Part 29 (1/2)

CHAPTER XI

PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER ILlustRATIONS

VALUE OF ILlustRATIONS The perfecting of photo-engraving processes forillustrations has been one of the azines and of ood pictures have contributed largely to their success With the advent of the half-tone process a generation ago, and with the ravure process to periodical publications, comparatively cheap and rapid azines have made extensive use of both these processes

The chief value of illustrations for special articles lies in the fact that they present graphically ould require hundreds of words to describe Ideas expressed in pictures can be grasped much more readily than ideas expressed in words As an aid to rapid reading illustrations are unexcelled In fact, so effective are pictures as a azines and Sunday newspapers are given over to them exclusively

Illustrations constitute a particularly valuable adjunct to special articles Good reproductions of photographs printed in connection with the articles assist readers to visualize and to understand what a writer is undertaking to explain So fully do editors realize the great attractiveness of illustrations, that they will buy articles accoraphs more readily than they will those without illustrations Excellent photographs will sometimes sell mediocre articles, and ood illustrations In preparing his special feature stories, a writer will do well to consider carefully the nuive his work the strongest possible appeal

SECURING PHOTOGRAPHS Inexperienced writers are often at a loss to kno to secure good photographs Professional photographers will, as a rule, produce the best results, but amateur writers often hesitate to incur the expense involved, especially when they feel uncertain about selling their articles If prints can be obtained froraphers have taken for other purposes, the cost is so small that a writer can afford to risk the expenditure Money spent for good photographs is usually money well spent

Every writer of special articles should become adept in the use of a camera With a little study and practice, any one can take photographs that will reproduce well for illustrations One advantage to a writer of operating his own camera is that he can take pictures on the spur of the moment when he happens to see just what he needs Unconventional pictures caught at the right instant often es for developing filements are now so reasonable that a writer need not master these technicalities in order to use a camera of his own If he has time and interest, however, heand printing his own pictures

Satisfactory pictures can be obtained with alrade lens and shutter is the best for all kinds of work A pocket camera so equipped is very convenient If a writer can afford to er initial investment, he will do well to buy a caht and bulk, as co the picture full size, right side up, on the top of the camera, until the very moment that the button is pressed These reflex cameras are equipped with the fastest types of lens and shutter, and thus are particularly well adapted to poorly lighted and rapidlyobjects

A tripod should be used whenever possible A hastily taken snap shot often proves unsatisfactory, whereas, if the caer exposure had been given, a good negative would doubtless have resulted

REQUIREMENTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS All photographs intended for reproduction by the half-tone or the rotogravure process should conform to certain requireraphic prints to be used for illustrations is 5 x 7 inches, but two ser sizes such as 6 x 8 and 8 x 10, are also acceptable Professional photographers generally atives for illustrations in the sizes, 5 x 7, 6 x 8, and 8 x 10 If a writer uses a pocket ca pictures satives enlarged to one of the above standard sizes

Second: Photographic prints for illustrations should have a glossy surface; that is, they should be what is known as ”gloss prints” Prints on rough paper seldom reproduce satisfactorily; they usually result in ”muddy” illustrations Prints may be mounted or une, but are

Third: Objects in the photograph should be clear and well defined; this requires a sharp negative For newspaper illustrations it is desirable to have prints with a stronger contrast between the dark and the light parts of the picture than is necessary for the finer half-tones and rotogravures used in raphs must have life and action Pictures of inanimate objects in which neither persons nor anie reader It is necessary, therefore, to have at least one person in every photograph Informal, unconventional pictures in which the subjects seeht” unawares, are far better than those that appear to have been posed Good snap-shots of persons in characteristic surroundings are always preferable to cabinet photographs ”Action pictures” are what all editors and all readers want

Fifth: Pictures must ”tell the story”; that is, they should illustrate the phase of the subject that they are designed to raph has illustrative value it fails to accomplish the purpose for which it is intended

CAPTIONS FOR ILlustRATIONS On the back of a photograph intended for reproduction the author should write or type a brief explanation of what it represents If he is skillful in phrasing this explanation, or ”caption,” as it is called, the editor will probably use all or part of it just as it stands If his caption is unsatisfactory, the editor will have to write one based on the writer's explanation A clever caption adds much to the attractiveness of an illustration

A caption should not be a raph, should have life and action It either should contain a verb of action or should imply one In this and other respects, it is not unlike the newspaper headline Instead, for exae in Alaska,” a photograph was given the caption, ”Digs Out a Fortune Daily” A picture of a young wo chickens in a backyard poultry run that accompanied an article entitled ”Did You Ever Think of a Meat Garden?” was given the caption ”Fresh Eggs and Chicken Dinners Reward Her Labor” To illustrate an article on the danger of the pet cat as a carrier of disease ger with a cat was used with the caption, ”How Epidemics Start” A portrait of a househo uses a nuend, ”She is Reducing Housekeeping to a Science” ”A Sraph of a chi out smoke, which was used to illustrate an article on how to save coal

Longer captions describing in detail the subject illustrated by the photograph, are not unco used, there is a growing tendency to place a short statement, or ”overline,” above the illustration and to add to the amount of descriptive matter in the caption below it This is doubtless due to two causes: the increasing use of illustrations unaccompanied by any text except the caption, and the effort to attract the casual reader by giving him a taste, as it were, of what the article contains

DRAWINGS FOR ILlustRATIONS Diagras, floor plans, maps, or pen-and-ink sketches are necessary to illustrate souidance often need diagrams Trade papers like to have their articles illustrated with reproductions of record sheets and blanks designed to develop greater efficiency in office or store , he h form the material that he considers desirable for illustration, leaving to the artists es suitable for reproduction A writer who has had training in pen-and-ink drawing s should beink, and should be drao or three tie as they are intended to appear when printed If record sheets are to be used for illustration, the ruling should be done with black drawing ink, and the figures and other data should be written in with the sa on blanks intended for reproduction should be done with a fresh record black ribbon Captions are necessary on the back of drawings as well as on photographs

MAILING PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS It is best to s up to 8 x 10 in size, in the envelope with thetheraphs or long, narrow panoramic ones should be rolled and mailed in a heavy cardboard tube, separate from the manuscript The writer's name and address, as well as the title of the article to be illustrated, should be written on the back of every photograph and drawing

As photographs and drawings are not ordinarily returned when they are used with an article that is accepted, writers should not promise to return such material to the persons from whom they secure it Copies can alinals when persons furnishi+ng writers with photographs and drawings desire to have the originals kept in good condition

PART II

AN OUTLINE FOR THE analYSIS OF SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLES