Selecting a usable photograph from volunteers’ submissions can be a time-consuming affair. But publications managers can follow a few guidelines to encourage competence from their contributors—and stave off the stress that comes with pleading yet again for a “high-res version, please, if possible, before close of business.”
1. In most cases, action shots are preferable to stills. Strong photos often capture people “caught in the act” of doing something, rather than posing. If those portrayed are posing, then both the foreground and the background should contain material that is compelling to the eye. The photos should be visually coherent and send a message.
2. The best photos will not only present interesting content but also be technically strong: they will be in-focus and have high resolution. A technically good photo doesn’t require an expensive camera. Photographers can simply use a high setting on their digital camera and send a large file to their publications manager (or designer)—1 megabyte will definitely work, 500 kilobytes (K), probably, depending on the amount of space the image must fill. Anything less than 200–300 K will probably be too grainy, unless used for thumbnail headshots.
3. Most organizations want their photo subjects to look engaged: pleased to be wherever they are, doing whatever they’re doing. If two or more people appear in the same photo, they should be connected somehow—taking part in the same activity; working on behalf of the same cause. Nobody should seem isolated, and the photos should not have “wasted” space with dull or non-meaningful content.
4. When taking a portrait photo, pay attention to the background and details pictured behind the subject. Be aware of compositions in which trees or lamps appear to be growing out of people’s heads. (See bamboo in the unflattering photo, above.) Finally, close-ups often make for effective shots. In the words of the eminent photojournalist Robert Capa, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
