Brittany Hoversten

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Tag: Photography

  • Photography Tips for Marketers: Light, Composition and Story

    You know the photo. Six people in a row, squinting into the sun, holding a giant check. Everyone is technically in focus. Nobody is going to remember it. Most marketing teams have hundreds of these, and most of them never needed a better camera. They needed better choices. These photography tips for marketers are about those choices: light, composition and story.

    Photography has been part of my toolkit across 10-plus years in marketing, from leading campaign photo work to telling client stories with care in nonprofit communications. I’ve learned that the gap between a forgettable photo and one that carries a campaign is rarely the gear. It’s whether the person holding the camera knew what they were looking for.

    You can learn to look. Here’s how.

    Start with the story, not the camera

    Before any shoot, answer one question: what should someone feel or understand when they see this image?

    That answer shapes everything else. A photo meant to show the scale of a volunteer day looks different from one meant to show a single moment of connection. A product photo for a website needs clean detail. A social post needs a human face and a reason to stop.

    Write a simple shot list before you go:

    • The wide shot. Where are we? Show the place and the scale.
    • The medium shot. Who is here, and what are they doing?
    • The close-up. Hands, details, expressions, the small things that make it real.
    • The moment. One image that captures the feeling of the whole event or story.
    • The practical shots. Headshots, logos, signage, anything you’ll need for future content.

    The shot list keeps you from coming home with forty versions of the same angle and nothing you can actually use.

    Photography tips for marketers: light is everything

    If you only improve one thing, make it light. Good light makes an average photo look intentional. Bad light makes a great moment look like an accident.

    Find the window

    Indoors, natural light from a window is your best friend. Put your subject facing the window or at a slight angle to it. Turn off harsh overhead lights if you can, since mixing light sources often creates odd color casts.

    Avoid the noon squint

    Bright midday sun creates hard shadows under eyes and makes people squint. If you have to shoot outside in the middle of the day, find open shade, like the shadow of a building or a tree, where light is even and soft.

    Use the golden hours when you can

    The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset give you warm, soft, flattering light. If you’re planning a portrait or a hero image for a campaign, schedule around it.

    Watch the background light

    A bright window behind your subject will turn them into a silhouette. Unless that’s the look you want, move so the light falls on your subject, not behind them.

    Compose with intent

    Composition is how you guide the eye. A few principles go a long way.

    1. Use the rule of thirds as a starting point. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over your frame. Place your subject along those lines or where they cross, not dead center every time.
    2. Leave room for text. Marketing images often need a headline. Shoot some frames with open space on one side.
    3. Get closer. Most snapshots are too far away. Take a step in, then take another.
    4. Change your height. Kneel down to a child’s eye level. Shoot from slightly above for overhead details. Eye level is the default. It’s rarely the most interesting.
    5. Clean the edges. Before you press the shutter, scan the edges of the frame for trash cans, exit signs and stray elbows.
    6. Shoot both orientations. Horizontal for web and presentations, vertical for stories and reels. You’ll thank yourself later.

    Look for lines and layers

    Hallways, tables, fences and rows of chairs create lines that pull the eye toward your subject. Shooting through something in the foreground, like a doorway or a blurred shoulder, adds depth and makes the viewer feel present.

    Capture real moments, not just poses

    Posed photos have their place. Headshots, team photos and sponsor recognition all need them. But the images that do the heaviest lifting in marketing are usually real moments.

    How to get them:

    • Arrive early and stay late. The best moments often happen during setup and cleanup, when people forget the camera is there.
    • Shoot in bursts. Expressions change in a fraction of a second. Take several frames and pick the best one.
    • Give people something to do. Instead of “smile,” try “show me how you set this up” or “tell her about the project.”
    • Be patient. Find a good spot with good light, then wait for the moment to come to you.

    Story comes with responsibility

    When your subjects are clients, patients, students or anyone in a vulnerable situation, consent and dignity come first. Ask permission, explain how the image will be used and never capture someone at their lowest moment just because it’s powerful. I wrote a full guide on ethical storytelling for nonprofits that covers how I approach this.

    Gear and the after-shoot workflow

    What gear actually matters

    You don’t need expensive equipment to get strong marketing photos. Modern phones do an impressive job in good light. That said, a few upgrades make a real difference:

    • Clean your lens. Seriously. A smudged phone lens is behind a lot of hazy photos.
    • Lock focus and exposure. On most phones, you can tap and hold on your subject to lock both.
    • Use portrait mode carefully. It can look great, but check the edges around hair and glasses.
    • Consider a dedicated camera for big moments. Low light, fast action and large prints are where a real camera and a good lens earn their price.
    • Bring a small reflector or white foam board. It’s a cheap way to bounce soft light into shadows.

    If you’re shooting video at the same event, plan both together. My post on event video production on a budget includes a shot plan that pairs well with this one.

    After the shoot: the step most teams skip

    Great photos are worthless if nobody can find them six months later.

    1. Cull the same day. Delete the blurry, the blinking and the duplicates while the shoot is fresh.
    2. Edit lightly and consistently. Straighten horizons, fix exposure and keep color treatment consistent with your brand.
    3. Name and tag. Event, date, location, people (with consent noted) and usage rights.
    4. Store it where your team can find it. A shared, organized library beats a folder on someone’s laptop every time.

    Organizing an image repository is some of the least glamorous and most valuable work I do. If your photos are scattered across phones and inboxes, my guide to digital asset management for marketing teams will help.

    Key takeaways

    • Decide what the photo should make people feel before you pick up the camera.
    • Light matters more than gear: find the window, avoid noon sun, watch the background.
    • Compose on purpose: get closer, change your height and leave room for text.
    • Real moments beat poses, and consent always comes before the shot.
    • Cull the same day, then tag and store photos where your team can actually find them.

    FAQ

    What are the most important photography tips for marketers?

    Focus on light, composition and story. Shoot in soft, even light, place your subject with intent and leave space for text, and plan a shot list built around what the image needs to communicate. These matter more than the camera you use.

    Can marketers use phone cameras for professional photos?

    Yes, in many cases. Modern phones handle good light well, especially for social media and web content. A dedicated camera helps most in low light, with fast action and for large prints or hero campaign images.

    How many photos should I take at a marketing event?

    Take more than you think you need, but shoot with a plan. Cover wide, medium and close-up shots, real moments and practical images like signage and headshots. Then cull hard, keeping only the strongest and most usable frames.

    Want to see how I put this into practice? Take a look at my photo and video work.

    / Work with Brittany

    Need photos that make people stop scrolling and actually feel something?

    Hiring a marketing leader or need a hands-on partner for a project? See how we can work together or send me a note.

  • Digital Asset Management for Marketing Teams: Stop Losing Your Best Photos

    It’s 4:45 on a Thursday. The annual report goes to print tomorrow, and someone needs “that great photo from the volunteer day.” Everyone remembers it. Nobody can find it. It might be on a former coordinator’s phone, in a Google Drive folder called “Misc FINAL,” or on a hard drive in a drawer. So you use the stock photo instead, and a little bit of your story dies. That is the problem digital asset management for marketing teams solves. It isn’t glamorous, but it’s the difference between a team that reuses its best work and a team that keeps paying for it twice.

    I’ve led a company-wide digital asset management (DAM) rollout at Buyers Edge Platform, and I’ve organized an image repository from scratch at a nonprofit. The tools were different. The lessons were almost identical.

    What digital asset management for marketing teams actually means

    Strip away the vendor language and a DAM is a single, trusted home for your finished creative: photos, video, logos, templates, graphics, audio and brand documents. It’s trusted because three things are true about it:

    • Everything has a home. One place, not five.
    • Everything can be found. By someone who didn’t upload it, months later.
    • Everything is safe to use. You know it’s the current version and you have permission to publish it.

    That third point gets skipped, and it’s the one that matters most. A folder full of photos is storage. A folder full of photos where you know who is in them, whether they consented and which ones are approved for print is an asset library.

    You don’t need an enterprise platform to get there. Plenty of small teams run a solid DAM on a shared drive with good rules. The rules are the system. The software just enforces them.

    Signs your team needs a DAM yesterday

    If two or more of these sound familiar, you’re losing time and money every week:

    • People ask in Slack or email, “Does anyone have the logo?” more than once a month.
    • You have three versions of the logo, and at least one is a screenshot.
    • Great photos live on personal phones and leave when people do.
    • You’ve re-shot something you already had because nobody could find the original.
    • Nobody can answer, “Did this person agree to be on our billboard?”
    • Your designer spends real hours searching instead of designing.

    That last one is the quiet budget leak. Search time never shows up as a line item, but it’s paid for at a designer’s rate.

    Build the structure before you buy anything

    The most common DAM mistake I see is shopping for software first. A great tool with no structure just gives you a faster way to make a mess. Do this work on paper first.

    Start with how people search, not how you file

    Ask your team how they look for things. Usually it’s by program or campaign, by year or event, by content type (headshot, event, B-roll, logo) and by usage (print-ready, social, internal only). Your folder structure and your tags should mirror those questions.

    Keep folders shallow. Three levels is plenty. Let tags (metadata) do the heavy lifting, because a photo can live in only one folder but can carry many tags.

    Write a naming convention people will actually follow

    Here’s a pattern that works for most teams:

    YYYY-MM-DD_program-or-campaign_description_photographer_##

    So a file becomes 2026-04-02_food-shelf_volunteer-packing_bhoversten_014.jpg. It sorts by date automatically, it’s readable without opening it and it tells you who to ask. Write the convention on one page, pin it everywhere and keep it boring. Clever conventions die.

    Define the metadata that matters

    You don’t need 40 fields. You need the handful that answer real questions:

    1. Keywords: who, what, where, and the program it represents.
    2. Creator: photographer or designer, for credit and follow-up.
    3. Usage rights: owned, licensed (with terms and expiration) or restricted.
    4. Consent status: signed release on file, verbal only, or no release.
    5. Approval status: draft, approved or retired.

    Consent deserves its own spotlight. When you tell client stories, the release form can’t live in a filing cabinet across town from the photo. I wrote more about this in how to tell client stories with consent and dignity. Your DAM is where that promise gets kept or broken.

    How to roll out a DAM without a revolt

    The technology is the easy part. The hard part is changing habits that have worked “well enough” for years. Here’s the sequence I use.

    1. Pick one owner

    Not a committee. One person who owns the taxonomy, approves new tags and is allowed to say no. Shared ownership is how you end up with tags like “event,” “events,” “Event 2025” and “EVENTS-old.”

    2. Migrate the best, not the rest

    Resist the urge to import every file you’ve ever made. Start with the last two years of approved, high-use assets: the logo suite, current headshots, your top campaign photos and templates. Archive the rest in a read-only “legacy” folder. If nobody asks for it in a year, you have your answer.

    3. Make the right way the easy way

    If uploading correctly takes ten clicks and dropping a file on the desktop takes one, the desktop wins. Build upload presets, metadata templates and a short intake checklist. That was the principle behind the rollout I led at Buyers Edge: make the DAM the fastest way to get an approved file, not just the “correct” way.

    4. Train in 20 minutes, not two hours

    Show people how to find something, how to download the right version and how to add a new asset. That’s it. Record it, and put the recording inside the DAM.

    5. Retire the old places

    This is the step teams skip. If the old shared folder still works, people will use it. Set a date, announce it twice and then make it read-only.

    Keep it clean: the monthly 30-minute audit

    A DAM decays like a garden. Put a recurring 30 minutes on the owner’s calendar and run this checklist:

    • Review everything uploaded this month for naming and required tags.
    • Merge duplicate or near-duplicate tags.
    • Check licensed assets for upcoming expirations and pull anything expired.
    • Retire outdated logos, old headshots and superseded templates.
    • Look at what people searched for and didn’t find. That’s your next shoot list.

    That last item is my favorite. Your DAM tells you what content your organization wants and doesn’t have. It quietly becomes a planning tool for your content calendar.

    Choosing a tool: what to look for

    Once the structure exists, picking software gets much easier because you know what you need. Whether it’s a dedicated DAM platform or a well-governed shared drive, I look for:

    • Search that uses metadata, not just file names.
    • Permissions so internal-only or restricted assets stay put.
    • Version control so “final_v7” stops being a thing.
    • Easy sharing with outside partners, printers and press.
    • Integrations with the tools your team already lives in, like your design platform or CMS.
    • Exportable metadata, so you’re never locked in if you switch later.

    For a team of one to five people, a shared drive with strict conventions can carry you a long way. Once you’re coordinating multiple departments, contractors or locations, a dedicated platform usually pays for itself in search time alone.

    Key takeaways

    • A DAM is a single trusted home where assets can be found and are safe to use.
    • Design your folders, naming and metadata before you shop for software.
    • Track consent and usage rights next to the asset, not in a separate filing system.
    • Give the system one owner, migrate only your best work and retire the old folders.
    • Spend 30 minutes a month on cleanup, and treat failed searches as your next shoot list.

    FAQ

    What is digital asset management for marketing teams?

    Digital asset management for marketing teams is a system for storing, organizing, finding and governing creative files like photos, video, logos and templates. It combines one central library with naming rules, metadata, permissions and usage rights so anyone can find the approved version quickly.

    Do small teams need dedicated DAM software?

    Not always. A team of one to five can run an effective DAM on a shared drive with a clear naming convention, consistent tags and one owner. Dedicated software becomes worth it when multiple departments, contractors or locations share assets.

    How long does a DAM rollout take?

    For a small or midsize team, plan on four to eight weeks: one to two weeks to design structure and metadata, two to four weeks to migrate priority assets and a week or two to train people and retire old folders.

    If you want to see what organized creative looks like in practice, take a look at my photo and video work.

    / Work with Brittany

    Want your best photos to be findable, approved and ready to use?

    Hiring a marketing leader or need a hands-on partner for a project? See how we can work together or send me a note.

  • The Ethical Storytelling Nonprofit Clients Deserve: Consent and Dignity

    Imagine a client agrees to share her story for the annual appeal. She’s grateful, she wants to help and she says yes in the hallway right after a hard appointment. Six months later, her photo is on a mailer in her neighbor’s mailbox, and she isn’t sure she ever really agreed to that.

    That scenario is why I stay careful. Stories are among the most powerful things a nonprofit has, and the people in them are often at a vulnerable point in their lives. The kind of ethical storytelling nonprofit teams can stand behind starts with one belief: the person in the story matters more than the campaign. I produce campaign photo and video work at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, and telling client stories with care is the part of the job I take most seriously.

    Why consent is more than a signature

    A signed release protects the organization. It doesn’t automatically protect the person. Real consent is informed, freely given, specific and ongoing.

    • Informed: They understand exactly where the story will appear, who will see it and for how long.
    • Freely given: They don’t feel that saying no could affect their services, their relationship with staff or how they’re treated.
    • Specific: Agreeing to a quote in a newsletter isn’t agreeing to a face on a billboard.
    • Ongoing: They can change their mind, and you have a real process to honor that.

    Power dynamics matter here. When someone relies on your organization for food, housing, counseling or other help, a request from staff can feel like an obligation. Build your process assuming that pressure exists, even when nobody intends it.

    Take extra care with children, people in crisis and anyone whose safety could be at risk if they’re identified, such as survivors of abuse. Get guardian consent for minors, and think about whether a story could follow a child into adulthood. Sometimes the most ethical choice is to tell the story without a face, without a name or not at all. That’s not a lost opportunity. It’s the job done right.

    The ethical storytelling nonprofit checklist

    Here’s the process I’d recommend, from the first conversation to the final archive.

    Before the interview or shoot

    1. Have someone the person trusts make the first ask, and make clear that saying no changes nothing about their services.
    2. Explain the use in plain language. Show examples of past stories if you can.
    3. Offer options. First name only, a different name, no face, voice only, hands or silhouette, or a written story with no photo at all.
    4. Use a consent form written for humans, in the person’s preferred language, with a checkbox for each channel and a clear time limit.
    5. Avoid moments of crisis. Don’t ask for consent in the middle of a hard day. Come back later.

    During the interview or shoot

    • Let the person tell their story in their own words. Ask open questions, and don’t steer them toward the most dramatic version.
    • Tell them they can skip any question or stop at any time, and mean it.
    • Photograph people with dignity: eye level, natural light and moments of strength and agency, not just need.
    • Leave out identifying details they haven’t agreed to share, such as street signs, house numbers, school logos and children’s faces.

    Before publishing

    • Share the final story, quote or video with the person when it’s safe and practical, and invite changes.
    • Check for language that defines people by their hardest moment. “A mother of two who is rebuilding after losing her job” says more than “a homeless mother.”
    • Confirm the final placement matches what they agreed to.

    After publishing

    • Track consent status in your image library. Every photo of a person should have a record of what was agreed and when it expires.
    • Set a review date, and retire stories that have run their course.
    • Make it easy for someone to ask you to remove their story, and act on it quickly.

    Dignity in the craft: photo and video choices

    Ethics isn’t only paperwork. It shows up in every creative choice you make behind the camera and in the edit.

    A few principles I bring to photo and video work:

    • Show agency, not just need. People are more than the problem your program solves.
    • Skip the guilt tropes. Dark, sad imagery may grab attention, but it often reinforces stereotypes and treats people as props.
    • Let people be specific. Real details, told in their own voice, beat a generic composite every time.
    • Edit honestly. Don’t splice quotes in ways that change their meaning, and don’t use music that makes a story more tragic than the person told it.
    • Think about who sees it. A story that feels fine in a donor newsletter may land very differently on a public social feed where the person’s neighbors, coworkers or family will see it.

    If you want a deeper framework, the Dóchas Guide to Ethical Communications is an excellent resource written for NGOs. It covers values, power dynamics, authentic representation and informed consent.

    Build the system behind the stories

    Good intentions break down without a system, especially on small teams. Make these part of your standard process:

    • A standard, plain-language consent form with channel-specific options
    • A consent field or tag on every image and video file
    • A shared library where consent records live next to the assets
    • A short decision guide for staff on when a story needs extra review
    • A named person who handles removal requests

    Organizing an image repository in my current role reinforced how much this matters. When consent lives in someone’s email inbox, it’s only a matter of time before the wrong photo ends up in the wrong place.

    Client stories are also a strategic communications issue, not just a marketing one. They affect reputation, trust and the organization’s relationship with the community it serves. That’s why I treat them as part of the bigger strategic communications vs. marketing picture. You can see how I approach visual storytelling on my photo and video work page.

    Key takeaways

    • Real consent is informed, freely given, specific and ongoing. A signature alone isn’t enough.
    • Account for power dynamics, and make saying no truly safe.
    • Offer privacy options, and let people tell their stories in their own words.
    • Show people with dignity and agency, not just need.
    • Track consent next to every asset, and make removal requests easy.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is ethical storytelling for nonprofits?

    Ethical storytelling is the practice of sharing the stories of clients and community members with informed consent, accuracy and dignity. It puts the well-being and wishes of the person in the story ahead of campaign goals.

    How do you get consent for a nonprofit client story?

    Explain in plain language where the story will be used and for how long, offer privacy options, use a clear consent form with channel-specific choices and confirm that saying no won’t affect services. Let people withdraw consent later.

    Can nonprofits use client photos without names?

    Yes, if the person agrees. Many organizations offer first-name-only, changed names or images that don’t show faces. Consent should still be recorded, because a face can identify someone even without a name.

    / Work with Brittany

    Have stories worth telling and want to tell them with care?

    Hiring a marketing leader or need a hands-on partner for a project? See how we can work together or send me a note.