American Angler Cover Call
- This topic has 110 replies, 33 voices, and was last updated May 8, 2009 at 9:11 pm by
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Guys (and Lauren),
I’ve just had the cover for our Jan/Feb issue—something we’ve been planning for months—fall out on me. So, I’m looking for a good late fall/winter/early spring image. Obviously, we’re talking a vertical shot, and it must conform to some basic cover specs:
1. Room for a skyline and logo at the top (about 1/4 of the image height)
2. Room for cover lines on the left
3. High enough resolution to print at 8.5 X 11 at 300 dpi (although this is somewhat fudgeable)We are NOT looking for standard grip-n-grins, although that doesn’t rule out the g-n-g category altogether.
Use this as your basic guide: If the shot looks like something you’ve already seen on a bunch of covers, I don’t want to see it. We’re looking for cool, new looks that still work as covers. I know that’s vague, but it’s kind of an “I’ll know it when I see it thing.”
If it helps, you can post candidates here, and I’ll critique them (not as photos, but as their qualities as cover shots). That’ll help you get an idea of what exactly I’m looking for, not just now, but in the future.
Thanks,
Phil
Zach,
I was thinking the same thing. Thanks.
And thanks to Phil and AA for giving a lot of budding photographers an opportunity. It would be neat if someone from here on IA got the gig.
Morsie,
Would need to be flopped, obviously. It’s a beautiful photo, but not right for a cover because the fish is angled away from the viewer, and thus the eye is drawn to the hand, rather than the fish’s head.
Because American Angler doesn’t have the word “fly” in its name, the cover photo need to get the idea of fly-fishing across, as well, so I like to have a fly or at least a fly rod in the image.
Thanks a lot,
Phil
Hi Phil,
Here are a few that are handy. No fish close-up shots but lots of scenery.
Thanks!
Horses…
Zach,
Morsie’s shot would have to be flopped because magazine cover lines go along the left-hand edge of the cover. Think of how magazines are stacked on the newsstand in a place like Borders. For many, only the left-hand edge of the cover is visible, because the rest of the magazine is tucked under the magazine to the right of it. In fly shops, we usually get full-face display, where you can see the whole cover, but other outlets don’t have the same amount of space per mag.
Both of Rob’s shots are nice, but I don’t think either would make a good cover. here’s why:
#1: The figures are too small and too low in the frame, they’re both facing away from the viewer without a focus (like a fly, a rise, etc.), the rod is blurred, and the background at the top (where the logo goes) is very busy and distracting.
#2: the best part of the shot (the rises) will be underneath the logo. The contrast in the right half of the shot is too low–everything is too dark—and too high in the left—everything is blown out. A cover needs to be visible from across the room.
Thanks for the submission. Please keep in mind that good cover shots are very rare, and we go through this same critiquing process with the best photographers in the business. Just because i reject an image doesn’t mean it’s not a great image.
Phil
Hey guys –
I am not criticizing your pictures at all, Doug, but do please let’s try not to overwhelm poor Phil.
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