◼ Preparing ahead ↑

“Photography is like going on a date. In order for it to be an unforgettable experience, one should prepare oneself sufficiently ahead of time. Otherwise it will be a total flop,” said Travis Costello, a photographer from Nuremberg.

If I want to ensure that I have as few surprises as possible while taking photographs—or afterward—I must begin giving thought to my photography efforts well before my arrival at the church! The proper preparation not only involves packing my photography bag, loading my chargers, and formatting my memory cards, but also incorporates many a conversation ahead of time.

◼ Reflect and pay attention ↑

“Always take your photographs in such a manner that you can be invited back,” said the German photo journalist Robert Lebeck. Whether he was thinking about photography in a divine service is not clear, however.

Photos serve both as a documentation of the church event and as a closely related component of public relations work. Photos illustrate what happens within the church’s walls. Photos convey memories. Both participants and other people who were not at the event can thereby gain some enduring insight into the events that transpired. Photos from a divine service can show even the most restrained and shy of citizens something of what is natural for members of the congregation and the everyday life of the church.

Photos are part of public relations work. Public relations work is missionary work.

On the other hand, photographs may well be an understandable wish on the part of someone who desires to capture a religious moment that is of essential, if not lifelong, personal significance. We find this to be the case in particular with baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and wedding anniversaries. Detlef Motz, a photographer, once said, “Photograph your life—if you lose it, at least you still have the photos!”

Photos are memories. Memories are part of our lives.

Enjoy the moment. Step back, pause. Enjoy the fellowship. Feel the blessing and nearness of God—this can also happen when a photographer captures the special moment. As long as he remembers a few simple rules, sticks to his instincts, and uses the necessary sensitivity.

• Watch out for camera noises: if possible, take photos when there is already some background noise (in other words, better to take photos while the choir is singing than during their brief musical breaks, or better to take a photo during the sermon than during brief pauses in speech). If you can, use the silent mode and avoid shutter sounds by using the proper camera setting.
• Deactivate beeping noises. It is just as clear from the viewfinder when everything is in focus.
• Avoid taking photos during collective or personal prayers.
• Avoid taking photos when people are taking the communion wafer.
• Plan short walking paths. Do not walk around unnecessarily.

◼ Consultation with the people involved ↑

Early and clear consultation with the people involved is simply part of common decency— but also serves many practical purposes. My failure to communicate might earn me some powerful ire, cause me to run up against the proverbial wall, or perhaps even get me waved away right at the moment that counts—and maybe rightly so!

Consultation with the editors
Where are the photos going to be published (online media/print media/photo album)? How many photos are to be published? Will only a single photo be needed to accompany a brief dispatch? Or will a whole gallery be published in classical reportage style?

Consultation with event coordinators and ushers
Unless I somehow manage to con my way into a good seat, I will not be able avoid establishing contact with the event’s ushers and organisers. While I’m at it, I might as well introduce myself as the “official photographer”. After all, these are the people responsible for maintaining order in the church or hall.

Consultation with those involved in the action
Early communication with the people involved in the action will allow me to take photographs with certainty and confidence, not to mention the due reverence, even during sacramental acts, ordinations, retirements, and other such special moments. If it is only at the decisive moment that I begin thinking about whether the members and ministers are okay with me clicking away right beside them, I have definitely done something wrong.

Consultation with the officiant
As the person conducting the divine service, the officiant should not only come away looking good in the photos, but should also know me as a photographer and be in agreement with my deployment. Nothing would be more embarrassing than being sent to my seat by the officiant during the divine service. Inconceivable, you say? There are photographers who could tell you stories.

◼ Preparing ahead ↑

Consultation with fellow photographers
So I will be working together with another photographer? Fantastic! That is not only a good backup strategy, but also avoids a lot of unnecessary running around—especially in large churches or halls. By consulting with my fellow photographer ahead of time, I will avoid having the both of us stand in front of the altar to snap the same shot, having one of us running around behind the other, or having to present identical or very similar photographic material at the end of the event.

Consultation with the cameramen/women
In some divine services I will encounter cameramen (and women) who will either be filming only one act (wedding, engagement, etc.) or the entire divine service. A conversation with them ahead of time will suffice to familiarise me with the locations of the video cameras, such that I can avoid running through the picture. Incidentally, a little consideration for other people may also help form acquaintances that endure beyond a single encounter. Experience shows that people usually run into each other more than once in life, and it is better to receive a friendly greeting the next time around instead of being reminded of your blunders from the last time.

Conclusion: failure to consult with the people involved can result in totally avoidable misunderstandings. Either I will have too much or too little photo material, or suddenly (but not surprisingly) there will be an abundance of the wrong subjects, annoyance, and too few or too many photographer. In other words: communicate, communicate, communicate!

◼ A second photographer? ↑

Only one photographer should be assigned to cover the divine service. As a rule, this is the officially assigned congregational photographer. For divine services of multiregional significance (say, in the event of a visit from the Bishop or Apostle) the district may appoint a photographer if needed. For divine services relevant to the District Church (visit from the Chief Apostle, District Apostle service incorporating the appointment or retirement of a district minister) the District Church will provide or appoint an official photographer.

Basically, however, the following applies: experience trumps the level of responsibility. It should always be the photographer with the greatest amount of experience—who often also possesses the better technical equipment—who should be deployed. In these situations, general or individual solutions should be found collectively. The objective is not to allow every photographer to have a turn, but rather that there are good photos available in the end.

The divine service photographers appointed by the District Church or district will most often only take photos that are intended for publication. For this reason it may happen that the congregational or district photographer takes a few souvenir photos for the people involved. In other words, he or she might document the preparations, the arrival of the Chief Apostle, his official welcome, and so on, while the official photographer of the District Church takes the official photos. Important: when photos are taken in the sacristy, only one photographer should be taking them.

When a divine service is being broadcast, only one photographer should be working in the nave of the church once the transmission begins. If a second photographer is deployed, he or she should be photographing from a recognisably different perspective (for example, from the gallery, the rear, or side area of the church or sanctuary).

◼ Familiarity with the premises ↑

If I find myself repeatedly assigned to take photos in a familiar church building, I should be able to find my way around the premises and be aware of the special features of the existing architecture.

If I happen to find myself in a building that is only remotely familiar to me or completely unfamiliar to me, it would be recommendable to take a tour of the church/sanctuary/hall, before the actual event transpires.

• Is the wall behind the altar especially dark or reflective?
• Are there any especially high ceilings that would prevent me from using indirect flashes?
• Are the walls or ceiling not colour neutral? Might I expect colour casts in my photos as a result?
• Where is the sacristy?
• Where will the officiant enter the divine service space?
• Where will the choir be singing?
• Where will the instrumentalists be playing?
• Where are the hardwired video cameras installed?
• Where is the optimal seat for me?
• Where will the (organ) music be played?
• Where will the people involved in the action be seated?
• ...

A tour ahead of time can also give me the opportunity to consult with my fellow photographer one last time in detail, to set all cameras to a uniform time in the menu, and to adjust for a uniform colour space. Matching parameters greatly simplify the process of merging photo material and reducing workflow after the photos have been taken.

◼ Timetable ↑

“When is the best time to photograph which subject? Couldn’t I also take some nice photos after the divine service in the sacristy?”

If I always know where I will have to stand in the next two minutes in order to snap the photo, I will seldom miss an important situation. If I am still busy thinking about all the shots I missed in the last five minutes because I was standing in the wrong place, it is because I did not have a timetable. — How do I manage stress-free photography?

I consider it to be an important principle of photography to know the timetable at all occasions. I will find the necessary information either by looking through the event programme or by inquiring with the organisers ahead of time. When it comes to taking the actual photos, there will still be more than enough surprising moments, which means I should at least internalise the general sequence of events.

From this information I can draft my own timetable at home ahead of time in all due peace and quiet. It is then that I will decide which photos I will take (list of subjects), and the point in time when I must be in the appropriate place. Using my knowledge of the premises, I will plan the shortest possible routes, and also manage to ensure that I can take as many photos as possible already before or after the divine service. I can comfortably take photos of the choir before the divine service. I do not have to take a photo of the choir every time they rise to sing! I can likewise take photos of the floral decorations, baptismal bowl, and the altar cross in complete peace and calm before the divine service. And when I say this, I do not mean that the photographer should be busily running around in front of the altar during the 90 seconds remaining before the start of the divine service.

The combination of my knowledge of the premises, my subject list, and my consultations with the people involved in the action will allow me to create quite a precise timetable— ahead of time, long before I actually begin taking photos. This can be just as successful during an evening divine service in my own home congregation as in a large event in a hall.

30 x 4 + 20 = ...
How many photos do I need to take? A simple calculation: if the objective is to produce a gallery consisting of 30 different subjects, and my personal output is one in four (that is, one in four photo-technical successes in which the subject in question is well captured), then I must pull the trigger at least 120 times. If I am left with only 47 photos on my memory card after the service, we will likely be missing some interesting subjects or successful photos.

A photographer’s personal output is a highly individualised variable. Many a photographer succeeds in capturing every image with perfect sharpness, exposure, and image design without exception, even in rapid reportage photography ... Others, on the other hand, cannot help noticing that only every fourth or sixth photo is really worthy of publication. In that case the proper equation is: 30 x 4 + 20 (reserve photos) = 140 photos.

◼ Subjects ↑

The Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 BC–479 BC) once stated, “Man has three ways of acting wisely. First, by meditation; that is the noblest. Secondly, by imitation; that is the easiest. Thirdly, by experience; that is the bitterest.”

Even in the absence of a wedding ceremony or special family celebration, there is an abundance of interesting subjects to photograph before, during, and after a divine service. The list of motifs on the following page is not an obligatory reference text that must be followed in detail the next time you take photos. However, you might focus on one or the other subject and make a point of photographing that particular motif next time around. This can make your galleries more diverse and interesting. Imitation is expressly permitted and is an easy way to find new subjects.

The subject list is not a collection of generally accepted standard photos either. If the matter of taking photographs during sacramental acts or during the sermon has not been an issue in a congregation up to now, then consultation will be especially necessary—and recommended! This list of subjects is not a carte blanche for a photographer to take photos of all of these subjects in every church in every town around the world!

When publishing images in an online gallery, it makes sense to offer a mix of close-ups that show details and other images that offer the viewer a more general overview. For example, a gallery that consists only of portraits seems to contradict a text that states, “A total of 1,200 divine service attendees listened to the Bishop’s sermon”—even if the few persons depicted were indeed in the divine service.

The photos in a gallery—and here we are specifically not talking about an individual lead photo that accompanies a short news report—should answer the classic W-questions: What happened when, where, how, and why?

The following chronological assignment of subjects before, during, and after the divine service is naturally not binding. Your own timetable (that is, a list of subjects sorted chronologically), which you compile well enough in advance of the respective event, will ensure that you have sufficient peace and certainty when you actually take your photographs, however.

Before the divine service

• Outside of the church building
• Parking lot, garden
• Altar
• Altar and flower decoration, other decorations
• Communion chalices
• Baptismal bowl/baptismal font
• Church emblem
• Cross
• Trip to church (divine service participants arriving at the church)
• Arrival of the officiant
• Officiant greeting children/adults
• Divine service participants greet one another
• Inside of the church building (entry area/foyer/cloakroom/parent-and-child room ...)
• A glance into the congregation
• Public officials, official guests
• Congregational choir, female choir, male choir, and/or children’s choir
• Individual choir members
• Soloists
• Instrumental ensemble/orchestra
• Individual instrumentalists
• Individual instruments
• Choir leader(s)
• Sacristy
• Children/young people/seniors/the handicapped
• Organist(s)
• Organ
• Hymn numbers
• Offertories
• Audio-visual equipment
• Paramedics/first responders

During the divine service

• Organist while playing (opening hymn)
• Officiant making his way to the altar
• Members singing
• Officiant sitting/standing next to the altar
• Officiant standing at the altar
• Officiant during the sermon
• Ministers standing at the altar when called to serve
• Congregational choir, female choir, male choir, and/or children’s choir
• Individual choir members
• Soloists
• Instrumental ensemble/orchestra
• Individual instrumentalists
• Individual instruments
• Choir leader
• A glance into the congregation/members
• Participants in the holy act seated in the pew
• Participants in the holy act approaching the altar
• Address preceding the holy act (from the perspective of the minister and the perspective of the participants in the act)
• The holy act itself
• Best wishes directly after a holy act
• Consecration of the wafers
• Closing benediction

After the divine service

• Congratulations after a holy act
• Group photos after a holy act
• Taking leave after the event
• Conversations
• Café/brunch/buffet
• Divine service attendees on the way home
• Bible, Bible passage
• Hymnal, open or closed
• Symbolic image praying hands
• Programme

◼ Clean and pack your equipment ↑

“Have you ever found yourself standing at the altar with empty batteries, or opened up your bag at church—only to find that the camera was not inside?” wonders one photographer who has asked to remain anonymous.

Cleaning offers many advantages!
It is a great feeling when no sand from your last vacation to the seaside trickles out of your camera housing when you are standing in front of the altar. It is also very helpful if the same sensor dirt does not happen to appear in exactly the same spot at the top left of every one of the 1,173 photos you took at that wedding service last Saturday afternoon (as that would mean retouching 1,173 photos in photo editing). How peculiar that all the photos I took with the wide angle lens
consistently show the same greasy handprint! Careful and gentle cleaning of the lenses should be standard procedure before taking any photographs.

Hint: you can always clean the lens later in the church using a small microfiber cloth that you keep in your photo bag. However, SpeckGRABBERS, Super Rocket-Air Blowers, LensPens, and liquid cleaning solutions are definitely only for home use and not intended for spontaneous use in front of the sacristy.

Charging your batteries only offers one single advantage!
However, this advantage is immensely important: it ensures that both your camera and flash equipment functions! No more and no less. A battery that only has thirteen per cent remaining capacity will never make it through the entire divine service—that is, unless I take this into account already at the beginning of the divine service and limit myself to very few subjects ... The problem is, a gallery comprised of only nine photos will tend to look a little odd. Early charging of your batteries will eliminate this problem. A fully charged spare battery in your photo bag will always come in handy as well.

Neatly packing your equipment has its advantages—and looks good too!
If I can take out the correct lens, my second memory card, or a fully charged battery (and not the empty battery that is also lying around somewhere in my bag) on my first attempt and without a long search, I will clearly be better off than the photographer that has simply thrown all his equipment into one big duffel bag. Most photo bags, backpacks, and suitcases provide an orderly place for everything—especially made for neat freaks.

◼ Attire ↑

“In a comprehensive sense, attire refers to the totality of all materials that surround the human body [author’s note: this therefore also applies to the photographer, since he or she is, as a rule, human] more or less tightly as an artificial covering (opposite: nudity). On one hand, it serves as protection from polluting environmental influences, but on the other hand, it serves as non-verbal communication, depending on its shape and style,” explain the authors at Wikipedia.

Even as a photographer I will at some point find myself standing in front of the closet asking myself the not at all insignificant question: “What should I wear?” In the spirit of non-verbal communication, and what I hope is a fundamental desire to be a discreet, inconspicuous, and nondisruptive photographer, I recommend equally inconspicuous attire that is also functional and adapted to the other people in attendance.

Attire in the divine service
I will definitely be less conspicuous if I reflect the attire of everyone else in the divine service. If I, as a photographer, dress myself in a yellow and red plaid jacket (or better yet, a hooded sweatshirt) and a garish pair of green pants, I will most likely stand out in the divine service. The same applies to the female photographer who happens to be wearing a canary-yellow evening gown and high-heeled shoes ... A clear recommendation for the male photographer: a full suit, and depending on the divine service, perhaps even black and white attire. Recommendation for female photographers: full pantsuit or skirt/pants and blouse/shirt combination. As regards footwear, I recommend rubber soles (for both male and female photographers). Especially on the stone and wood floors of churches, this significantly reduces, or even eliminates, the noise of footsteps. As they are focused somewhat on their own devotion and sanctification, the people seated near you will hear almost nothing when you walk by.

Attire at a concert
In contrast to the aforementioned, I recommend wearing completely black attire for concerts or other such events in which the light is somewhat dimmed. This isn’t exactly camouflage, nor does it make the photographer completely invisible—but he will definitely not be noticed as much.