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By: William Snyuei
Covei photo by William Snyuei
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A manual ovei methous of effective photogiaphy shooting anu euiting is necessaiy
to cieate a consistent look thioughout the publications iepiesenting the College of
Engineeiing. The publications team of the Engineeiing uepaitment is a full seivice
team iesponsible foi all aspects of the jouinalistic piocess anu quality can be
neglecteu in the face of a consiueiable woikloau. Theiefoie a set of instiuctions ovei
shooting goou photogiaphy will help to ensuie that the publications of the
uepaitment maintain a piofessional appeaiance thiough the use of appealing
photogiaphy. The manual can be available to all photogiapheis woiking foi the
uepaitment by Becembei 1
st
. If kept as a PBF on the netwoik uiive, the manual will
cost the office nothing to uistiibute. A haiu copy can be piinteu cheaply as it will be
intenueu foi inteinal use only. The expeiience that I gaineu fiom woiking foi news
publications ovei the past six yeais has given me peispective on the pitfalls of pooi
photogiaphy. A manual offeiing technique to piouuce highei quality photogiaphy
will impiove the uepaitment's image to the public as well as save the publication
team time.
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The publications cieateu by the College of Engineeiing at the 0niveisity of Noith
Texas aie intenueu foi seveial auuiences, incluuing alumni, peeis in highei
euucation, anu inuustiy leaueis as well as piospective unueigiauuate anu giauuate
stuuents. To attiact inteiest to the uepaitment all publications must show the
achievements of the stuuents anu faculty of the uepaitment in an appealing light.
Foi example the photo galleiies on the 0NT Engineeiing website aie iesponsible foi
how the outsiue woilu views the College of Engineeiing. An event such as a
Pumpkin Caiving contest showcasing the Electiical Engineeiing uepaitment can
appeai uull anu pooily planneu uue to ineffective photogiaphy anu cost the
uepaitment cieuibility in the piocess wheieas exciting anu vibiant pictuies give the
uepaitment an intangible alluie. Appeaiance is eveiything anu in the competitive
euucation maiket, piospective faculty anu stuuents cannot be ueteiieu by pooi
quality iepiesentation.
The majoiity of oui photogiaphy is intenueu to be posteu on the Engineeiing
website. 0sually these photos aie uploaueu into photo galleiies of no moie that Su
images, usually 2u. Web vieweis uo not have the stamina oi attention span to view
moie images than this anu we must keep this in minu when we aie shooting an
event.
0se of simple technique in shooting photogiaphy will help to show the uepaitment
in an appealing way. Auuitionally moie economical shooting will save time in
euiting. The ballistic methou - shooting many pictuies anu hoping that a few goou
images will tuin out - saves time in the fielu but wastes fai moie time in euiting.
Reviewing Suu images when only 2u will be selecteu wastes time anu ciamps the
cieative piocess, iesulting in a lowei quality final piouuct that will not captuie the
viewei's attention. Time spent composing a shot is fai less than the time spent
picking out the few successful photogiaphs fiom a seiies of Suu iepetitive images.
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A simple oiientation to the cameia anu softwaie useu by the uepaitment will
gieatly impiove the quality of the publications. Though the changes aie subtle,
successful photogiaphy shows piospective paitneis, faculty oi stuuents that the
uepaitment is skilleu in moie aieas than just engineeiing. The manual will explain
all of the functions of the cameia, techniques to keep in minu while shooting
uiffeient types of photos anu a guiue to euiting photos using Auobe Photoshop.
While theie is no substitute foi expeiience, a novice photogiaphei will benefit fiom
leaining a few techniques that can be useu in combination with each othei. The
uepaitment's ieputation uepenus upon the publications piouuceu anu shooting
bettei photogiaphy is in eveiyone's best inteiest.
Eveiy mouein uay cameia has a vaiiety of automatic settings anu so uo the
piogiams useu in euiting, howevei the image quality piouuceu unuei these setting
is usually sub-pai. Automatic settings aie pioviueu foi novice useis anu familiaiity
with the functions anu intenueu applications of both of the piogiams anu cameias
will yielu moie successful images, benefitting the College of Engineeiing
exponentially.
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The manual will featuie thiee chapteis, an intiouuction to the functions of the
cameia anu lens, an oveiview of seveial techniques that will enhance photogiaphy,
anu a chaptei ovei the basic tools useu in euiting a pictuie anu in cieating a photo
illustiation. Each chaptei will also featuie iueas to keep in minu when using the
cameias.
The manual can be useu to tiain new hiies to the uepaitment as well as seive as a
iefeience guiue foi contiibuting photogiapheis.
Table of Contents:
Chaptei 1: Cameia 0iientation
.1 Zoom
.2 Apeituie anu the F-Stop
.S Auto-Focus
.4 Shuttei Speeu
.S Film vs. Bigital
Chaptei 2: Photogiaphy Technique
2.1 Lighting anu Flash
2.2 Composing the Shot
2.S 0sing Apeituie anu Shuttei Speeu Togethei
2.4 Poitiaits vs. Events
Chaptei S: Bigital Euiting
S.1 Tools 0seu in Photo Euiting
S.2 Tools 0seu in Photo Illustiations
S.S Piint vs. Web
Appenuix
A.1 A Note on Automatic Settings
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I have woikeu in the publications fielu since high school, wheie I seiveu as the
uesign euitoi, staff wiitei, photogiaphei anu photo euitoi foi the school newspapei,
!"# %&''()#*+ %,))&(-.#. As uesign euitoi I gave an instiuctional couise to incoming
staff membeis ovei cameia pioceuuie anu seveial euiting methous useu in
Photoshop. In auuition I contiibuteu photogiaphy to the yeaibook as well.
Buiing my time with the %,))&(-.#, we ieceiveu the Pacemakei awaiu, a national
iecognition given to 24 high school news publications each yeai. 0ui staff attenueu
the Columbia 0niveisity Scholastic Piess Spiing Confeience foi thiee consecutive
yeais.
I have seven yeais of expeiience shooting film photogiaphy with a Nikon SLR 24-SS
mm NIKK0R lens. While the school fuinishes a uigital Canon SLR, the techniques I
piactice in shot composition aie applicable to the simplest of cameias. Examples of
my technique in shooting anu euiting can be founu at wbsSphoto.tumbli.com.
Auuitionally I am eniolleu in a Technical Communications class. In this couise we
have stuuieu effective peuagogical methous anu successful communication
technique. These methous will be applieu in the manual to cieate a valuable anu
thoiough iefeience guiue.
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The publications piouuceu by the Engineeiing Bepaitment aie the fiist impiession
foi many inteiesteu in 0NT's Engineeiing piogiam. Theiefoie all aspects of a
publication must be of the highest quality. Web meuia has the faithest ieach, anu
photogiaphy is often moie impoitant that text. Though it seems facile, most people
uo not know how to piopeily use the functions of a cameia to theii auvantage anu
use the automatic settings as a shoitcut. To maintain image quality among the
contiibuting photogiapheis a guiue is necessaiy so that eveiyone is similaily
knowleugeable on the functions of the equipment anu softwaie. Impioveu quality
will attiact moie faculty, benefitting the uepaitment exponentially.