The Editorial Eye: Part One

Photography basics

Edward Swafford

Jun 05, 2025

Transcript

Collage created by author using Substack editor. Images by: Sachith Ravishka Kodikara, Imade Anthony, Koolshooters, and Oss Leos.

An image shouldn’t be seen as an add-on to a work of great writing. It can (and should) tell part of the story.

Sometimes, it can even outshine the written word itself….

For this maiden episode, I’m going to run Black Coffee Poetry aficionados through the fundamentals. I’ll keep the gobbledygook photography terminology to a minimum!

KEEP IN MIND: This podcast focuses on free-to-use OR Creative Commons images. CC images will require you to cite the photographer’s name and hyperlink their image URL.

EVOKING AN EMOTION. Image by Olga Shenderova.

WHERE TO SOURCE THE PERFECT PICTURE

Pixabay
Pexels
Shutterstock (best utilized with a paid subscription)
UnSplash (don’t underestimate this slept-on site!)
Flickr (look for the FREE or CC icon, some photographers won’t offer courtesy prints)
DeviantArt (again, look for the FREE or CC icon)
Relationship building with specific photographers of choice

SEARCH KEYWORDS - THEY MATTER

Beauty
Intense
Stare
Male
Female
Lush
Saturation
Strong
Futuristic
Kaleidoscope
Athletic
Landscape
Gothic
Using a color before any of the above keywords (red beauty, blue male, and so on)

CORRECT CITATION AS FOLLOWS…

RESOLUTION, RESOLUTION, RESOLUTION!

Every image has a unique pixel count
Higher pixel count = higher resolution
Look for a good Dimension (2500 x 1600 as an example)
An amazing image with mediocre resolution CAN be salvaged in certain circumstances, more on that in the next episode…

CROPPING

An underused approach to “perfect” an image
Can change the entire focal point of a picture
Works best on images with high pixel counts (high-resolution)
To demonstrate, see image below!
In the uncropped version, the disco ball commands the space, whereas in the post-crop version, the model is now in focus and symmetrical