Field Photography Basics

By John “JR” Rickinger

Photography may not be your primary bailiwick, but if you’re in sales, technical marketing or any number of other disciplines where visuals can play a role, then these tips are for you. More and more companies are asking their field or sales teams to capture product installs and application photography for use in internal training materials and newsletters. A little photo training won’t turn you into a trained professional photographer, but it just might make your day-to-day photography skills a little sharper and a little more usable.

1. Tell a story with your pictures. This is about what you’re trying to show or document through the photograph. Photo documentation is fine, but try to put yourself in the shoes of your intended audience, and answer the questions they may have about your subject, before they get raised.
2. Avoid heavy back lighting. Beware when the sun is behind your intended subject rendering it in shadow and take steps to balance the lighting on your subject and the background. If possible, add artificial or flash “fill light” to counter the shadows.
3. Adjusting exposure (EC) is used to change the exposure from the setting automatically selected by the camera. EC is used when lighting conditions cause very bright and very dark areas in a scene. Exposure can be changed in increments such as: -1, -.7, +.7, +1. When the main subject is darker than a bright background, use a positive number. If the subject is much lighter than the background, use a negative number.
4. Bracketing helps ensure proper exposure of a scene by taking several photos at different exposure settings. Many digital cameras have an automatic bracketing mode, or it can be done manually.
5. A tripod is an essential tool when trying to capture images in a low-light situation when slow shutter speeds can render subject matter blurred, or exaggerate the movement caused by hand-holding the camera.
6. Still photography is a two-dimensional medium – that’s left to right, top to bottom. Your photos will improve when you add depth to the shot. The best photos exploit the foreground-to-background relationship by placing people or objects in the foreground toward the edge of the frame. This method helps eliminate the flat photo.
7. Frame your shots by using natural objects at the extreme edge, top or bottom of the image. You’ll produce more interesting photos this way.
8. Move in or utilize the camera zoom lens to fill the frame with interesting material. Don’t stand back too far from the subject, and be sure to include all of the subject material within the frame. Also, avoid empty sky or ground next to your primary subject. Finally, fill the photo with people, equipment or scenery to make it more visually appealing.
9. Experiment with every shot. Take lots of pictures of the same subject from low and high angles, as well as a variety of locations.
10. Employ the “two-thirds rule” when placing or including people in your shots. Imagine your camera’s viewfinder is split into thirds by two horizontal lines. Place the eyes of the person being photographed two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the frame for a more natural composition.
11. Don’t center your subject’s eyes or the face in the middle of the frame. This rule holds true for close ups and full-body shots.
12. Avoid posing people – especially non-professional models. Do not have them look at you during the shot. Have them interact with each other or the product, but keep their faces toward the camera. Refrain from shooting vacation-style photos. And above all, don’t use shots of people showing that “knowing smile.”
13. Have enough digital memory capacity. Just like when we made sure to have enough rolls of film when using traditional cameras, make sure you always have enough memory capacity in your digital camera or chip.

Following these simple tips will help you produce higher quality photos in virtually any environment. Photographing a conveyor at an aggregate facility might not turn you into Ansel Adams, but if you follow these basic rules you’re guaranteed a quality image.