Photography Guide

This page describes how to take photos easily and with great results.

Before shooting

  1. Students and postdocs: you can get free headshots anytime the Student Success Center is open. Details: Professional Headshots.
  2. Written consent is required from everyone in your photos unless you are in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy, such as a sidewalk, a public park, or an outdoor common space on campus.
    1. PharmD students typically sign a release form during orientation, and the Office of Student Affairs tracks those who did not.
    2. For events, ask the event coordinator for guidance.
    3. To obtain consent electronically, see DocuSign Media Consent Forms.
    4. To obtain consent on paper, see Media Consent Forms.
    5. See the Photo Permissions section on Brand Photography Library for more guidance on this and other policy topics.
    6. Deliver completed consent forms to the Office of Communications ([email protected] or Box 0403).
  3. Photos must not contain any confidential info. For example, patient info on a document, screen, or object. Keep it out or digitally obscure it afterwards. Avoid obscuring with pixelation: Researcher 'reverses' redaction, extracts words from pixelated image.
  4. Mobile device photo geotagging can reveal where you shoot, and some may need to keep these locations private. Turn geotagging off before shooting or remove geotags afterwards. Search the web for instructions for your device. Screenshots generally do not contain geotags.
  5. Light is the most important quality:
    1. Use as much indirect sunlight as possible: indoors near windows or outdoors on an overcast day or near sunrise or sunset.
    2. Generally avoid light only from behind the subject, but sometimes this can work well for a dramatic effect.
    3. Avoid direct sun, unfiltered light, light that is too harsh, and strong light from directly overhead. All of these can create unflattering shadows on faces.
    4. Avoid mixed light sources. For example, indoors instead of a room with both fluorescent and incandescent lighting, seek a room that has only one kind. This provides even color warmth across the entire photo.
    5. To consider: How to use your monitor or TV as a ring light.
  6. Photo subjects:
    1. Select a background that contrasts with your clothing and hair color. For example, if you have dark clothing or hair, avoid dark backgrounds.
    2. Avoid solid white or beige or pastel clothing, which can reflect too much light and possibly cause white balance or color balance problems.
    3. Avoid solid black clothing, since this can make it difficult to distinguish the details of your clothing.
    4. Avoid clothing with narrow stripes, which can cause an undesirable moiré pattern.
  7. Wipe camera lenses with a screen-cleaning cloth.
  8. Follow all University and local health authority guidance for issues related to public health.
  9. Get a feel for the UCSF photo style:
    1. See One UCSF for examples of our visual and photographic style. Select all four tabs on this page to see all the images. Related: Understanding One UCSF (2015–2016).
    2. Photos should authentically represent the subjects. They should identify with one or more of our photography pillars: emotion, environment, and science. Details: Photography Standards.
    3. The Brand Photography Library has examples of great portraits. Choose the asset type called Portrait.
  10. Leave space.

    We sometimes encounter photography that doesn’t leave enough space around a person. Having space around a person is very helpful for images that need to fit a specific width-height ratio and for images that are shared in contexts with overlaid text, as shown in several of the examples on tab #3 (One UCSF: A Brilliant Convergence). So, shoot at a variety of zoom levels.

    Example 1: Headshot: Did the shot you took chop off the shoulders? Get another shot with shoulders included. This provides more flexibility when using Photoshop’s Select Subject feature to create a composite with multiple people.

    Example 2: Action shot: A zoomed-in shot can communicate focus or concentration. A zoomed-out shot can communicate the setting or context or provide space for adjacent, overlaid text. Get both.

  11. Check out these quick guides to better photos (or search the web on your own):
    1. Portraits (PDF, 1 page) describes a few simple tips to get great photos.
    2. 13 Tips For Stunning Portrait Photography On iPhone.
    3. Video: Pro Headshots with your Smartphone in 6 Easy Steps (3 minutes).
    4. Video: Direct, Shoot, and Edit Powerful Portraits on iPhone with Mark Clennon (6 minutes).

While shooting

  1. Shooting via screenshots in Zoom (with or without a Zoom background) or other videoconferencing application:
    1. Might the subject want or need UCSF-branded Zoom backgrounds?
    2. Are you shooting during a meeting in progress? Mute your device so that you don’t disturb the meeting.
    3. Photo shooters: maximize the window. If on a computer with multiple displays of different sizes, use the largest display, which can potentially increase the quality of the image.
    4. Frame the subject properly. A headshot should mostly fill the frame, neither too high nor too low, and leaving a little space above the head.
    5. In some apps, names can appear next to each person’s image thumbnail. If people might mind being identified in this way, prevent the names from appearing or digitally obscure them afterwards. Search the web for instructions for your app.
    6. If a group is involved, get a variety of shots: single speaker, group gallery, thumbnails across the top, thumbnails on either side, etc. This provides later flexibility, such as using a different image when cross-posting to social media.
    7. Photo subjects on campus: Position yourself so that the setting behind you is clear, appropriate, and won’t unintentionally capture other people.
  2. With a smartphone:
    1. If you have a choice of smartphones, use the newest or priciest one, which likely has the best camera quality.
    2. Check the camera app’s settings to confirm that you’re creating images at the highest quality setting.
    3. iPhone defaults to HEIC format, but JPG is more compatible with more things. Consider setting JPG as your default so that you don’t have to convert image formats later.
    4. If possible, use the phone’s back camera, which commonly has higher quality than the front or selfie camera.
    5. If shooting mask-wearing people causes problems for auto focus, tap the screen where the face appears to set the focus.
    6. If a portrait mode is available, use it. If not, avoid standing too close, which can create unnatural distortions of faces. Instead, stand a little further back (not too much) and zoom.

After shooting

Avoid using email to share photos. Email applications often compress images, which can reduce image quality. Instead, do one of the following:

  1. Upload to a file sharing service like Box, OneDrive, or Teams/SharePoint, then share the download link.
  2. If sharing in person, use AirDrop (iOS) or Nearby Share (Android).
  3. Use some other sharing method that retains the original filesize and quality of the image.

If you must use email, wrap the image in an archive format such as ZIP. Email applications will not alter images inside a zip file.