A nice picture doesn’t just make your page look better; chosen well, it also tells its own story. So here are a few tips and ideas for finding a good picture:
Look for landscape pictures
On ChangeX, as on many other social media pages, header pictures appear in a wide landscape format, and are not very high, in order to leave enough room for other important information on the page. (Most people will look at your page on a mobile phone.)
The ideal size for your image is at least 1200x400px. Images with width:height ratio of 3:1 work well
Find a picture that suits your project best
Here are a few ideas on how to find a good picture:
Think about a generic picture, related to your project. You’re starting a Repair Café? How about your sewing machine, or your tool box? For your GIY group, you could add a picture of your herb garden. A picture down your street might be just perfect if you start a StreetFeast, and how about a stack of classic English books if you start a free English class for migrants.
You saw a picture on another site, maybe from another local community initiative, that would be perfect? Great, just write a message to the person who runs the site and ask for permission to use it. Make sure to say what it is for and that it’s part of your voluntary work for the community. You might get lucky, and the person is happy to share the picture with you.
You don’t trust your own photography skills at all? Pixaby, Unsplash or ImCreator are some platforms where you can find free high quality photos. You can also search on flickr.com, but make sure to just look for pictures under a creative commons license, using the advanced search settings. Or, as mentioned above, contact the uploader of the image to ask for permission.
Use the first opportunity to get images from your own project
The trouble with stock images is that they will never look as authentic as ones you take yourself! So look out for any chance to take your own pictures, not just for your header picture, but also for your posts and updates. The only thing better than pictures, to give people a good idea of what you're all about, are videos.
Your first meetup is your first big chance. Ask someone to come along to help you with taking some pictures, because you’ll probably be busy with organising your group. Don't we all have one or two hobby photographers in our network? Just ask for some help! Believe me, it’s worth it.
More questions about uploading a header picture to ChangeX? Please send us a message to [email protected].