A picture can tell a thousand words… Taking good photos can speak volumes about the work you do and bring your project to life. Photos of a project in progress, people engaging with your service and smiling after a positive experience can bring so much value. Here are a few snappy tips to make the most of those photo opportunities.

Tell your story
What images will tell your organisation’s story and make it shine? Think about images that will showcase what you do and trigger emotions in the viewer. Take a moment to think about any opportunities over the next six months and include photography into your plan. Often photography is an afterthought when it is too late to capture those unique moments.

Act natural
Images needn’t be posed, ‘set-up’ or Instagram perfect – in fact, documentary-style photography can be very powerful. Take detailed shots of people in action. You’re more likely to get a natural emotional connection with your audience.

Document your work
Remember to take lots of photographs as projects develop. If you have an event coming up, designate responsibility to someone in your team who has a natural flair for taking photos. These will prove to be valuable as a resource in future, whether you are including them in a report, on your website or posting on social media. Genuine photos showing real impact and engagement of your project will be so much more powerful for your case than any stock images found on the internet.

The kit
You don’t necessarily need a fancy camera to get good photos – a smart phone will often do the job. Just ensure that you get bright, clear images that are in focus.

Getting the right shot
Website images, social media and reports will all require difference sizes and formats. Take photos from a variety of angles, so that you have the right format to suit your platform. Plus, the more images you have means you can avoid repetition.

Improve the quality of your pictures
Remember to crop and enhance the colours in your photographs. There’s no need for you to pay to use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator to tweak your images. PicMonkey is a free tool that I use daily to crop and enhance the quality of photographs, as well as creating photo collages. It’s a free online platform – no need to download any software or pay a monthly subscription.

There are lots of filters to play around with, as well as a very useful ‘Auto adjust’ button that will automatically adjust brightness and colour balance to get your photos looking better instantly.

Create an image bank
Once you’ve finished treating your image, create a folder and clearly label into a folder structure that makes sense to your team. Start to build up a library of photos that will document your projects, events and work in action. Keep adding photographs regularly, you’ll never know when they might be useful!

Just a bit of extra preparation can make your organisation picture perfect in a flash!