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History Feature
Writing |
Take your best shot Good photographs are worth a million words. Bad ones aren't worth much. In television, good pictures enhance any story and improve chances for broadcast. So, where possible, provide pictures with your press release, indicating on the release that there is a photo to accompany the story. Many times, a good photo with an extended caption will be used when a story would not have been. Submit both at the same time to avoid confusion and allow the editor to judge the story and picture as a package. A color print is sufficient, most of the time. Black and white film is harder to take, takes longer and is more expensive to process. Taking good photographs requires real skill. Photojournalism, the art of telling a story in pictures, requires even more. Clear focus, good light and framing to direct attention to the persons or activity you are emphasizing in your news release are essential. With people, concentrate on faces and upper body. Full-length shots are a waste and leave the faces too small to mean much when reproduced. Putting someone in the foreground of a building gives scale to the structure; that person can also be pointing out the architectural features your press release is describing. "Grip and grins" Avoid poses with one person shaking hands with another or receiving a check! Don't line everyone up staring at the camera, but try for a more natural pose-even if you have several people stand talking to one another, and all they are really doing is counting while you click away. Exercise some imagination, such as showing the outgoing rector introducing the newcomer to the pulpit or a parishioner. If the church bazaar is offering a handmade quilt, photograph someone sewing on it. Focus on one or more children for Sunday School photos. Several people in a shot is better than 10 or 20. Film is cheap Shoot lots of pictures because people get more relaxed as the photo session moves on. Your prints should have a glossy finish. A matte finish gives the photo an out-of-focus look when reproduced. Photos gain definition when reduced and lose it in enlargement. If you have a choice, send in a larger print-the paper can reduce it to fit their layout. Don't expect to have your photo returned unless it is valuable (such as an archive photo) and then make prior arrangements to get it returned. Provide a full caption with names for each photo you submit. Tape or paste the photo to a sheet of paper and put the caption on the portion that folds down. This way, the photo and caption can be seen together. Type it out so the names will be spelled correctly. Identify everyone and tell what they are doing, from left to right and front to back order (when necessary). Explain where, when and why they are together, what they are doing or hope to do. This is essential even though it may be a repeat of information in the press release. Include the photographer's name for a possible credit line.
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