Funny Business

   Interviews can be intense, but there is always room for a bit of fun. Some examples from my work:

   An exchange with a company owner for a profile I was writing:

CMcC: “Tell me a funny story.”

Owner: [silence].

CMcC: “What would you do if you were the Minister of Transport?”

Owner: “That’s a funny question.”

   (I still laugh every time I replay that exchange in my head.)

Chicken sorters wearing yellow gloves ... like chicken feet! Coincidence?

   A CEO I recently interviewed was happily chatting away, dropping f-bombs and being very candid. At one point, this:

CMcC: “You've never taken that course that teaches you how to say nothing to journalists, have you.”

CEO: [laughter] “The Quebec [delete] Association I was head of wanted me to take a course. I said, ‘No. If I don’t want to talk with a journalist, I won’t. If I say something I shouldn’t, I’ll survive.’”

   I called a shipping company for a photo of a bulk carrier for a construction story (the covered deck hides what is inside):

PR woman: “Does it matter if the ship isn’t carrying rock?”

CMcC: “No. I don’t have to tell anyone if the ship is full of sheep.”

PR woman: [laughing] “We don’t carry sheep in our ships!”

Copyright © Carroll McCormick 2014

Beauty & Beholder

   After I posted Pen & Camera, a reader asked, “What is a publication-quality image?" Here are some basics considerations for what to offer your editor:

1) File size should be minimum 1MB* jpeg;

2) The subject must be in focus, properly exposed, not backlit;

4) The shot should be uncluttered, well composed;

5) The subject matter should be clean**, intact;

6) Scour shots for embarrassing background, like nudie calendars (no joke, been there);

7) People places should have people in them;

8) People must not look scared, asleep, depraved;

9) Workers must wear appropriate safety equipment;
10) Last but not least, the photo has to support your story.

Isn’t this gorgeous? (Photo: Héli-Boréal)

* 1MB is a goal, not a law. As little as 600Kb can work, but files lots larger than 1MB give layout the option to make the shot bigger on the page.

** Unless you are telling a dirty story.

Copyright © Carroll McCormick 2014