Guidelines 1

First, use quality equipment and become familiar with your camera and accessories well in advance of your trip. Review your manuals and shoot test rolls in the anticipated variety of lighting situations so that you'll know exactly how your camera will perform. In most situations, point-and-shoot cameras will not take the crisp, high-impact photos BCI needs.

Before going on a trip or to your study site, plan a list of pictures that will best illustrate your subject. An ideal set of pictures tells the story visually with little explanation. Write the list down and methodically look for opportunities to check off each photo during your time on location. Do not wait until late in the trip to begin taking pictures or save the most difficult for last. You may have appropriate lighting for a certain picture only once or twice on an entire trip.

For example, if you were planning photos of a mine gating project (see photos on this page), your shot list might include:

- Demolition of an inappropriate mine gate.

- Partners and contractor reviewing plans.

- Helicopter or heavy equipment moving steel onto the site.

- People working together to move steel into place in front of mine shaft.

- Wide angle shots showing mine shaft in scenic context or with old mining works in the background.

- Tight shots of the project to show details of people working.

- Media interviews in front of new gate.

- Final shots of completed project with partners and/or contractors.

- Special attention to participants in action.

This wide view of the work area includes the old mine in the background and someone removing the inappropriate closure in the foreground. Photo by Eric Munch/BCI

This tight shot of a gating project shows the placement of the steel and workers in action. Photo by Sheryl Ducummon.

BCI's Publications Department can work with either color print film or slides; the majority of our publications are now printed in color, so black-and-white photos are rarely accepted.

Fujicolor Press 800 print film is a very versatile (and forgiving!) film that will allow you to capture good images in a wide variety of lighting situations. We also use Fuji Provica 100F for many photo sessions. If you have questions about using other films, please call BCI for further information before your shoot (see contact information at end).

Don't scrimp on film. Your time and your subjects time is more valuable than the cost of film and processing. Decide on a few key shots and do whatever is required to be sure you have them.

Always know why a given picture is being taken, and plan the framing and composure to enhance the intended message. Pictures should tell a story, so be sure each one shows the activity in a self-explanatory fashion. The photograph should not have to rely on the caption to explain what is happening.

Candid shots rarely work. It may sound like a lot of effort to set up a specific shot, but in the end it saves time and frustration. Simply pose people doing what they normally do. Some good reasons for posing your subjects are:

- to improve lighting

- to improve background separation (contrast)

- to prevent confusing arrangements or people looking away

- to better illustrate a given activity

Posing doesnt mean that people should look at the camera. It simply means that you should seek the best possible view of your subjects and leave no unnecessary items in the composition. Plan your images the way an artist would plan a painting. For example, if your picture shows someone at a table, be sure the table is cleared of all extraneous materials, such as soda cans, then set up only those materials that lend credence to the subject, and be sure that all the important parts are visible. Then have your subjects start moving, talking, etc., just as you shoot, so the picture doesn't look stiff.

In some photos the photographers attempt candid shots. Inevitably, some of the people are looking out of the photo, are wearing inappropriate clothing or have hats that block their faces. In this photo, the photographer carefully selected and positioned visitors to the site. Note how each person is focused on the bats, with interested expressions. Photo by Merlin D. Tuttle