Photo and video

Guidelines for taking your own photos and videos:

Photos and/or video should strive to be authentic and real — reflecting the character and community of UMaine and the state and, where appropriate, the beauty of our campus and the environment that surrounds us. Avoid cliché or stock photo looks.
Highlight student interaction, engagement with faculty and/or community whenever possible.
Photos should be vibrant and bright in content and appearance and shot with a student focus — ideally with smiling or pleasant faces.
Consider your surroundings. Time and care should be taken to maximize or tweak the setting or backdrop of a photo or video scene. Never throw away a background. When possible, clean, organize or frame backgrounds to reduce clutter and unwanted elements (garbage cans, construction, general messiness). In most instances, the background can be put out of focus to draw the viewer’s eye to the main subject. ( This expands on the 5th bullet point already in the document)
Portraits of students, faculty and staff should be genuine and sincere, not posed.
Adequately display an institutional presence.

Photography

Our online University of Maine photo database features some of the top image-building photos related to the university. This database of institutional images is available to members of the university community who are producing UMaine publications, web pages, displays and other university-related projects. Use of any photos must be approved by the Division of Marketing and Communications. However, photos from the database used outside of the University of Maine must be credited with “Photo courtesy of the University of Maine.”

Contact the Division of Marketing and Communications for questions or contact Ron Lisnet to set up a time to view the photo database.

Photographer/videographer release form

Make a request

University of Maine System photo/video release agreement

Download form

Video

A full catalog of videos can be found on the University of Maine’s YouTube channel. Contact the Division of Marketing and Communications for questions on branded UMaine videos.