Get Great Results with your Digital Camera!

Increasingly, I find myself working with clients that want to incorporate photos taken with digital cameras into their newsletters. But the images they send to me are so bad that they're virtually unusable. It seemed like a great topic to tackle here.

Digital cameras are great tools. It's so easy to snap a shot and download the image right into your computer. No more waiting for film to be developed and then scanning in the photo. But there is more to it than that. First of all, let's remember that your newsletter is your ambassador - whether it's for your business or your organization - it's part of the image that you're projecting. Everything that goes into it should be the best it can be. Please don't lower the quality of your image with low resolution photos!

I work with some of the best photographers in the business - 90% of whom now only use digital cameras. Let me share some quick and easy tips that you can use to get some great shots that will make your newsletter look great, too.

Garbage in - Garbage out

There's a big fantasy that any photo can be improved in PhotoShop once you get it into your computer. I'm a PhotoShop expert and I'm here to tell you that if you're not collecting enough data, or the right kind of data, there's nothing PhotoShop can do about it. Don't get me wrong. You can do some magic with PhotoShop, but if you haven't captured what you need at the start, you're not going anywhere. It might look acceptable on the screen but it won't print well.

What are you capturing

Your computer's screen is a resolution of 72 dpi (dot per inch) - plus it's 'projecting' light into your eye. That's why colors look brighter on the screen. For print, you'll need at least 150 dpi (at your target size) to print well. Most newspapers print at 150 dpi, so you get an idea of the quality. A glossy magazine is printing at about 1200 dpi. So resolution is a big issue with digital images. The other is light. I mentioned that your screen is projecting light so the colors seem brighter. When you print an image, the colors are represented by ink that's been laid down on paper. Light hits the paper and is absorbed. Only a small part of it is 'reflected' into your eye. That's why images appear to print darker then they look on the screen.

Get enough data

The first issue with digital cameras is to get enough resolution. There are tons of really scientific books written that talk about pixels and it's all really confusing. Don't get bogged down in the geeky stuff. Remember that you're using a digital camera to make things simpler. Here's the simple rule of thumb: Set you camera's setting to the highest resolution possible. Get a larger data card so you can capture more photos at a time. I use a 64MB Smart Card. That lets me get about 15 images before downloading. Do not sacrifice resolution for being able to get more images before downloading. That's just silly. The images won't be really good for much, so why bother. If you're only going to use them for email, you're OK. But remember that you can never add data once the photo is taken. You can always make it smaller, if you want. Get as much data as possible. A 3.1 MegaPixel camera can do a fine job if you're getting as much resolution as possible.

Lighten up

The other big piece of data that you need to capture when taking digital photos is light. Digital cameras are notorious for not being able to soak up enough light, so you'll need to do all that you can to supplement the light source. Do not rely on the camera's flash! The installed flash only throws light about 3 feet from the lens. It also creates some pretty extreme contrasts and shadows. So try to increase the ambient light in a situation as much as possible. Don't rely on the LCD monitor of the camera because it's affected by the light in the situation as well. Light is like resolution: You can always take it away but can't add it after the photo has been taken, so error on the side of abundance. Get all the light on the subject that you can.

Save it

If your camera will allow you to save the image onto the data card as RAW data, do it. That's the best way to get all of the data that you'll need to work with. The next best format is a .tif (tagged information file). That's a very stable format for images. Use the .jpg format only as a last resort. It's a compression format - that's why it's smaller. The problem is that it throws out data as it compresses the file - every time you open and close the file! That's why images degrade after a while. It's a great format for the web because it just sits on a website where people view it, but it's not opened and closed. But for print images, stick with the .tif format.

Getting good shots

Now onto the fun stuff! Ever since you were a little kid, you knew that it was the pictures that draw you into the story. It's the same with newsletters. Research shows that people scan when they read. They look at the photos and their captions the very first thing, then read the headlines, then maybe they'll read the articles. So powerful, engaging photos are essential for getting your newsletter content read. And just a layout tip: One larger, good quality photo has much more impact than a bunch of smaller images. Here are some photo tips to try for you next issue:

• Tell a story. Be sure that there's plenty of action in the image, have people doing something. Don't just line them up like your third grade class photo.


• Make eye contact. There's a personal connection when your photo subject makes eye contact with your reader. It creates interest on an emotional level.


• Get on eye level. It creates a more intimate setting when you're on eye level with your subject - whether it's a toddler, a pet, or a basketball player. It creates an 'eye-to-eye' conversation between your subject and the reader.


• Shake things up. Some times it's good to come from a surprising angle. Since we're used to looking down on children, get beneath them and shoot up. Or shoot someone from over their shoulder to get a different perspective.


• Don't over direct. Photos tend to be better when they're more natural. Loosely compose your shot and then let the subject interact or move about while you choose the moment to click. Nothing is worse then the frozen 'cheese' smile with deer-in-the-headlights eyes!


• Set up your shots. It's Ok to stage a shot. Set up a few props and let the subject get comfortable with them.


• Get some interaction. Shots of people interacting with their environment can be very powerful. Some great examples would be a child playing with a puppy or a mom rocking her baby to sleep.


• You can't miss with humor. We're surrounded by the ridiculous, but sometimes it's hard to catch the moment in photos. Staging a humorous shot is OK. It may take a little creativity on your part but it can be very worth it. Some examples might be dressing a dog up in a suit or sitting him at the steering wheel of a car. It might just be something goofy or unexpected.


• Avoid the bull's-eye. Don't just place your subject in the center of the frame. That's boring. Have them a little off center.


• Follow the Rule of Thirds. Image a tic-tac-toe grid imposed over your viewfinder. Your goal here is to place your picture elements along those lines, especially at the intersections.


• Follow direction. If your subject is walking from left to right, don't take the photo with them on the right side. It will look like they're walking out of the photo. Have them on the left side so that it looks like they're waking 'in' to the photo. The same applies to the line of sight. Don't have your subject gazing out of the photo, have them gazing into it.


• Frame your shot. Use element within the image to form a frame around the subject. An example might be tree branches or flowers surrounding the gardener.


• Think of patterns. Sometimes elements in photos can form an interesting pattern. It might as simple as a row of windows leading to your subject or blocks of tile. Be creative, just be sure that the focus is on your subject.


• Simplify! The most important thing you can do to improve your images is to reduce the clutter. Walk around your subject to see if there is a better angle to take the photo. You'll create a much more powerful image.

There's the basics for taking some really great digital images for your next newsletter. Next month, we'll talk about crafting a really powerful caption to go along with your images to help draw your readers in and get them hooked.

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This article was written by Barbara Saunders, owner of Newsletter Associates, a complete newsletter service helping small businesses grow client relationships. For more information, visit www.newsletterassociates.com. ©2008 Barbara Saunders. All right reserved.