Zena Wigram

Videos are ideal; it’s fine to have them look ‘home-made’ as long as they’re sincere.

There are two ways to get good photo or video assets: take them yourself, or find ones you like. Here are a few pointers for both options.

1. Find something you like online.

Please note:
You don’t necessarily have the right to use someone’s images for free – even if you found them online.

‘Royalty-free’ does not mean ‘use wherever you like’.
It may mean copyright free, or the asset may be free with attribution (giving credit to the copyright owner, sometimes requiring a link), or you may have to give the copyright owner a one-off payment before you can use it.

At the end of this article I’ve put a list of places where you can get free assets without – in effect – stealing them.

2. Or you can take your own photos and video.

If you take them, you know they’re yours! You don’t legally need permission to film or photograph people if they’re in a public place ‘with no expectation of privacy’, but it’s polite to ask, especially if there are children involved.

A few tips:

1. Don’t get too close. Stand a little way back – you can crop into shape later.
2. Tuck your elbows in to help keep the camera still. Be cautious about using zoom on a smartphone: not all smartphones zoom properly, and the greater the magnification, the more you risk moving and blurring your shot.
3. Turn your phone sideways to get a landscape picture. There’s lots of info online about exact sizes, but about twice as wide as the picture is high will work for most social media.

When photographing or filming people:

1. Ask them to wear something pale in colour. Their top will reflect light onto their face and help with the lighting.
2. Lighting can completely change the look and feel. Natural light is often best, but direct sunlight can create ugly shadows. Harsh fluorescent lighting can make colours odd, and create shadows on a face; a flash may make skin look shiny. If you can, film outside on an overcast day, in an area out of direct sunlight, or when the sun is setting – to soften the light. If you’re indoors, put your subject beside a window, to use daylight to give a natural-looking glow. But don’t put your subject’s back to the window, or even the best camera will struggle to get the exposure right.
3. Be aware of backgrounds – avoid having trees or poles growing out of someone’s head. And be careful there isn’t anything included in the picture which may imply that you approve of (or take part in) activities that are illegal, racist, or bullying.
4. If you want a portrait with a plain background, ask the person to step forward a pace or two – standing right against a wall gives unattractive shadows.
   However, a background which places the person in context can often work better.
5. Ask your subject to point their feet a little to one side. They’ll naturally turn their bodies to follow, and you avoid a completely square-on pose, which can look aggressive. People often look more relaxed if you ask them to fold their arms, or put their hands in their pockets. Sometimes asking someone to push their nose slightly forward (at you) helps to create a cleaner and more flattering jaw-line. It’s useful to have a stock of inoffensive jokes to put your subject at their ease. Take several photos as you tell the joke, and you should get a natural smile.
6. For video footage, get someone to ‘interview’ your subject. They should have a series of questions and encourage replies which repeat the question before answering. (You will edit the questions out later.) Ask them to look at the interviewer, not the camera.

Ten sources of royalty-free photos

Photos from these websites were completely free to use when I checked, but please be aware that requirements may change. In no particular order:

1. Pixabay – one of my favourite sites, with a huge array of completely free images and video
2. Unsplash – a good collection of high quality free images. Be careful not to click on istock at the top – that’s a paid collection.
3. Free Images – a reasonable range of images and versions, also sponsored by istock
4. Pexels – also a good collection, well worth checking out
5. Life of Pix – quite a small collection so will depend what you want
6. Kaboompics – a fairly small collection, but some lovely photos
7. FOCA stock – another fairly small collection
8. Magdeleine – fairly small but quite different images
9. Gratisography – small collection – but you’re most unlikely to see the same photo being used anywhere else
10. Pxfuel – a good collection of photos, free for commercial use

Pictures marked cc0 are completely free, but cc3 and cc4 licences do need to be properly attributed. It’s worth noting that you will almost certainly need to attribute Wikimedia images. See the Creative Commons website for more details.

Images:

1. Pexels – © Jessica Lewis thepaintedsquare
2. Pixabay – © Bruce Emmerling
3. © Zena Wigram

Get in touch if you’d like me to arrange a photoshoot for you. I have worked with a number of excellent photographers around the UK, and will find the right one for your shoot.