photography

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.

We’ve established that you need a church website, but what makes a website "good?" Out of pride, I'd like to say that a well-balanced, memorable logo and strong color palette are the most important things, but I'd be lying. Professional-looking photos and videos are the most permanent and powerful way to make your website stand out. Let’s face it, people can identify a stock image from a mile away, and while AI is getting better all the time, it’s not good at generating images that feel like genuine, authentic interactions at a real place. Most websites will need maintenance and updates from time to time, but a strong image on your website’s homepage is something you'll never have to worry about updating. That’s why even a few high-quality images can make all the difference. Take them once, and they do the work of resonating with potential visitors over and over again, forever. In a future post, I’ll share how I recommend churches should get professional photos and videos for their websites. Especially how to get the most bang for their buck when they do so... stay tuned!

So you want to put professional-looking photos on your church website. That’s great, but where do you start? Who do you hire? What shots do you need? The main thing to remember is that you want to show the benefits of your church. Why do people attend? What makes your church uniquely valuable as a local congregation? Website photos and videos should show the benefits you’re known for and set realistic expectations. Church website imagery is especially important because it’s giving potential visitors a taste of what it’s like to attend, while also reminding existing members of the reason they come. That said, how can you get the most out of your time and resources? Here are my recommendations. Book a local photographer for a Sunday morning and ask them for a list of shots that looks something like this: Parking Lot / Building Greeters Bulletins / Merch Worship Preaching Fellowship Baptisms or other significant moments Bonus tip: If you can find a little more budget, use a videographer instead and ask for stills from the footage they capture. Now you have professional video and photos. Much like a rebrand, if you do this right, you won’t have to do it again for a very long time. Put your new photos and video on the most visited pages of your website, and let them go to work. While you’re off focusing on ministry, they’ll be consistently connecting with people who are looking for a church home, and tending that part of your brand for you.