If you are a photographer for John Kelly Photos, please familiarize yourself with this guide. All photographers are expected to be familiar with this guide and abide by its rules unless otherwise noted in order to provide our clients consistently with the best possible services.
Unless otherwise noted, all photographers are required to adhere to the assigned camera settings during an event. The settings can be found on our checklist.
Additionally, photographers must at each event:
For your average running event, we have three standard styles of images we allow for each running event. If you are not assigned a type of shot, please try to take one of the following style shots throughout the day.
Full body, tight shots are our standard photograph for participants. We want to shoot tight enough to isolate the subject, but not too tight that we accidentally crop off parts of the runner. A general rule is, imagine the runner points upwards and out with both their arms, then their fingertips should touch the edge of your frame. These shots are ideal for isolating subjects in dense races, but also tend to have the highest download rates of all our running type photos.
The framing is tight enough to isolate the subject. Notice how the photograph is shot from a lower perspective to show more of the background.
Subject is evenly framed in the shot . Framing is nice and tight. Notice how the photograph is shot from a higher perspective to show less of the crowded background.
Full body, wide shots are reserved for when the race isn't as densely packed, or the background really helps make the picture more interesting. It is very important your wider shots are still composed well, and not extraneously wide. If the participant is too small in the image, the image is not usable and will not likely be downloaded. Be careful when shooting these wider shots not to go too wide.
Shot is wide enough to demonstrate this is an urban race, but the participant is still isolated because of the image compression. This is the widest you should be shooting, no wider. Only shoot this wide if the subject is isolated.
Shot is wide enough to showcase the beauty of the course but subject is still isolated and large enough in the image to identify.
Upper body shots are a bit harder to hit as they require precise timing not always afforded in busy races. If you can hit them, they offer great diversity to the album, providing more options to our event participants. It is important to maintain even padding in the image above the head and to each side of the runner. Make sure you are cropping the bottom edge of the frame mid-thigh. Crops at or below the knees are not acceptable unless the racer is mid-stride.
This shot is tight enough around the participant, but not too tight. The shot is cropped mid thigh and the spacing around the runner is even on all sides. The compression from these tight shots makes a pretty background.
This shot is pretty even around all sides, and the compression on this shot really helps isolate the runner in a dense race.
Upper body landscape shots should only be taken if specifically assigned. Please do not shoot this style unless your team leader or coordinator assigns the shot to you. Upper body landscape shots are done by cropping the subject mid-thigh, and using the rule of thirds to frame your subject. This shot only works for events with spread out runners.
This shot is tight enough around the participant, but not too tight. Padding around subject is comfortable, not too lose, but shows the environment. The shot is cropped mid-thigh and the rule of thirds is applied.
This shot is tight enough around the participant, but not too tight. Padding around subject is comfortable, not too lose, but shows the environment. The shot is cropped mid-thigh and the rule of thirds is applied.
Unless you are assigned group shots, you must shoot shots of individual participants only. You should isolate your subjects in your shot, and frame tightly to ensure a clear subject in each image.
When it is appropriate to shoot group shots:
When it is NOT appropriate to take group shots:
During dense races, it is tempting to take wider shots of participants, resulting in group exposures. This is not okay. You should slow down, isolate your subject, and get clear shots of an individual subject. It is okay to miss a significant portion of runners in order to get fewer but higher quality shots. Especially at the start of a race, participants will be very densely packed. You should slow down, and isolate your subjects. If you do not, the photos will be marked for deletion.
Participants are holding hands and clearly associated with the same group. Only take a group shot if you have time to rotate your camera and appropriately frame and capture runners. After a group shot, you should try to capture individual shots.
While the runners are in a group and the shot captures that, the runners are not aware of the group shot, and subject isolation is not ideal.
Proper isolation of runners in groups is critical. If runners are not properly isolated, the photo is 6x less likely to be downloaded by the participant.
Participant is in a runner clump, however, the runner is properly isolated in the image because of tight and level framing.
Participant is not properly isolated from the rest of their group. Other runners are in focus, where tighter framing would have compressed the image more and resulted in greater isolation.
Be prepared for everything! You should have multiple cameras and lenses. Many sets of batteries, and back up memory cards. We are professionals, not hobbyist, so have redundancies in place to make sure you keep shooting if you battery dies or your camera stops working throughout the day. You should also have plenty of water and snacks throughout the day.
We don't want our photographers to shoot in unsafe conditions, and we expect you to take appropriate safety precautions in the event of storms. While lightning is dangerous, and you should seek shelter, rain is in most cases safe, and we expect you to be prepared to shoot in rain, except dangerous rain conditions, snow and what ever else is safe.
You and your gear will stay as clean as your prepare for. If you know your gear, and know its limits and don't mind it getting a little bit dirty or wet, then just show up and shoot. If you want your gear to stay spotless, then bring protective equipment for your gear. We will not replace anything you break, so shoot however you feel is best for your gear. Most of our photographers know their gear is durable and don't bother covering it for events. However, you are welcome to cover your gear as much as you prefer. Just make sure you keep your front lens element clean and bring plenty of wipes for it.
Complete fine, slightly dirty cameras.
