Do Your Photos Provide Context For Your Subject?

Professional communicators work hard at getting a message across. But first they must get the audience’s attention. There needs to be a “lead” or “hook” to stimulate their interest in the story.

Ted Koppel said that during his 25 years as anchor for Nightline, they spent the majority of their pre-broadcast time on the first 10 seconds of the show.

The hook is all-important. If it doesn’t work no one will hear the message.

A tactic used by writers to grab the attention of readers is to lead with a quote. This is a powerful literary tool for hooking an audience. It is often misused. Quoting out of context is done quite often. There are two known common practices of misusing a quote - the straw man argument and the appeal to authority. Both of these can undermine the message.

Photographers are also guilty of taking photos out of context to create impact for a visual hook.

If a writer or photographer uses the hook appropriately they will deliver context or story within the hook.

Wire service photographers have used impact as a visual hook (to the detriment of the story-telling photo) for so long that we rarely see good examples of photos with any real context. The context has been handed over entirely to the writer.

Extreme close-up photos have extreme impact but, out of context, may lack any story-telling ability. Relating the subject to its surroundings can help tell the story of the subject, but impact is still needed.

A good example of the type of photo that can contain both impact and context is the environmental portrait. The subject is shown in their environment and the surroundings portray the person and help tell their story. A simple headshot shows what someone looks like, but the environment portrait can speak volumes about the person.

I grew up watching missionaries give slide shows in churches. Invariably most of the pictures they showed were tight headshots of some person looking into the camera. A friend of mine characterized these lacking-context-pictures as “People Who Need the Lord” photos. The pictures show what they look like, but tell me nothing about who they are.

Today I am often asked to speak to these missionary groups about how to improve their photography of their mission trips. My chief complaint about mission teams going somewhere and then showing their photos is the lack of environment in their photos. They have many “People Who Need the Lord” photos, which could have been made almost anywhere. Their photos don’t tell a story, they have little context. What does the county look like? How do they live? What do they eat?

I suggest to these groups that they make pictures that tell something about these folks. Show the mother in her kitchen making a meal. Show the man at his job – what does he do to earn a living. Show the children and what they do for play.

Think of the photos as an introduction. How do we in America do introductions? After we exchange our names we usually ask what they do for a living or we ask about their family.

A real advantage of photography is how much story can be told without having to speak a word. True masters of the craft use light and composition to make sense of all the clutter and show how things in the frame relate to one another. When the photo includes people expression and body language add even more context to the image.

Here are six simple steps to help bring context to a photograph.

1. Determine the purpose of the photograph.
2. What is the mood for the photograph to be?
3. Determine the subject.
4. What should be included or excluded around the subject?
   a. Do I include some of the environment in front of the subject?
   b. Am I making an image that is just graphically strong or does the space around the subject give context?
   c. What is in the background?
   d. What is beside or on the same plane as the subject, giving it equal importance?
5. When do I press the shutter?
   a. Are they interacting with another person?
   b. Do I show a serious or light moment?
6. What about the light?
   a. Do I use the natural light?
   b. Do I bounce the flash?
   c. Do I use professional lights?

Put your subjects in context when you photograph them and your pictures will truly be worth 10,000 words.

What Kind of Photographer Are You?

I’m not asking if you shoot weddings, sports, or just make snapshots of your family. These are one way to define a type of photography, but there is another way to describe your pictures.

If you have your subjects turn and look at the camera and say “cheese” there is a good chance you enjoy making photos for mainly your personal use. You like making photos and putting these in photo albums so you can revisit these moments in time. I think everyone likes to make these types of photos for recording their family history. Earlier in my career when I managed 1-hour photo labs I saw some incredibly well done photography that would fit into this category.

I had a few customers who did an excellent job of getting good expressions of their friends and family looking at the camera. The photos were not so tight of the people that you didn’t know where they were, but they would show their friends in front of the Eifel Tower where you could see the people close to the camera with the location in the background easily identifiable.

This type of photographer, snap-shot or memory jogger photographer, is concerned in recording a moment in time and who was there at that moment.

Another style is abstract photography. This would be an instrumental composition with no words to use music as an analogy. The composition and lighting may be well done, but the viewer’s responses are usually wide-ranging.

Ansel Adams is one of the most prominent abstract photographers. His photos create a mood and tone rather than deliver a specific message.

Elliott Porter, another giant in the genera of abstract photography, gave a prefect example of the portrayal of beauty or eliciting of an emotion with his photography rather than a photojournalist statement of fact. When asked (by a photo editor for a news magazine) what he would do if he came upon a stream polluted and covered with oil Porter said, “I could not help but show the beauty of it regardless of the tragedy.”

In some abstract photographs the subject is recognizable, yet others may be so bizarre there is no subject recognition at all. The common theme for these types of photographers a striking image. A specific message is not the purpose.

Then there’s the communications photographer. Their goal is to deliver a precise message. Many techniques used by the abstract photographer are employed, but the message is the thing.

Some communication photographers are conceptual in approach. Their work is thematic. The theme maybe as simple as illustrating an intangible, say hot or cold or “going green.” Their photos communicate an idea.

Life magazine was one of the first places Americans were exposed to photojournalism. These photographers deliver a message, but beyond the message they are pursuing truth. They want to tell the subject’s story accurately in order to obtain a response from the viewer; to make those seeing the photos want to take some action.

In between the conceptual photographer and the photojournalist are many breeds of photographers who are concerned with capturing a message and having the audience engaged with it.

Some photographers can move easily between these approaches. One day they may be covering a news event for a wire service (photojournalism) and the next day shooting and annual report or recruiting guide for a college. They know how to adjust the approach so they are not violating ethics of the professional photojournalist.

What do these styles have in common? The finest photographers shoot what they love most. This enjoyment usually means they have invested time into their subjects and know them well.

Understanding these approaches will better help you identify the best photographer for your projects. Maybe you’re the best for the job. Maybe you need to hire someone to shoot the project for you.

Most clients look beyond a photographer’s ability with the camera. Can you trust this photographer to do the job on his own? They will be representing you. Do you need to be there directing this person?

If you have a message you need communicated you don’t need have a snap-shooter or an abstract photographer – they can fill the “holes” where the pictures are to go, but that doesn’t express your message to your audience.

Be sure your photographer can communicate your message and be someone you can trust. It is easy to hire a known quantity. It’s not so easy to find the one who will get the job done, but the search is worth the trouble.

Presidential Politics Teaches Us Something About Marketing Ourselves

How is running your business like running for office? For one thing, the candidates are scrutinized for more than just their position on issues. We are also evaluated for more than just our product.

Just like the politicians we are evaluated on our looks, our color, age, how healthy we appear and how well groomed we are. Our clients and prospects note all this and more about us.

What message are we sending by how we look? What part of our message as an individual can we control? Well, there’s our choice of clothing. Occasionally someone may compliment us on what we are wearing, maybe the like the color or style.

Some people have gone so far as to wear certain types of clothing to distinguish themselves from others in their field. Take my lawyer for instance. I think he dresses funny. But I have to give him credit, people remember him, first because his clothing makes a bold statement, but then they remember what a good lawyer he is. Your business success may profit from a little more attention your visual presentation of yourself.

The way we talk, how we express ourselves can make a major impression on clients and prospects. As we watched the debates we listened to see if the candidates answered the question. We listened to how clearly they stated their ideas. We listened to their inflections and pace of their comments to see how confident and knowledgeable they seamed to be on the topics.

The candidates wanted to answer the questions in ways that they thought would connect with the audience at home. We too must be aware of our client’s perspective. Are we addressing their concerns or our concerns?

The candidates are being evaluated for the company they keep and so are we. This is where your community involvement makes a difference. We should let our clients know when we go a mission trips. We need to find ways to let them know that we volunteer as a coach for kid’s sports, or anything outside of work actually is valued by clients.

Obama’s two young daughters help him appeal to many folks just as Pailin’s special needs child makes her special to others. While our outside activities are not our primary message to a prospect — it may be important to some of them and shouldn’t be left out.

Greg Thompson, director of corporate communications for Chick-fil-A, says when he hires folks he looks beyond the hands to the head and heart of the person. The hands represent to him the transactional relationship within most of business. You need a writer, well hire someone with experience and they can most likely meet the immediate needs. However, if you look beyond the transaction you will see that some writers are experts on subjects and then some have given much of their time to a cause. Their passion for the subject makes them a much better hire than just a professional writer.

The candidates running for office have people give them feedback to help them improve and refine their campaigns. We need to turn those who can offer us feedback. We can all benefit from some sandpaper helping to refine us.

Certainly prospects are interested what we can do for them, but they are also influenced by who we are as people. The candidates must present a pleasing total package, so should we.

I’ve come to realize that the dream job is not determined by pay alone; it’s working with someone who appreciates and makes use of my total package.

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Corporate Cummnication Visual Tips: 10 of them

There can be no words without images.

--- Aristotle

More than any other technological innovation, computers are responsible for the explosion in images. Today, 20 percent of the U.S. population can use a computer. But 80 percent of school-age children have learned to become computer literate. By the turn of the century, Sculley predicts that 98 percent of all the words and pictures created in the world will be computer mediated. By that time, virtual reality -- the ultimate fusion of computer and television technologies in which viewers become active users of the medium -- will be inexpensive and accessible.

Educational psychologist Jerome Bruner of New York University cites studies that show persons only remember ten percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they read, but about 80 percent of what they see and do. When all members of society whether at home, in school and on the job learn to use computers for word and picture processing, the switch will be made from passive watching to active using. There will no longer be the barrier between the two symbolic structures. Words and pictures will become one, powerful and memorable mode of communication.

-- Professor Paul Martin Lester, Ph.D., Department of Communications, California State University

Visual forms of communication grab the attention of today’s audiences. Graphic representations such as diagrams, charts, tables, illustrations and photographs not only catch the eye; they draw the viewer into the information being presented.

Corporate communicator departments who took advantage of this visual revolution early on are today’s leaders in the communication field. They saw this “explosion in images” coming and jumped aboard.

Endless, long blocks of type spreading across pages are rarely read. Early editors discovered a visual tool that cured this ill… they broke the copy up into short, more manageable paragraphs that didn’t intimidate or bore their audience.

Today, many no longer read traditional text. Just taking brochures from the past and posting them to the web will not get the message out.

Okay, if it’s true that a skilled use of visuals will improve communication and if expertise in this area seems like a foreign language… what then?

We’d probably take classes to learn a foreign language, so to become proficiency in the use of visuals perhaps we should study art, photography or theater at the local community college. This is one way to learn how the masters in these fields used the visuals.

Mr. Bean was a British comedy television series starring Rowan Atkinson. Bean, an almost totally silent character used physical comedy to entertain. The series did well internationally because words were not important to the success of the show.

Instead of a brain storming an idea try playing a game of Charades to express what needs to be communicated about that idea. The game forces thinking in visual terms. Pictionary is a board game where teams try to guess specific words from their teammates' drawings. More than Charades Pictionary requires forming mental pictures. Both games provide a fun way to practice visualization.

Here are Ten Tips to consider when thinking about using images:

1. Humanize – Illustrate how products affect people. For example, to show how small something is, rather than using a ruler, put it in someone’s hand. If something improves lives – show it doing just that. Today the trend is to use a more photojournalistic approach or, at least, to make it look photojournalist. To make sure the expressions are genuine set up a situation, give it enough time and it can become real.

2. Good Lighting – Sometime the natural light is perfect. Just cut the flash off and use a higher ISO for the available light. Remember that whatever has the most light on it will become the main subject.

3. Try Black & White – Some war photographers feel that color may make even war look pretty. Black and white is a good way to focus attention on faces and graphics.

4. Get Closer – Almost any photo will be better closer up.

5. Watch the background – Look around the subject. Be sure nothing is growing out of a head or sticking in from the edge on the frame. Use a shallow depth-of-field like ƒ/2 versus using ƒ/16 to make your subject stand out from the background. If the background helps tell the story increase the depth-of-field by using f16 or f22, or vary the background anywhere in between fuzzy or sharp.

6. Consider a worm’s eye view or the bird’s eye view – Shoot really low or high above the subject. Change the height of the camera in relation to the subject; avoid making all the photos from a standing position.

7. Turn off the date stamp – Digital cameras embed the time and date in the photo information so it is not necessary to have it print on the photo itself.

8. Variety – Make plenty of photos from different angles. In addition to using the zoom actually get closer and farther away from the subject. Make wide-angle and close-up photos. Try some without flash, some with direct flash and bounced flash.

9. Give it time – Make a few photos then stop for a few minutes. Let the subject get used to being photographed. After a while they’ll relax and the really great photos will start to happen.

10. Action and posed –Show the subject doing what they do. Let them do their job and make lots of pictures. Pose them for a good portrait, not just a headshot, but do an environmental portrait showing their work environment or signage of the place they work in the background or foreground.

There are many other ways than these that can improve visual communication. Like everything worth doing visual skills come from doing… from practice.

Think about it this way: Who is going to SEE your message today?

Seeing Eye to Eye Isn't Always Best

In Psychology 101 we learn the value of relating to others at eye level. Many books on photography discuss unusual angles such as a worm's eye or a bird's eye view. Such perspectives can create interesting photos, but there is much more to the choice of the angle of view than just making a nice picture. Indeed, the angle from which you photograph a person sends a message to the viewer about that person. Do you know what message you're sending?

The three letters in the illustrations below stand for Parent, Adult and Child. If you photograph another adult at their eye level the camera (audience) is, of course, on the same level with your subject. This adds dignity to the subject.


On the other hand, if you shoot down at the subject you place the audience above or over the subject much the same way a parent is above or over a child. This makes the audience feel responsible for the subject. We often see photos of starving children in Africa photographed this way.


Lower the camera angle and you reverse the camera (audience) to the subject relationship. This "shot from below" adds prominence to the subject. It increases the stature of the subject and makes them more authoritative. (Don't use flash from below a face unless you want to create the look of a monster.)


To carry the audience back to their childhood, place the camera on the floor and crawl around photographing a child at the child's eye level.


When photographing an expert, like a research scientist, keep the camera at eye level, not below. The eyeball-to-eyeball angle helps to humanize or "warm up" the expert.


Photographing people using this simple PAC principle allows you to make statements about who they are, not just what they look like.

Like everything else in photography, knowing more than ƒ-stops and shutter speeds will make you a better photographer. And remember, seeing eye-to-eye isn't always best.

Team Photos

There are many ways to approach team photos for posters. For Georgia Tech's football team the theme for the 2006 year is "Take Your Best Shot." We made the photos at a boxing gym. What really made the photo was the players getting into the concept.

I have always thought people look their best with pleasant expressions or smiles in portraits. However, getting male athletes to smile has proven difficult in the past years. They all want to look tough and having an attitude like we see on MTV.

We embraced their attitude and what they want to portray about themselves in this photo. I think it works because it is a peak into their dreams.

Women athletes smile much more than their male counterparts. They enjoy being the princess or queen for the day. Here they are on top of Atlanta with the Skyline behind them. It is like the last photo of the Disney movies where the Prince and Princess ride off into their kingdom. Their kingdom is Atlanta in this photo.