PHOTOGRAPHIC POLICY & PROCEDURES #2

Policy Statement. Branch 295 photographic services strive to respect reasonable expectations of privacy.

 INTRODUCTION

1.     The intent of this policy is to establish protocols that help to document our branch history and events and share photographs while respecting the privacy of photographic subjects.

2.     The last section deals with Dominion requirements for photos submitted to the Legion Magazine. Refer to the Dominion publication "Guidelines for Submitting Branch News to
Legion Magazine" available from Public Relations (PR) and Communications officer.

BRANCH PROTOCOLS

2.     To avoid problems in this area which may generate complaints being sent to Branch 295 we will follow some simple protocols within our Branch. It is important to accept that we are all likely to appear in the background of photos no matter where we go. The intent of this policy is to minimize that likelihood but more to protect the privacy of persons that are obviously a focal point of a photograph.

 a. The Branch will employ one or more volunteer photographer to take "Official" photos for public relations and branch history . The Branch Photographer(s) may be issued identification cards and lanyard plus a pin-on badge.

 b.  Photos will include, but not be limited to, official meetings, presentations, dinners & lunches, and any event deemed by the Executive Committee to be of historical value or of particular interest.

 c. The main subjects of all branch photos should be informed that the photos will be publicly displayed and/or shared on social media.

 d. Crowd or background Photos. Members and guests as part of the crowd at an event or in the branch should have no reasonable expectation of privacy with relation to photos of which they are not the focal subject.

e. Official photos may be displayed in the Branch and/or posted electronically to the official Branch website, Facebook page, Instagram, or other social media service.

f.  All official branch photographs are the property of the branch. Photo credit will be given to the Branch Photographer(s) wherever practical.

OTHER PERSONS OR ORGANIZATIONS

3.     Other persons or organizations who are using Branch 295 for a function can decide on their own photo policy but must respect this policy regarding others present who are not in their group.

4.     Photographs taken with cell phones and other personal cameras shall be restricted to subjects within their own group and reasonable effort shall be made to respect the privacy of others in the background and ensure they are not featured prominently in the photos.

DISPLAY OF PHOTOGRAPHS

5.     Photographs may be displayed and/or shared as follows and in accordance with further direction from the president.

         • Review photos and ensure unsuitable ones are not shared or displayed

         • Select photos for sharing on social media and/or in-branch. Most photos are only displayed on the photo display TV or on the   branch Facebook page.

REQUESTING COPIES OF PHOTOS

6.     Persons wishing to have electronic copies of the official branch photos may contact the Branch Photographer. Members may also download (copy) photos published on social media. Prints will not be provided at Branch cost.

COMPLAINTS

7.     Photographs that are the subject of a complaint will be removed from public display at the earliest opportunity without discussion.  Complainants must clearly identify the photograph(s) and the location of the display (e.g., Facebook, Website, in-branch photo display TV, etc.).

RESPONSIBILITIES

8.     The Sergeant-at-Arms will arrange to have an official photo area set up at General Meetings and other formal occasions.

9.     The Branch Photographer will take all authorized photos and turn them into the office on a branch-provided USB stick.

10.   The Branch Photographic Authority (currently the president) will review photos and select those for publication or display.

PHOTO SUBMISSIONS TO LEGION MAGAZINE

11.   Legion Magazine requires that the pixel size of photos have a minimum size of 1,350 X 1,350 pixels.

12.   Further guidance is in the Dominion Command publication ""Guidelines for Submitting Branch News to Legion Magazine" available from the Branch Public Relations and Communications Officer.

CONCLUSION

13.   Inquiries about this policy should be directed to the Branch President.

PHOTO HANDLING GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

1.       The following guidance is provided for branch photographers and others involved in publishing and display of official branch photographs and should be read in conjunction with the branch Policy on Photography.

ROLES

• Branch Photographers

• Branch Photographic Authority (currently the president)

• Facebook Administrators, Moderators & Editors

PHOTO SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1.       Branch photographers are asked to transfer photos to a branch provided USB flash drive as soon as practical following an event and make it available to the Branch

Photograph Authority. Photographers who are unsure of how to do this may consult with the Branch Communications Coordinator for guidance.

2.       Branch photographers are asked to review the photos and eliminate duplicates or near duplicates at source.

UPLOADING TO BRANCH COMPUTER

1.       The contents of the USB flash drives (sticks) should be copied to the \\EXECUTIVE computer by the photographic authority.

• Sign into the “Executive” account. Note the Desktop shortcut to “Public Photos”. The full path is C:\Users\Public\Pictures. (This make the folder available from any user account on the computer)
  
  

• Make a folder in C:\Users\Public\Pictures (e.g. REMEMBRANCE_DAY_2022) and copy the photos from the USB stick. Please never place the photo on the desktop or in a documents folder because they take up too much space in user file backups.

PHOTO SELECTION

1.       The Photographic Authority will select photos for publishing to Facebook or inclusion on the PHOTO DISPLAY TV USB stick.

• The Photo TV in the bar/lounge area has a display time of approximately ten seconds per photo. In the past we seldom had more than 40 or 50 photos on display at any one time due to the loop cycle time.

• If the cycle time is not a concern, then hundreds of photos may be copied to the USB stick.
  
  

• If the Photographic Authority has publishing rights to the branch Facebook page, then photos may be published immediately after selection. Multiple uploads to Facebook should be organized into a Facebook Albumn.

PHOTO DISPLAY TV

1.       The Photographic Authority or a designate should swap out USB sticks as soon as practical following an event.

2.       Photos should be in a single folder on the USB stick.

3.   The USB stick plugs into a USB extension cable stuffed in behind and a the top of the TV located on the south wall to the right of the east entrance to the Merritt Room.

4.       Swap the old USB stick out for the new one and return the old one to storage (currently in the IT Services mail slot on the wall outside of the office.

5. The remote control for the TV is the “small Samsung remote” located at the bar. Figure out or ask staff how to use the remote.