Tip of the week: A picture is worth a thousand words, especially if you have to take photos to match a prewritten story. In 2013 I was commissioned to photograph Dr. Paschal at Paschal Orthodontics for a editorial in a national orthodontics magazine. I received a copy of the text that was going to run in the story and was given a list of photographs that they were requesting for editorial purposes.  My goal as the photographer was to make sure that I captured the appropriate photos to match up with the written story.

The editorial focused on what made Dr. Paschal's practice stand out and excel.  One of the major themes of the story was how Dr. Paschal's two dogs help comfort the patients throughout the office. For this particular shot I wanted to make the dog the focal point of the photo with the background being the context for the story. I got down to his level and shot with a wide aperture to separate the foreground from the background.

Another aspect that stood out was about Dr. Paschal visiting local schools and giving a presentation on how to brush teeth while using a broom. I was not able to photograph him during one of these presentations, however I got a photo of him holding a picture of the presentation in one hand and his broom in the other.

One of the last aspects that the editors wanted me to focus on was their environmentally friendly way of collecting and saving patient data. Again, I got low and made the reusable patient form the focal point of the photo with the out of focus computer as the background to provide context.     

24mm                f/2.8                   1/200             ISO 800

42mm                    f/2.8                 1/200                 ISO 1250