Photography Guidelines

This information is designed for photographers at every level to help ensure that your images are high quality and that you are able to display them as efficiently and effectively as possible on the 'Get in the Picture' website.  The guidance covers: Equipment, Preparation, transfer from Camera to Computer, Upload from Computer to the Website and image deletion.  For the professionals and dedicated amateur photographers out there, some of what follows may be unnecessary. However, please pay particular attention to the file format and image size requirements as well as the upload procedures.  If the images are too small or are not .jpg format they will not be displayed on the website.  Coordinators, please ensure that all of your photographers are aware of this guidance. 

EQUIPMENT 

Please ensure that:

    1. You use a good quality digital camera (3 Megapixels is the absolute minimum).
    2. Your camera batteries are fully charged (take some spares).
    3. You have plenty of available memory card storage (and spare memory cards).


Ideally:

    1. Use a tripod.
    2. Have a spare camera available (just in case).


PREPARATION

Essential:

    1. Cameras must have the date and time set correctly. The website will automatically organise your photographs in date/time order by reading the hidden code in the digital photo.  Incorrect dates/times may prevent images from displaying.
    2. If the camera is 7 Megapixels (MP) or less then set it to maximum pixel resolution and quality. If it is greater than 7MP then you may optionally dial down the pixel resolution a bit (image size) but keep the jpeg quality high.
    3. All images must be JPEGs for upload to the website. Files smaller than 500KB or greater than 10MB will be rejected.


Recommended:

    1. Your photographs should be taken in landscape (horizontal) orientation (on most cameras this will mean the shutter release button is upwards).  You will not be able to rotate your images once they are uploaded.
    2. Ensure the lighting is good.  If you think you’ll need to use a flash, please practise with this to ensure your settings are confirmed in advance.
    3. Most cameras have settings that can help to prevent ‘red eye’ when using flash.  If appropriate, ensure you set this on the camera.
    4. Carefully consider what’s in the background of your photographs.  Be aware of lamp-posts, street signs, overflowing rubbish bins and other extraneous objects that could ruin your carefully composed shots.
    5. Once the nativity scene is setup, position the tripod in such a way that the people fill the frame.  Make sure you aren’t going to cut off heads etc but that you are close enough without lots of wasted space around the edges.  Ensure the tripod is sturdy and will not topple.
    6. On occasions there may be a queue forming to have photos taken. Make sure the photographer has assistants who can help setup the scene and get people ready as quickly as possible.

    

FROM CAMERA TO COMPUTER

Only if you are experienced with digital photography would we recommend you carry out post production (cropping, resizing, sharpening, compressing, etc).  All images to be uploaded must be in the JPEG (.jpg) format.

Before transferring the images from your camera memory to a computer, we recommend that you:

    • Prepare a destination folder for your event so that you can easily find the relevant photographs (it may be best to give the folder the event name and date).
    • Select JPEG or JPG as the format and select High quality.
    • If your camera is less than 5 MP and the software gives you options to resize and perform other manipulations deselect these. Try and avoid cropping, resizing, etc as this will degrade the quality.
    • If your camera is greater than 7MP you may optionally choose to resize the image’s resolution to a bit smaller. Something around 3000 pixels wide (ensuring you keep the height in the correct aspect ratio – this will depend on the camera but will probably be around 2000 pixels) would be fine. Keep the JPEG quality high.
    • If your camera software gives you file renaming options you may wish to use the church or group name followed by the event date and then the photo number. That way you can quickly find them if needed in future.
    • Copy the photos from the camera without removing them from the card (that way if something goes wrong on the computer you can still get the images again from the card).
    • Make sure all the pictures you have selected to download from the camera are from a 'Get in the Picture' event.
    • If your software lets you add hidden ‘Metadata’ to photos then you may wish to enter the event details, copyright, church website address etc. However do not accidentally add any text onto the images or visibly watermark them.

 

Download/transfer your photographs from the camera memory to your computer. Once complete, follow these steps:

    1. Check that all the photos are from one event.  If they were taken on different days check with your coordinator to see if they should be grouped as different events.
    2. Double check that all the photos relate to Get in the Picture. It is very important you don’t accidentally upload incorrect images to the site.
    3. If necessary, complete any post processing such as cropping, straightning, exposure correction etc.  If you carry out any image manipulations then make sure you save out at the highest JPEG (jpg) quality.
    4. Our system will not function with any images that are smaller than 1280 pixels wide and 800 tall (but this is very small and your images should be much bigger).

      

UPLOADING PHOTOGRAPHS FROM COMPUTER TO THE WEBSITE

LEGAL NOTICE: You must only upload photos for which you own the copyright or have permission to use. You are responsible for any claims for copyright infringement.

Log in to the coordinators’ editing page (you will need the email address and password originally used to register).  For each event, there is an option to ‘add photos’.  Clicking on this (make sure you have selected the right event to upload to) will present 2 further options: 

    1. A direct uploader (recommended method) that enables you to select up to 50 images at a time, each of up to 10MB file size.  Simply ‘browse’ to the relevant folder on your computer, select 50 images and add these to the upload list.  Click on the ‘Upload Now’ button just below the list and your files will automatically be transferred to the correct event on the Get in the Picture website.  The files should appear on the website within 30 minutes after your uploading is complete (you may have to ‘refresh’ the page).  Continue to add your photographs in batches of 50.  The speed at which your photographs are uploaded depends on both the file size and the speed of your internet connection.  Please note that you are still limited to 50 images at a time even if you select smaller file sizes.
    2. The second, and much slower, method is to email your photographs to the website.  The email address and a unique code is shown on the ‘add photos’ page just under the direct uploader described above.  The unique code must be copied to the email subject line without amendment.  Each event has a different code so if you run more than one photo event (e.g. different days/time or different location) you need to ensure that you ‘add photos’ to the correct event.
      1. Simply add images as attachments to the email.  The number of images you can add to one email will depend upon the file size of the images. 
        Don’t send more than 10MB of images at once. Send as many emails to the address
        as necessary to complete sending all your photos.
      2. Within half an hour of sending the photos they should appear and be accessible from the
        Event viewing page.  If not: Please check they have left your Outbox, check your email
        in case you have any bounce backs (please also check in any spam/junk folders).  
        If you can’t find them please phone the Get in the Picture office on 01235 517711
        or email office@getinthepicture.org.uk for assistance.  Do not send any written
        emails to the photo upload email address.

 

DELETING A PHOTOGRAPH

To delete a photograph you must be logged in as a coordinator.  From the 'view photo' option
on the 'Events' page.  Select the photograph to be deleted and click to 'See Larger Image'.
The delete function will be available alongside other options at the bottom of the image.
Please note that you can only delete one image at a time.

BACKUP YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS

  1. Until the 31st January 2012 please keep a backup of your images.
  2. After 31st January 2012, depending on what you have agreed with those in the
    photos, you should probably delete all the images. This would include deleting
    from: your computer’s hard drive, the camera’s memory card and any 'sent
    email' boxes)
  3. If you wish to keep specific images (e.g. for future publicity for your
    church/group) then please ensure you have permission from those in
    the photo.