Crowdfunder’s guide to getting ‘snap happy’
Our top ten tips to get your photo published in the media
Photos bring your project to life and encourage people to read more about it. A great photo will also
make a story much more attractive to the journalist who receives it.
1. Focus
Tell your story in one picture by
including one or more of these:
 People involved with the project
 The project’s location
 Equipment used by the project
 Some of the supporters
 People doing an activity supported
by the project
2. Quality of photo
There are a few things you can do to
ensure a good quality photo (unless you
know a budding photographer willing
to help out):
 Get hold of a good camera (SLR’s
produce the most professional
shots; they’re the bulky cameras
with interchangeable lenses)
 Line things up well and try not to
cut off anyone’s head!
 Try and find a bright location
without too many shadows
 Get people to smile!
3. Lose the logo
Avoid superimposing your logo on the
photo, as the press won’t print it. If
you’re clever though, you could try
sneaking your logo into the picture
somewhere when you take it (don’t
make it too obvious!)
4. Images for print – send a low res
one first
Photographs need to be high resolution
if you want them printed in a
newspaper or magazine. Anything 2MB
or larger should be fine. Most digital
cameras will produce photos that are
large enough for a standard size print.
5. Images for web
Photographs being published online
need to be low resolution, no more than
1MB.
6. Send it as an attachment
Journalists much prefer to receive
pictures as a jpeg file and as a separate
attachment in the same email as the
Word document that contains your
press release.
7. Credit your photographer
If you have asked a professional
photographer to take the picture, make
sure to credit them in the file name.
8. Name the people in the photo
Write down the full names of the
people in your photos (from left to
right). Local newspapers will often ask
for people’s names as it makes the
piece more personal. It’s good practise
to ask permission, especially to get
parental approval for kids.
9. Landscape and portrait formats
Try and take landscape and portrait
photos – publications and websites will
have different styles and one photo
may looks better than the other.
10. Take a variety of shots
It takes a bit of planning to gather
people and props in one location so use
the opportunity to take a variety of
photos – they always look different on
a screen and you’ll be pleased you’ve
got lots to choose from! Photos always
come in handy so, even if a newspaper
only uses one, you could add more to
your own website or on your socials.