Using Photos in Blog Posts … for Pastors

For the next post in the Blogging 101 for Pastors series, I need to talk about photos.

There are tons of tutorials out there in cyberspace on posting photos to blogs. (See some of those links below.

But what I want to do here is give you some practical tips, do’s and don’ts, and thoughts on using photos in blog spots.

As a beginning blogging pastor, I would not spend a lot of time worrying about using photos in your blog posts, unless you’re an avid photographer, own a digital camera and already take photos on a daily or weekly basis anyway.

So here are my bullet-point thoughts on photos:

  • Photos CAN help draw readers into your blog posts, but aren’t essential
  • The best subjects are people (assuming you have their permission to post)
  • The second best subject are just good photos — with good composition, lighting, etc. See any decent magazine for examples of “good photography”
  • One photo per post is enough
  • Don’t overdo photos (see previous) … if they match your content and are easy to find, use them; if not, don’t
  • Bad photos will taint good content
  • Don’t kill yourself trying to get a photo for a post. Photos are nice, but not necessary, in my opinion. I’ve used them sparingly. Most people are more interested in your content (unless you’re just an outstanding photographer!)
  • Some pastors are amateur/pro photographers and thus blog more photos than others. Check out Steve McCoy’s Phriday Photos feature as a great example of this.
  • Don’t use copyrighted photos without permission

Photo specifics:

  • Size – I’d say keep them about 250 pixels or less at 72 dpi.
  • Format – Generally, JPGs for photos, GIFs for most graphics

Photo-editing programs:

Two of my favorite photo sites:

  • stock.xchng — Free with registrations, some limits on certain photos
  • IStockPhoto — This is an incredible site for not just web stuff, but promotional materials and sermon illustrations, etc … email me and I’ll “refer” you — you get 3 credits, I get 5 bucks

A couple more sites to find photos:

Here’s some other posts on photos and blogging:

[ Read all the previous posts in the “I Help Pastors Blog” seres here. ]

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October 20, 2006 · Filed Under Church Marketing

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