This week's photo tip is inspired by a success story we got from one
of our San Francisco Travel Writer Workshop attendees.
She writes…
***********
Lori,
Here's what I did three weeks ago: I went to the website of the
largest network-affiliate TV station in town and noticed they focused
almost 100 percent on the big attractions. I laid out a local,
promotable section called "9-Gallon Getaways," then sent a
four-paragraph email to the news director.
He liked it so he forwarded the idea to the website director and
station manager.
Three days later, I met with the news director and web manager at the
TV station, WFTV, Ch. 9 Orlando and laid out my idea in person.
The next day, I landed a six-month contract. "Can you have the first
story by September first?" he asked. I said, "Well, of course!"
They were pleased that I volunteered to take pictures. You'd think TV
stations would want video but, according to the web director, viewers
on the website prefer picture slideshows.
In short, I got all that I asked for (and more):
1. Title of either Travel Writer or Travel Columnist on all my
stories.
2. All rights retained for any print publications.
3. Mileage, expenses.
4. Business cards exactly like their full-time reporters have.
I would have been happy with two out of four, but it just goes to
show... ask for it and you might get it. All they can do to you is say
"no."
Here's the kicker -- I was going to do the stories for free to build
up a small portfolio as a travel writer for a major TV station. They
were the ones who said they'd pay me $75 a story, too. Yes, it was a
good week!
Plus, living in Orlando with loads of free, outdoorsy, almost-unknown
sites and activities to cover, I don't have to deal with the airlines
or leave my 9-year old German shepherd, Beau, in a kennel.
Sincerely,
Bette BonFleur
P.S. A note about the photos: They were supposed to take out the
slightly blurry ones, but didn't. (Everyone's been discombobulated
since this Hurricane Fay hit down here). I took these shots with a
little Canon Elph 7.0 megapixel camera.
I'll make sure to edit all the pictures next time, pick out exactly
the ones I want to go up on the site and in what order... the order is
kind of weird now as they are and the captions got left off, but I'm
not complaining.
*****
I have a few ways you can benefit from Bette's experience. But I'm
saving those for Friday.
Today -- since Wednesday is our Photo Tip day -- I'm turning the floor
over to Shelly so she can address the issue of Bette's (and your)
blurry photos.
Read on for details...
-- Lori
Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division
P.S. If you're interested in a little rocket fuel for your travel
writing endeavors, do what Bette did and get the secrets directly from
the experts. If you haven't yet picked up a copy of the recordings
from our live event in San Francisco, place an order THIS WEEK. Now
that all the recordings are posted online, the pre-press discount is
expiring on Friday and the price is going up. Order now and you'll
save $100, here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/trc/letushelp
*******************
September 10, 2008
The Right Way to Travel, Weekly Photo Tip
*******************
HOW TO CORRECT AN OUT-OF-FOCUS PICTURE
By Shelly Perry in Portland, OR
Some of the photos Bette BonFleur submitted with her article, as
you'll recall from her note up top, were blurry. You can see all her
shots -- blurry and not -- and read her piece here:
http://www.wftv.com/travelgetaways/17324371/detail.html
Now, about the photos…
First, there's not much you can do in Photoshop or Lightroom to
correct an out-of-focus image.
But it's pretty easy to correct the problem before you shoot. Because
if your pictures are out of focus, there are really only two likely
culprits:
** 1. The focus setting on your camera
** 2. Camera shake
Professional photographer, Rich Wagner, talked about focus settings on
your camera just a couple weeks ago, here: http://tinyurl.com/5rmsc3
So if that's not your problem, it's likely camera shake, which is
typically caused by a too-slow shutter speed.
Here are three ways to fix it:
** 1. Get more light on your subject by opening up your aperture
(f-stop) to let more light in through the lens. You can't always do
this on a point-and-shoot camera. Sometimes you can adjust the
exposure value, though, which will give you a similar effect. The
symbol for shutter value is a little square with a "+/-" in it. If
you can't find it, check your manual.
** 2. Use a tripod or something sturdy to steady your camera. One
little trick I use for these longer exposures is to turn on the
camera's timer mode. That way, I can push the button, remove my hand
and let the camera settle before it makes the exposure.
** 3. Adjust your ISO keeping in mind that higher ISO's may reduce
blur, but could also increase the noise in the shot. Now if you, like
Bette, are using small-format shots for the web, increased noise isn't
really a problem. It's only a critical consideration if you need
larger-format photos. Some point-and-shoot cameras have ISO settings.
Again, your camera manual will tell you for sure.
Here's an example from the Ultimate Travel Writer's Workshop a few
weeks ago in San Francisco: http://tinyurl.com/6lqlh6
I took this first shot early in the morning before the sun came up. I
like it because you can still see the street lights glowing, but I
shot it at a very slow shutter speed -- 1/6 of a second at f2.8, ISO
100. I did not have a tripod, so I set the camera on the back of the
chair to steady it. Even so, it's a little blurry.
So I waited for a little more light.
In the second shot (here: http://tinyurl.com/6lqlh6) the sun was
actually over the horizon providing a lot more light so the exposure
went up to 1/60 of a second, f4.0 at ISO 200 (notice I upped the ISO
to increase the shutter speed).
And here's the final shot: http://tinyurl.com/6lqlh6
It was just a bit later when the sun was making its way onto the
buildings. I increased the exposure even more to 1/100 of a second,
f5.0 at ISO 200 and this shot has the best focus of the three.
By the way, during the San Francisco event where I met Bette and 120
other attendees, I gave an entire presentation on taking the kinds of
photos magazines and newspapers drool over. Travel Editor Kyle Wagner
was there, too, to talk about breaking into newspapers with straight
photos -- you don't even have to send in an article with them (if you
don't want to, that is).
You'll find both Kyle's presentation and mine packaged together, here:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/trc/letushelp .
The price goes up on Friday so order now and save $100.
[ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shelly Perry from Portland, Oregon, specializes in
people photography, what she calls documentary or lifestyle portraits.
She is known especially for her imaging of children. Shelly's concern
for people is reflected both in her sense of purpose and the images
she produces. Her images have been seen all over the globe on music
CD covers, books, magazines, catalogues, web sites, ad campaigns and
even on TV. Her work has also appeared in several local exhibits and
gallery shows.
Shelly will be with us at our upcoming photo expedition this October
in Shanghai, China: http://www.thephotographerslife.com/shanghai .]
*******************************
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