15 WAYS To Improve Your Worship Photography, BY BEN STAPLEY

I polled over thirty growing multisite churches to see how they

allocate their service time. On average, they dedicate a third to

worship. If a large portion of the service is dedicated to worship, we

should learn how to capture worship well through photography.

Below are 15 ways to improve your worship photography. Also, if you

need someone to help coach your photo team, let me know. I would love to

see them succeed.

1 Form Your Team

A team of good volunteer photographers is better than a great individual

staff photographer. A team prevents one photographer from getting burned

out and allows individuals to use their gifts. A team also allows you to

capture multiple events at the same time or multiple angles of the same

event. If you’re a gifted photographer, then feel free to shoot alongside

your team but don’t feel compelled to. Your leadership of the team is more

important than your participation with the team. Both are ideal, but if you

have to pick one, pick leadership.

2 Understand Your Team

I divide photographers into two broad categories – ones that take

pictures of people, and ones that takes pictures of things. If you need

architectural photos of your building then line up a “things” photographer.

If you need to capture guests at an event, then get your “people”

photographer. Since the majority of worship photography involves people,

you know which type of photographer to line up. Check out the Instagram

feed of your team to know which category they belong to.

3 Prepare Your Team

Once you’ve formed your team, make sure they understand their

gear and your expectations. Create a document that includes a basic job

description, best practices, and camera settings. And provide them with a

basic shot list for events like a worship service.

4 Get a Fast Lens

Since your house lights are most likely going to be low or even off during

your service, you need a fast lens to capture decent photos. I recommend

using a prime lens with an f-stop below two. This will minimize the amount

of noise on your photos.

5 Wear Black

Wearing black allows photographers to blend into the background so

they don’t become a distraction. But make sure to map out the auditorium

and flow of traffic with your photographer the first time they are shooting. I

once had a new photographer that blended into the background so well that

the worship team ran into them as they exited the stage.

6 Be Observant

Watch for key moments that are filled with emotion, meaning,

significance, surprise, impact, and uniqueness. Or better yet, anticipate

moments that are about to happen so that you can position yourself to

capture them. This anticipation means that you will think through your

upcoming shots even as you deal with your current shot.

7 Shoot Folks You Don’t Know From The Back

You don’t want to put a first time guest on your social feed Sunday

afternoon. Worship is a very intimate experience. Highlighting someone

during their first visit may make them feel weird.

8 Shoot Folks You Know From The Profile

If you know someone, they’ll probably be cool with you posting them

worshiping on the gram or website. If you are new to the church, or the

church is large and it’s hard to know everybody, then shoot folks both ways

and allow someone else more seasoned to select which photos to publicly

share.

9 Don’t Shoot Folks From The Front

If you are shooting people this way, you are standing at the front of your

auditorium directly in the sightlines of folks. At this point you are the focus

of attention instead of worship. Not good. A potential time to bend this rule

would be if you can capture people from the wings of your stage.

10 Capture a Range Of Worshiping Styles

If you search for “worship photo” you will see the same image again

and again. A room full of silhouetted people raising their hands with a

colorful stage in the background. Believe it or not, this isn’t the only form of

worship. Make sure to capture other forms.

11 Capture a Range Of People

Capturing a range of people helps you avoid shooting just the photogenic

people. In turn, it helps you showcase that your church is for everybody

– not just the young, hip, and beautiful. Capture couples, singles, younger

dudes, older ladies. Capture everyone. If your photographer doesn’t capture

a range of people, you can quickly tell who their friends are, or even worse,

who their secret crush is. So if you’re going to use the camera as a flirtation

device, try to be subtle.

12 Capture a Range Of Compositions

I was stoked when a National Geographic photographer joined my team,

but quickly realized he struggled getting a range of compositions. All of his

professional work was landscapes. All of his photos were wide shots. After

a little coaching he started capturing medium and close as well. Coach your

photographer to capture a range of compositions during worship. And if the

photo seems boring just throw a Dutch angle on it.

13 Capture a Range Of Perspectives

When you see an intimate moment, move closer to capture that intimacy.

Moving closer highlights the subject matter of your photo and eliminates

distracting background elements. Get above, behind and beside your

subject. If the subject seems boring from your current perspective, then

change it to make it more dynamic. Our eyes are drawn to images we don’t

normally see. Capture a range of unique perspectives to pull your audience

in.

14 Horizontal & Vertical

Most photographers shoot more horizontal photos because that’s how

the camera naturally fits in our hands. Shooting vertically is especially

vital for social media. Changing your camera from a horizontal to vertical

position depicts the same scene with a fresh perspective. Remember to flip

that camera around.

15 Don’t Aggressively Photograph Minorities

I worked at a church with an 80/10/10 ratio of Caucasian/Asian/African

American guests. I asked a new member how our church could best serve

him. He said, “Don’t take photos of me for promotional purposes.” He

wasn’t ultra-sensitive to privacy issues. But he was sensitive to being used

to falsely showcase a greater degree of diversity than our church actually

represented. I use this story to highlight how racial minorities in your

context may be understandably sensitive to becoming a poster child for

inclusiveness. Use wisdom and discernment here.

Those are my 15 ways to capture great worship photos. Hopefully these

steps will help you showcase what God is doing in and through you. Reach

out if you need coaching to help build your photo team or improve their

abilities. I would love to help you and your church succeed.

Ben Stapley is the Worship Arts Director at Christ Fellowship Miami

and loves coaching leaders and tech teams on how to increase their

engagement with their congregations.