A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words!

Photography is a love affair with life. - Burk Uzzle, American Photojournalist

As the title of this blog post suggests, pictures often say more than hundreds of words on a page or computer screen. Photos grab our attention! As humans we are wired to notice visuals first. A good photo can stop the scroll on social media or draw someone into a blog post or article they might have otherwise skipped.

In addition, photos help tell the story or make the point you are trying to get across to your reader. Whether it’s a smiling face, a powerful moment, or a beautiful setting, images make your message more relatable and memorable.

Stock Photos

But where do you get these photos?

There are many paid stock photo libraries that you can purchase images from. However, they can be quite pricey especially if you are not having to use dozens of photos a day.

There is Google images, but that is a landmine! The chances of you choosing a photo that has a copyright attached to it is extremely high.

There are some free stock photo libraries including Unsplash. In fact this quote is literally on their home page. And there are definitely many beautiful Catholic photos you can use - for FREE. But you may or may not find exactly what you are looking for.

Create Your Own Photo Library

One way to bypass copyright issues, save money and get the photo you want is to create your own library of stock photos.

With the advent of the mobile phone, cameras have become ubiquitous. If you have a cell phone you have a camera! And it's probably with you most of the time.

I have always enjoyed taking photos, and I do own a good camera. But even I have given into the ease and handiness of my iPhone, at least on a day-to-day basis.

One of the things I like to do when I'm walking the dogs, or visiting a new church or a new city is to take photos that I might be able to use in my work. It's fairly easy and it's fun. Here are just 3 simple ideas for where to take photos you can use for your parish.

Nature Shots

Nature not only reminds us of the wonders of God, but it also provides great backgrounds for social media posts. While spring flowers are still a month away in my neck of the woods, I'm already anticipating the beautiful crocuses, daffodils, tulips and budding trees that I can take a quick photo of while I walk the dogs. Below are just a few shots I've taken over the last year with the idea that they will make great backgrounds for my Facebook posts.

(One of our local parks (Tallulah is just visible at the bottom) | A bush on the bike path near my house (even in the rain things are pretty) | Our local boat launch on Christmas Day | Ok so the Rockies are not on our walks. I took this when I was in Alberta in September | My garden, the first flowers of spring)

Museums

A couple of weeks ago, my niece and nephew were visiting me from Vancouver. One of the things we did was visit Montreal's Le Musée des Beaux-Arts. The province of Quebec's history, in particular, is very much tied to the Catholic Church, which means lots of photo ops.

The Raising of Jairus' Daugther | St. Paul and St. Peter (1830) | Sterling Silver Ciborium (1782) | Landscape with Sheep

So what could you do with these photos.

• The Raising of Jairus' Daughter could be used to illustrate that particular gospel or in an article about Jesus' miracles.

• The statues of Saints Paul and Peter could be used together to highlight their solemnity on June 29th or individually for biblical quotes or Bible stories about them.

• The ciborium could be used to talk about the different vessels used during Mass or something around First Communion.

• While the Landscape with Sheep is not a religious painting per se, there are of course many gospel stories where Jesus refers to himself as the shepherd.

Churches

I love visiting Catholic churches and seeing the unique beauty that each offers, especially older churches. The statues, the Stations of the Cross, the sanctuary - all offer potential opportunities to become part of your personal stock photo library. So spend a few minutes after Mass taking a few shots. And no doubt your own parish has a treasure trove of photos just waiting to be taken.

Baptismal Font (St. William Church, Martintown, ON) | Votive Candles (Shrine of the Holy Innocents, Stockbridge, MA) | Stained Glass Window of Saint Kateri (Sacred Heart Church, Calgary) | Saint Joseph Chapel (National Shrine of the Divine Mercy, Stockbridge, MA)

A Few Photo Tips

Finally, here are 3 short tips to keep in mind when taking photos for your photo library.

1. Use natural light

   Natural light really is your best friend! No matter how bright a room might be, there really is nothing like natural light, even on a grey rainy day. If you are indoors try taking your photo near a window. If possible avoid using your phone’s flash since it often creates harsh shadows or unnatural tones. Remember in this day and age you can always make your photos brighter in your photo editing software.

2. Declutter your background

   Keep your photo clean and simple - focus on your subject. If you need to, and you actually can do it, remove distractions from the background. And don't be afraid to move closer to your subject so that you naturally have less of a background.

3. Use that portrait setting

   One of the problems with cell phone cameras is you don't have a lot of control over your depth of field (how sharp or blurred your background is - see below.) The closer you are to your subject the less this matters. But if you have to stay further back and you can't declutter your background, the portrait setting on your cameral phone is an easy hack. To be honest, unless you are taking a picture of a landscape (3rd photo to the right), portrait mode will almost always be the best choice.

So there you have it, everything you need to know to get started creating your very own Parish Stock Photo Library. Have fun with this, I promise you will start to see nearly everything as a photo you can use for something!

In future blog posts I will have more photo taking tips and before you know it you'll be a seasoned pro.

See ya soon!

P.S. If you have not already done so, sure to download your FREE Lenten Content Bundle by going to creativecatholiccontent.com.