Organizing Photos

* Organize your event and photos by counties. *

Hometown releases are distributed by home counties. The most important consideration when arranging photos is to group your award winners by county. When large numbers of students attend an awards ceremony, it is difficult to ensure all the students stay through a lengthy photo session. Inform your students ahead of time they will be needed for a county photo for media releases. Have a prepared list and group the reception by county. Arrange the program so there is a flow to the photo session; avoid having students and presenters wait a long time after the event is over.

* Be ready to assist with identification. *

It is very helpful to have someone in your department assigned to assist the photographer in taking names. The photographer handles this many times by letting the award winners write their own names, but the photo shoot will go much faster if someone records the names for each county photo in order. This will speed the process of writing and sending releases, and save you time, because we won't have to come back to you for photo identification a couple of weeks later. It may be better to have the list of recipients by county prepared, then group the individuals according to your list.

* Use Photo Services if possible. *

You can save time and money by using Photo Services. Photo Services’ use of digital technology and the web has significantly reduced the cost of making publicity photos. Unless otherwise requested, Photo Services will shoot all photos with a digital camera and the proofs will be available for viewing and ordering through a web page. There is no charge for digital images e-mailed to you or those sent to the media. Please refer to the Photo Services fee schedule for costs for prints from digital proofs.

If you choose to shoot your own photos…

We encourage you to take advantage of our services, but occasionally you may submit photos taken by yourself, students or someone else. Digital photos submitted must be jpeg, tif or eps, at least 220 dpi, preferably 300 dpi. (This applies to news release photos only; publications always require 300 dpi). Although 72 dpi works for web pages, newspapers and other publications require a higher resolution. You may also submit prints, but we strongly encourage you to follow the guidelines given for composition and organization. A poor photo does not reflect well on your students or on the university and may not be used at all by a newspaper or publication.

* Consider the media preference and your cost when arranging photos. *

It's tempting to have individual photos made with the same presenter or with the same background, but grouping will save money and increase the chance of a newspaper running the photo. For example, if six students from Sumner County receive awards at your event, the newspapers there will be more likely to print one photo containing all six students than they will be to run six individual photos of the students shaking hands with the same person. Headshots of individual students, taken at the event or from the yearbook photo, are often a great way to go unless the award presenter needs to be shown in the photo. However, you will then be charged for six photos instead of one.

* Keep the number of people in a photo as small as possible. *

If a student/faculty/staff award picture is being made in your department office or other location, plan for no more than three or four people in the photo. If several students are from one county, you can make an exception to this number. A small number of people makes a more effective photo that is more likely to be used by a newspaper.