As you probably already know, capturing those “special” moments throughout the school year isn’t always easy. We know that your yearbook staff photographers will be at special events, capturing important moments, but what about behind the scenes like the bus trips to the events/games or the students hanging out in the stands?
Students Unite!
With nearly everyone owning a smartphone now a days, students themselves can now take pictures of these moments that make up “student life” which can be used for the school yearbook. The most obvious advantage is students almost always have them handy. Below, we have put together several tips and tricks to help you improve your photography skills using your smartphone.
Tips To Help Students Get Yearbook Quality Photos With A Smartphone:
- Keep your lens clean. Before snapping a shot, give the lens a quick wipe using a soft cloth – one to clean glasses or made specifically for electronics is ideal. Fingerprints are a big problem, and the oil from our fingers smears easily.
- Know your phone. There are hundreds of smartphone camera tutorials on YouTube. It’s definitely worth the time to watch videos for your specific phone and operating system.
- Do not zoom. Get physically closer instead of relying on the digital zoom. On a digital camera, digital zoom works the same as cropping and enlarging a photo in a graphics program. You lose quality and the ability to enlarge it later. If you can’t get closer, get creative with your shots. IDEA: Capture the cheerleaders’ reactions to a great play instead of the player on the field.
- Use two hands, and turn the camera horizontally for the best control. Just like with other cameras, the steadier your phone, the less blurry or out-of-focus your photos will be. IDEA: Clip two binder clips on one side and set it on the metal “legs” to make an impromptu tripod.
- Use burst mode for action shots. Most smartphones can take up to 10 photos per second with a feature called “burst mode.” IDEA: This is great for “before & after” photos.
- Use the grid. The grid is especially helpful for new photographers still learning rule of thirds. Doing it now will keep them from having to crop it later—and possibly losing quality.
- Always remember, flash = red eye and shadows. It’s always best to shoot without the flash whenever possible. More and more, smartphone cameras are becoming more advanced at shooting in low light, but if it’s too dark to shoot without the flash, position a friend nearby. IDEA: Have them hold up their phone with the flashlight on and pointed toward your subject. The light is more diffused and natural in the photo.
- Get familiar with your resolution. For the most part, the higher the resolution a.k.a. megapixels, the more detailed the picture will appear – and better it will print. For yearbooks, too small, and the photos will be grainy. Too large, and there may be issues with uploading and storage.
Taking photographs for your yearbook should be fun, and the better you know your phone’s camera capabilities, the better chance you’ll capture the perfect shot. Even though not every picture taken by students who used their smartphone will be able to be used in your yearbook, you certainly can’t use ones that were never taken! So go ahead and start capturing those moments that will live forever in your yearbook.
PHOTOGRAPHY SHOULD START 8:30am or 9:00am – Photography ends usually before 12:00pm
Best days to schedule your photos is on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday – Monday students forget and Friday they’re ready to go home
Be sure there are no field trips, school wide events or testing on picture day – You want all the students available for pictures that day
Create a schedule – Go back and look at past yearbooks to get an idea of which clubs and administration photos you need to take. Ask the administration if there are any new clubs or if any have been discontinued.
Be sure all teachers, students and administration are aware of the date and time – Tell everyone as often as you can. Someone will forget.
Be sure everyone knows what you want them to wear on picture day – If your clubs wear a special outfit or uniform be sure they wear it on picture day
BEST AND FASTEST WAY WITH LEAST DISRUPTION
Ten minutes before the scheduled time call all clubs to the cafeteria and with the help of your volunteers arrange the clubs at tables. The photographer should call each club up to the camera and when the group is finished they can go back to class or sit with their next club for their photo. This process takes the least amount of time and has the least classroom disruption. Largest clubs will be photographed first.
Line up each group with the tallest student up front and the shortest student in the back.
Administration photos are usually taken in the front office. Have their desks prepared and makeup on and let them know you are on the way after the last club photo is taken.
Any missed club or administration photos can be taken by_______________ – Designate someone on the yearbook team to take any pictures you missed.
SOME PHOTOS NOT TO FORGET
Principal
Assistant Principal
Teacher of the Year
Non-Instructional Employee of the year
Office Staff
Social Worker
Cafeteria Staff
School Resource Officer
Specials Teachers
ESE Teachers
PTA Board
Paraprofessionals
Room Mothers
Facility Services
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: As you know by now, digital cameras are everywhere—including in cell phones and smart phones—but are all cameras alike? If you would like to use digital photos in your yearbook, you should consider following these guidelines.
Work with your representative to pick the appropriate equipment. It’s a good idea to consult Consumer Reports or online resources like C-NET when choosing a camera. Look for these suggested camera and computer specs:
• A camera that is at least 4-5 megapixels, set at it’s highest setting, will provide images suitable for print in your yearbook. The higher the megapixel number, the higher quality of image your camera will be capable of capturing.
• Zoom lens: recommend looking for a higher optical zoom vs. digital on cameras with built in zoom functions.
• Rechargeable batteries help save money in the long run.
• Consider getting a tripod or unipod with your camera for stable shoots.
• Consider getting a camera that comes with digital imaging software that allows you to review the images as well as remove red-eye or adjust the brightness and contrast of photos. If you are a Microsoft Office user, see if your computer has Microsoft Office Picture Manager under Microsoft Office Tools. Another program available to purchase is Adobe® Photoshop®.
• Exchangeable memory cards allow you to store lots of high-quality images.
Once you get the camera, make sure it is set on the proper resolution at the highest quality. This will store large images on your camera and use lots of memory, so you should also purchase additional memory cards and an adapter for easy downloading of your images. Make it a point to read your instruction manuals for your digital cameras
.
HINTS FOR GENERAL PURPOSE USE OF DIGITAL CAMERAS:
• View all action and events through the viewfinder and anticipate your shot at least one second before it happens. Remember, your camera needs about a second to react to your command and take the photo once you press the button.
• Stabilize your hand and finger when photographing. Many times when you press your shutter button, your camera is moving and your image will be blurry.
• Have a backup battery, memory card, and carrying case for every camera.
• Download all images to a computer and burn to a CD after every shoot so you have a back up image you can archive. Never store all images on one computer or server without first backing them up on a CD, DVD or other remote storage device.
• Always have the flash function turned on and not on auto-flash. Your lighting will help get cleaner color both indoors and outdoors.
• Blurry images cannot be cleaned up with software. Delete all blurry images and keep only
clear images.
• Make sure to get close to your subject as you shoot. Consider shooting at least three to four shots so you can make sure you have the best photo. Delete any extra images where you know the subject has closed his or her eyes.
