A Helpful Guide for the Dos and Don'ts of Campaign Photography. A brief seven page guide to walk you through the basic rules to follow when taking photos for your political campaign.

1. PHOTO
GUIDE
The Dos and Don’ts of
Campaign Photography
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LINE OF SIGHT
Direct your audience to what you want them to see using the candidate’s gaze.
Look off into distance or a point, and take many profile shots.
DON’T spend all your time staring into the camera lens.
Incorporate a variety of poses and framing.
DON’T spend all your time taking headshots.
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NEGATIVE SPACE
EXAMPLES
The more blank space around you, the better! You can always crop the photo to the size you
want it, but you can’t add more space around you.
Leave negative space around you.
DON’T center all your photos.
Make sure the subject of the photo is the only thing in focus.
DON’T stress about creating an interesting background.
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HEADSHOTS
How do you want your voters to remember you?
Take some photos with more casual attire.
DON’T only wear business attire.
Take full body shots. Photos can always be cropped.
DON’T focus on taking photos from the waist up.
Take photos of you exploring your district.
DON’T only take photos inside your office.
EXAMPLES
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FAMILY PORTRAITS
EXAMPLES
The number one rule for family portraits: MAKE SURE YOUR SPOUSE HAS APPROVED THE
PHOTOS BEFORE THEY ARE SENT TO A DESIGNER.
Have fun and try to take more candid photographs.
DON’T only have serious, posed photos.
As a group, try to dress in more solid colors.
DON’T wear a lot of different patterned clothing.
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ON THE TRAIL
Ideally, take as many photos as you can, and sift through them later in order to
achieve the most variety.
Be cautious of your surroundings and reduce the number of
people around you. It’s best to have some negative space
around you. A perfect photo can be ruined if someone in the
background is yawning, blinking or picking their nose.
DON’T take photos in front of large groups or with a lot of
people in the background.
EXAMPLES
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ADDITIONAL ADVICE
Always send the designer your highest resolution photos.
Consider creating a Google Drive or DropBox account to share
photos instead of resizing or risk compression via email.
DON’T crop or resize photos so they fit in an email.
PHONE PHOTOS
Use as much light as possible, whether you’re outside with
natural light, or inside using every lamp.
DON’T use dark locations.
Take photos with bursts, so you have many options to
choose from later.
Use your phone’s camera, and not the camera through a social
media channel.
DON’T use social media channels for photos.
DON’T incorporate any built in filters or color correction.
Mobile phones now have amazing photographic capabilities when
used appropriately.
To learn more about how Strategic Digital
Services can help your campaign,
visit www.chooseSDS.com
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