A feature picture is a single picture that tells a story. It could be a color or black-and-white print or a transparency. It is quite possible that the end product will be used in the print media, in the electronic media, as an advertisement (recruiting, for example), as a news feature, or for photographic exhibition.

A feature picture serves a single purpose-to tell a story quickly and clearly. A "feature picture" is defined as any picture, other than instantaneous news, that informs, entertains, or provokes a reaction or response.

The goal of a feature picture is to communicate. Without the power to communicate an idea or feeling, the finest quality print and prolonged hours of work are reduced to a mere sheet of photographic paper. Whether it is your goal to become an artist, technical photographer, or photojournalist, the finished product must be of professional quality. It is this quality that helps transmit the message that you worked to produce.

No doubt, the feature photos that inform are the most common. This is the photo you see on the front page of a newspaper, the one that shows Miss America receiving her crown, or the flooded Mississippi River as it overflows its banks. These are informative pictures that have lost some of the hurry-up, rush-rush of a hard (straight) news photo.

When a feature picture is used to entertain, it usually depicts the lighter side of life. It does not require the full attention of the reader to get the message; for example, children and animals in funny situations, such as a small boy trying to give a St. Bernard a bath in a washtub. Just the idea conjures up images of soap and water everywhere. This is the kind of photograph that is explicit, and when the quality is good, it transmits the message effortlessly.

A feature picture can be used to provoke an action, to excite someone, or to create a feeling. Here the message is strong and emotional. The photographer has a particular feeling he or she wishes to bring out in the reader. This is the type of picture that moved Congress to pass laws prohibiting child labor fig.1~2.

Research

Defining a feature picture is fundamental; the process you will find complicated is researching the subject. Once the originator of an assignment provides the photographer with an idea of the kind of pictures desired, it is up to you, as the photographer, to perform the necessary research.

The photographer should ask the following questions: "What are the requirements of the assignments? What is the end product going to be-black-and-white or color, prints, or transparencies? What are the size requirements of the pictures, as well as in what publication, if any, will they be used? Where is each photograph to be used-as a cover by itself or in connection with other photographs for a story? Will the prints be used in an exhibition or placed on display somewhere"?

Only through research can you answer the many questions pertaining to the assignment. Thorough research will provide the necessary details you need to plan the shooting and to bring together all the necessary elements of the photographs.

Making Feature Pictures

Making feature pictures may require elaborate technical effort and unusual compositions, yet it may be simple. When you produce feature pictures, you must work carefully and take time to consider and evaluate your approach. Unlike a news assignment, a feature picture assignment permits you to exercise more control over the situation. You are better able to control the subject, lighting, and composition.

To be a good photojournalist, you must use correct composition to make the message clear that your picture is meant to get across. The position of the subject, the highlight and shadow areas, the use of leading lines, and the foreground and background must be controlled to best tell the story. When the picture elements are arranged, you must think of what is included, what is missing, and what is suggested.

To dramatize an idea for a feature picture, you have many tools to work with. Knowing your subject and subject selection are significant. Imaginative lighting can be used to create a mood. Many photographers take full advantage of fast lenses and fast film to use available light.

For a feature picture to have more impact, you may find it necessary to distort or accentuate the perspective with various focal-length lenses. The camera position is also important. You can use a distant panoramic shot to set the scene and a closeup shot to emphasize significant detail. Shooting from a low camera angle adds stature to the subject. A high camera angle creates a sense of separation; it shows more of what is happening.

The control you exercise over the scene can add interest and variety to feature pictures. Electronic flash and fast-shutter speeds can "freeze" action and "stop" what is too fast for the eye to see. By using the right application of slow-shutter speeds, you can blur moving objects, giving an illusion of movement to your pictures. Time exposures of moving lights create motion patterns, as does panning the camera with the subject. The serious photojournalist also skillfully controls depth of field.

Picture Quality

For publications, you want to deliver the best full-toned, normal print to the printer that is possible. This means that the print must have full highlight and shadow detail. The print must be of proper density, never so light or so dark that it loses detail. Contrast should always be normal, unless the subject matter requires higher or lower contrast. Printing in a newspaper, book, or magazine tends to increase the contrast of a photograph; and it often becomes darker. A display print, on the other hand, is viewed directly and does not go through the lithographic process. But, here again, the best possible print must be made with detail in highlights and shadows. It must have proper contrast and density and be dust- and spot-free. It is important for you to know how the photograph is going to be viewed

Figure 1-2.-Feature pictures

Figure 1-2.-Feature pictures-Continued.

Oftentimes, a display print is viewed under lights that are much brighter than usual. When you view a print under normal room light, it looks fine; but when you view the same print under a brighter light, it may look flat and washed out. This is because the additional light being reflected from all areas of the print causes the dark areas to look lighter and the light areas to look brighter (with some loss of detail). The overall effect is a flat, washed-out print. You can remedy this by printing the display print slightly darker than you would consider normal - once again, normal contrast with detail in the highlights and shadows, but slightly darker.

Mounting Display Prints

Photographers categorize their work with that of an artist or scientist, meaning they see photography as either an art or a science. No matter what school of thought you hold, it should still be your goal to have your prints viewed, appreciated, and most importantly, communicate your message. This is the reason that the salon mount came into use. In photography, this means a display print that is mounted for exhibition.

To mount display prints, you should begin by selecting a mounting board 2 to 4 inches larger than the print size. Your selection of color should compliment the photograph. Thickness of the board, of course, is optional.

The preferred placement of prints for salon mountings is near the OPTICAL CENTER. This allows for pleasant placement of the photograph as well as room for the photographer's name and print title below the print. The steps for mounting prints are as follows fig. 1-3

1. Place the print in the upper left-hand comer of the mount with its top right and lower left comers falling at points A and B, respectively.

2. Divide the remaining space (point A to C) in half to locate point D, then draw a light pencil line (point D to E) parallel to the edge of the mount. Do the same with the bottom portion of the mount (point G to I).

3. Draw line BI. The intersection of this line with line DE gives point J.

4. Mount the print with its right edge on line DE and the lower right corner on point J.

5. The print is now at the optical center of the mount. Now place the photographer's name and title below the photograph.

Fiure 1-3. -Print mounting.

6. Erase all pencil lines.