As increasingly newspapers and trade magazines are relying on businesses to submit their own photographs to accompany stories, Zeus PR advises on what makes ‘a good press photo’.
If a story is of key importance to your business, we would always recommend booking a freelance press photographer for an hour’s shoot. They know exactly what newspapers and the trade press are looking for and for the sake of around £150, it is usually money well spent.
However, for smaller stories, or where a budget is not available there are some simple guidelines which you should follow:-
- Always take the image digitally, and email to the journalist in high resolution (usually minimum of 300dpi in jpeg format works best)
- Keep the shot simple – what is ‘the story’?
- Focus on the subject and ‘don’t go too wide’ by including unnecessary background
- Don’t be afraid of ‘close up’ shots, they can be very impactful
- Keep in mind your audience, for corporate press for example a Facebook style-image is not going to work
- Don’t be too overt with branding, keep logos to a minimum otherwise the image may be seen as ‘too commercial’ for editorial inclusion
- You can be creative, for charity themed stories for instance an action shot of the ‘fundraising in action’ is often more interesting than a cheque presentation photo