No matter how interesting and engaging your church “About” page is, nothing connects with people and builds trust like real photos of the church’s staff and leaders.
Any picture is worth a thousand words, but a carefully chosen picture can say much more than that.
If you are lucky enough to be in the minority of churches with a staff photographer, that part of your brand is probably going to be shaped by their personal style.
For the rest of us, there are a few tricks we can use to get the most mileage out of our limited resources.
Get a dedicated volunteer. This one speaks for itself, but if you can find a willing individual with a nice phone, they can focus on just doing the photography, which will probably have more uniform results.
Shoot outside. Unless you have a studio set up, natural light is always going to look better than indoor light.
Dress accordingly. If your church brand is more formal and traditional, wear a suit. If your brand is younger and more informal, dress casually. A good rule of thumb is to wear what the majority of your members would typically wear on a Sunday morning.
Use consistent settings. If you’re shooting on an iPhone, use portrait mode with the same settings each time. If you have a digital camera, use a tripod for consistent framing and watch a video to help you dial in your settings.
Curate. Shoot several photos of each person, and pick ones that are the most flattering and in focus.
Staff headshots are just one way to use “on brand” church photography, but they can make a huge difference.
