Your yearbook comes to life through pictures, and candid photos capture the moments that make each year different and memorable. Capturing candid photos that include more students in the yearbook, however, can seem like a daunting task without a plan.
Yearbook editors make a few common missteps when it comes to candid photos. One common misperception is that candid photos are captured through stealth activities (like hiding behind bushes). Another mistake is not thinking about candid photos throughout the school year. A thorough understanding of how to capture those candid moments, along with a strategy to keep the candid photos flowing in on an ongoing basis, can help you include more students in this year’s yearbook. The result will be a more robust representation of the student body and a more colorful depiction of the year as it unfolded.
Your Guide To Getting More (And Better) Candid Photos For Your School’s Yearbook
- Enlist some help. Do you know of a student that is always capturing photographs at events? Or, a teacher or principal that is present for all the major and minor happenings at your school? Recruiting someone like this to help capture candid photos will create a pipeline of photos ranging from students working hard on a competition for the robotics club to a group of friends out supporting the football team and beyond. Be sure to give some guidance as to the types of candid photos you’d like and how to submit them seamlessly to the yearbook team. At YearbookLife, our software offers a photo upload site that allows students and staff to contribute photos for your consideration for use in the yearbook.
- Be discreet. The idea of a candid photo is there are no poses, no cheesy smiles and no real awareness of the camera. This does not mean that the photographer has to be completely incognito. You can tell your subjects to carry on doing what they’re doing and capture photos as they act naturally. Some of these semi-candid photos will not make the cut, but eventually, the students will forget that you are there and truly act natural. Then, the magic happens. You capture them laughing, working, clapping or making funny faces – all while they know, on some level, that you are there taking photos.
- Attend events. When events occur, it is important that you (or someone you’ve recruited) attend. It’s an obvious statement, but of course, life gets busy and key candid opportunities can be missed. It’s also a good idea to check out the smaller, less publicized events. Of course, Homecoming is definitely a great event to get candid photos, but what about the baseball team’s Halloween game or the environmental club’s annual gardening event? Those smaller events can create amazing candid photo ops that show the true personality of your school and the year in pictures. Be sure to share an events’ calendar with your yearbook team and assign photographers to attend those events.
- Be okay with imperfection. Candid photos often are not perfectly centered or at the perfect angle with the best lighting. Students walking toward the volleyball court before a big game or friends with arms around each other on the last day may not fit perfectly into the frame, but it adds character to the story your yearbook tells. Being okay with the imperfection of candid photos for your yearbook helps you not overthink it and take more pictures!
- Don’t forget to ask for permission. While candid photos are a key way to include more students in your yearbook, it is important that you have permission to include those represented. Be sure to include a process to double-check that all students represented in the yearbook have provided the appropriate forms for consent.
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At YearbookLife, we have mastered the art of making designing and creating your school’s yearbook easy. Our software provides templates that will simplify the design process of your profile pages. The kids love the results, The yearbook staff loves how easy it is to use and how much support we provide. And, the parents love our affordable pricing. We can guide you through the process from start to finish. Get a free quote today!
Every year we hope to create a yearbook that is a masterpiece, something that stands out as a unique representation of the year we’ve shared, a true keepsake for students and their families to take with them into their futures. Keeping things original and interesting year after year can, however, be a challenge.
One of the best ways to make this year’s yearbook memorable is to master the art of the student profile page. These stories and personal touches add a creative flair and an authentic storyline to the yearbook that will bring memories to life for years to come. Don’t be intimidated by the task of creating this authentic look and feel to this year’s yearbook, the team at YearbookLife has compiled an easy-to-master list of tips to get you there – quickly, because we know you are busy!
6 Steps to Mastering the Student profile Page
- Optimize your page space. Profile pages will take up a chunk of the space in your book, so planning it out spatially is an important preliminary step. Identifying how many profiles you will have per page will help you gain clarity on how much content you will be able to fit into each profile. Depending on your needs, you may choose between two and four profiles per page. This is where the savvy yearbook editor finds the balance between keeping costs in budget and giving student profiles enough space to truly shine.
- Determine a theme. A theme is a great way to tie everything together. Some photo themes that might make your yearbook pop are:
- Black and white – This monochromatic approach can create a memorable, dramatic and unique theme to your student profile pages.
- Formal dress – Grab pictures from the prom or an event where students are wearing their best dress and add a formal theme to your student profile pages.
- Students holding signs – Tap into the latest trend of having pictures taken with fun signs that have relevant sayings on them, similar to the ones done at weddings.
- Master the art of the mod. Your yearbook student profile page should include strategically-placed mods, aka sidebars and/or callouts. These fun design elements not only add flair, but make the content fun and easy to read. With the right color scheme, mods will add a layer of sophistication to the overall theme of your yearbook.
- Survey a few of their favorite things. Favorite class, favorite teacher, favorite after school activity…all these stats can add a fun and personal touch to the student profile page. Some of the students might even choose an actual class (not just lunch)!
- Don’t forget to include the family (furry friends too). A personal touch to the student profile page might include details about the family. From younger siblings to furry, four-legged family members, there’s nothing more personal than a nod to your student’s family.
- Call out inspirational words for the win. Amp up the fun and inspiration with poignant quotes, relevant song lyrics or memes that fit the time and place. These words are an easy way to add more depth and personality to your yearbook’s student profile pages.
Need Help? Have a Question? Contact Us Today!
At YearbookLife, we have mastered the art of making designing and creating your school’s yearbook easy. Our software provides templates that will simplify the design process of your profile pages. The kids love the results, The yearbook staff loves how easy it is to use and how much support we provide. And, the parents love our affordable pricing. We can guide you through the process from start to finish. Get a free quote today!
Your yearbook theme sets the tone for the entire yearbook. The theme should be appealing to a wide audience, the cover should be eye-catching, and the content should be relatable. In years to come, a yearbook theme can elicit fond memories. In some cases, it can even be a sort of time-capsule.
It’s fair to say, choosing the right theme is important. We’ve put together this checklist to help you choose your school’s yearbook theme.
School Yearbook Theme Checklist
Albert Einstein famously said: “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.” Could there be a better description for the process of creating a yearbook? Creativity is a key element to a successful theme, but it’s not the only thing to consider.
Work your way through this checklist to help you choose your school yearbook theme.
Ask: Is Your Yearbook Theme Unique?
We’ve all been there. A great idea comes to you out of the blue. You’re convinced that nobody else has ever had the same idea, only to find out that isn’t the case.
Check your old school yearbooks, go back at least 10 years. See what themes they have used, and make sure yours is unique.
Ask: Is It Clear and Relatable?
Interpretation matters. What you think a theme represents may differ from what someone else thinks. While you may believe your theme idea to be witty and clever, it may not relate in the same way to everyone.
Ask your yearbook class if they understand the concept for the yearbook theme. If it takes people more than a couple of seconds to get it, your theme may not be clear or relatable enough.
Ask: Is It Sustainable?
It can be tempting to pick your theme around an awesome cover. But you want to make sure your idea has legs. That is, you can carry it all the way through your yearbook. Can it be integrated into your headlines? Your articles? Your photo spreads? Make sure that your yearbook theme is one that can carry all the way through the book.
Ask: Is It Approved?
When you have a few potential ideas, make sure to run your proposed yearbook theme past your school’s administration. They can offer great feedback, and help highlight if there are elements of the theme that they may not wish to promote.
It’s important to remember – the administration may not be picking the theme, but getting their approval early on makes the yearbook creation process much easier.
At YearbookLife, We’re Here to Help!
Looking for more ideas and inspiration? Our Exclusive Yearbook Theme Guide is available to download for free! Download your copy by clicking here.
Looking for a Yearbook Publisher? Contact Us & Get a Free Quote!
At YearbookLife, we pride ourselves on our competitive pricing, customer and technical support, fast delivery, and our free, easy-to-use software. If you’d like to request a quote today, please click here.
The end of the school year is approaching. Many of us are looking forward to the long days of summer. At YearbookLife, we’re enjoying our favorite time of the year too: yearbook printing season!Â
That means only one thing: It’s almost time for your yearbooks to be delivered. We’re excited already, are you? Â
If your parents and students aren’t yet excited about the yearbook, they soon will be!Â
3 Ways to Get Parents & Students Excited About the Yearbook
When it comes to marketing your yearbook, you may have focused your efforts on the student body. While this is a good yearbook marketing technique, it’s important to remember that you actually have a much bigger audience.
In many cases, it’s likely to be the students’ parents who will be purchasing the yearbook. With this in mind, it’s important to get parents as excited about the yearbook as the students are! This can help boost your yearbook sales. But it’s also a great way for parents and students alike to eagerly await the ability to reflect on a year full of memories.Â
1.) Email
It’s easy to speak to the student body about the yearbooks when you are face to face with them every day. But what about parents? Technology gives you a great opportunity to connect with them.Â
Email marketing is an effective way of reaching a far wider audience. You may find that your school has an available email list for parents. But how can you build up their excitement for the yearbook? Why not try:Â
- Sneak peeks – Ramp up excitement by sharing sneak peeks of your yearbook. Recently completed a spread on a big school event? Send out an email with a sneak peek. It will leave parents and students wanting more!
- Behind the scenes – There’s a lot of work that goes into a yearbook. Help share the journey by providing some behind the scenes insights.Â
- Ask for content – We’ve previously looked at how you can crowdsource for yearbook content. Getting parents involved with this can give you a whole host of additional content to really give your yearbook that unique touch.Â
2.) Social Media
While email is a great way to get informative content in front of an audience, it’s not the only way. Most of us have smartphones these days, and enjoy spending time on social media.Â
This provides you with another opportunity to ramp up excitement about your yearbook. Just like with emails, try sharing some additional content on social media. You can learn more about increasing school yearbook engagement with social media here.Â
Make sure your calendar includes the small and large deadlines. You want your final yearbook deadline front and center of mind. Try writing it at the top of your calendar, so everyone is reminded as the date gets closer.Â
 3.) Student Excitement
If your students are excited about the yearbook, they’re going to speak to their parents about it! Help build up excitement among the student body by:Â
- Sending reminders about yearbook deadlines.
- Being clear about the yearbook release date.
- Encouraging yearbook sales as early as possible.
You can also help to boost further excitement by sending the student body home with flyers about the yearbook. Aim to do this about once a month, and make sure that it’s included in the student’s take home folder. This ensures that parents are reading the necessary information about your yearbook!
At YearbookLife, We’re Here to Help
At YearbookLife, we offer marketing assistance to all our customers, including free email marketing, social media templates, and take home flyers. If you’re looking for some additional yearbook marketing support, our experienced customer care team is on hand to help you market your yearbook and increase your yearbook sales. To request a quote today, please click here.
Spring is here! Flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are singing. You know what else happens in spring? Yearbook deadlines. In order to make sure that your yearbooks are delivered on time, it’s important to make your yearbook deadline.
It can be a hectic time of the year. Late evenings and weekends spent working to ensure that yearbook deadlines are met. But it doesn’t need to be this way.
When planned correctly, your yearbook deadline should be seen as an accomplishment, rather than a dreaded date hanging over you. That’s why we’ve put together these 5 tips to help meet your yearbook deadlines.
5 Tips to Meet Your Yearbook Deadlines
Meeting yearbook deadlines can be a daunting task for yearbook advisers. However, deadlines can be easily managed with a bit of organization. These tips can help make the process much smoother for you.
- Â Set Micro-Deadlines
You can get ahead on your yearbook creation by setting micro-deadlines throughout the year. For example, certain school events will happen earlier on in the year. Once the event has passed, don’t wait until the spring to collate your yearbook pages detailing it! Get it prepped, proofed and ready to go.
- Â Create a Team Calendar
Take your micro-deadlines one step further by setting up a calendar that your yearbook team can review. Visible deadlines can help keep everyone more accountable and build a great sense of teamwork.
Make sure your calendar includes the small and large deadlines. You want your final yearbook deadline front and center of mind. Try writing it at the top of your calendar, so everyone is reminded as the date gets closer.
- Â Checklists
Checklists are a great way to keep everyone on track. Build out a checklist for everyone to see. You may want to build it by page, or by section. Whichever you feel is more suitable. Plus, by creating a checklist, you get the added satisfaction of marking items complete as you make progress!
- Â Proofing Deadline
This can go hand in hand with your micro-deadlines. Set proofing deadlines for your yearbook content as you go along. It will help you save time later!
For example, proofing school portraits. When you get these files from your school photographer, build in a deadline for these to be proofed.
- Â Build in a Buffer
Giving yourself a bit of a time buffer prior to your yearbook deadline can be a great idea. Consider how long your yearbook is going to be. Say, for example, you need to finish 30 pages over the next 3 weeks. That’s 10 pages per week. Step it up a notch and aim for 15. This puts you slightly ahead, so if you finish in advance, great!
Similarly, when it comes to your yearbook class, set an earlier deadline. Because let’s face it, even with the best planning in the world, delays can happen! Building in a time buffer of a couple of weeks can help take some pressure off.
Get a FREE Yearbook Quote from YearbookLife today!
At YearbookLife, we make yearbooks easy. Our easy-to-use yearbook design software and technical support assistance help simplify the yearbook process for you. Plus, our experienced customer care team are on hand to help you market your yearbook and increase your yearbook sales. If you’d like to request a quote today, please click here.
