Using Photos Effectively On Your Website

1
Using Photos Effectively On Your Website

• Darim Online
• Learning Network
• Session 7

2
Introductions

• Brief introductions around the room
• Name
• Organization and position
• Whats your favorite photo on your organizations
  web site?

3
Survey results

• 28 organizations responded.
• Congregants most often take the photos that
  appear on your site. Exec dir, board members,
  admin staff and marketing/communications
  professional were the next common answers.
• Photos are taken at large events or from time to
  time as you think of it. Very few are taking
  photos frequently or regularly.
• Almost all of you rarely post photos on your
  site. We hope that this session will help you
  learn the importance of using photos, and give
  you the skills to do it more easily and
  effectively.
• Most of you judge the quality of the photo by who
  is in the picture, and quality of the shot. Very
  few interpersonal or political influences.

4
Survey Results Cont

• Spread of use of photos in e-newsletters from
  rarely to sometimes to always.
• Very few with any structured system for
  organizing photos - mostly use labeled photos on
  a hard drive or server.
• Very few use any web based service to share
  photos from the organization, but about a third
  of you employ them for personal use.
• 3 use a professional photographer regularly, 8
  have used a professional at some time. More than
  half have never used a professional. Little
  correlation of professional with the size of the
  organization.

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Outline of Our Session

• The goal of this session is to encourage you to
  use more photos more often on your web sites, by
  educating you on various attributes of photos
  that affect the impact and value of your images,
  and to show you best practices of photos on web
  sites.
• Topics well cover include
• Depth of Field
• Lighting
• Focus
• Composition
• Narrative Content
• Placement on web pages

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Jordan Silverman Presenter

• Jordans work spans studio location
• photography and includes editorial, commercial,
• and familial photography, all of which maintain a
  
• strong foundation in photojournalism, where he
• began his shooting career.
• His work is published widely, including The New
• York Times, USA Today, Washington Post,
• Associated Press, Boston Globe, IBM, U.S.
• Postal Service, Middlebury College, Red Cross
• and many more.
• www.jordansilverman.com

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Depth of Field

• Definition depth of field (DOF) is the distance
  in front of and beyond the subject that appears
  to be in focus.

• Shallow depth of field.
• Flowers are in focus, background is not. Helps
  eye pay attention to the subject.
• Photo from www.wikipedia.com

• Wide depth of field.
• With more of the background in focus, it
  distracts from the subject.
• Photo from www.wikipedia.com

For individual subjects, try using a shallow
depth of field, but for shooting larger groups
(where you have subjects at varying distances
from you), try using a wider depth of field.
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Lighting

• Flash - a direct flash can create a strong shadow
  and overexpose your subject
• Use supplemental or available lighting in the
  room
• Were always tempted to press our shutter and let
  our cameras do the rest, but your camera doesnt
  always know whats best
• Available light first, a bounced flash (with an
  SLR camera) second, and as a last resort, your
  cameras direct flash
• Youll eliminate shadows entirely, by using your
  cameras fill-flash which may enable you to
  shoot while your subjects are back-lit ie while
  the sun is behind them

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Lighting

• Outside, choose a time when the light is the
  least harsh (morning/late afternoon)
• Keep the sun out of your subjects eyes so they
  dont squint
• Try letting the soft sun (late afternoon or
  morning) hit your subjects faces
• You may need to change position so the sun is
  blocked by one of your subjects bodies
• When shooting inside, be aware overhead lighting
  may create unattractive hotspots on subjects
  heads or faces
• Use overhead lighting to your advantage, allowing
  you at times to turn off your flash
• If you see sun coming through a window, try
  posing your subjects near there
• If youre trying to shoot an activity, dont be
  afraid to ask your subjects to move closer to the
  light

10
Lighting

• Redeye
• Your camera likely has a red eye reduction
  setting. While this will take the image longer
  to record, it will at least make the image usable
  and reduce RE
• Faces unlit
• Be aware of subjects in front who are blocking
  subjects in back. If youre using a direct
  flash, youll likely have some dark faces

11
Focus

• Cameras usually have an auto focus feature that
  should help prevent unfocussed images
• If youve got multiple subjects in the same
  frame, you may have some out of focus. You
  should see focusing points come up on your
  viewfinder, which should help prevent having
  blurry subjects when you want them to be crisp

12
Composition

• Relation to subject
• Whats behind, in front of, or to the side of
  your subject, that might be distracting?
• Can you move closer, and get a cleaner shot?
• Should you move further away and let the image
  provide more contextual information?
• Whether close or far, the simpler and cleaner the
  image, typically, the more compelling it will be
• What do you see in your frame that needs to be
  there? Whats in it that doesnt need to be
  there?

13
Composition

• Use of space
• Think about how all the space is used in your
  shots
• Open sky or context around people can sometimes
  be useful, but sometimes can be wasted real
  estate distracting from the real subject of the
  image.
• Closer shots (or cropping out excess) can help
  focus your users attention on the content of the
  photo you care about

14
Composition

• Horizons
• Are the horizons on the top and bottom of your
  frame level (traditional), or might a slightly
  tilted horizon make the image more compelling or
  interesting?
• Your camera shoots well vertically and
  horizontally. Based on the subject your
  shooting, will they be better framed one way or
  the other?
• Perhaps there are vertical and horizontal lines
  behind your subject that can help frame them?

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Narrative Content

• What do your photos say beyond the obvious?
  Compare the two images on the right -- what do
  they tell you about the youth groups?
• Something positive, uplifting may make you want
  to see or know more
• Are the subjects or activities in the image new
  and interesting enough to keep a readers
  attention? Will it encourage them to read more of
  the text on the page?

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Narrative Content

• Pictures can tell the whole story for you
• Let the images say more than your text ever
  could!
• Evoke feelings rather than describe them

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Narrative Content

• Architectural Photos
• Straight-ahead shots can be informative, but
  varying the angle of your shot can make the
  images more interesting and convey that your
  congregation is other than ordinary.

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Placement on a Page

• Consider the direction a subject is facing
• As a general rule, people should be looking INTO
  the page, rather than off the page. A user
  follows the gaze of the subject to focus on the
  content of the page.

Subject is facing INTO the page
Subject is facing OFF of the page
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Uploading to Website

• As you size and place photos, be aware of how
  the text wraps around, and how placement affects
  the flow of the page.

Large image has strong impact, but can break up
the readers flow, particularly if it goes below
the fold.
Smaller image placed higher up within the text
serves as a visual anchor to the page while
preserving the flow of the text.
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Other Technical Ideas

• Most digital cameras have a delay on them when
  youre shooting a more active scene, dont be
  afraid to fire 5 or 10 frames in 30 seconds.
  This delay is important and lets the camera read
  exposures and focus
• When shooting active scenes, encourage your
  subjects to ignore you at times, for a more
  photojournalistic, lively, and dynamic feel
• When shooting portraits where you want your
  subjects focus, spend more time shooting, and
  less time posing your subjects. Get them near a
  well lit area, and then let them figure out the
  rest. Most people will find a good comfortable
  feel and position for themselves, while you can
  concentrate on the shooting
• Dont get too distracted by the images on your
  camera. If the first or second look good, spend
  more time clicking and less time admiring your
  work. Youll have time for that later at the
  computer

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Other Technical Ideas

• Always have an extra memory card on hand
• Always have extra batteries on hand
• Always have more than one digital camera in use
  at a time
• Encourage kids to take care of cameras AND take
  lots of pictures
• Always back up your files. BACK THEM UP ON A
  SECOND COMPUTER, EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, OR CD/DVD
  right away. An image thats only in one location
  might as well not be an image at all, since it
  could be lost as easily as it was gained
• Besides Hebrew School and High Holiday festivals,
  think about other activities that are part of our
  tradition that say something about your
  community, traditions, organization
• Make the commitment to build up your synagogues
  digital archive shoot one event every month for
  a year, or even one per week. Enlist the help of
  others in your office, in the school, and make it
  part of a regular routine!
• Create easy ways for congregants to send you
  their photos to supplement your archive.

Food and cooking make great activities to
photograph, as well as community outings,
travels, explorations, and volunteer work outside
of synagogue.
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Q/A and Discussion

• Questions for Jordan
• What are the obstacles to getting more photos on
  your web site?
• Systems for organizing your photos -- rating and
  tagging
• Other issues to discuss

23
Wrap Up

• What did you learn? What was most helpful?
• What will you bring back to your organization?
• What can Darim do to further your learning and/or
  action in this area?
• Other comments?
• Next session on web stats -- June 27 28