going to be thrown
away — your yearbook.
Taking photographs for student publications is never
an easy task. Hundreds of activities and events occur
each month for the school’s 25 athletic teams, numerous
music, art and performance groups, academic and public
speaking competitions, play productions — and that’s
merely AFTER school. During school, group projects,
dissection labs, term paper research, guest speakers and
field trips gobble up a day of picture-worthy events for
the curious, persistent photojournalist who carries her
camera with her as a third appendage waiting for the
right moment when she sees the reaction, the movement,
the surprise, the stolen looks.
Becoming an accomplished student photojournalist
takes more than an expensive camera and some blind
luck, however.
Catching the right moment takes comprehensive
study and planning. So let’s get down to business. I see
it as a six-pronged attack, which you can repeatedly
emphasize for your students.
strategy 1: know your subject.
Photojournalists who are looking for a single picture
to tell the story must first know about the event before
they lift their cameras. How? By looking at past issues
of the school and local newspaper — what images have
already been published? By taking a look at last year’s
yearbook and the one before that. How have events such
as Homecoming or football or cross country or Key
Club been covered in the past?
Find out who the resources are. Talk to the coach,
the sponsor, the student float designer, the good friend.
Chances are they will help you identify all sorts of
moments when a great storytelling picture might be
taken. A Texas adviser tells the story of a girl who was
waiting for the announcement of Homecoming Queen.
Obviously any girl would be thrilled to be awarded this
title. But one particular girl is the picture — whether she
wins or loses. Each of her five older sisters was named
Homecoming Queen. For this youngest girl, not being
named queen would be devastating. What a wonderful
story. Now all the photographer has to do is focus on
this candidate and record her reaction: good or bad.
strategy 2: Work with others.
Photographers should work on “previsualization”
before covering an assigned event. The technique
involves a group of students collaborating on potential
story-telling moments. The brainstorming can help
avoid track spreads that look the same: the hurdler from
the side clearing the bars or the runners crossing the
finish line.
Before photographers go out to shoot the same old
worn-out angles and moments, they should take a few
minutes to brainstorm with the assigning sports editor
or reporters for possible moments or fresh angles from
which they can photograph. How about, at practice,
lying on the ground as pole-vaulters travel over them?
How about panning the camera with the hurdler to blur
out the background and freeze the action of the athlete?
What about shooting a race at an angle that includes the
timekeeper who watches the line as the winner crosses
it? What about a photograph from behind the last runner
in the race?
All photographers need help to imagine additional
scenarios and angles. They need to brainstorm and
plan for shots before the action happens. One of the
best photographs ever taken by a staff member of the
play did not happen on stage but behind stage right
before a student was to make her entrance, when she
stepped on the hem of a long dress and ripped it away
from a waistband. The photograph was of six costume
girls gathered around this actor, frantically fanning
herself while they made the quick repairs to reattach
her skirt moments before her entrance. And how about
the photograph of the drama students snowmobiling
into school and carting along a chainsaw one Saturday
afternoon to build the set. That, too, is part of the story
of producing a play.
strategy 3: Be familiar with your equipment.
News-breaking moments are not going to wait. That
means photographers must be sure their battery works,
their card has space and the camera release button is
not on lock. Although most digital cameras are fairly
fool proof, the serious photojournalist has a much better
chance of getting a compelling shot if she knows how
to set certain depths of field that highlight the center of
interest or is able to freeze or blur action for effect. If
photographers do not have a camera manual for their
equipment, they can download a booklet or visit their
local camera shop. Of course, they have to read it.
Another strategy would be to shadow a professional
Lifetouch photographer and pick up diverse tips from
the pro.
strategy 4: Choose an interesting subject.
A photographer has an entire game to cover, but he
needs one great shot. Sure, he could shoot continuous
frames, then edit all night long. But a better approach
might be to watch the game, find the most expressive
participants or the ones who are the muddiest, most
accident prone or interactive. Check out the crowd. Are
there boys with body paint and wigs. Are there girls
wrapped in blankets and huddled under umbrellas? Look
at the colors. Because more yearbooks are publishing
all-color yearbooks, color becomes an important
component of composition. Schools often have 500 to
2,000 or more students to photograph. Photographers
must choose an interesting looking subject — either for
dress and color or for stance and mannerisms.
strategy 5: Move in close.
I know, I know, photographers may have a little
zoom. Big whoop. But if they hang around long enough
so that the subjects are no longer grinning for the
camera, posing for a yearbook “candid” or watching
where the lens is pointed instead of the action on the
field, eventually the subjects are going to get bored and
turn their attention to the game. Now photographers
can take the picture from a fairly close range as they fill
the frame with a great facial expression or compelling
reaction. The closer they get, the less dead space they
need to edit out and the bigger the enlargement without
pixelation they can achieve for their yearbook design.
Edit off those silly posed shots or better yet, shoot away
without the card. Eventually the jokers will tire of posing
and return to being real — even with the photographer
in close range.
strategy 6: Wait for something to happen.
How appealing are yearbook photographs of a
student sitting at a desk to look at a book? Ugh. How
inviting are photographs of a basketball armpit shot?
P.U. Of a girl in the hallway talking to friends, looking
at the camera? Blah. No book needs 300 pictures of
math class — simply the one when a student answers
the question incorrectly, smacks his face with his hand,
all embarrassed, while his classmates giggle at the
situation. Or the editor needs the photo of a student who
needed a passing grade to earn credit for the class. Then,
when the tests are returned, she realizes that her scores
are high enough to give her that D she needed.
Her expression, while not broad, will surely show
her relief. What about that basketball coach who takes
his 2-year-old toddler up the ladder with him to cut the
net at sectionals? Or the students on the float who get
pelted with candy the crowd throws? The moments are
there. Alert photographers look and wait for them.
One additional note: The reaction to the event is
often the best story-telling moment to photograph. I’m
not saying don’t record the game, but more often than
not the reaction to the score of a close game is a better
news moment than the action of the game itself. How
many out-of-focus tackle shots do editors really need
in the yearbook?
Although high-school photographers are all too
young to remember the musical group, Jay and the
Americans, I can’t help but hum the opening lyrics of
their songs, aptly titled, “This Magic Moment.” “... so
different and so new, was like any other...”
For editors and photographers, the lyrics translate to
pragmatic advice:
Help your yearbook sing out the moments of an
incredible school year, jam-packed with all sorts of
characters, situations and surprises in the pages of the
2008 edition. Be part of the photo team that sears the
images of a year at your school into the memories of
a lifetime.
Being informed, knowledgeable, creative
photojournalists who know their cameras, you become
a valuable addition to this year’s staff.
Grab the moment.
Make it yours.
Make it ours. LT
Inspire 13
Ethics: It’s a slippery slope
It’s so easy. It’s so
hard. Photoshop lets
you do it. Can it be
wrong? Of course,
the answer is ‘yes’
and ‘no.’ Create a
cut-out object. No
problem. Cut out
something you don’t
like in the
background and
that’s another story.
You’ve changed
reality.
By Bernadette R. Tucker
If I am caught in a lie to the whole world, I hope I
handle it as Brian Walski did.
While covering the Iraq War in 2003, he captured
a series of images of U.S. forces with Basra locals. He
wanted to show the face of a soldier communicating
with an Iraqi holding a child, but the only way to do
that was to create a composite.
He took complete responsibility for what he did,
acknowledging the truth when asked by his editor. He
did not make excuses to interviewers even though his
colleagues and competitors did. They pointed out that
he made the image at the end of a 14-hour workday,
when he had not eaten or slept in 36 hours of filthy,
dangerous field coverage.
The Los Angeles Times fired him. Now, he runs his
own freelance business in Denver, a far different life
from his award-winning days covering national and
international events.
He did not get the second chance that Patrick
Schneider did.
Another audacious photojournalist, Schneider
covered all sorts of local fires, disasters and other
events for the Charlotte Observer. He won top prizes
every year in regional contests and was a contributor
to a Pulitzer Prize-winning package on Hurricane
Katrina.
But he used Photoshop to alter the color and
background of some of his images in such a way that
his editors had to issue an apology to readers and to
suspend him for three days in August 2003. Officials
at the North Carolina Press Photographers Association
quickly rescinded three of his awards because his
contest entries had been changed as well.
Shortly thereafter he told a crowd at the Women in
Photography conference in Charlotte that he had gone
“too far” in burning some of the photos. At the time, he
was admired for exhibiting the raw images alongside
the adjusted, published ones and for encouraging
discussions about the ethics of using software to
makes changes in spot news photos.
But then he did it again in 2006. He altered the
colors in an image of firefighters. It was eerily similar
to one of the controversial photos from 2003. After
being fired, he is now running his own photographic
business in Charlotte.
Why couldn’t he stop himself?
It is a slippery slope. Instead of enhancing contrast
and brightness, Schneider moved beyond simple color
corrections into creating the image he desired rather
than honoring the one he had captured on his camera.
Even Walski, who never publicly violated ethics
standards again after his dismissal from the LA Times,
said that he had “tweaked” photos by eliminating
distracting elements such as a telephone pole before
the Iraq War incident.
If professional photojournalists are tempted by the
power of the software, it is no wonder that our students
are, too. That is why advisers have to help them set
— and make them adhere to — ethical standards such
as the ones followed by editors of the Times and the
Observer.
Be clear about the intended use of the photograph.
It is appropriate for an Adobe Photoshop-friendly
A PHOTOSHOP NO-NO
One can’t help but prefer the
image without the girl with the
cell phone, but she’s there and
she should stay there. Many
professional photographers
have lost jobs and credibility by
removing something — or by
adding something to a photo
that wasn’t originally there. The
solution: “Just don’t do it.”
BACKGROUND
from professional organizations
http://www.poynter.org/resource/28082/LATimes.pdf
pdf of the front page with Walski’s
image on it
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/photo/essays/vanRiper/030409.
htm
all three of Walski’s images in one
article, without flash process
http://www.poynter.org/content/resource_popup_view.asp?id=20120
http://www.zonezero.com/editorial/octubre03/october.html
side-by-side comparisons of
Schneider’s rescinded award winners
from 2003
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002914629
altered image of Schneider’s from 2006
http://www.newsdesigner.com/archives/002578.php
shows page on which Schneider’s 2006
photo appeared
You may also wish to check additional
sources:
http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html
Complete guidelines of the National
Press Photographers Association
• New York Times Photo Policy
• Charlotte Observer Photo Correction/Editing Guidelines
Both as posted on www.poynter.org by
Terry Irby on Sept. 5, 2003
staffer to go hog wild on images designed as art.
But it must be absolutely clear that those are photo
illustrations. Those are common, and perfectly
acceptable, on covers, divider pages, backgrounds
and on special feature coverage. Students can create
collages or manipulate an image using layers, filters and
color alterations of any kind in those circumstances.
However, images of specific moments in time —
typically in classrooms or at sporting events — are
called spot news photos. Those may not be created
through computer manipulation. Photographers
capture them by being in the right place, at the right
time, with the right equipment.
It is misleading to “enhance” a varsity football
photo by erasing someone’s distracting hand. If the
girls junior varsity basketball team action shot does
not include the ball, it is not appropriate to swipe
one from another image and put it into the one that is
going on the page. It does not matter how ridiculous
the homecoming queen’s face is in the photo of the
big announcement. It is not ethical to adjust her hair,
move the crown just a bit or replace her expression
with one from a different shot in the series.
Be conscientious about how the photos are
acquired.
Basically, if your students did not snap the shutter
button or sketch the image, you do not own the image
and you do not have the right to use it. No matter how
easy it is to scan a magazine or book or to surf the
Internet for any image — whether it is clip art or a
photograph — it is illegal to copy and paste those into
page designs. Even if a copyright mark is not visible
on the website, those are owned by someone else. You
must obtain written permission to use them. Even
an e-mailed release form from the copyright owner
would suffice.
Besides being illegal, that approach is lazy.
There are other ways to come up with the necessary
equivalent:
1. Take the photo. Honestly, this is the best choice. If
the page focuses on favorite bands, take a photo of
a stack of CDs. When the story on fan obsession
requires something that shows Avril Lavigne,
create a portrait of the student surrounded by
memorabilia of the singer.
2. Buy them. Purchase a CD of stock images, pay for
individual photos from Getty or Associated Press
or subscribe to an archival service such as MCT
Campus, which has thousands of current news and
pop culture event images.
3. Include the Lifetouch mini-mag, A Year in the Life,
in the yearbook. It will feature the celebrities,
fashion and key news events from the year.
As advisers, we must be mindful of why we are
teaching.
It is not our job simply to help our students publish
the book. That is merely the end result of what we
do. The process we go through in developing that
publication is far more important. Our priority should
be teaching our students the legal, ethical way to
produce it. And make no mistake, that part is truly
up to you. Without you, they do not understand
why taking someone’s photo off MySpace to use as
a candid is incorrect. In their private lives, they do
such things all the time for their own amusement.
They need you to educate them about how to make
decisions about when something is legal or ethical.
Be proactive about potential problems.
After you teach relevant cases and laws, you
should review your editorial policy and code of ethics
with your staff. If your publication does not have
one, that should also be at the top of your agenda this
year. You do not have to write them from scratch.
The Journalism Education Association Student Press
Rights Commission, at jeapressrights.org, offers
policy and ethics code models as well as a variety
of valuable teaching materials. Lifetouch’s own The
Program Works goes through ethics and responsibility
and helps you create a policy that would ensure that
students know what they can and cannot do.
It is vitally important that you and your staff
decide what you will or won’t do before you get close
to deadline. If you know the law and have the policies
in place that ensure thoughtful, ethical decisionmaking, then your staff will be more likely to make
the right choices.
The consequence of going through a copyright
infringement lawsuit is not worth the stolen image. The
integrity you lose with yourself, with your students,
with your colleagues and with the community is not
worth the lie of a manipulated news photo. It is our
job to steer them away from regretful photographic
choices. LT
THE GENTLE TOUCH
The original photo on the left leaves
much to be desired. It is dull and lifeless even though compositionally, it is
a good photo. However, the color and
darkness take away from it. Color balance and a small amount of dodging on
the faces in the foreground make the
photo pop. Further, it’s what the human
eye would have seen. It does not try to
deceive the reader.
Inspire 15
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