Photographs

Photos help tell the story, while adding gray tones or color to the page. If the story is about a person, the reader will appreciate a picture.

Except for our travel pages, the photographs in the 1997 Freestone, were all head shots. Which was fine given the subject matter and available space, but we could have made better choices about where the photos were shot.

They were all taken as "mug shots." (Put 'em up against the wall, point the camera, and shoot the picture.) An outdoor background is always better than a wall, but sometimes rushed schedules don't allow for more.

Roger C. Parker's Looking Good in Print is one of the more well-known desktop publishing books from which he offers the following advice.

If you use more than one photo on a page, make one dominant and place it in a prominent spot on the page.
Decide which photo best captures the gist of the story.
Good photos have an emotional impact on the reader.
Crop mug shots closely to keep the subject's face the main focus.
Improve the brightness and contrast of the photograph with image-enhancement software such as Adobe Photoshop.

You'll have to scan your photographs before you can place them as graphics in your publication. These digital images must also be given to your service bureau or printing service. In the world of printing and design, photos are often referred to as halftones. We discuss scanning and halftones in Going to Print.

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Photographs