Photos we need every month, from every home.
We need at least two or three photos from each of these categories from every home, every month. They should be organized by home. While it is okay to have kids from different homes in certain shots — at church, or at a group activity that involves multiple homes — we also need photos that include only kids from a single home to reduce confusion among our sponsors, and reinforce the nature of our family-based care model.
Casual portraits
Unposed, unplanned photos of kids and staff in their normal surroundings — at home, school, church or in the neighborhood. These types of pictures are best when it looks like the subjects were “caught in the action,” not deliberately posed for a portrait.
Meals
Buying, preparing and eating meals together — it’s an important part of what it means to live in a real family. When possible, it’s great to show adults and kids together.
Education
It’s important to show kids engaged in educational activities, whether reading at home, doing homework, or attending school or university.
Arts and Music
Enjoying and learning artistic expression is an important part of our kids’ psychological, emotional and cultural development. Show pictures of kids singing, dancing, painting or playing instruments. It’s also great to show adults or older kids teaching or leading alongside the younger ones.
Spiritual life
Prayer, Bible study, church services — all of these demonstrate our commitment to meeting our kids’ spiritual needs.
Fun and games
Our kids love to have fun playing games or enjoying sports. Capturing pictures of their activities is a great way to demonstrate the healthy environments in which we’re raising our children.
Family time
This is one of the most important categories of photos. We want to show our kids living in families — with brothers and sisters and parents — not in institutional care. We want pictures of kids doing chores, relaxing at home, interacting with parents and siblings: anything that communicates the loving families they now enjoy.
Photos we need once a year, or when new kids arrive
Headshots
Headshots are simple, well-lit photos of kids suitable for record-keeping, identification and sharing with sponsors. The kids should be smiling, shown by themselves without too many distracting objects in the background. The child’s name and the home in which they live should be easily determined based on file name and directory structure. When possible, provide a horizontal and a vertical version of each headshot.
