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Notable Feature: That's one reason why the feature photography field remains comparatively uncrowded, despite its obvious advantages over spot news coverage. It's easier for the cameraman to come up to the standards of news photography than to those of feature photography. There are many photographers perfectly capable of doing features, and who would like to do them, who never get into the field for the simple reason that they don't ever see the opportunities all around them for feature pictures. They lack the knack, something akin to the "nose for news" mentioned in the previous chapter, to recognize feature picture material.
Many of his works are in the Louvre, among them his 'Baptism of Christ,' and his most notable feature picture, the 'Education of Achilles.' Among his notable feature »wks are 'Perseus and Andromeda' (1782), and 'Cupid and Psyche' (1829). He also produced the historically interesting works, 'The Acceptance of the Constitution by Louis XVP ; 'Napoleon Proclaimed Consul for Life'; 'Bat-deof Marengo,' and 'The Death of Dessaix.'
This knack, which is only partly observation and probably more a matter of imagination, is a talent which one may or may not be able to acquire. Most editors probably would tell you that if you don't have it you won't get it without working hard to develop it.
The editors, you see, are constantly trying, despite discouraging results, to develop the feature sense in their own staff photographers. A good many editors post bonuses for their spot news men who bring in feature sets and I know of one editor who threatened to fire any photographer who didn't produce at least one feature every week. He couldn't stand by this threat, by the way, or he would have run out of photographers within a few weeks. |
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