Using photography

Photography is a powerful tool to help convince a journalist to use your story and can draw a reader’s attention to an article. Where possible offer the media one or more images to accompany a story.

Holding a press call
If you are confident that your event or announcement has strong pictorial potential then you may want to consider holding a press call where you invite the media to come and take their own photographs or video footage.

Top tip: Media schedules are extremely tight so it is worth canvassing interest from the media in advance and taking advice on appropriate times and locations.

If a newspaper does decide to send a photographer, plan ahead by deciding who should be featured in the photograph and any branding opportunities (posters, T-shirts etc) that can be incorporated.

Taking your own photos
Even if a photographer has agreed to attend your event, it is always advisable to take your own photographs as well or, if the budget will allow it, book a professional photographer. Alternatively you may want to stage a picture to accompany a story that is not event-based, such as the announcement of a new mentoring scheme.

Checklist: getting maximum mileage from your photos:

• Plan & make it interesting - it should tell a story and remember that an action shot is often more useable than people standing in a row.

• Imaged should be good quality with no pulling funny faces in the background Remember that the image may blown up or reduced so don’t cram to much in.

• When photographing under 16s, make sure you have written permission from a parent or guardian. The photography guidance section has more information about data protection and an example photo permission form.

• Provide a photo caption identifying who is in the picture and key information to support the story e.g. 'John Smith, 17, (left) and Fred Bloggs, 18, (right) from St Mark’s Sixth Form College try their hand at DJing during yesterday’s Aimhigher Music Festival.’

• Picture should be high-resolution– at least 300 dots per inch (dpi) – and in the right format e.g. JPEG.

Top tip: Keep your best images on file so that where there is no opportunity to generate an original picture to accompany a story you can select an existing image to help illustrate it.