University Brand Guidelines: Photography

Photography should capture the spirit of East Texas A&M through authentic moments, confident storytelling, and purposeful composition. Images should celebrate our students, faculty, staff, and community in ways that feel real, optimistic, and distinctly Lion Made. Every photograph should reinforce our values while creating an emotional connection with the viewer.

The following approaches provide guidance for capturing imagery that reflects our brand while highlighting different aspects of the Lion experience.

AI-generated photographs or graphics should not be used as part of the university's official brand expression.

AI-generated imagery may be appropriate in news, editorial or educational content when the subject matter specifically relates to artificial intelligence and the image is clearly identified as AI-generated.

Examples

Person

Environment

Detail

SENSE OF PERSON

Our photography celebrates the people who make East Texas A&M distinctive. Whether photographing students, faculty, staff or alumni, the focus should be on authentic moments that communicate confidence, determination and Lion Pride. Images should feel genuine rather than staged, highlighting the individuality, character and purpose of each person while creating an emotional connection with the viewer.

SENSE OF ENVIRONMENT

Show the spaces where East Texas A&M students, faculty and staff learn, work and connect. Environments should feel authentic to East Texas and provide meaningful context without overpowering the people or activity within the image. Look for settings that communicate place, purpose and the real-world character of the university.

SENSE OF DETAIL

Focus on the small moments and visual details that reveal the larger story. Close-up imagery can highlight concentration, craftsmanship, discovery and the tools involved in learning and working. These images should feel intentional and specific, helping viewers experience the texture, effort and character behind each moment.

SENSE OF DOING

Photography should showcase people actively engaged in learning, creating, competing, researching and serving. Look for moments that capture concentration, collaboration and hands-on experiences across academics, student life and campus culture. Images should feel energetic, intentional and authentic, emphasizing the pride, hard work and real-world experiences that define East Texas A&M.

PHOTO DIRECTION

Lighting & Warmth:

The first part of our photography style is defined by two core elements: lighting and warmth.

When shooting outdoors, we prioritize golden hour (approximately the hour before sunset in the late afternoon) or early morning. This will achieve a dramatic warm glow and deepen the scene's color palette for more rich tones.

For indoor shoots or when scheduling or weather limits outdoor options, we replicate this look using controlled lighting setups with little-to-no diffusion.

By applying warm gels to external lights and utilizing gold-toned reflectors for fill light, we can replicate sunlit warmth.

Best Practices

Nice use of dramatic, warm lighting over subject.

Avoid

Studio lighting that feels cold, or sterile.

Contrast:

We use lighting and location to shape tonal contrasts and deepen shadows, giving images dimension and mood. When shooting during golden hour, the natural light already provides soft, organic contrast—so we often add fill light to avoid overwhelming the scene.

Conversely, when working indoors with artificial lighting, we often need to amplify contrast to recreate that dynamic depth and achieve the desired aesthetic.

Best Practices

Nice use of dramatic, warm lighting over subject.

Nice use of the warm golden hour and/or morning sun while capturing the subject in action.

Avoid

Studio lighting that feels cold, or sterile.

Over exposed, or exaggerated contrast.

Authenticity:

As mentioned prior, we encourage a healthy mix of posed and candid portraiture. When shooting staged or posed portraiture, aim for candid energy with expression rather than flat emotion.

Best Practices

Nice use of dramatic, warm lighting over subject.

Nice use of captured candid moment, not over the top or too flat.

Avoid

Studio lighting that feels cold, or sterile.

Over exposed, or exaggerated contrast.

Forced emotion and pose feels inauthentic.

LOW-TOUCH PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY

Staff and student workers should feel empowered to contribute to capturing our campus through phone photography. This helps in cases where our photographers are not available, or when you come across a great Lion moment that can't wait. This guide will help you capture and edit on-brand photos with your smartphone. When positioning your subjects, remember: ETAMU empowers our students and community members. We want our photography to reflect that by focusing on the human element and showing our community off in its best light.

Best Practices

NO EDITING
This image was taken using Portrait mode and is not edited. It doesn't necessarily look bad, but the colors aren't as warm as we would like them to be to align with our brand photo style. The overall flatness in tone could be improved.

PREFERRED EDITING
This version was edited with a filter built into Instagram and used at a lower intensity, with custom adjustments to help balance the lighting. Adding some contrast helped create separation from the background, increasing the temperature helped achieve an overall warm tone, and slightly lowering the highlights ensured that brighter tones were not clipped.

OVER EDITED

This is an example of over-filtering or overediting. The increased contrast, along with excessive temperature and saturation, clips colors out of gamut, creating a splotchy and unnatural look.

Shooting

Use tools such as Portrait mode to help replicate our depth of field effects if available.
Shoot closer by using preset optical zoom focal lengths available on your phone instead of stepping closer with a wide angle setting; distortion can make portraits look unnatural. However, avoid digital zoom (pinch-to-zoom past the limits of the device's built-in lenses; digital zoom sacrifices quality.)
Use a basic 5-in-1 reflector; the gold or white reflectors can help with fill light and warmth, while the diffusion screen can help soften intense light.

Editing

Begin with a warm preset. These are freely available in dedicated mobile photo apps such as Lightroom, or limited options are built into social platforms themselves.
Error on the side of subtlety. Over-editing is usually more distracting than an under-edited image. Often, a filter at full strength is too intense, so reducing its strength can be helpful.
Treat each image individually; due to unique lighting conditions, no preset will give you consistent results for every image. They are good first steps that you can then customize using editing sliders sacrifices image quality.)
Use a basic 5-in-1 reflector; the gold or white reflectors can help with fill light and warmth, while the diffusion screen can help soften intense light.