This page includes information on Penn State’s photography style, tips for taking your own photos, and sites for accessing stock photos. Visit our Videography page to learn more about best practices for recording videos.
If you would like to have a photographer take photos at your unit’s event, please email Bill Hessert at swh4@psu.edu.
Photo Style
When it comes to capturing the essence of Penn State Liberal Arts, here are some guidelines for composing visually engaging and interesting photographs.
- Penn State embraces a photojournalistic style where action and emotion are preferred over posed photos.
- Student photos should reflect a modern attitude. Clothing should be age-appropriate, not loud or distracting, and not offensive.
- Photographs of faculty should suggest leadership in their fields. Including interesting backgrounds, props, or structures.
- Images of individuals should look spontaneous, not posed, and display an attractive area of the University.
- Group photos of faculty and students in relaxed poses and interesting environments can communicate the personalities and attitudes.
Diversity
Penn State is an incredibly diverse institution, and we want to ensure that the photography we feature in our publications and on the web represents that. Diversity informs everything we do and should be a part of our approach to photography. Consider diversity in many areas, including age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, genetic information, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and veteran status.
Taking Your Own Photos
- Model release forms: Model releases must be obtained in order to legally use a person’s image and likeness in marketing materials. When in doubt, always secure a model release; this is a good practice to help us safeguard our use of individuals in our marketing materials. Download the release form.
- Public events: When photographing or filming public events or in public areas, individual model releases may not be needed. One line of differentiation is when a shot generally composes a crowd or group verses a shot that generally focuses on one individual. When a person is the clear focus of a shot, even when in a public setting, a model release should be obtained from the individual. For photographing or filming public events, signs should be posted at all main entryways to the venue or area stating: “By entering this venue, you are consenting to be photographed or filmed for use in Penn State marketing materials.”
- Prepare subjects for the shoot: They should be prepared to spend the time needed for professional-level photography. Make sure students are aware of how long they are expected to be there so they can plan accordingly.
- What to wear: Subjects should wear clothing they would typically wear around campus, in class, or in the lab—casual but not sloppy. They should wear colors that complement them. If a student or faculty member is not sure about a color or particular piece of clothing, you may suggest they bring extra clothing to the shoot.
- What not to wear: Avoid loud, expletive, or offensive shirts; avoid hats; limit the Penn State gear.
- What to bring: Students should bring along items they typically carry on campus—laptops, books, backpacks, cellphones, etc., for use as props.
Taking Your Own Headshot at Home
- Touch up your appearance.
- Consider wearing solid-color clothing without distracting patterns.
- Find a proper location with good lighting.
- Look for a clutter-free background. A solid-colored wall in your home should be perfect.
- For best results: Try to set up next to a window and turn off any artificial light sources in the room (see example below) and pick a time of day where non-directional light pours into the room. If you wear glasses, choose a location that does not create a glare on them.
- Use your camera on a self-timer, or grab your spouse/family member to take the photo.
- Practice using your self-timer, and set up your phone using a piece of furniture or a tripod. Ensure that your phone is eye-level and steady, and make sure that your settings are on HD, or the highest quality image option. Always use your rear-facing camera if possible. Please avoid taking selfies.
- Try a few different poses and angles to find the most flattering option.
- Smile, make sure to look into the camera lens, and change up your pose. The more you experiment, the better your chances of getting a professional-looking result.
- Export the image (without any filters or editing).
- Export the original image, without resizing or editing it. For more information on how to export an image to your computer, please reference the following articles: Exporting Images on iPhone, Exporting Images on Android. If the image needs to be resized, edited, or processed further, please Submit a Ticket and our Web and Creative Services team will assist you. Good luck!
*Penn State also has a few downloadable photography guides available in the Penn State Brand Book.
Using Stock Photos
While using photos of real Penn Staters is always preferred, there may be times when you need to use stock photography. The most important thing to remember is that you need permission to share a photo that isn’t yours. Instead of using Google Photos, check out the resources below.
Liberal Arts Brand Photography
During the 2022–23 academic year, the Office of Strategic Communications worked with a photographer to capture Liberal Arts students, faculty, and staff on campus. A selection of these photos are available in the Brand Photography folder on the shared Canva account. You can also view the full image library on Sharepoint.
Canto
Canto is Penn State’s digital asset management system. You can find high-quality brand photography and a curated collection of University b-roll videos.
Canva
In our shared Canva account, you can access millions of free high-quality photos to either use in the promotional materials you’re creating in Canva or to download directly and use elsewhere.
Adobe Stock
In addition to Adobe Creative Cloud, Penn State has a limited number of Adobe Stock Credits that are available to faculty, students, and staff on a first-come-first-served basis. Use of licensed Adobe Stock assets are limited to Adobe’s license restrictions.
Unsplash
Over 3 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers.
Gender Spectrum Collection
The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities—people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.