A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

Last week marked the halfway point for the online group PR program Make Me a Star Strawberry Communications is running, and one of the popular topics discussed was using photos in media pitches.

There is something incredibly powerful about a fantastic image (as you can see from the shot of chef and author Sally James to the left), which is why you should always consider sending a photo when pitching a story to the media. It can make the difference between the story running on the front page or, sometimes, not at all.

Here are five tips on sending photos to the media:

• Use the right format. Save photos as a JPEG file because this can be used either in print or online media and can be opened on both PC and Mac computers

• Think about the size. If sending a photo to a print publication, it should be at least 200dpi and a minimum size of 1MB, but you can usually send photos up to around 4MB. If your photos are bigger than this, consider sharing online via YouSendIt or DropBox rather than compressing them. Photos for use online can be smaller, so check the size needed

• Consider the quantity. If you are sending the journalist several photos to give them a choice, send them via a few separate emails so you don’t clog up their server

• Use people. Always send a photo with someone in it (preferably the person quoted in the media release or pitch). Even if you’re sending product shots, have a person demonstrating how the product is used, rather than a straight product shot

• Supply captions. List the people in the photo from left to right with the correct spelling of their name and their title so the journalist doesn’t have to chase the information. If someone should be credited for the photo, make sure to include their name as well.