Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/August 2017/Op-ed
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Military and military history photography |
- By Nick-D
A rewarding way of developing Wikipedia articles is to illustrate them with photos you've taken yourself. If you have the opportunity to travel to see the subject of an article, it can be surprisingly easy to generate the best-available images of it: while Wikimedia Commons' collections are vast, coverage of individual topics is surprisingly patchy and where photos are available they often aren't very useful. Seeking photos for an article can also lead you to some interesting places.
There's a huge amount of advice available on the internet and in books on the nuts and bolts of photography, and on Commons about copyright rules, which I won't go into. The following is some advice on how to take photographs which are useful for Wikipedia military history articles based on my personal experiences.
Getting the shot
While turning up and just snapping away can produce useful results, investing time in planning will usually lead to a dramatically better results.
- It's very important to conduct research before embarking on photography expeditions. If you're visiting a museum, try to see what its collection includes so you know what to look out for. If you're visiting a site, familiarise yourself with what took place there.
- Also look at Commons' holdings on the subject and the images used in articles, and consider whether there are any gaps to be filled or images which are of a poor quality and should be replaced. Don't assume that just because a location is heavily visited that Commons' coverage of it is good - sometimes the opposite is true!
- You may also want to post a note on the article's talk page or a central board ahead of time asking other editors if they have requests, especially if you're visiting an obscure or significantly under-represented site.
- That said, it can pay to not overthink things: if you have a familiarity with the topic, you'll find good subjects to photograph - and not necessarily just those you were expecting.
- As the saying goes, the best camera is the one that's with you. Modern smartphone cameras are fine for landscapes and OK in museums at the like, and typically can be set to automatically add GPS tags to photos if you so desire. However, they can't take the place of a more advanced camera for photographing moving or distant subjects, especially under difficult light conditions. It's also desirable to use as good a camera as you have to 'future proof' the image - digital photos taken ten years ago can look pretty ordinary today.
- Take lots of photos: digital images cost nothing, and can prove useful in surprising ways. For instance, I recently dug through photos I took during a ferry ride in Brisbane during 2008 and found a photo of an obscure vessel that just happened to have been operated by the Royal Australian Navy in World War II and which I was then able to add to a newly created article.
Composing the shot
The main objective in taking encyclopedic photos is to capture what the subject looks like in as clear a way as is possible. While this can involve breaking some of the best-known 'rules' of photography, others are worthwhile:
- The rule of thirds usually isn't very useful as typically putting the subject in the centre of the frame produces the best results. This can be done either when the photo's taken, or by cropping the end product.
- The golden hour also isn't a good time to take photos for encyclopedia articles as colours can be inaccurate or the backgrounds distracting. While noon light typically produces washed-out results, sunny mornings seem to work particularly well.
- It's very important to minimise clutter as this is distracting in articles - especially as images are typically viewed as thumbnails. Taking extra effort to get a clear shot at the subject will almost always pay off.
- If you're taking photos of geography with military history significance, try to replicate the perspectives that were important in the events which took there: for instance, a trench-level view towards the objective (and vice-versa). Taking a photo of the perspective in the same weather and light conditions as the event should be worth bonus points!
- As well as taking general photos of the subject, look for interesting aspects of it which might be useful. For instance, the engines of an aircraft, the barrel of an artillery gun or a small part of a site.
- Watch for shadows and reflections: no-one wants to see you, or your friends and family, accidentally included in the shot.
- If you're photographing items in a museum or at a signposted site, it's always a good idea to also take a photo of the label. This will ensure that you remember what the item you photographed is (including years down the track), and can include any interesting facts about in the Wikimedia Commons record or the article.
Don't go to jail, or get injured
While this goes without saying, photographing military subjects can involve some safety and legal risks:
- In many countries (even easy-going Australia) photographing active duty military installations or hardware without permission is - at least technically - illegal. In some countries or circumstances these laws can be enthusiastically enforced. Research the rules which apply if you're considering taking such photos, watch out for warning signs, and ask permission if in doubt.
- This can include looking for opportunities to legally photograph restricted topics - open days, parades and other events where military equipment is placed on public display are an obvious opportunity though you may have to contend with large crowds.
- Watch your step: front line military sites generally aren't designed with safety as a priority, and decommissioned forts, warships and the like often don't have terribly good safety precautions. You don't want to fall off something while trying to compose an image!
- If you have served in a combat zone in a military or civilian role and your terms of service permit (and they often don't), you may want to consider donating photos taken by yourself to Commons - these can be of very great value.
Adding photos
In general, the Wikipedia mantra of "be bold" applies to adding your own photos to articles once they're on Commons. However, it's a good idea to do this in a courteous and constructive way:
- If the subject is already illustrated by photos, honestly assess whether yours are superior before replacing the existing images. This is especially true if other editors object: it's very bad form to try to edit war your photos in.
- Don't overcrowd articles with photos. Add only the best, and use the relevant templates to link to where the others are on Commons.
- As you add photos, or expand the related articles, reflect again on whether Commons' coverage of the subject is adequate and whether any of the other photos you took would be helpful - sometimes a second, or third, or fourth pass through your collection turns up useful images.
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