Please see the below tips & tricks so that we can best prepare for the reportage shoot.
- Shoes! – Wear something comfortable, trainers, pumps, etc. If you're used to being office-bound, suddenly being on your feet for 7-8 hours of the day can be a surprise. It's best if you can enjoy the reportage day too - and this will help!
- Times – I usually arrive a bit before the start of the day (08:45 normally) to sign in and get acquainted with any staff I will be working with for the day. Where possible, it is also ideal to capture extra-curricular clubs happening… until around 4:00, but this depends on the school day.
- Schedule – Please make a timetable (pinpointing the location, time, and subject of each shoot).
- A staff member will be needed to act as a chaperone for the day, to help work with our photographer. Navigating the school, as well as being on the lookout for short-ties, un-tucked shirts, and anything else which does not follow the school dress code. This means we can get the most out of the day, and get the smartest shots.
- Times for each subject – Please allow roughly 10-15 minutes per location/ subject and bear in mind how long it may take to walk to each place. Academic lessons can start looking the same e.g. Geography, History, Maths, English, RE - it is important to photograph some of these lessons. Maybe 2-3 classes worth with different age groups and make sure your teachers are putting on exciting visual classes where possible on the day… e.g. a Science lesson with only books when there could be rockets is a missed opportunity.
- Please try and work in coffee breaks every 2 hours (just ten minutes or so) and time for a bite to eat over lunch (this gives us both an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve done so far and refine what to do next. Working solidly throughout the day without any breaks usually means we’re exhausted and just end up missing things.)
- Content - When putting together your schedule, please think about the shots that sell the facilities, space, and uniqueness of the school. The photography will be used to create a fresh archive of images, so it is best to make the most of it.
- Teachers usually appreciate a heads-up that a photographer will be there, so we suggest sending an email around a few days before. This is a good opportunity to ask if anyone has any particularly fun lessons going on!
- Permissions - Please ask your teachers to give their photo permission sheets a once over before the day so they know if there’s anyone who can’t be photographed - this saves valuable time on the day.
What happens next?
- You will receive your fully retouched and curated image gallery, usually within just one week.
- Sometimes when we are really busy, say, the peak of summer, this may be a max of two weeks.
- The online gallery will be online indefinitely, so there's no need to use your own storage.
- You are able to download the images in multiple different sizes for web, print, and social media.
- All the images are yours to use as you like, for any number of publications, newsletters, or online uses.
- If you are able to credit an image in a publication, please credit as "Photographer/InteractiveSchoools"