Photo Crew Guide
Thanks for shooting with us. Most of this page is the practical stuff: where you can go, what to wear and how to get photos to us. How you shoot is up to you.
Photo Crew Guide
Thanks for shooting with us. Most of this page is the practical stuff: where you can go, what to wear and how to get photos to us. How you shoot is up to you.
Every shoot
- 01Background check for kids’ areasYou need a current Sagebrush background check before you photograph in any kids’ area. Keep name tags and check-in stickers out of focus or out of the frame.
- 02Wear your lanyardIt’s how greeters, ushers and kids’ leaders know you’re with us and not just someone with a camera.
- 03Keep quiet during the serviceNo flash, and use silent shutter if you have it. Move between songs or during transitions, and stay still while people are praying.
- 04Point the camera at peopleOur best photos are of people in the room, like someone laughing in the lobby or a dad holding a sleeping kid during worship. Posed shots have their place, but they’re rarely the ones we end up using.
- 05Upload full-size JPEGs to the needUpload to the need you shot for, by its due date if it has one. Send the keepers. We don’t need the whole card.
During a service
While the service is going
- No flash, ever.
- Turn on silent shutter. If your camera doesn’t have one, shoot less during the quiet parts.
- Move between songs and during transitions. Stay put during prayer, communion and baptisms.
- Stick to the sides and aisles, and don’t stand anywhere that blocks someone’s view of the stage.
- Don’t shoot right in front of whoever is speaking or leading worship.
- Wear dark, plain clothes. Black is easiest.
With people
- Say hi to someone on the campus staff when you get there so they know you’re around.
- If someone asks you not to photograph them, stop, and delete what you took of them.
- In kids’ areas, make sure name tags, labels and pickup codes can’t be read.
- In care and recovery groups, shoot hands, backs or wide shots only. No faces.
- Don’t photograph jail or prison ministry.
- Wait for the church to post before you share any photos yourself.
Getting set up
Background checks
You need a current Sagebrush background check to shoot anywhere from the nursery up through elementary. Not sure if yours is current? Ask the Photo Crew coordinator before you take a kids’ shoot.
Lanyards
The coordinator hands these out. Wear yours every time you shoot, and give it back if you step away from the crew.
On the day
Get there before things start and find someone on the campus staff. Charge your batteries and clear your cards the night before.
Needs and uploads
Everything we need photographed is listed in Photo Hub. Claim a need or accept one assigned to you, work through its shot list, and upload into that need when you’re done.
Photo Hub is invite only. Sign in once the coordinator has added you.
What we look for
- People in the middle of something: talking, singing, laughing, helping.
- Natural light when you can get it. Edit lightly and skip heavy filters and presets.
- Some wide shots of the room, some closer ones, a few details, and a few verticals for phones.
- For website header photos, leave some empty space where text can go.
- People of all ages, at all of our campuses. We’d rather have real than perfect.
Your callThe shot list tells you what we need. How you get it is your call, and we’d love to see shots we didn’t think to ask for.
Examples
We’ll add photos from our own crew here soon.
File details
- Format
- Full-size JPEG at the highest quality, sRGB. No RAW files. On an iPhone, set Settings › Camera › Formats to Most Compatible.
- Size
- Whatever your camera shoots at full size. Don’t resize. Files can be up to 100 MB.
- Editing
- Keep it light and natural. Straighten horizons and vertical lines.
- Culling
- Leave out near-duplicates, blinks and anything out of focus.
- Camera clock
- Check that it’s set right. Photo Hub dates every photo from it.
- Originals
- Photo Hub keeps your original file, and every edit is saved as a separate version.