Publicity picture

Today's photocall was a quick walk up to Morningside where BBC TV weather reporter, Cat Cubie, was opening a charity Christmas Fair. Cat, who went to school at nearby George Watson's College and used to work in a local cafe, travelled through from Glasgow on a blustery day to open the charity event at the Eric Liddell Centre. There were a couple of freelance photographers there (me and one other) and it was an interesting situation. Presumably the point of inviting a 'celebrity' to open the fair was to give a bit more publicity to the event and to the centre. And probably the main reason she is a celebrity is because she does the weather on TV. So, is it right to think that the best chance of getting her picture into the paper would be to pose a 'weather-related' image on what was a very windy day across Scotland? After posing for a shot inside with a couple of objects from one of the craft stalls, and cutting the ribbon for the new charity children's clothing shop, we went outside to see if we could get another image. I took this one, and a couple of others outside the main entrance, but when the other photographer asked Cat if she'd pose as if being buffeted by the wind, she said 'no, it's nothing to do with the event'. And, if we'd brought a prop umbrella with us she probably would have said no to that too. Which made me think of the shots of Nicola earlier in the week after her honorary degree. When the photographers got her to pose with her violin, indoors to protect the instrument and then one of the photographers then asked her to pose with her scroll and then use it like a bow. She groaned, and made a face at the corniness of it (perhaps hoping that would ruin that picture so it couldn't be used), but sure enough that was the picture that made at least one of the papers the next day. And then there was Carol Smillie, earlier in the month. She was at a charity lunch for a children's hospice charity, but the shots the press wanted were Carol with the autumn leaves - strictly speaking nothing to do with the charity, but also probably the images that had the best chance of making the papers. And Carol knew it, as she was quite happy to stand there throwing leaves in the air, until the press pack were happy they'd got their shot. Was she right? What makes a good image in a newspaper? Something simple and uncomplicated that makes people stop and read the caption or the accompanying article? And if that is the picture that has the best chance of getting into the paper, isn't that also the picture that gives the best publicity to the event or the centre? Or was Cat right, and as it was nothing to do with the centre and the event it therefore wasn't appropriate. All publicity is not necessarily good publicity, to contradict the common aphorism. Hmmm, I'm still not sure what I think about it.