PHOTO BRIEF KEY INGREDIENTS:
A solid Photobrief (combination of a short news story/ news brief combined with a photo that is central to the essence of the story, not merely complementary; you may also add one or two more to the photo element of a photobrief)
A) A PHOTO HEADLINE/DESCRIPTOR
B) A PERSPECTIVE “HOOK” OR OVERVIEW (Sentence One)
C) A NEWS ELEMENT, with lookback to last year for context (Sent. Two)
D) A DESCRITPION/SPECIFICATION OF WHAT THE PHOTO IS ( –the second paragraph –to guide the eye of the beholder so it is not ‘open ended’ or vague; in other words, what are we looking at here?)
E) Focus on a person/the people in the photo and expansion of detail/theme of sentence two. This includes at least one name. In this case, I interviewed him briefly in a follow up phone call.
F) A CAPPER QUOTE from the source in the photo.
G) A byline of the photographer/writer (contributor/ person responsible )
NOTE that A-G are a composite of What/ When, Where and Who, with a touch of Why in the capper quote. There is no real how, which would be how he runs his operation (you call, he picks you up at Shoreline where his rig delivery trailer is parked and you get a 45 min tour, 4x per week. That might be added, esp to enrich the viewer with ‘how’ do I get a hold of this guy. I wanted to steer from a sort of infomercial approach for this example.
ALAMEDA’S CHRISTMAS TREE LANE ROLLS ON
Despite the chilling effect of Covid this year and heavy rains , Alameda’s famed Christmas Tree Lane lit the night with 55 decorated homes each adding to the festive atmosphere of the block, which draws thousands of onlookers every year. While the locale was notably sans Santa, this time, a rolling pedicab , festooned with lights and Holiday music filling the air from a trailer, enhanced the extravaganza
In this photo, California Pedicab pedal man, Gregg Fogg, at front of the rig, gives a night time tour to an engaged couple aboard his luminous rig on the evening of December 20th. Traditional Christmas carol music fills the air from the trailer behind what he has dubbed “Santa’s Sleigh”, adding more touches of the Christmas experience for all who turned out to take in the sights, sounds and merriment of Thompson Avenue.