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Digital Photography Procedures (August 2007)

Gallery of compelling and problem photos

The objective of this procedure is to both improve the overall quality of the case history photos and to reduce the work required to produce them.   The strategy is to have the countries focus on taking the best pictures possible -- correct composition, focus and exposure with a suitable setting and pose.  Other than renaming the photo files with the child’s number, all of the post-processing will be done by SCO using automations specifically developed for that purpose.  The result will be a number of high-quality, custom crops that will be used for the case history, our website and other promotional material.  Processed photos will also be sent or made available (by download) to each country office for use with the SMP program.

The key to making this procedure work is quality photography using quality equipment.  The latter can significantly facilitate the technical aspects of the former and is easily handled by making a modest investment.  The photographer still needs to have a good understanding of basic photography and how to use his camera effectively in a variety of environments.

Note: There are occasions when a very inexperienced photographer will need to "fill in" to take photos.  Please see the following instructions for those cases:  Simplified Digital Photography Procedures.

Case History Photo Policies:

1. A good quality, unprocessed, full body, portrait-oriented digital photo is required for all children in the LACC sponsorship program.  See Case History Photo Requirements below.
2. A new photo is required of all students every two years.
3. LACC requests that photos be taken using the recommended camera.  This uniformity helps to maintain consistent quality and facilitates the uniform processing of photos.

Case History Photo Procedure:

1. Prepare your equipment. 

1. Make sure that your batteries are freshly charged.  [A630:  Each set of rechargeable batteries will take 300-500 photos.]
2. Make sure that your memory card(s) has sufficient room.  [A630: Each photo will be 3-6 megabytes in size depending upon the resolution setting of the camera and the complexity of the photo taken.  A 1 GB SD card would have capacity for approximately 250-500 photos.]
3. Make sure you have your tripod with you.  Use a tripod to maximize interaction with the children and to take the steadiest, child’s-eye-level photos. 

2. Record the camera number for the photo next to the child number/name on the appropriate photographer’s list from the SMP program.  Use great caution in maintaining an accurate list of child numbers with corresponding camera numbers.  Verify camera number frequently.  [A630: The camera number is available by sliding the small lever (p. 20) from “camera” (red dot with image of camera) to “review” (blue dot with the right arrow), then pressing the “DISP.” button if no information appears on the screen.  The camera number will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.]
3. Verify that each picture is a “good, meets the requirements” picture as you go.  Retake photos that do not meet the requirements.
4. Prepare your computer hard drive for photos.  Create folder “LACC Photos” in the “My Pictures” folder under My Documents.  Create the following sub-folders under LACC Photos:  1 Have Child Number; 2 Sent
5. Copy files from camera to folder “LACC Photos” on your computer hard drive.  [A630:  The camera comes with a USB cable that can be used to transfer photos.  Or you may remove the SD memory card from the camera and insert it into a card reader attached to the computer.]
6. Rename the files from the camera number with the corresponding child numbers, keeping the “jpg” extension (i.e. “010800123.jpg”).  In Windows Explorer, highlight the file in the right pane, click using right mouse button, select “rename”.
7. Move all files where the camera number has been changed to the child number to the “1 Have Child Number” sub-folder.
8. Do not do any post processing of photos: do not rotate, crop, lighten/darken, etc.  If the picture does not meet the requirements below, retake the photo.
9. Burn all files from “1 Have Child Number” sub-folder onto CDs or a DVD.  Label CDs or the DVD with the country number, date, number of photos, and whether the photos are of new children, archive photos or mixed.  If mixed, put new and archive photos in separate folders, new and archive.
10. Mail to the SCO with the next mailing of correspondence.
11. Move all files sent from “1 Have Child Number” sub-folder to “2 Sent” sub-folder.
12. Do not copy the unprocessed photo files into the SMP “fotos” directory.  The large photos will degrade the performance of SMP, even “crash” it.  Please wait for the processed photo files, either sent from the SCO on CD/DVD or download the files from the SMP server.
13. Two sets of photos will be returned to the country offices.  The first set will be the same “full body” photos.  The second set will be cropped “head and shoulders” photos.
14. Copy the processed “head and shoulder” photos into the SMP “fotos” folder (“c:\lacc\fotos\” by default).
15. Create a new sub-folder “fotosF” (“F” for “full body”) under the SMP directory (“c:\lacc\” by default).  Copy the processed “full body” photos into the new “fotosF” folder.
16. Register the photos in SMP.  Note: either the “head and shoulders” or “full body” photos can be registered, but not both at one time.

Case History Photo Requirements:

1. In general, the photo should be a compelling snapshot of the child in his normal environment. 
2. The pose should be “full body” of the child standing, facing the camera.  The child’s body may be slightly turned but the child’s eyes and face should be directly toward the camera – neither side of the face should be favored and the top of the head beyond its peak should not be visible.  The child’s eyes should be open and his expression pleasant.
3. The child’s grooming and attire should be normal for them, i.e. the child should look like they usually look.  Shirts, tops and T-shirts with brands or sayings should be avoided. 
4. The setting is preferably outdoors and naturally lighted.  The background can be bushes, trees, buildings, fields, etc.  It is best if there are both near objects and far objects.  A wall should only be used as a last resort.  Do not use flags, hangings, etc.  For very small children, a colorful classroom environment is fine.  Do not use an all-white background.
5. The photo should be composed with portrait orientation, taller than it is wide.  The child should be centered horizontally.  The child’s feet should be very near but not touching the bottom of the photo.  The distance from the top of the child’s head to the top of the photo should be equal to or slightly greater than the distance from the bottom of the child’s chin to the top of his head.  The camera should be at the level of the child’s face, i.e., you should not be “aiming down” at the child.  The distance from the camera to the child should be far enough (about 3 meters for small children, assuming the A630) that the zoom is at mid range or slightly telephoto so that the child’s image is not distorted and the scope of the background is contained.  The background should provide a good contrast for the child’s face, hair and clothing without being distracting.  There should be no other people or shadows of other people (including the photographer!) in the photo.  For very small children (under 5 years old) you may deviate from this requirement to the extent necessary to get a compelling snapshot of a happy child.
6. The child should be in sharp focus.
7. The picture should be shot with good lighting with correct exposure for the child.  There should be no shadow boundaries on the child, especially on his face.
8. The picture should be taken using 8 mega pixel resolution, JPEG encoded (format), using minimum compression.  [A630: “L” resolutions (8 MP, pp. 13 and 28) using “S” superfine (minimum) compression (pp. 13 and 29)].  There should be no date stamp

Suggestions for taking good photos:

1. Every child deserves to have a photo that maximizes his chances of being selected for sponsorship.  Take sufficient time and care with each child to take the best photo. 
2. Plan ahead.  Choose your spot well.  Take some practice shots.  Take more time with the first photos to verify your settings.  Make absolutely sure that the resolution and compression settings are correct.
3. It doesn’t take a lot of expertise to take these photos.  But it does take some.  The better you understand photographic basics and how to use the features of your camera the better able you will be to take good photos even under difficult conditions.  There are many free resources on the internet covering basic photography.  Consider getting some instruction from a local professional or advanced amateur.
4. Avoid photographing the child in direct, bright sunlight.  It is much easier to get good photos if the child is in the shade or other defused light. 
5. It is also much easier to operate the camera if it isn’t in bright light.
6. It is essential that focus and exposure be optimized for the child’s image.  The focus and exposure of the background constitute part of the background.  Make sure that the background contributes to making the photo a compelling snapshot of the child
7. The auto-focus of your camera can focus on some object other than the child.  Further, LCD displays do not have enough resolution to quickly evaluate the accuracy of the fine focus.  You should start by selecting the center auto-focus frame [A630: p. 47] especially if you intend to use the viewfinder.  If you have difficulty getting a good focus in a particular setting or for a particular child then try the focus-lock technique [A630: p. 49].  There are a number of parameters that affect the focus of the background.  [A630: See Portrait and Landscape shooting modes on p. BASIC-11.]    
8. The automatic exposure features of your camera can work against you if the lighting from any part of the photo is significantly different from the lighting of the child.  Avoid this if you can, especially for the background directly behind the child.  Also, learn how to deal with difficult lighting situations.  Know how to use flash fill to reduce the differences in the lighting when the background has brighter illumination than the child.  [A630: See p. BASIC-15 for how to force the flash to operate.  This is not available in AUTO.  See p.54 for flash exposure lock and p.70 for compensating flash exposure and adjusting flash output.]  Know how to adjust the overall exposure.  [A630 the flash features previously mentioned plus p. 52, automatic exposure lock; p.57, exposure compensation.]
9. Overexposure warning and exposure histogram features [A630 p. 16] are excellent aids in taking properly exposed pictures and are well worth mastering.
10. Make sure that the child’s face is squarely towards the camera.  Ask children to “lift their chins” or “turn their heads” if required to accomplish this.
11. Very dark (black) children are difficult to photograph.  Some suggestions from an appropriate expert would be helpful.

Simplified Digital Photography Procedures
Digital Photo Gallery