book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A l

For my recent book, “Building a PC for Beginners” I would have to supply more photos than I ever had for a project. My initial estimate was for somewhere around 100 illustrations. By the time I was done, the number would balloon to 155. The book only had 128 pages. For the first time in my life, a book I did would have more photography than text.

This did not particularly faze me. Actually, I love taking pictures, and consider 35mm film to be an art medium, much the same as paint and canvas. While I am no great practitioner of the craft, I feel myself competent to illustrate magazine pieces I’ve done, always giving editors a good supply of shots to select from.

But the number of photos this would require worried me. You see, this wouldn’t be a matter of just taking 155 photographs. That would only be 5 or 6 rolls of film. When you look at a book, or magazine article, for every picture used, dozens are culled. Some photographers consider getting 4 keepers out of 100 exposures to be a good ratio.

Now, that’s general magazine photography. Illustrating a how-to book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A li

first time in my life, a book I did would have more photography than text.

This did not particularly faze me. Actually, I love taking pictures, and consider 35mm film to be an art medium, much the same as paint and canvas. While I am no great practitioner of the craft, I feel myself competent to illustrate magazine pieces I’ve done, always giving editors a good supply of shots to select from.

But the number of photos this would require worried me. You see, this wouldn’t be a matter of just taking 155 photographs. That would only be 5 or 6 rolls of film. When you look at a book, or magazine article, for every picture used, dozens are culled. Some photographers consider getting 4 keepers out of 100 exposures to be a good ratio.

Now, that’s general magazine photography. Illustrating a how-to book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A l

ft, I feel myself competent to illustrate magazine pieces I’ve done, always giving editors a good supply of shots to select from.

But the number of photos this would require worried me. You see, this wouldn’t be a matter of just taking 155 photographs. That would only be 5 or 6 rolls of film. When you look at a book, or magazine article, for every picture used, dozens are culled. Some photographers consider getting 4 keepers out of 100 exposures to be a good ratio.

Now, that’s general magazine photography. Illustrating a how-to book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A l

y be 5 or 6 rolls of film. When you look at a book, or magazine article, for every picture used, dozens are culled. Some photographers consider getting 4 keepers out of 100 exposures to be a good ratio.

Now, that’s general magazine photography. Illustrating a how-to book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A l

book is much more efficient, because all the shots are posed, and the lighting is controlled. If you bracket your shots for safety’s sake, and do each shot from at least two angles, you’ll probably get a usable picture. That would mean shooting at a 6 to 1 ratio.

A little math led me to a frightening conclusion. 100 photos in the book would mean 600 exposures. That means 17 rolls of film at $5 a roll. Getting local processing, so I know my negatives won’t be scratched, is $12 a roll. That adds up to $289.

But, of course, that wouldn’t have been the actual bill. To get the 155 pictures I used would have necessitated 930 exposures at a 6 to 1 ratio. That would have me laying out $442 dollars for filmstock and processing.

Like most other folks who write, I’ve accepted that the wordsmith’s life requires a vow of poverty. Actually, with me it has required a second job. The idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a book I hadn’t yet sold was worrisome. I felt I was sure to get it back, but I didn’t know how long it would take. Plus, I really wanted to maximize my profit on this project.

In my heart, I knew what that would lead to. I’d shoot less film, and run more risk of not getting a good shot. I’d lower my standards for some of the pictures I selected, and quite possibly run the quality of the whole project down. My finishe