When taking a photo, a number of little decisions must be made to determine how interesting the image will be.
What lens should be used?
What is the subject?
What should be included or cropped out?
What view point or angle is most attention-grabbing, shows the least distracting background and captures the best lighting?
Engage the Reader
Learning the rules of composition will help photographers identify and take remarkable images. Below are several guidelines for composing action.
Action Photos
Action or candid photos are story-telling photos that capture subjects in a natural state such as students measuring a liquid in science class, working on art projects, rehearsing in choir or making a play at home plate.
Subjects in photos often look like they were instructed on how to behave or are acting for the camera. Avoid using posed photos in your yearbook because they are not as interesting as action photos and can quickly become monotonous.
To capture good action photos, the photographer and subjects should be relaxed in their surroundings. Instruct photographers to settle into a situation so that they can understand what is going on. This will also give people time to get used to the camera and return to their activity. Once the subjects are used to the camera, the photographer will be able to take more natural photos and truly capture student life.
Portraits
If there are students who were not photographed on school picture day, you can still include them in the portrait section of the yearbook.
A telephoto lens works best for portrait pictures. It reduces the amount of background and blurs what background is shown.
Pose the individual against a solid background. Trees or bricks in the background will look out of place in the portrait panel.
Do not pose the person straight-on. Try turning the body 15 to 45 degrees.
Leave enough space around the individual so the head and shoulders can be centered in the portrait space.
Avoid a very sunny outdoor setting. Otherwise, the individual will be squinting.
Submit the actual photo to Lifetouch or import a high-quality image into your layout. Do not use an inkjet print or photocopied image.
Do not cut a photo to crop it. If submitting to Lifetouch, use Post-It® Notes to illustrate how the photo should be cropped.
Use a color photo even if your page will be printed in black-and-white.
