Photography and video
Introduction
Our photography and video style helps us to connect with our audience. It shows what it’s like to be part of Girlguiding. Through our photography and video content we reinforce our brand purpose that girls can do anything.
Everything we produce should:
• Be of the highest quality
• Be an authentic reflection of who we are
• Embody our values
• Support our strategy
• Support best practice and data protection
Our style and key principles
We take an observational approach to creating photography and video content. This means allowing moments to play out before us authentically - not constructing situations.
When we’re sharing people’s stories, we collaborate with the storytellers to find out how they'd like their story to be told.
Key principles
We have 5 key principles that help us to maintain our style:
• We work with storytellers to share their stories
• We never show girls on their own
• We never look down on subjects in our framing
• We give as much context as possible to tell a complete story
• We let subjects appear as they are and we don’t heavily edit imagery
Photography genres
We capture a range of different photography that helps to build a visual picture of who we are and our brand. Our imagery showcases all aspects of people, places and activities. The 5 key photography genres are:
• Establishing
• Action
• Moment
• Detail
• Relationship
Each genre is a key part of the photo story. By using a range of images from the genres you can help tell a complete story, one of our key principles.
When briefing a photographer or taking photos, always think about how our personalities and our values are reflected in the images.
Establishing
We give imagery as much context as possible in order to tell the complete visual story. We always set a scene - this could be a wide shot of camp, a unit meeting or any other event.
These images are often non-identifiable, meaning you can't recognise any of the people in the image.
Action
At Girlguiding we laugh, learn and have adventures. Action shots are dynamic and fun, helping to show the range of exciting activities we do.
Moment
This is a unique shot, capturing a special moment and range of emotions that girls experience at Girlguiding. Moment shots are often our hero images when everything - emotion, light, angle and composition – lines up.
It should always feel natural. Even if the subject is looking at the camera it should never feel posed or inauthentic.
Relationship
Friendship and social connection is a key part of Girlguiding. Our images often show 2 or more people actively engaged with each other sharing a moment.
Detail
Detail is a key element of telling the visual story. It's a close up image that supports with context and setting the scene.
Having a selection of non-identifiable detailed imagery means your images can be used for longer as you don't need to worry about consent.
User generated imagery (UGC)
As part of our principles, we want people to tell their own story, in their own voice. So we often use imagery and video created by girls and volunteers (user generated imagery) to help storytellers tell their stories authentically.
This content still follows Girlguiding’s visual identity, brand, and ethical storytelling principals.
If you’re working on any user generated content for your communications please contact the multimedia team for support and guidance.
Photography and video prompts
Find the light
Our images should be light, bright and vibrant. Use natural light wherever possible.
Composition
Images should be clean and uncluttered with minimal distracting background noise or detail. It may be worth allowing blank space around your subject for any future crops or graphical elements to be added.
Framing
Try to stick to the rule of thirds as much as possible - this is where the subject is placed in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open.
Landscape is generally best.
Focus
There should always be clean and sharp focus on the subjects.
Consent process
Getting the proper consent in photography and video is vital. Always check that everyone is happy to be in your content before capturing it.
We have a strict consent process - to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018.
• If you’re taking photos at a unit, or a local event, take a look at the Girlguiding website for more information and advice.
• If you’re working with Girlguiding HQ on a photography or video project you can contact the multimedia team before starting to make sure you’re following the correct process.