Voscur presentation may 2012

What makes a good image for getting your message across?

Tracy Packer – BA(Hons) Photography, University of the West of England

John Baldessari 1966-8.

www.tracypacker.com http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/W640/2012

What is wrong with this photograph?

Right, Wrong, Good, Bad. ‘Good’ is subjective. What makes a ‘good’ photograph

depends on • what the purpose of that image is • whether that message reaches the intended audience • how much that audience responds as a result • even then, that just makes it ‘good’ for you... Hopefully... Baldessari is an artist who sometimes uses photography to

make a point. His ‘Wrong’ photograph was an ironic comment on the ‘rules’ and rule-makers of photography and art. ‘Wrong’ is now worth a lot of money!


DIY TIP - Let there be light...


Use natural light whenever possible. The camera doesn’t see light like we do – especially artificial light which is always quite a bit darker for the cameras ‘eye’ than it is for the human eye. Indoor lighting can also make a scene more yellow, orange or even blue! If you can, do a test shot to check how much light is in the scene before the event. Doing this 5 minutes before the start is better than nothing at all, and can still give you a chance to re-think/re-organise. Lo-tech is fine, you can use tables, shelves, a pile of books or even floors as tripods – be creative!

DIY TIP - Declutter!


If you have the chance, think about where you might take photographs before the event and organise the space. Don’t leave it to the last moment. We often don’t ‘see’ stuff in the background coming out of people’s heads or making the frame messy. Move things out of the way if you can – or move the person/group! Where possible, avoid too much empty foreground – get closer and lower or if there’s a big-ish group, get higher (if you can) as well as further away.

DIY TIP - People


Natural, unposed images of people ‘getting involved in/doing something’ generally make more impact. There’s a reason why commercial stock agencies are always on the look out for images with diverse groups of people in them – people are interested in what other people do, it sells stuff! If the person taking the photo is relaxed, it increases the chances that other people in front of the camera will be as well. Try to avoid surprising people with the camera (unless a surprised/shocked/irritated expression is what you are after!)

“I asked them not to smile” (Before and after +/- 5 seconds!)


Same group, same people, same background. Two very different images. Which one works, depends on what you want to use it for! (I didn’t know any of them nor they, me, up until a few minutes before these were taken.)

Both images Copyright Tracy Packer, 2010.


For posed shots, people in front of the camera need information about what to do and when, but don’t go too far and get bossy! For posed individual/group shots, click twice – once when they’ve said ‘cheese’ and again a moment later when they’ve dropped their guard, it can often make a more natural picture. For those working with vulnerable/nervous/stigmatised groups, it IS possible to take photographs of people without showing details of their faces, and still have an interesting image:


All images on this page: Copyright Tracy Packer 2007 - 2011


All images on this page: Copyright Tracy Packer 2010 -2011

A word on Images & Social Media In 2011, each of the top 100 charities in the UK had an average • 18,929 followers on Twitter • 35,360 ‘likes’ on Facebook • 165 followers on Linked In • 809 Youtube channel subscribers How might they/you use images (as well as words) to

communicate to all those followers/likers & subscribers?

McCrossan, A. & Bridger, S. The Guardian, Monday 19th September 2011. http://visceralbusiness.com/ - free download of The Social Charity 100 Report.


http://visceralbusiness.com/�

Some things to consider

What works in a frame, on an A4 flier, a poster or even a desktop screen, might not work on a 4”x3” mobile phone screen.

• If you are targeting (potential) supporters via social media think:

• Strong concept/unambiguous visual message • Very little (if any text) • Simple, clean composition • Punchy colours and/or strong lines

• BUT


Caveat


You can ‘break’ pretty much all the rules if your picture engages actively in a current, topical ‘conversation’ you are having with your user group and their/your (potential) supporters. Active, timely, relevant engagement with people spoken to as individuals, trumps any amount of slick, passive, formulaic tweets/posts or physical newsletters.

Sourcing Images


If you aren’t making the pictures within your organisation, or paying someone else to make them for you, take care when sourcing images. Microstock sites can be a cheap-ish source of generic images, but know what you are getting for your money. The terms of image use/license should make clear: •How long can you use the image for & how many times can you use it? •What’s the biggest size image you can print? •Royalty Free images can be really cheap but there’s a bigger risk of them being used by another organisation. Will you be OK with that if you see it elsewhere? •Rights Managed images are more expensive because you can find out if there is a licensing conflict in your sector before you buy. That ‘exclusivity’ is what is being paid for. •Sometimes it can be cheaper to commission a photographer to shoot an exclusive image for your specific needs, than buy a Rights Managed license. Do the maths before you buy!

Photography Competitions

• Have you heard of ‘The Artist’s Bill of Rights’? If you run photography competitions as part of your fundraising /awareness raising campaigns then you probably should.

• http://artists-bill-of-

rights.org/component/fabrik/form/3?random=0


http://artists-bill-of-rights.org/component/fabrik/form/3?random=0�







Copyright • In the UK, a person owns the copyright to any image they take

from the moment they hit the shutter release on the camera. (Not the person having their photograph taken.)

• BUT if a person creates a work of art (photograph) in the course of their employment, it is normally the case that the image rights are owned by the employer, not by the employee.

• If you use volunteer photographers, agree the practicalities of ‘who can do what with a photograph’ (how often and for how long) in advance and where possible, in writing. It’s more practical (and less ethically & legally messy) than doing it afterwards.

• http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p16_photography_copyright www.tracypacker.com

http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/W640/2012

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p16_photography_copyright�

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p16_photography_copyright�

Creative Commons

“Creative Commons is a non-profit organisation that assists authors and creators who want to voluntarily share their work, by providing free copyright licences and tools, so that others may take full and legal advantage of the Internet's unprecedented wealth of science, knowledge and culture.”

http://www.creativecommons.org.uk/


http://www.creativecommons.org.uk/�

http://www.creativecommons.org.uk/�

One way of finding ‘free’ images


http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q�

http://www.flickr.com/people/zingyyellow/


Found using a Creative Commons Search on Flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/people/zingyyellow/�

http://www.flickr.com/people/zingyyellow/�

Finally...


There are lots of ways to get great images, whether you commission a photographer to meet a specific request, place the camera in the hands of one of your clients or volunteers, whether you buy it from a stock site or find a creative commons image on the internet. The trick is to take an active part in deciding what you want your image to do/say, consider your viewer/audience and review how successful it has been. There is no such thing as a ‘free image’ – they all ‘cost’ something to make: time, creativity, access, unique point of view etc. Strategically consider and review your choice and use of images whether they have been donated for free or created for a fee. Images are your shop window. They often speak long before you do. What do you want them to say?

http://www.flickr.com/people/addictive_picasso/


Thank you for listening (and looking!)

http://www.flickr.com/people/addictive_picasso/�

Voscur presentation may 2012

Technology

Transcript of Voscur presentation may 2012