Photo/Image Guidelines

The following guidelines, some of which can be found in our brand guide, pertain to images used on all Michigan Tech websites and publications.

Composition

What makes a Michigan Tech photo?

  • Our shots are honest examples of who our students, faculty, and alumni are and what they do
  • Our photos show students and faculty doing real work—in the lab, in the field, on campus, and abroad. We work hard and play hard in all types of environments.
  • We avoid unnatural filters, gels, and lights.
  • We capture images from eye level—our subjects are not always smiling at the camera.

Photos should highlight our natural environment. It is OK to show extreme adventure or conditions.

Diversity

Our photos should depict a equitable representation of students, faculty and staff along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical abilities. It is important for our photos to be real.

The Michigan Tech website viewed in its entirety, should depict the diversity that exists on campus. Not every image will embody all aspects of diversity, and that’s OK.

Safety

All subjects within photos must comply with safety guidelines as outlined by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).

As an example, if a photo represents a subject performing an experiment and they would normally wear safety gloves and goggles during that experiment, they must where that safety equipment during the photoshoot.

If you aren't sure if your photo passes a safety check, you can run it by EHS.

Quality

Photos should be of good quality. This includes using a photo that is large enough and has enough pixels for the space you wish it to fill. It also means having good lighting and composition.

Mobile/Phone Photos

Using iPhone or smartphone photos may be OK in some situations. You may also be able to use crowdsourced photos, including those taken by your own staff and/or students. Michigan Tech offers free LinkedIn Learning access to faculty and staff and there are dozens of photography tutorials, including ones specific to mobile device photography.

For the Web

When considering photos for the web, remember that most users access websites through a horizontal viewing space such as a desktop monitor or on a smartphone with limited screen space. Because of this, it is best to use horizontally cropped images.

The Image Editor within the CMS automatically converts files to the JPG format. Please refer to our blog post for preferred image sizes, common Image Editor errors, and how to use the Image Editor.

Accessibility

We are required to create and maintain websites that meet Level AA and/or AAA web accessibility conformance for as many of our standardized web elements as possible. A big part of this involves making sure that our online images are accessible. Follow online image accessibility training to help.