Take Better Pictures!

When I work on brochures and other publications for IPM, I look through a lot of pictures and try to pick the best ones for the documents we put out.  One of our board members, Pastor Jonathan Tillman, has spent a lot of time studying photography and gave us some hints last year about how to take better pictures.  He said one thing that has stuck with me, and I have seen the best pictures that come into IPM have this feature.

Take a look at the picture of the two girls.  Imagine three lines running from left to right, cutting the picture into thirds: top, bottom, middle.  If you try to keep the main subjects of the picture (the girls faces) in the top third or bottom third, you will make the picture more interesting and usable in publications.

Now imagine three lines running from top to bottom, cutting the picture into thirds.  Try to place the action or people in the photo in either the left third or the right third.  In the case of the girls’ picture (as with many other photographs), one face is on the left and one is in the middle.  This is better than centering the picture on their faces.

Think about the pictures you take. If you are taking a picture and thinking about where the faces are ending up in it, you will be more likely to take pictures that will be effective in the publications IPM sends out.

When you take a well-balanced picture you help the person making the document in many ways.  It will also help you to think through what you are doing and do it well (1 Corinthians 10:31).  By considering your picture-taking and gaining simple skills in that area, you will increase the impact of your prayer letters.  That’s worth thinking about!

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