Photography Identity Corporate Guidelines for DOF Group

Transcription

1 Photography Identity Corporate Guidelines for DOF Group

2 DOF GROUP PHOTOGRAPHY IDENTITY SECTIONS 1 Introduction 2 Themes 3 People 4 Assets 5 Shooting 6 Production 7 Photo classroom Are you looking for approved DOF images? If so, visit our Image Bank in the Identity Portal, which is accessible from the MyPortal. LAYOUT DOF CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT VERSION 2 - NOVEMBER 2016

3 INTRODUCTION Use this guide along with 1 the Identity Guidelines This guide is designed to assist in both image selection for projects, as well as for the production of new images in conjunction with suppliers. The DOF Group is proud of our expert people, vast capabilities and state of the art assets. Throughout DOF s communication materials you will see and read about these key topics. The ocean is a fundamental element of DOF s identity and can never be underestimated in its ability to communicate the environment and natural forces that our people work in everyday, rain or shine. There are a lot of images out there. This guide will help choose, replace and create content that is in line with the DOF Group profile. Adjectives, phrases, technical specifications and post-production notes are included in this guide. If you have any questions, please contact your regional communication resource.

4 2 THEMES Photography as a tool to communicate This page will give a brief description of DOF s goals with photography and our visual language. DOF is a global company with offices and vessels in major ports around the world. DOF is international, however we are proud of our heritage with our beginnings in Norway and of our identity as a Norwegian company. Through photography, we show our diversity, whether in Angola or Aberdeen: we show the faces of our employees. DOF s vessels are all around the world and we show that, however DOF especially likes to show these vessels surrounded by the gorgeous Norwegian landscape. Some keywords to think about when taking photographs for DOF can be stated as STAPS : Safety, Teamwork, Accessible, Pioneering and Solid. To the right you can read more about how you can use these keywords in your photography. OTHER KEYWORDS TO CONSIDER: Intrepid, Determined, Resilient, Responsible, Wise, Trustworthy, Confident, Steel. STAPS SAFETY When shooting crew, it is imperative that the crew wear all necessary personal protective equipment (PPE); that they are working in a safe manner in accordance with safety procedures; you the photographer cannot be in danger, nor endanger anyone else. TEAMWORK When photographing employees in a natural work environment, it is almost always better to shoot them in groups of two or more. The exception is with portraiture, where the focus is on one person. ACCESSIBLE A smile is a valuable thing, getting someone to smile is a difficult thing. If the subject is making eye contact with the camera, make them smile as this shows approachability, accessibility and a positive outlook on their work. Try to avoid Thumbs up from crew. PIONEERING DOF employees do interesting work, both offshore and onshore -- this can be shown with unique technology, complex environments, and even simply with expressions that show the subject thinking, or working hard, or looking beyond the frame of the composition. SOLID Always have the horizon level (no crooked photos!). The subject should be in command of their task, have firm footing, and be confident and aware in their surroundings.

5 3 PEOPLE Crew, office staff & DOF s leaders People bring our services and quality to life. Showing our people up close is an important tool in our branding. Keywords to think about when taking photographs of DOF s people: Safety, Teamwork, Accessible, Pioneering, Solid, Intrepid, Determined, Responsible, Wise, Trustworthy & Confident. That is a lot of adjectives, but what can be pressed upon is the need to show our people confidently (which includes safely) performing complex tasks. Using the previous introduction pages, especially the Themes page (section 2), you can start to compose images before arriving at the location. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of safety and showing our employees following safety protocols, i.e. PPE. In addition, do not distract employees during potentially dangerous tasks. The surroundings or environment should be reasonably orderly, free of maintenance problems and jumpers/uniforms should be reasonably clean (some touch up is often necessary). DOF s leaders should be photographed in a professional style, always using strobes and always isolating the subject with a portrait style lens. Group photos are more challenging, however simple rules can help obtain the right image; 1) Avoid establishing hierarchy in an image; 2) Use a neutral/clean environment; 3) Ensure that our women leaders are given equal importance within a composition as it is too common to have women sit while men stand - avoid this scenario. OUR TEAM Only photograph DOF crew, other companies are often onboard our vessels. Use this guide to recognize our crew s uniform colors. The DOF logo will also almost always be present on these jumpers.

6 4 ASSETS Vessels, assets & environments Vessel images come from several sources: professionals, amateurs, suppliers, etc.. Asset images are often supplied by manufacturers. Exterior office photos are often taken casually by office employees or supplied by property owners. With images of vessels, subsea assets and many physical office locations, DOF has an archive of 1,000s of images and many of them do not fit the DOF image standard. It is important to develop this archive and when new content is created to ensure it passes the test. Remember that this guide is not only for creating images but also in choosing images for internal and external materials from the archive. The same keywords apply to assets as well, though the most important two from the previous list is Solid and Pioneering. SOLID & PIONEERING Most important of all here is scale. Trying to include people or recognizable items in the composition to show scale. Our vessels are huge, ROVs are massive and we should show this. VESSELS should be active, either sailing or mid-project. The deck and surroundings should be reasonably organized and free of maintenance problems. Remember: a vessel shot from straight on looks like any other vessel -- the goods are in her deck equipment and in some cases her raw engine power (see diagram for general idea). ROVs should be clean and in an organized setting. ROVs are active and truly pioneering in the deep and hostile environment. How to show this when they are in the ROV hanger? Focus on the complex technology, or the manipulators and cameras. OFFICES should stand solidly with good light and have people-traffic to communicate a sense of action.

7 5 SHOOTING Capturing HQ photographs one exposure at a time It is essential to get a good negative : capturing a moment in a large enough format and with enough information to process the image. Image quality is very important to DOF. The company uses a 22 mega-pixel SLR with high quality lenses to capture the images visible throughout this guide. Photos should never be overly artistic. Proper focus on the subject is important. Remember: Post-production can do everything except refocus an image. A good, average exposure is important, especially if the image is destined for print. ALWAYS Remember STAPS (see section 2). Photograph people at high shutter speeds (min 1/200 sec) for sharpness and to freeze action. Color is important to DOF. Our vessels are red and our crew often wear red / reflective green / bright orange suits. Also seeing the DOF logo is important. Color-Balance should be neutral. Unless the image is shot at night, all images should try to reproduce accurate, light-source corrected white balance (shooting in RAW helps to achieve this). We do not style our images with a color filter, however we use a particular curve and also an effect on the highlights to add some glow (see production section 8 for more details). Only use flash to fill imperfect environmental light. COMPOSITION (SEE MORE IN SECTION 7) Use foreground to frame a subject whenever possible. This offers context for the subject and creates depth. Leave space / air in the frame for convenience of layout -- the images can always be cropped at a later point. Look at the cover image for an example. Shoot in both portrait and landscape orientations. DELIVERY Deliver images in RAW format if possible. DropBox / FTP / Hard-copy (DVDs) are all acceptable.

8 6 PRODUCTION Processing quality photographs into quality images Adobe Photoshop is the darkroom of today and no exposure should go without being processed. DOF s aesthetic is achieved with a medium amount of processing. Using RAW files and a pre-configured processing (or XMP file) can speed up this process. See diagrams to calibrate your processing. Always use the horizon tool to easily establish a level horizon and adjust the white balance and exposure within Adobe s Camera RAW Filter. Additional darkroom adjustments are sometimes necessary: dodging, burning. Also, it is standard to clean up jumpers and helmets with clone/spot brush. Oftentimes it is necessary to remove a distracting element: try doing this first by changing its color -- drastic photoshopping or modification of an image should rarely be required. RIGHT TOP: An example of heavy exposure editing. Highlights were isolated and enhanced in order to put emphasis on the subject and the complex environment. RIGHT BOTTOM: The garbage bin has been colored red to match the tower and to remove the distraction from the focus: the two crew walking across the snowy deck. This is an example of acceptable touch-up.

9 7 PHOTO CLASSROOM A few tips and tricks on how to take good photos This section briefly explains technical info and attempts to provide simple guidance on basic camera control and composition. Photography is a technical art. However today s cameras are very clever and can be used by virtually anyone. Understanding basic technical principles will enable any shooter to improve their results. Tips & tricks: It is always better to take too many photos than too few! If you have a good subject, always take a few extra photos. When possible, talk to your subject before taking photos, tell them why you are there. Pay attention to light. If the lighting is not good, e.g. the subject is not properly lit making the subject hard to separate from the background, do not bother taking photos. Try to find interesting perspectives that differ from the everyday-view. Wide-angle lenses can help with this or finding high or low angles to shoot from. It is very important to hold the camera correctly. Proper technique will improve all your photos! See the diagram below for how to hold a camera that has a larger lens. Stability is the keyword. TECHNICAL INFO COMPOSITION Always have at least three layers in your photographs: 1) a foreground (i.e. something in front of the subject); 2) a subject; 3) a background. Photos often suffer from a lack of foreground making them feel flat. The example uses blur to create the different layers. Always have a level horizon -- especially when shooting vessels! Subjects are often more interesting when they are composed with visual elements Image courtesy of SanDisk website. that have lines that lead back to the subject, these are called leading lines and often work along with the design concept of the rule of thirds. Google rule of thirds to learn more about the concept. The example has leading lines (highlighted in blue) moving from top-left thirds intersection towards the subject placed in the ideal position within the rule of thirds matrix (in red). This composition uses the rule of thirds strictly and successfully. CAMERA EXPOSURE SETTINGS EXPLAINED SHUTTER SPEED refers to the duration the subject is exposed. Smaller numbers mean faster or shorter lengths of time and are mainly displayed as fractions of a second (E.g. 1/1000 & 1/30). Always use a shutter speed faster than 1/200 sec to freeze human motion. Faster speeds are required to freeze faster action and slower speeds can be used to portray motion. The example needed to freeze movement of the subject, a fast shutter speed (likely 1/500 or faster). f-stop refers to a ratio of the length by width of the lens at the time of exposure (in the name of simplicity, where f = 1, f/1.4 = 1/1.4). Often referred to as the aperture (E.g. f/1.4 thru f/22), this controls the volume of light and, as a consequence of physics, how much is in focus from the selected focus distance. Larger f-stops take in more light and allow for higher shutter speeds and vice versa. Also, the larger the f-stop and the higher number the perspective (E.g. 16mm to 400mm), the more subject isolation you will obtain, blurring foreground and background, and vice versa. This focus control is called depth of field. The example has blurred fore- and background using a higher mm lens (85mm) and a large f-stop (f/2.8 or larger). ISO refers to the sensitivity of the imaging device. This is variable (E.g ,000) and a general rule is the lower the number the better the image quality. This setting should be balanced with shutter and f-stop to control for either variable (freezing/showing action AND/OR depth of field). The example likely used a low ISO value (perhaps 100) as it is outdoors in strong light with a low f-stop.

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