MSU’s directory system has become a great way to find University employees’ contact information, as well as to put a face with the name of someone you may have contact with on a frequent basis. It has also enabled the University to easily enhance departmental websites, making them look nicer and seem friendlier to those wishing to learn more about a particular program, staff member or office. With that being said, it is important for the University to put forth an effort to ensure that those portraits are both professional looking and that they have a consistent look.

Here are some tips for ensuring the portraits used on the sites you update have the proper appearance.

Attend Free Photo Day

If at all possible, encourage faculty /staff members within your areas to come to one of the three Free Photo Days offered by the office of photographic services/provost’s office throughout the year. This will not only provide a consistent look to the portraits, it also ensures that a file photo is readily available.

Free Photo Day is a walk-in service, normally stretched over two days at the Plaster Student Union. All participants will have the chance to select the photo they like best. It will then be loaded to the online directory by photographic services, saving you a step in the process. Participants will also receive a digital copy of that photo for any other uses they may have, and there is no charge for this service.

For dates and times please refer to the Provost’s Communiqué. You may also contact Photographic Services at 417-836-5498.

Submit a photo

If you cannot make it to Free Photo Day, or a date is further out than you would like to wait, you may elect to use a submitted photo. These should follow the same cropping guidelines of the other head and shoulder portraits used in the online directory and should also have a clean background. You could also make an appointment with Photographic Services; however, if not on Free Photo Day, there will be a shoot fee assessed. If you do not have Photoshop, you may send the original photos to web@missouristate.edu.

Shoot your own photo

If taking portraits of staff, take them in an area that has ample light. Natural light is best, like that coming diffused through a window. Also keep your subject separated from the background, and shoot the photo from a little further away, while zooming in. This will help to separate them from the background and should lend itself to creating a nicer portrait. Below are two examples of this:

Example 1

The portrait on the left takes advantage of the natural light available in the Strong Hall atrium but shows too much of the background, distracting the viewer from the subject. The photo on the right takes out the distracting background by stepping back and zooming in with the camera, leaving the viewer to concentrate on the subject of the portrait.

Example 2

In this set of portraits, natural light is found in the Plaster Student Union atrium. By stepping back and zooming in with the camera, the photo on the right creates a more pleasing, blurry background, making the subject the primary focus. It also lends itself to a more professional look. The photo of our subject in the left frame also shows off the interior of the building, more reminiscent of an environmental portrait.