Thank you for providing images for use by Argyll and Bute Council. We really appreciate your help in offering your photography to promote the area as a great place to live, learn, work and do business.
What sort of photos are you looking for?
We all know what a beautiful place Argyll and Bute is. But we want to show it’s a great place to live and work as well. We’re looking for photos that show life here: what it’s like at school, for families, at work or at leisure. We have loads of images showing the beautiful beaches and countryside, but we also need to show how people enjoy them. It would also be good to have shots of some of the amazing places people work, the great views from our offices, and spectacular commutes to work.
What sort of quality do you need?
The size and resolution of the photo may dictate how and where it is used.
For printed publications, we need the highest resolution (biggest) original file possible. Any image file less than 1MB will probably not suit high quality printing, unless you’re printing something very small.
Digital pictures are made up of dots and the standard number of dots for printing is 300 DPI (dots per inch). The bigger the final printed version, the more DPI you’re likely to need.
Screens don’t require so many dots (or pixels) so the standard setting for use on screen is 72 PPI (pixels per inch). So it would be helpful if you could provide pictures at the highest resolution possible as these can be downsized; increasing the physical size or number of dots will make the image blurry.
Naming files
It would be helpful if you could give your picture a meaningful name eg boat-on-crinan-canal. This helps it show up on search engines and tells us what you are sending us, which saves time when filing the images. It also helps to put dashes or underscores between the words.
Permissions
As these photos could be used on websites, posters, flyers or social media, we have to be sure everyone in the picture is comfortable with this. If the individuals in the photos are recognisable, please confirm they give their consent to the image being used in this way. If a child is included, please ensure that their parent/guardian/carer has given their approval. Photo consent forms are available from the Communications Team.
If you feel you need more advice, contact the Communications Team on workingtogether@argyll-bute.gov.uk or phone 01546 604146.
Tips for better photography
- Make sure the main subject is obvious. In a strong photo, the viewer is immediately drawn to the most important part of the photo;
- Is the image composed well? Keeping the background simple means you can focus on your subject. Be very aware of what is in background and don’t make the rookie mistake of having a tree or pole growing out of someone’s head;
- Is the focus sharp? The sharpest point of the picture should pinpoint the most important aspect of the image;
- Does the photo tell a story? In strong photos, the story is revealed at first glance and you don’t have to spend ages working out what is going on;
- Get in close. Unless you have to take a large group shot (which don’t really make the best pictures) get close to your subject and get rid of all the dead space round about them; and
- Look your subject in the eye. You don’t have to have the subject looking direct at the camera, but it’s good to be at eye-level with them, particularly if they are children.