During our Communications Director Mentoring Program group call this week, we discussed ways to get program staff to take and share better photos.
Here are several ideas from the group that I thought you could use too!
- If you do a lot of tabling, instead of having staff take photos of the table (SO. BORING.), create a photo frame with a hashtag or phrase on it that people who walk by can hold and pose with to show support for your organization.
- Explain the rule of thirds and ask staff to turn on the grid setting on their camera apps on their phones, to help them better frame the photos they do take. This blog has a nice explanation.
- On iPhones, launch the Settings app from the Home screen. Tap on Photos & Camera. You have to scroll down a bit to find it. Tap the switch next to Grid to turn it on. It’s about halfway down, under the Camera section.
- On Android, open the Camera app, then go to the Gear for settings and then turn Grid Lines on.
- Give staff examples of what you like and don’t as part of your style guide. This is especially important if you are looking for more “Instagram worthy” photography.
- If the things you photograph tend to be fairly mundane (like your office), encourage people to include a pop of bright color in the photo. Even something as simple as the purple folder in the photo below can improve the impact of the image. (Source: Ampersand).
- If you need a staff person to take a photo at an event, but fear they might get too busy and forget, make taking the photo a calendar item and invite them to the “meeting” so they get the reminder at the right time. This only works if staff members regularly pay attention to calendar alerts.
- If staff are good about submitting photos, but aren’t always great about the details, create a very simple form for them to use to upload them to the right place and to ask a question or two about where it was taken.
- If you don’t always know whether the photo needs to be shared right away or not, ask staff to label or tag the photo as Use Immediately, Use Soon, or Evergreen.
If you have other tips that have worked for you and your coworkers, share in the comments.
