Church Photo Team - Why & How
Today I want to talk about building a church photography team. I’ll give four reasons to build one and ten tips on how to build one. Let’s look at the reasons.
Photos Tell A Story. Whenever people talk to me about a message from my past, they always talk about the story. People remember stories. People also respond to stories because they can connect to the characters and the narrative. They see themselves in the story. These principles hold true with photography, as well. Also, you can show the stories of what God is doing in, and through your church, through photos. It’s an opportunity to help those outside your church feel like they can connect with those inside your church. If you still don’t think people connect with stories through photos then do this, visit the social media accounts of a growing church in your state and notice how well and how often they use photos to tell a story.
It Utilize Volunteers Strengths. If you have a gifted photographer in your church, do not put them on the greeting team. Put them where their strength will shine. Put them behind a camera. Regardless if your churches size is 50, 500 or 5,000, I guarantee you there will be somebody in your congregation that is decent at photography. You might even be blessed with someone in your congregation that does it professionally. So find them and plug them into a team based on their god given talents.
It Shows What Is Expected. Going to a church for the first time can be a fearful thing for many people. By showing photos on your website, people can see inside and have their fears eased. They can see a bit of what to expect. Photography allows people to visit your church before they visit your church. It also shows the culture of your church. Do people there look like me, dress like me, act like me? These are questions every visitor to your website is asking so make sure to answer them. Side note - there are places in which it might work to use stock photography - but your website is not that place. I would even go so far to say that amateur photos of your people is better than professional photos of an actor.
You Can Do More As A Team. You can do more with a team of photographers than by yourself as an individual photographer. I know this is leadership 101 but it needs to be stated. Serving teams are also great places for creatives to plug in. Some creatives do not want to join a life group. That would be the death of them. But they do want to get plugged in. Especially if they can use their gifts and skills. And these teams are great places for people looking for Jesus. It gives them a safe place to belong before they behave. So create a team and do more. So those were my four reasons to build a team. Let me now give you ten tips on how to build a team.
Those where four reasons to build a photo team. Here are ten tips on how to build one.
Have Fun. Having your photo taken should be a fun experience. It means something interesting and exciting is happening that deserves to be documented. The tone and attitude of the photographer should match this energy. They should be having a fun time. Now here is another reason why its important for the photographers to have fun, sometimes it isn’t fun. Sometimes it is awkward, like when families are overdressed for the obligatory Mother’s Day photo booth. Sometimes it is artificial, like when babies are crying in the nursery and volunteers pretend they’re enjoying ministry. These moments are not fun. But they need to be documented. When you bring a fun attitude into the awkward and hectic settings, you change the tone and create an environment in which you can capture decent photos. Practically speaking this means keeping a smile on your face and engaging people in positive banter like, “Who’s got two thumbs and is having a fun time? This guy.” Creating a rapport with a fun attitude helps subjects relax and makes the photos better.
Keep It Simple. Frame your photos using a simple background that helps focus the viewer’s eyes on the subject matter. Use this technique to create a crisp and sharp photo. As you compose your photo, move around your subject to find the simplest background. Take a practice shot if you can, and make adjustments to reduce background chaos. If your camera allows, you can adjust the aperture or f-stops to bring the background into or out of focus. Unless the background is of interest, it may be best to leave it blurred so your subject stands out even more.
Map Out The Space. Show up to the event early to get a sense of the space. Where are people entering from? Where are they going to? Where are the exiting from? Mapping out the space helps you understand how the event will unfold. This will allow you to anticipate the event, and be one step ahead, not behind, the action. You also want to get a sense of where you will be located. Is there a secure side room you can setup your basecamp? If not will the janitors closet work for you? Getting a sense of the basecamp will let you know where you can setup, check and interact with gear throughout the event.
Be Boldly Inconspicuous. You need to be bold enough to get into the best positions to capture the best photos. I once had to grab a young and timid photographer who was planted in the back row by the arm and drag them to the front row so they would be close enough to capture the event. But you also need to be inconspicuous enough so that the attention is not on you. I’m sure you have been at a weeding in which the photographer or videographer ended up stealing the show and being the main attraction. Not cool. So manage this tension by bolding navigating the venue but then be inconspicuous when you are in position. A very particle suggestion is to wear all black. This helps you blend into the background. It also gives you an air of professionally.
Curate And Edit. You want your photographers, not yourself, to curate and edit their photos. You don’t want people that click and dump - photographers that hand you a full memory card with all their photos, the good, the bad and the what were you thinking. When your photographer curate and edit their work it ensures the teams output is scaleable, that it is not dependent on your ability to curate and edit. Creating this system allows for rapid growth. It also allows for instantly shareable photos because the team has already identified and edited the top 20. Also make sure to have a clear naming convention and folder structure up front for your team. This will avoid hours of confusion and frustration on the back end. For naming convention it would be event, date, photographer. Whatever you decided, just keep it consistent from event to event. For folder structure it could be event, photographer, and then RAW and JPEG. The RAW folder would have all their decent photos and the JPEG folder would have the top 20 edited photos.
Create A System To Store. After you have taken the photos you got to store them. People often ask me should I store my photos in the could or on a hard drives. The answer is both. But managing your content in two areas can seem overwhelming for some. And in the end, they don’t store them anywhere. If this is you, then I would archive your photos in the cloud now and on hard drives later. The cloud gives you greater flexibility in accessing the content. And because the cloud has grown its stability over the past five years, it is gives you greater reliable than hard drives that can become corrupted/ Great cloud storage options are dropbox, google drive and My Portfolio for Adobe users. A good photo storage service has five things. Space - Plenty of room to keep all of your photos in one place. Quality - Your photos are preserved in their original high-res versions. Ease of Use - You can easily upload, view and download. Ease of Access - Finding photos by date or by tags should be easy. Shareability - Sharing photos on social site should be as easy as taking them.
Create A System To Share. The dust has settled. The event is over. Photos have been take, edited and archived. Then what? For a lot of churches, not much else. And this isn’t good because the goal is to take and share photos. If you don’t have a system to share, your execution will be hit or miss. Some sharing options to consider for your system are a Facebook album, a page on your website, show during hosting on Sunday, schedule posts on social through the week, include in weekly email. All this options are great for your organization to share. You want to also make sure your system has an option for guests to access and share. Maybe that is linking from your website to a publicly accessible dropbox folder. Maybe that is handing out business cards with the url at the event. Whatever it is, make sure your guest can access and share as well.
Release Forms. No one wants to talk about release forms but we have to, to protect our butts legally. First, don’t give release forms to your photographers. You want them taking great photos. Not running around trying to get a bunch of signatures. Instead include a release statement on your intake form for your family ministry. I say intake form because it only has to be done once. And I say family ministry because parents are the only ones really concerned with this. Here is a sample. “Our church uses photos and videos of our guests for communication purposes. Signing this release grants us permission to use your and your child’s image for these purposes.” To cover your butts legally for general church events you could have a small disclosures printed and posted at your welcome center saying something like “Photos and videos are taken at our events. By walking onto our site you grant us permission to use these for communication purposes”.
Do’s and Don’ts. Here are some quick do’s. Label your gear, shoot in Raw and JPEG, wear all black, set shutter on “silent continuous”. Charge your batteries, set the correct date and time. Here are some quick don’ts. Don’t watermark your photos with your personal or organizational branding cause it will decrease their usefulness. Don’t shoot highly sensitive moments like a salvation call out. If you do, just be highly sensitive not to spoil and interrupt the moment. Don’t use flash in your auditorium. It is distracting. The only expectation would be baptisms when it might add energy as a believer emerges from the tub. Don’t shoot the offering. People get freaked out about their money. If they sense you are taking pictures about their moment, they will go bananas.
Pastor Your Team. Since photography can be done in isolation it can be an isolating experience. But it doesn’t have to be. If you pastor and mentor your team you will not only sharpen their skills and care for their souls. So get together for a couple minutes every Sunday one-on-one as their leader to review their work. And consider connecting as a team monthly or quarterly to grow together as a group. Do group experiences like visiting galleries or doing photowalks. Anything that will connect the team and allow them to build community and grow their craft.
Hopefully these reasons and tips will help you showcase what God is doing in and through you. Send an email to benstapley@gmail.com and let me know what I missed. I would love to hear from you and learn from you. I would also love to connect on social media so look me up. Starting a photo team takes a little bit of effort but the impact it will have is huge. So start your team, or grow your team, today.