Photographing people to get the results Wallie Funk (Images of Whidbey, Feb. 18) always demanded of himself is hard work. But even with the passion of a Wallie Funk, a cameraman isn’t always satisfied when he sees his contact sheets. That’s when a less-than-successful shoot can be salvaged with creative cropping.

Turning an ordinary picture into a powerful, moving image is typified by the pensive picture of U.S. Senator Henry Jackson that accompanied the Funk article (News-Times, Feb. 18). It’s my guess that Funk ruthlessly cut away at the top and back of Jackson’s head, leaving the awesome vertical slice of forehead, nose, and — just barely — mouth and chin, to salvage a so-so shoot.

In doing so, Funk changed a picture that most readers wouldn’t even notice into an image that a reader might want to share with someone else: “No ears. No head. What a profile!”

Wallie, you da man!

Gary Blevins

Oak Harbor