GUN OF THE WEEK WTH?

[Link]

I will probably get thrown under the buss for this, but it is just my opinion.

I just spent quite a long time submitting my article to GOTW.

Then to find = For a Gun of the Week story we need a minimum of 1500 words, and we will generally run 8-12 photos, plus one or two short videos,1-2 minutes per video). Good digital photos are essential — we won’t run any story unless sharp, quality digital photos are available.

Who the he!! can write 1500 words about a gun? Or tech. [that's a life story] That would take me days to put together a article like that.

With this criteria that should be GUN OF THE YEAR.

NO WONDER YOU LACK FOR ARTICLES.

My vote would be less reading and more pictures.

OK you can throw stones now.

 

[Forum Boss]

Link,

Thanks for submitting an article. You've done a lot more than most of our Forum members.

FYI, we won't reject a submission that is 1400 or 1200 words. But
1500 words is the typical length for a magazine feature article. It is also the length for submissions to Precision Shooting magazine. Also, after editing out the stuff that doesn't matter, or which is redundant, a 1500-word submission can easily end up 1100 words. Or less.

Word Count hasn't been the issue--
In fact, the majority of the GOTW articles, as submitted, exceed 1500 words by a LOT.

We have a half-dozen articles 'in the works' that have stalled. In every case, the problem was not words, but pictures. The authors didn't supply decent photos.

The reality is that if you have good photos, and a 400-word outline with all the facts included, we can build a story from that. I've done that more than once.

In a typical article we try to do more than just describe a rifle build and list the components. Ideally, the story goes into some detail on a topic that provides insight into an important aspect of reloading, competitive shooting, or field skills. We also want to talk about rifles that are significant in some way, and often that requires explaining a new feature or smithing process in detail. Yes a picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes we have to explain a process start to finish, and words are needed to supplement the images.

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As for short articles, those are provided, every day, 365 days a year, in the Daily Bulletin. These items run from 100-500 words in length. And yep, we try to provide lots of pictures.

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Yes it does take many hours of work to produce a good feature article. That's the nature of the game....

 

[Ogre6br]

Moderator

Can you please give us a tutorial on how to take a good photo for an article??

I can write the words- but for the life of me cannot take a photo worth anything

I have access to a digital camera that will take upto 4MB images but I have no knowledge on how to frame those shots or what setup you want etc etc

P

 

[people]

http://accurateshooter.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/using-daylight-flash-for-gun-pix/


Also what helps you take good pictures is take the picture at an angle to anything that is reflective. What will happen is most of the light will reflect away from the camera and not give you that ugly glare.

Pictures inside can also be taken when using diffused light from behind what you want to take a picture of. Kind of like when you have a portrait taken. Lots of diffused light is good. Having what you want to take a picture of in the spotlight will usually cause issues.

Also use a good camera. Any point and shoot digital cameras will usually take a picture that will look good on the internet. Do not use your camera phone. Some take ok pictures most are sub standard.

 

[rayjay]

Part of the secret to getting good pics is shooting a lot of them. Take 3 or 4 shots of each subject. Also, it pays to use a tripod. But mainly take a lot of shots. A few are bound to be usable and one or two may be outstanding.

I will eventually submit an article on my Metal Mayhem BR stock. First I have to win a match with it Since I only get to shoot it once every other month that might be a while, especially since there are some damn good shooters at our range. It did get third in it's first match in it's 'final' form, ie sporting a Viper drop port action instead of a 40x.

 

[FBecigneul]

The number of pictures taken and/or submitted doesn't mean beans to me if their composition is poor and cluttered. If you are going to show me a picture of your rifle, please take the dining room centerpiece off the table before you take the picture; that goes for bench clutter. I don't need to see your brass mallet when I'm looking at your rifle. Use a soft background so as to soften the reflection. We've all seen pictures of rifles where you can barely see the rifle because of all the periphery. The set up should take longer than the taking of the picture. As for the camera you use, it's not the sword, it's the swordsmanship that kills. No stone throwing or under the bus toss here.

 

[rayjay]

Yes, a genuine journalistic article requires more commitment than what is the norm for just throwing a pic in a post.

 

[JRinCo]

What's say that we try being a little less critical of a persons journalistic abilities so that we can take a look at some of the more interesting projects that are going on.
Certainly you have to be able to ilustrate what about your project is unique and interesting but lets not get carried away with literature.
I dropped all of my subscriptions to shooting magizines years ago, due to the fact that they all bored the hell out me. But they were nicely wriiten articles by people that didn't know beans about what was really going on. The readers of this forum are on the cutting edge.

 

[Forum Boss]

I don't want people to shy away from submitting if they are inexperienced writers. The reality is that, as Editor, I aggressively work over every story. It's not unusual for me to take three full days to edit a story, crop and optimize the photos, and then do the layout. I've taken an 800-word submission and made a 2200-word story.

But without photos, there's not much I can do. Here are six tips for taking good photos.

1. Get a variety of angles -- gun rear quarter, 90deg side, front quarter,in front of muzzle), and an overhead. Include close-ups of action, scope etc.

2. Include a shot or two of your work bench, dies, loading rack,with rounds), etc.

3. When shooting outdoors in the shade, experiment with daylight fill flash. It's very important that you know how to use daylight flash.

4. Get CLOSER. Most shots can be improved by moving toward the subject. That cuts out extraneous backgrounds, plus it usually results in a sharper photo.

5. Always include a photo of someone shooting the rifle, or someone in shooting position on the bench. Take a version showing the whole gun, and another that may just show the shooter and the back third of the gun.

6. Take photos of your good targets, and include a shot of the firing line and range. This makes the story more interesting.