HANDBOOK FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Compiled by EMMANUEL QUAYE

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X FILING OF PHOTOGRAPHS
XHANDLING OF META DATA -FOR SEARCH ENGINES
A Guide to NEWSPAPER AND NEWS AGENCIES OPERATIONS A Brief Guide to Standards,
Photoshop and Captions
Contents

* 1 General
o 1.1 Accuracy
o 1.2 Independence
o 1.3 Freedom from Bias
o 1.4 Integrity
* 2 Photoshop
o 2.1 Rules
o 2.2 Guidelines
o 2.3 Technical Guidelines
o 2.4 To Recap
* 3 Set-ups / Staging of Pictures
* 4 Accuracy in Captions
* 5 Sensitive Images in a Controlled Environment
* 6 Photo Opportunities
* 7 Caption examples
X 8 Handling of Meta Data and filing
General

Everything we do as photographers has to be independent, free from bias and

executed with the utmost integrity. These are our core values and stem from the
Graphic Trust Principles.

INTERNATIONAL Journalists:

* Always hold accuracy sacrosanct.

* Always correct an error openly.
* Always strive for balance and freedom from bias.
* Always reveal a conflict of interest to a manager.
* Always respect privileged information.
* Always protect their sources from the authorities.
* Always guard against putting their opinion in a news story or editorializing.
* Never fabricate or plagiarise.
* Never alter a still or moving image beyond the requirements of normal image
enhancement.
* Never pay for a story and never accept a bribe.

Accuracy

Accuracy means that our images and stories must reflect reality. Most good
newspapers are transparent about errors. They correct them promptly and clearly,
whether in a story, a caption, a graphic or a script.
Independence

Independence is the essence of their reputation and hold the fundamental to the
trust that allows them to report impartially from all sides of a conflict or
dispute. Their independence stems not only from the structure of their
organisations but also from their duty as journalists to avoid conflicts of
interest or situations that could give rise to a perception of a conflict.

Freedom from Bias

They will not be accepted without freedom from bias. This neutrality is a hallmark
of our news brand and allows them to work on all sides of an issue, conflict or
dispute without any agenda other than accurate, fair reporting.

Integrity

Integrity requires us to adhere to the highest ethical standards of their

profession and to the values enshrined in Their Trust Principles. As a member of
the International team, they are expected to accept certain responsibilities,
adhere to acceptable professional standards in matters of personal conduct and
exhibit a high degree of personal integrity at all times.

Photoshop

Photoshop is a highly sophisticated image manipulation programme. Press

photographers are expected to use only a tiny part of its potential capability to
format their pictures, crop and size them and balance the tone and colour.

Materially altering a picture in Photoshop or any other image editing software will
lead to dismissal and non engagement again.

Rules

* No additions or deletions to the subject matter of the original image. (thus

changing the original content and journalistic integrity of an image)
* No excessive lightening, darkening or blurring of the image. (thus misleading
the viewer by disguising certain elements of an image)
* No excessive colour manipulation. (thus dramatically changing the original
lighting conditions of an image)

Guidelines
CALIBRATION OF SCREENS AND PHOTOSHOP
Only minor Photoshop work should be performed in the field. (Especially from
laptops). We require only cropping, sizing and levels with resolution set to
300dpi. Any further required Photo-shopping should be done on calibrated hi-
resolution screens. This typically entails lightening/darkening, sharpening,
removal of dust and basic colour correction.
This includes basic colour correction, subtle lightening/darkening of zones,
sharpening, removal of dust and other minor adjustments that fall within the above
rules. Recommendations on the technical settings for these adjustments appear
below. The level of Photoshop privileges granted to photographers should be at the
discretion of the Chief/Senior Photographers within the above guidelines. All
photographers should understand the limitations of their laptop screens and their
working environments.
Photographers should be trained in the use of Photoshop by qualified Adobe trainers
to a standard set by senior pictures staff.
Technical Guidelines
Cloning, Healing or Brush Tools are not to be used. The single exception to this
rule is sensor dust removal. The cloning tool will only be used below the 100
pixels radius setting.
Saturation should not be used. It affects image quality and cannot be judged well
on a laptop screen and adds nothing more than what can be achieved in levels.
Colour Balance adjustment should be kept to the minimum, especially on laptop
screens which tend to have a blue dominance.
Levels should only be adjusted to the start points of the histogram graph on both
shadows and highlights.

Auto Levels should not be used.

The Burn Tool in most cases should only used to subtly darken areas that have been
overexposed. When the burn tool is used in shadows a visible element of everything
that can be seen in the raw file must remain visible.

Highlights and Shadows can be toned by using the selective highlights tool, a
feather of 25-30 and then adjusted in curves.

The Lasso Tool should not be used when using a laptop to file pictures. It is
essential that great care is taken with this tool to avoid the halo effect which
is produced when the feathering is too great and the tonal change bleeds over
into the unselected zone. Likewise, not enough feathering will produce a vivid
jagged edge to the lasso area. Typically a feathering setting of between 5 and 20
pixels is used, depending on the size and positioning of the zone.
The Eye Dropper can be used on a neutral gray area to set colour. But is dependent
on the quality of the computer screen to determine if you are in fact seeing a real
gray! Sharpening should be set at zero (0) in the camera. Pictures may then be
sharpened by 300% at a radius of 0.3, threshold 0, in Photoshop.

No selective area sharpening should be done.

Third-party Sharpening Plug-ins are not permitted.

Third-party Noise-Reduction Plug-ins should be avoided but are acceptable if Chief

Photographers are convinced they are being used properly.

Camera Settings, in particular saturation (and Image Styles in the Canon 5D) should
be set to standard with the exception of in-camera sharpening which should be
turned OFF. The Color setting Adobe RGB is the International standard.

Multiple-Exposure pictures must be clearly identified in the caption and drawn to

the attention of picture editors.

To Recap

Allowed:

* Cropping
* Adjustment of Levels to histogram limits
* Minor colour correction
* Sharpening at 300%, 0.3, 0
* Careful use of lasso tool
 * Subtle use of burn tool
* Adjustment of highlights and shadows
* Eye dropper to check/set gray

Not Allowed:

* Additions or deletions to image

* Cloning & Healing tool (except dust)
* Airbrush, brush, paint
* Selective area sharpening
* Excessive lightening/darkening
* Excessive colour tone change
* Auto levels
* Blurring
* Eraser tool
* Quick Mask
* In-camera sharpening
* In-camera saturation styles
Set-ups / Staging of Pictures
International Prees photographers, staff and freelance, must not stage or re-enact
news events. They may not direct the subjects of their images or add, remove or
move objects on a news assignment. Our news photography must depict reality. Any
attempt to alter that reality constitutes fabrication and can lead to disciplinary
action,including dismissal.
Photographers may direct the subjects of portraits, formal interviews and non-news
feature images needed to illustrate a story. The caption must not mislead the
reader into believing these images are spontaneous.
The presence of the media can often influence how subjects behave. When the
behavior shown is the result of the medias presence, our captions must make that
clear. If photographers orchestrate or set up scenes, it is still a set-up.
The best news photography occurs when the presence of the camera is not noticeable.
Photographers should be as unobtrusive as possible to avoid influencing events and
consider using long lenses.

Composite images that show the progression of an event (e.g. lunar eclipse, time
lapse) must indicate the technique in their captions. They are never acceptable in
a news assignment. Captions must also make clear when a specialty lens (e.g. lens
babies, tilt-shift lenses) or a special technique (e.g. soft focus, zooming) has
been used to create an image in portraiture or on a features assignment.

Handout images from outside sources should be examined carefully for accuracy and
news value. Questionable handout images will be reviewed by the Duty Editor in
Charge, whose decision is final on whether they are published. Photographers or
Editors who pass on handout images must alert the Editor of the paper is suspect.

Accuracy in Captions

Just as our news photographs must reflect reality, so too should our captions. They
must adhere to the basic Reuters rules of accuracy and freedom from bias and must
answer the basic questions of good journalism. Who is in the picture? Where was it
taken? When was it taken? What does it show? Why is a subject doing a particular
thing?

Captions are written in the present tense and should use concise, simple English.
They generally consist of a single sentence but a second sentence should be added
if additional context or explanation is required.
Contentious information, like death tolls in conflict, must be sourced. The caption
must explain the circumstances in which a photograph was taken and state the
correct date.

Captions must not contain assumptions by the photographer about what might have
happened, even when a situation seems likely. Explain only what you have witnessed.
All other information about an event must be sourced unless you are certain of your
information.

Captions also should not make assumptions about what a person is thinking e.g.
England captain David Beckham ponders his future after his team was knocked out of
the World Cup soccer finals ... Stick to what the photo shows and what you know.

The Duty Editor-in-Charge will come back to the photographer or the Chief
Photographer with questions if the caption does not fully explain the image. For
this reason, photographers must remain contactable until their work is published.

Sensitive Images in a Controlled Environment

Some of our photographs are taken under controlled conditions in which

photographers cannot operate freely. This is particularly true during conflicts and
in countries where the medias movements are restricted.

Such photographs must say if the image was taken during an organised or escorted
visit unless the photographer was truly free to work independently. The
circumstances can usually be indicated in a short, second sentence in the caption.
For examples, please see Appendix A of the complete Guide to Caption-Writing for
Reuters.

Photo Opportunities

Reuters does not stage news photos. Sometimes, subjects may strike an artificial
pose, such as at a product launch, a show business event or a sports victory
ceremony or when requested to do so to illustrate a feature. In some circumstances,
such as during demonstrations, civil unrest, street celebrations or conflict, the
presence of photographers and television crews may prompt subjects to act
abnormally.

These images should be few and can be clichs. They must be clearly captioned to
show the reader that the actions are not spontaneous and to explain the context.
There are many ways to describe the situation without saying that the subject
poses for a photograph, though we should say so when it is clearly the case.

See below a selection of examples. For a more complete set, with pictures, please
see Appendix F of the complete Guide to Caption Writing for Reuters.

The Global Pictures Desk will flag any possible issues to the Chief Photographer
who carries the responsibility for the file from the region in question.

Caption examples

* An employee of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd shows the media the companys new
32-Gigabit NAND flash memory card (top) and chip during a news conference in Seoul
September 11, 2006. Samsung said it has developed the world's first 32-Gigabit NAND
flash memory devices. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (SOUTH KOREA)
* Actress Helen Mirren poses with the Coppa Volpi at the Venice Film Festival
September 9, 2006. Mirren won the Best Actress award for her role in director
Stephen Frears' movie 'The Queen'. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (ITALY)
* A man lies dead in the street May 7 after a NATO daylight air raid near a
market over the town of Nis some 200 kilometres south of Belgrade. The Yugoslav
army took media to show them damage it said the raid caused to two residential
areas and a hospital. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan
* Nobel Peace prize winner Wangari Maathai hugs a tree for photographers in
Nairobi October 9, 2004. Maathai, a Kenyan, became the first African woman to win
the Nobel Peace Prize, the first Nobel given to an environmentalist. REUTERS/Radu
Sigheti
* A Mexican soccer fan wearing a traditional sombrero waves his countrys flag
at a photographer before a Copa America quarterfinal match against Brazil at Miguel
Grau stadium in Piura, July 18, 2004. REUTERS/Henry Romero