A picture paints a thousand words. This phrase was reportedly first used by Frederick R. Barnard in Printer’s Ink (December 1921), while commenting that graphics can tell a story as effectively as a large amount of descriptive text. There are other versions of the phrase, which may be claimed by others. The point is that I could foresee that a book like “Confessions of a Test Driver” needed a massive amount of photography. The book has over 500 images. I submitted 500 of my own images, most of which were used unless the publishers had better versions.
There are also a few great images from other pro snappers. Several people have said, never throw away a photograph. I have many boxes of hard copy photos. Many are in the latest book, and no doubt others will find their way into future books. The switch from analogue photography to digital has turned everyone into a photographer, although I would add that digital has created very good and bad snappers. I have often battled with layout designers who rate a chocolate-box pin-sharp high-quality photo over a poor image that happens to be relevant to the story. The compromise is sometimes to publish a the less-than-perfect, but pertinent picture, in a small size, thereby masking any grainy effect.
