The Art of taking Press photos
Don Nguyen - Written for PerformanceOmaha.com

Do you ever feel as if your press photos just aren't interesting enough? Do you hate having to come up with a good idea for one? Are you taking the press photos yourself and have no idea where to begin? Here are some tips and tricks for producing a good press photo.

Tell a Story
A picture is worth a 1,000 words. That old adage will always ring true and with reason. People's perceptions are often more powerful than what is on the printed page, and a good picture will help mold those impressions. Make your image tell a story. Something that's descriptive. How do you go about doing this? You tell a story through action. Suppose you have a picture of two people sitting on the couch. They both sit there with neutral expressions on their faces looking at each other. Doesn't really tell much, does it? Now suppose you make them kiss each other. You've just created action. We also have established a point of interaction between the two subjects, which in turn establishes a relationship. Let's take it further. The two subjects are kissing. What if one has his eyes closed obviously enjoying the kiss, but what if the other had her eyes open with a look of horror on her face? Now it tells a very different story, and it's much more interesting.

Here's a press photo for From Shelterbelt with Love. From the picture, we can assume that there are two young lovers kissing in the foreground with a rather scary cupid in the background. But everything is whimsical and the public understands what this show may be about. We've just told a story to the public.

Take one look at this photo, and I think immediately you'll know what the show is about.

Your photo is an Advertisment
If you plan on doing little to no advertising for your show then chances are that your press photo may be the only time the public is aware of your production. If your photo is uninteresting, the public also will perceive of your show as uninteresting. Capture their attention with strong images. Getting a press photo printed in the paper is not only great publicity but it also is a free ad. Make the most of it.

Here's one of my favorite photos. This was one of those rare occasions when we got the costume early and the I made pretty good use of available light. Christine Schwery is pictured here in one of her best roles to date. Doesn't matter what the show is about. The picture grabs your attention.

Keep the Cast Small
Newspapers typically do not like production photos that contain more than three people in them. There are a couple of reasons for this. One: it makes the picture look busy. Two: In the photo credits, they have to print more because they typically list the names of the people pictured. The more people in the picture, the more names. Remember, newspaper space is limited.

Here's an example of a busy picture.

Another example of a busy picture. The subject’s focus are all wrong. What was I thinking?

Here's an example of a well-composed, three-person picture.

Get Up Close and Personal
Close-ups are powerful and will make your photo stand out. The more eyes we see, the more we are drawn in. Don't be afraid to get up close and personal on a subject. Also, keep in mind that you probably will be taking your press photos early in production, meaning you'll rarely have a set built and hardly any costumes or props. Going for a close-up is a good idea if you don't have all of these elements in place. While a one-person close up is strong, a two-person close-up is even stronger.

In this example, we're looking at a press photo for Sunset, which features Alicia Dunn and Hugo Gonzales. I like this photo, because it contains several lines of interaction. Line 1: Hugo is focusing on Alicia. Line 2: Alicia is focusing not on Hugo, but something or someone out of frame. The third line of interaction is more subtle. Notice Alicia’s eye patch? It draws us back and now the public is interacting with the photo, trying to figure out why she has an eye patch. Also, the background contrasts nicely with our two foreground subjects. The proximity of the two actors to each other denotes an intimacy between them.

Backgrounds
Try to take your photo against a neutral background; try to avoid patterns. If your background has a strong pattern, blur it out.

Again we reference the Bette and Boo photo. It was important that we depict them in a church setting, but the stained glass windows were too obtrusive with their sharp colorful patterns. I blurred it out just enough so that it didn't pull focus off of the subjects, but still gave an indication of place.

Now, for one of my favorites - a press photo for Spooge: The Love and Sex Monologues. In this picture we have a red background with two silhouettes. This photo made for a nice poster but not a very good press photo. Why? Because you can't see their faces.

Here's a better one for Spooge: The Love and Sex Monologues. We can see Erika Hall and Derrick Crawford. Erika wore this great butterfly necklace during the shoot, and I wanted to include that. She is well framed in the photo, because Derrick is staring at her from behind and the butterfly necklace frames her face from below. This was all completely an accident.

Using Archetypes and Symbols
Archetypes are defined as a prototype or model for which other things are based. In the literary world, the hero and villain of a story are archetypes. Although different types of heroes and villains exist, they still possess those character traits that define them one way or the other. Why use archetypes and symbols? Because the general public immediately identifies them as such and quickly relates to them. Here are some examples of how I’ve used archetypes and symbols in press photos:

Example 1: A press photo for Shelterskelter shows two archetypes and one symbol. We have the damsel in distress and the villain standing behind her. He is holding his method of destruction, which is a hammer. As you can see, an everyday object has turned into a symbol of murder, and therefore the public quickly understands what's going on and what they can expect from this show. The photo is also accentuated with a green tone, giving the photo a more eerie feeling.

This photo comes from Precious Few. Here we have a prominent glass of wine in the foreground; Michael Taylor Stewart holds it. He is in a smoking jacket and his hair is slicked back. We can assume that he is a sophisticated, perhaps stuck up character. The glass of wine acts as a symbol of sophistication. Don't we all feel sophisticated when we drink wine? Mark Morello is standing behind him. He is dressed in a black suit and bow tie. But look. His bow tie is crooked. Who can this person be? Perhaps a chauffeur? You be the judge.

Postproduction
As I mentioned in my previous article about designing posters, learning Photoshop will greatly improve your images, and in turn improve your press photos. I've used Photoshop to enhance poorly taken pictures, added in new backgrounds, and dramatically enhanced images. Here are a couple of examples of how pictures can be manipulated in Photoshop.

This press photo for Tommy was taken against a very bland, dark brown background then I added in the pinball machine graphics. Notice that the background is filled with colorful patterns. But doesn't this go against the rule of using a neutral background? Sure it does. Rules are meant to be broken. In this photo, because the three subjects were all in white, using the patterned background actually makes them pop out, and it becomes a stronger image because of that.

For Ping Pong Diplomacy we needed to establish that there’s a strong love relationship that takes place in communist China. At the theatre, we only had some black walls. I wanted a giant picture of Chairman Mao to be in the background, but we didn't have one…that is until I Photoshopped it in.

This press photo for The Marriage of Bette and Boo was actually three separate shots: one of each actor taken against a white wall. I combined the two images and added a stained glass background.

Here, I had to digitally erase Roxanne Wach from this press photo for Nothin’ like a Dame. Can you tell where she originally was? If you can't, then I've done my job.

Go Digital
I think my camera skills have greatly improved because of my digital camera. The reason for this is I can immediately see the results of my photos after I've taken them and through trial and error, adjust the aperture, shutter speed, film speed, flash brightness, etc. If you want to save time and money, get a nice digital camera. Nothing less than a three megapixels, though Most newspapers will now accept press photos via e-mail. With the digital camera, I can snap the photos, Photoshop them if necessary, and e-mail them out to the press all in the same day, often within a few hours. Do yourself a favor and go digital if you can afford it. The cost of digital cameras is dropping rapidly, and the camera will pay for itself in no time, because you are no longer have to pay for film development.

Conclusion
I hope you have found this article helpful. Remember, it's only through trial and error that can you really develop a good eye for press photos, but, hopefully, these tips will help you to develop your sense for pictures much sooner.