# Photography for Technical Literature



## techwriter (Dec 5, 2013)

Hey everybody 

New here. I love photography and have been doing it for a while just for fun, nothing really advanced. Got a Canon Rebel t3 and pair it up with Photoshop for some fun photos at family events, hiking, etc. I also dabble in web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and use MySQL for db needs).

Well, my new boss (just started the job) just found out I can photograph and develop websites and liked what he saw. I'm a technical writer, writing safety manuals, operation manuals, project proposals, etc. Now he has visions manuals not only hosted online (no problem with that), but also high detail photos in the instruction manuals.

In many cases, like operations and safety manuals, this is not a problem at all. In fact, I think it's an improvement. HOWEVER, we make BIG equipment - as in 100+ tons. Sooo...lots of parts of various sizes, very complicated, and I would much rather use line drawings (we are going to use those for schematics), but he wants photos even for part repair.

The problem is I have never done THIS type of photography, and I'm seeing all sorts of problems before I even start, namely color and lighting. With line drawings, it's simple 2D drawing with no light at all to worry about, and you always have a great angle. I don't have a clue how I'm going to do this. I'm not asking for a full answer here, but can someone maybe point me to a book or give me some basic ideas? (Thought about doing black and white with super high contrast, but I don't know how well that will work).

Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks!

-techwriter.


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## vintagesnaps (Dec 5, 2013)

Of course you're seeing problems before you even start - I'm an experienced photographer but I wouldn't take on something that I don't know how to do. You might need to point out what your skills are so your boss realized he needs to find a professional photographer that does this type work. Then at some point down the road you might be able to do this instead of your company needing to contract it out.


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## amolitor (Dec 5, 2013)

Line drawings are as a general rule much better. Neither a photograph nor a line drawing looks much like the real thing once you get the hood up and you're on your back in the mud staring up into the thing with a flashlight. So you might as well pick the one that has the better information.

Sometimes a photograph is useful to provide context for the line drawing. A photo, with a couple of red arrows labelled GROBSCREW and BLARNUT or whatever, to help you orient yourself relative to the line drawing, once you are inside the thing.

I'm sorry you're stuck with this, as I suspect it's a bad idea.

Get a tripod if you haven't got one, and a clamp on work light or two. Set up lights to try to a) show the things that need to be shown clearly and b) to give enough modeling/shadow/depth to give the viewer a more or less realistic and useful view of the thing they'll actually be looking at.


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## Overread (Dec 5, 2013)

Light Science and Magic - 4th edition - is the book you want to get to start getting a good grounding in lighting, especially on difficult materials like metals and glass that you'll likely have in your construction setup. 

I think that your boss is thinking its a case of quick snap and you're done, whilst the reality is that it can be far more complicated and time consuming (especially when its not your area of expertise) to get good clear shots for each item for a high quality manual. 

You may also find that you need to invest in lighting gear to get this to to work well - at which point you may find that you're personal requirement to perform the job is growing combined with your normal work load. It might be well to suggest to your boss that if he really wants this he might need to hire a professional photographer. 

As an additional point when ever I get a book for bird/animal/insect identification I always aim to get one with drawn plates instead of photographs. It's a LOT easier to display the ideal item  in a drawing without any distractions of colour, light, shadow etc... as well as any imperfections that occur in reality but can be left out of drawn references. Sometimes a photo does work but many times a clearly drawn sketch is a lot easier to view.


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## KmH (Dec 5, 2013)

Your profile does not indicate what country you are in.

Something you may not have considered is copyright ownership of any images you make at work.

Here in the USA, absent a written agreement to the contrary, you would own the image copyrights because your primary job is technical writing and not photography.
In that situation the company would need your permission to use the images.

In fact a major part of the commercial photography business model relies on the photographer charging a use licensing fee for each image used.

This may give you an idea of the value commercial photography can have and the extent to which your employer is wanting to take advantage of you.
The link details how a successful estimate for a 1 day commercial shoot was put together - Case Study: Producing A Successful Estimate | DigitalPhotoPro.com


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## techwriter (Dec 5, 2013)

Wow, lots of responses very quickly. Thanks to all.

Thank you especially Overread. I will check into that book. In the meantime while I'm learning, maybe I can get our drafters who use solidworks to provide some 3D modeling images that are more impressive than line drawings, but much easier to manipulate for our needs, plus most will already be drawn anyway for documentation purposes.

KmH - I don't feel taken advantage of at all. My contract doesn't really include a title beyond the hand written "position applying for" on the application, and it said "other duties as assigned" so I probably wouldn't get very far  But I don't mind doing different work than originally planned in the least. In fact, I kinda like it.

First - I'm NOT a professional photographer, nor are my pictures anywhere near that quality, and the quality I can make takes me much longer than a pro. Charging my employer as if I was a pro, in my opinion, would be unethical. If I brought this up, the most likely thing to happen would be he would tell me to stop doing any photography and/or web development, and I want the experience so I can either work my way up or for another job in the future if we should ever part ways.

Second - I am a technical writer because that's what I do (mainly), not what my title is. I don't know if you have ever worked for a tiny company in an even tinier town (my previous place didn't have a Wal-Mart or McDonald's in the county, and this one has a basic Wal-Mart and 3 fast food joints), but half my coworkers, including the president's right-hand man, don't even have a title. He started out as a machinist who over the years has worked his way up to reporting directly to the president and oversees every aspect of fabrication and many aspects of documentation. But when we had a contractor here who had to have a signature approving the time, he left the title blank. When the contractor said, "You have to have it - they won't pay me if they can't confirm who you are," the president of the company had to give him a title johnny-on-the-spot. Of course, the only time he has used it was to sign that paper.

Thirdly - My compensation is excellent (and not just financially). I am in a town where the cost of living is super-low (I'm in the most $$ rentals at $500/mo.), but with only 2 years experience I'm in the 40th percentile nationally for salary of a tech writer overall, and near the top for someone with my experience (based on salary survey sites). On the flip side, I'm paid to do what is needed, not just what was on the paper I signed. I like it that way - I don't get bored doing the same thing over and over again because I wear about 5 different hats. I am in a small town, which I love, and I am close to home, which I love the most. Well-paid for my skillset, a comfortable setting, and visiting family whenever I want means I am more than satisfied. I read and write creatively for hobbies, neither of which is expensive (and because I don't spend much money, the rare times I want to, like on a camera and PS, I have the money). There aren't any pro photographers less than an hour away, and even if there were, I wouldn't be hurting their business by not charging for my services, since the quality is light years apart.

I didn't say all that to say you were wrong - if my quality was just as good as a pro photographer AND if I was coming in on weekends or staying late, I might consider charging him. But when to take the photos I am not doing my job as a tech writer, should he dock my normal salary only to pay me as a photographer, when he won't be getting any literature written and the photos wouldn't be as a good a true pro?

But thanks for your concern, and thanks all for the replies


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