Why is photography important to the PR professional?

�  The majority of media releases sent don’t include an image – make yours stand out by including a great photo

�  P.R. Blogger, Brooke Nolan writes: “Perhaps you don’t even need to bother writing a story to go along with images. Great exposure can be [won] through an image alone. Without sounding too corny ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’ and all that. Send pictures with a simple photo caption and short paragraph outlining the story — this works especially well for the ‘social’ pages in magazines.”

Social Media

�  On Facebook, photos generate twice as many Likes as text updates, and videos are shared twelve times more than links and text posts

�  42 percent of all Tumblr posts are photos

�  Photo and video posts on Pinterest generate more referral traffic than Twitter, Stumbleupon, LinkedIn and Google+ combined

What makes a great PR photo?

�  Avoid clichéd photos (smiling business men holding giant checks are no-no’s)

�  News is about real people – your photo should reflect this

�  Should sum up your story – often strong photos run with just a caption

�  Include branding (naturally)

�  Tells something about the person, what they are doing, what the company involvement is

Learn the basics

�  Get to know your camera

�  Hold your camera properly

�  Get out of auto mode

�  Learn to collect subject’s information quickly

How to hold your camera

•  Left hand holding the camera, fingers softly gripping around the lens

•  Right hand is used for controlling the settings of the camera

•  Elbows together, pressing on the chest

•  Camera firmly against the forehead, head leaning towards the camera

Exposure control

AV-mode

P-mode

TV-mode

Composition

�  Fill the frame

�  Simplify the image by getting in close

�  Be aware of your background

�  Rule of thirds

Rule of Thirds

•  Picture is separated into a grid of thirds

•  The subject is placed at intersections of lines

•  The picture is more visually appealing because the subject is not centered or symmetrical

•  This is a tried and true method, but not always the best

Rule of Thirds

Fill your frame

�  Use your zoom

�  Position yourself close to your subject

�  Crop your shots (be aware of quality loss)

�  Remember: including your subject’s entire body is not necessary

Fill your frame

Far vs. Close

Fill your frame

Background

�  Make sure backgrounds don’t interfere with your subject

�  Look for solid color backgrounds like a solid colored wall or expanse of blue sky

�  Beware of distractions such as objects, other people or colors that take away from your subject

�  Isolate your subject

�  Use depth of field to make your subject sharp and background soft

�  Don’t eliminate your background completely! It is still necessary for showing where your subject is located.

Backgrounds (Bad)

Distracting colors

Other people

Backgrounds (Good)

Uncommon Angles

�  Experiment with high- and low-angle shots that show both scale and perspective

�  Kneel down to capture subjects near the ground or photograph subjects above you

Uncommon Angles

Speaker shots

�  Animated speaker – look for hand gestures

�  Enthralled listeners

�  Use long lenses & no flash

Headshots without a studio

�  Simple or plain background

�  Have subject stand or sit on stool

�  Position body ¾ turn, but have them look forward

�  Have subject sit up straight and stick neck out

Other Tips

�  A photo only tells a great story if it can stand on its own. Ask yourself: can you tell what the subject is without an explanation?

�  Name tags are your best friend. Snap a shot of them immediately after taking your subject’s photo for identification later.

�  Read/subscribe to photography tutorials �  www.digitalphotographyschool.com �  www.photojojo.com �  www.photo.net

�  Don’t forget to send links to your photo sharing sites and Facebook galleries in your media releases.

Editing

�  Free: �  Picasa

�  GIMP

�  Picmonkey

�  $$: �  Adobe Photoshop

�  Adobe Lightroom

Photo Sharing

�  Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blog, etc.)

�  Photo sharing sites: �  SmugMug

�  Flickr

�  Picasa

�  Your website

Thank you!

Amanda Arnold

aarnold@hcde-texas.org

(713) 696-8272