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Have you ever scrolled through a church’s social media account and thought, “wow, their feed is absolutely gorgeous!” There are engaging videos, unique graphics, and incredible photos of their services and community.
More often than not, what tends to capture the attention when it comes to social media is organic content. While great static graphics and stock photos have their place, there is something special about utilizing real pictures of people from your actual community.
The purpose behind taking photos at church is to tell a story and capture the essence of who you are as a community.
These types of photos give a glimpse to your viewers of what life is truly like at your house of worship. They can see what your services are like, the kind of people that attend your church, and can get an overall feel for what it would be like to be a part of your community.
It is a powerful thing to preserve the powerful moves of God in our churches. Photography makes this possible!
How exactly can we capture photos in a way that will enhance our social media presence and bring authenticity to our various digital efforts? This blog will dive deep into our photography guide for churches! Looking to keep these notes
We want to give you the tools to provide great church photos so that our team can integrate them into your social media, graphic, and web design! Capture life at your church, and we’ll do the rest!
First off, we know that not every single church out there has the resources (financially or expertise-wise) to capture flawless, professional images. The beauty is that you don’t need to be a pro to capture life in your church with photos!
When beginning to take photos at your church, there are several visual characteristics you want to keep in mind.
1. Lighting.
Quality lighting is what can make or break your photography. Too low of lighting and images end up blurry and unfocused. Too high lighting and everything is super exposed and filled with glares.
Utilizing natural light is one of the best things you can do to capture high-quality photos. Subjects will be clearer and it will be easier to create an organic look, especially if photos are taken outdoors. Another option will be to leverage the lighting used on stage. If your lighting engineer is a pro, this will be extremely helpful!
2. Shallow Depth of Field/Clear Subject.
You may have read this phrase and thought, “what the heck does that mean?” In a nutshell, a shallow depth of field is a photographic method that means one part of the photo is focused while the background is blurred.
This method is especially useful in highlighting individual members of your community. Whether it be the worship leader, preacher, or volunteer member, this simple method makes for a better quality-looking photo overall.
Bonus tip: If you have an iPhone, the portrait mode is extremely helpful and creates a professional-grade image, especially in natural lighting.
3. Limit Use of Flash
This tip is a big one when taking church photos. Imagine being in a dark room and suddenly BAM! A giant flash. Was that lightning from heaven? Nope, it was a photographer snapping a photo of you in a not-so-subtle manner.
Flash should be used very sparingly and should be reserved for outdoor scenarios where lighting is low. You mainly want to avoid using flash because it can be a huge distraction and hinder moments in church during the message or communion.
There is almost no lighting scenario you cannot overcome with great in-camera settings or post-editing of photos!
Emotions are powerful. It can be hard to look at a photo of a daughter and father reuniting after his deployment or a dog returning home and not shed a tear! Photography is a beautiful art because it serves to preserve moments in time that we can keep forever.
Some of the most heartwarming, powerful, breakthrough moments happen during church services. These are the moments we revel in because we know that God is alive and active in our midst. When taking church photos, capturing some specific emotional characteristics will bring a level of authenticity to your social media and other content!
1. Welcoming.
Many churches have adopted the phrase “welcome home” to their church because that’s exactly what church is meant to feel like - a home!
Taking photos of greeters, volunteers, and other friendly faces can help capture your church’s welcoming feel. Simply camp just outside your church’s doors and capture these moments of welcoming home.
2. Joyful.
Smiles are contagious! When we see others with a genuine smile, we can’t help but smile back. Church is a place where joyfulness should be the norm. The goodness of God, His work in our lives, and the joy of community will truly bring a smile to our face.
So capture those pearly whites! Look for opportunities to capture the joy on people’s faces during worship, as they greet a friend, or while they have fun in kids ministry.
3. Inspiring/Genuine.
As we have mentioned already, authenticity is key in church communities, and keeping photos organic and real is a wise move, both for engagement and principle. Snapping pictures of genuine moments in church convey to viewers that church is a place where they can truly experience the presence of God.
Worship, baptisms, and prayer are great times to capture these types of emotions. As you take these photos, allow the Holy Spirit to work and guide you to where you should take photos. It is in these little moments of God moving in someone’s heart that you can get a snapshot of genuine encounters.
The most important thing to note about the section is to remember a church photography golden rule. Don’t share emotive photos you wouldn't want to be shared of you.
As a photographer, you want to be thorough but not intrusive. If a photo you take is of raw emotion, you may want to ask permission of the subject before you share the photo. You can avoid upsetting your community members (and make sure you honor the moment they were having) by asking permission first. Also, if someone makes it clear they don’t like being photographed - no big deal! You can move on to another person or situation.
There are so many different aspects of church service. It’s not just worship and the message!
There are:
To bring the whole of your church experience to your photography archive, honing in on several thematic characteristics will go a long way.
1. Families.
Taking photos of families is a great way to display the reality of belonging. Getting a variety of photos of different types of families (nuclear, single parents, grandparents, etc.) will show that their family, no matter what it looks like, can fit into your church family.
2. Online Church.
We can’t forget about our online community! With these types of photos, you can get extremely creative. You can choose to visit those who maybe watch church as a group or even crowdsource photos from people who are viewing online. This is a great method to recognize those who are a part of church online and get those people more engaged by sharing their viewing experiences.
3. Group Photos (Posed and candid).
Group photos are great to take to further solidify belonging, and they also serve our graphic designers well. Stock photos can be extremely helpful, but how much more powerful is it to share graphics with your very own community members on it?
4. Volunteers and Servant Leaders.
People love behind-the-scenes content!
Breaking down the fourth wall and giving viewers a peek behind the curtain furthers your church’s authenticity. Capturing photos of your volunteers doing what they do on a Sunday serves to both honor them, show people the work behind the scenes, and can even encourage others to volunteer too!
5. Preaching/MC moments.
Photos of those talking on stage are huge for creating those awesome sermon quotes and worship moment graphics. Getting a few of the speakers speaking, smiling, and praying will be a huge win.
6. Conversations.
We keep saying this, but people love authenticity! Taking photos of moments where people are conversing and hanging out institutes the sense of “home-ness” and belonging at church. Make sure to follow the golden rule and don’t share photos of people they wouldn’t want shared.
7. Events.
So much happens in the life of your church outside of Sunday services! We have water baptism moments, community picnics, kid’s camps, small groups, and so much more. Getting photos of the events outside of your Sunday worship experience will show your viewers that church isn’t just reserved for Sunday. It is a week-long ordeal.
Here are a few last tips, tricks, and do’s/don'ts to ensure you capture the essence of your community and deliver photos we can use to help ignite your social media, grow your account, and reach more people for Christ!
Do:
Don’t:
We’re here to help! All you have to do is take the photos, and we will do the rest. Our social team at Pro MediaFire is expertly equipped to use your photos to help ignite growth on your social media accounts. Call us today to learn more about our services and tailored packages!
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