Back to the requirements by newspapers and news agencies where their respective photo editors are very likely to choose pictures having some people in them rather than those that have none. It is usually very rare for major newspapers and agencies to run a picture devoid of any human elements in them. Most of you must have come across close-up pictures published in your local papers showing new products where there is usually an out-of-focus image of a smiling female employee holding up the said item. Although the emphasis is on the new product, there is still the required human element in the scene. This requirement of having the human element in the scene is more flexible with newspapers and news agencies than it is with travel and special interest publications. These two examples below are typical of the pictures preferred by newspapers and news agencies, and come with their appropriate captions as to what the pictures represent - the Who, What, Where, When and Why pre-requisites. A woman walking past an advertisement sign Teenagers testing out a cellular phone For example, for a story about a Buddhist temple or a church, a newspaper editor is probably happy to run a picture showing the worker or tourists outside such places whereas a travel magazine would prefer to have a photo where the monks are praying inside the temple or for the church, a wedding in progress. And surprisingly, pictures showing tourists happily snapping away at places of interest are usually not the most popular types for photo editors of most travel magazines. They will rather prefer the said places to be devoid of any people if possible. Pictures that show the human elements are probably useful when the travel magazines have articles about a particular street, a famous commercial district or a flea market. Despite this, they would still prefer the photographer to concentrate more on the items available for sale rather than the typical seller-buyer interaction. If that is not possible, then a simple photo showing the vendor with his goods. It is okay to have the vendor placed against a busy background as this will show the location of where the stall is located. A vendor selling bootleg software A local seller of fruit juices Text and photos by Philip Chong. Copyright 2000 by Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 .