PHOTOGRAPHIC STANDARDS FOR SUBARU DRIVE PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE

Drive Performance Photo Standards. Subaru Drive Performance magazine often requests readers and contributors to take some photographs for an article or feature. While you probably know how to take a photo, you may not be aware of the sometimes unforgiving requirements for a photo that will be printed in a magazine. Here are a few tips to ensure your success: If you have any questions about taking photos, where to send them, or even what kind of camera to use, please contact us. Call at your convenience. We’re here to help you!

1. Set your digital camera at its highest resolution. When you view a photo on your computer screen, be aware that it will appear about five times smaller when printed in a magazine. That’s why setting your digital camera at the highest resolution possible will help guarantee that it will be large enough for printing in Drive Performance. It’s always better to have too much resolution than too little. Drive Performance magazine would be happy to pay for overnighting a CD versus receiving a smaller file via Email.

2. More photos are better. Whenever you set out to take photos, plan on taking a lot of photos. Drive Performance photographers will often take more than 50 photos when they know only one image will be chosen. However, these shouldn’t all be the same shot over and over again. Mix it up. If you’re taking a portrait, change the scenery, lighting, and angle. Take some with a flash and some without, some close-ups and some full-length shots. Be creative; try something different like holding the camera at an angle or intentionally leaving a lot of negative space around the subject. You get the idea. The reason for this is that it gives the graphic designer a lot of options to choose from to produce the best possible layout.

3. Be aware of composition. Sometimes a photo is unusable because the photographer didn’t pay attention to how he or she composed the photograph. For example, the page layout would look good with a full-length image, but the photo didn’t include the person’s feet. When framing the picture, be aware of all parts of the subject being framed: Is a person’s head in the center of the picture, leaving a lot of sky above the subject? Are the feet out of the frame when they should be in? The key is to try to take notice of these items before you snap the photo. Remember, a graphic designer can always crop a photo smaller but can’t add more to it!

4. Shed some light on the subject. Often the most beautiful photographs are ones that have extraordinary lighting. Likewise, poor lighting conditions can often make an otherwise good photo bad. Before you start taking pictures, consider the lighting condition. Are you placing the subject in front of a window, which will yield a silhouette? Is the subject in direct sunlight casting harsh shadows across it? Is a flash appropriate for the photo? Will an alternative light source work better? Asking yourself some of these questions before you snap a picture may make for better images.