MAS 330

PHOTO EDITING
 INTRODUCTION

Photo Editing and Publication

 All good journalism requires editing and that includes pictures.
 Editing is a vital part of the photojournalism process and
anyone who takes or works with pictures must know some of
the basic principles and procedures.
 Photo editing involves several activities – selection, cropping,
enhancing and sizing/scaling.
 SELECTION

Many factors go into an editor’ or photojournalist’s

decisions to use a photo and there are no definitive
guidelines governing their selection.
 Two major purpose of publishing photographs are
to capture the attention of the reader and to
illustrate and supplement the editing content.
Factors:

1. Drama: It is the pictures thatSELECTION

tell the story that are most lively to
be chosen by an editor for publication. Pictures that have higher
dramatic quality are those in which readers can clearly tell what is
happening.

2. Action: editors and readers are most likely to be drawn to

pictures with some action or movement in them pictures that
suggest movement will be seen and studied by reader more readily
than still-life pictures.

3. Impact: Pictures that illustrates events and situations with an

impact on many people are more likely to be published than
 SELECTION CONT.
4. Prominence: Readers like to see pictures of famous
people.
5. Conflict: Conflict adds to the value of photographs.
6. Proximity People want to see pictures of their friends
and neighbours, of people in their own community. That’s
why editors select local photos instead of wire photos.
7. Technical Quality: This is a good picture one that has
sharp, clear focus and good framing or that presents a
subject in an unusual or pleasing manner.
PREPARING PHOTOGRAPHS FOR PUBLICATION

 Once the responsible editor has selected photos, the art must be
cropped, sized and scaled for the production department depending
on the size and staff organisation of a publication, the copy desk or
a separate layout department may perform these tasks.

Cropping
 To crop is to decide how much or what part of a photo should be
published.
 It also, by implication, means, take of out parts of a picture. It has
two purpose – eliminating unnecessary parts of a picture and

emphasing or enhancing parts of a picture.
ELIMINATING UNNECESSARY PARTS
 a. some elements of a picture may simply be unnecessary to
the subject and purpose of the photo, and they should be
eliminated. These parts are wasteful and distracting. Good
tight cropping of pictures is just as important as editing to
eliminating superfluous parts of a story.
 b. Emphasizing or enhancing parts of a picture
 One parts may contain many picture within it. A good editor
must be able to identify the focal point of a photo that best
serves the purpose for publication. A picture that seems
ordinary at first glance may be made dramatic by good
cropping.
 GUIDELINES FOR CROPPING
 Avoid cropping pictures in fancy or irregular shapes
unless there is an unusual and compelling reason.

 For head shots, most editors prefer to leave some

space on the side that the subject is facing. At some
newspapers and magazines, head shots, also called
mug shorts, are cropped extremely tightly, so that ears
and sometime the top of the subject’s head are
trimmed.
For action picture, for example a relay race, leave space
in front of the trust of the action.
 Body parts can be cropped, but avoid amputating at joints
such as ankles, knees, wrists or elbows.

 Remain sensitive to the mood or atmosphere captured in the

photo. Avoid tight cropping, it background elements helps
tell the story.

 Note that extreme enlargement will reduce picture quality.

If the layout calls for a large photo, avoid cropping and
enlarging just a small portion of the original.
 ENHANCING PICTURES

Photo often need some adjustments or enhancements.

Photo editing software allow photojournalists to change
the brightness, enhance the colour or even increase the
sharpness of a picture. Photo editors should learn to use
these two principles:
 It’s better to do too little to a picture than too much.

 The basic subject matter of the picture should never

be changed.
 SIZING OR SCALING

 After a photo is cropped for its greatest impact, the next

step is to scale it to fit the desired page layout. Other
terms used for scaling are proportioning and sizing.

 Scaling is the process of changing the size of a picture

area by enlarging or reducing it while cropping out the
proportion of the original.
 Caption Writing Tips
 Explain fully: A good caption includes the outcomes of
events such as sporting contests and elections.
 SIZING OR SCALING
 Be accurate: Look at the picture before writing the
caption, don’t give or write from memory. Count the
number of names in the caption and make sure that
number correspondence with the number of people.
 Make it interesting by telling it with punch and with
sound descriptive words. Use active voice. The very
words should come near the beginning of the caption.
 Pay attention to verb tense. Use present tense verbs.
 SIZING OR SCALING
 Avoid editorializing. Don’t use facial expression
to try to interpret what the photophic subject was
feeling or thinking. Don’t describe a picture as
beautiful, dramatic, grisly or any other colourful
adjectives
 Avoid libel
 Avoid stating the obvious.