What Makes a Press Photo Work

A press photo is a working tool. Someone will crop it, shrink it and put text next to it, usually in a hurry. This step defines what the photo has to deliver for them.

Photo: “Self Portrait Sunday” by Dusty J, CC BY 2.0.

Who uses it

A person building a lineup graphic. A writer who needs an image for a feature. A venue making a poster. A playlist curator choosing a thumbnail. None of them were at the shoot, and none of them will ask you questions.

So the photo has to answer on its own.

What it has to answer

Who is this? The person or the band is clearly visible. For a group, every member can be seen. A beautiful picture where you are a small figure in a landscape is an art photo and it belongs on a different surface.

What does it sound like? The mood matches the music. Your three words from step 4 should be readable in the light, the clothes and the place.

Can I use it? It is sharp, large enough and easy to crop.

The practical checklist

• High resolution, at least 3000 pixels on the long side
• Space around you, so it can be cropped square, vertical and horizontal
• Some empty area where text can sit
• Nothing in the frame that dates it or needs permission: other people’s logos, event banners, another artist’s poster
• Clean edges, with no arm or instrument cut in an awkward place

A press photo is finished when a stranger can use it without writing to you.

You need a small set

One photo cannot do everything. Aim for five:

• A lead portrait that works small (step 14 covers how to choose it)
• A wide photo with room for text
• A vertical for stories and posters
• A horizontal for banners and article headers
• One live or in-action photo

All from the same session or the same treatment, so they look like one project.

The credit

Agree with the photographer in writing on how the photos can be used and how they should be credited. Keep the credit line in a text file next to the images. People who publish photos will ask for it.

Do this now

Check the photo you currently send against the three questions and the checklist. Write down what it fails. That list is the brief for step 12.

Defining what your photos need to deliver, before anyone shoots, is creative direction. It is what we do.