LDS photographers, your photos of LDS-related sites and events might be helpful, along with photos of people. Church publications, including websites, could benefit from some of the great photos you have taken. Note: It’s important to have release forms for all of the identifiable people in them in order for the Church to use the photos. This rules out most photos of my readers, but for the few pros and serious amateurs out there who use release forms, consider this a mission call for your pixels.
Here is an email that was sent recently requesting the help of LDS photographers:
Dear
LDS Photographer,We are contacting those who have shared photos with the Church as part of the
Church call for photos. A Church department needs a photo of an Asian temple with people in front of it for a project they are doing. If
you have a photo that meets this need and would be willing to share it with the
Church, please submit it throughvineyard.lds.org. Remember you will need to submit a
signed participant
releasefor those in the
photo.If you know of others who may have a photo like this, please share this email with
them.As a reminder, we are in continual need of great photos of about anything you can
think of, especially people. If you haven’t submitted photos in a while, we
invite you to share your talents with the Church. If you love taking photos but don’t have a place to use them, consider sharing your best photos with the Church. For more information, look atcreate.lds.org.
Thanks for your help,
Member-contributed Media
TeamPublishing Services
DepartmentThe Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
Jeff, while we certainly have our differences, one thing I will say is that you've taken some great photos for this blog.
— Eveningsun
What is your opinion on the Church media employees photoshopping sleeves onto young girls' dresses to resolve "modesty issues?" See discussion at ByCommonConsent.com from September 3.
I'd call that kind of thing an instance of "lieing for the Lord." It's wrong. Rather than alter a photo that doesn't convey what one wants it to convey, just find a photo that does. It's not like there's a shortage of images out there to choose from.
— Eveningsun
I don't see it as a big deal. The original Christus does not have nail holes in the wrists, professional photos are always enhanced to change the lighting, camera crews put filters on to minimize how old someone looks on camera. Photos of the moon landing were all done on a stage (ha ha, j/k).
Steve
Once the original photographer (and the subjects in the photo) have signed over rights and releases(or whatever level of permissions) of the photo/contents to subsequent publishers, those subsequent publishers may do with the photo as they please, within whatever restrictions went along with the release. And, generally speaking, there are rarely any such restrictions, or else the subsequent publisher would just use a different photo, for which they do have the necessary rights.
I don't think it rises to the level of "lieing for the Lord" anyway.
There is no misrepresentation of facts about a product, and it's not for a documentary. It's merely an illustration.
It's no different than coloring one's hair, or putting on lipstick, or using make-up to conceal facial blemishes.