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Once Feature: That's one reason why the once 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 once feature photography. There are many photographers perfectly capable of doing once 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 once feature pictures. They lack the knack, something akin to the "nose for news" mentioned in the previous chapter, to recognize once feature picture material.
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 once feature sense in their own staff photographers. A good many editors post bonuses for their spot news men who bring in once feature sets and I know of one editor who threatened to fire any photographer who didn't produce at least one once 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.
Next to pretty girls, probably the most welcome subjects for once feature pictures are animals. Any unusual pet, or ordinary pet which has been especially trained, is a good bet for a salable once feature series. Activities of children are right up there with pretty girls and animals, too, as popular once feature subjects. Any precocious child who shows ability in any of the arts can be worked up into a story. Show the child actually doing the thing which sets him or her apart from other children. |
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