Photography Services

To supplement digital and printed marketing pieces, Photography Services supplies photos highlighting colleges, departments, labs, etc. To schedule a marketing shoot, please fill out the photography request form on Lytho. Shoots should be scheduled at least 30 days in advance. When scheduling marketing shoots, keep in mind that we will need to have at least five student models available, as well as at least one faculty member. We also prefer to have four or five locations or setups that best represent your department or organization. Advanced planning and communication will be key in organizing a successful shoot.

In collaboration with Strategic Communications staff, Photography Services provides images for news releases, university-level publications and media services. To request a media relations shoot, please contact the Strategic Communications division at 605-688-6161 and talk directly with Jill Fier. She will help determine photography needs related to the request.

Photography Services provides images to enhance the main pages of the university website and central social media accounts. To find images for a department website or social media account, visit the our online database, SmugMug. Each college has its own log-in credentials that reside with the main secretary or program assistant for the college.

• Photography Services provides individual portrait services for faculty and staff at a cost of $25 each. Clients receive a lightly edited photo to be used as their official portrait, which will then be kept in the University Marketing and Communications internal database.Portrait photography is available during the academic year on Tuesday afternoons from 4-5:30 p.m. and Wednesday mornings from 7:30-9 a.m. in room 115 of Morrill Hall. Changes to the walk-in portrait schedule are posted on the Portrait Studio page.
  • All portraits will be done in the studio. We will not bring the studio to events to accommodate large groups. Individuals not able to come during the standard portrait office hours can call for an individual appointment, which will be billed at $45 an hour.
  • UMC will not take student portrait photos unless they are needed for a university purpose (i.e. university commencement program).
  • UMC does not take passport photos.
  • During the summer months, portraits are available by appointment only for $25 each.

UMC recognizes that banquets, award presentations, career fairs, conferences, group photos and departmental gatherings are important aspects in the life of the campus community. These events may not meet the criteria of our services unless the images are deemed appropriate for university-level marketing, recruitment or media relations.

• Time permitting, the university photographer may stop by an event to take a few photos but will not cover the full event or provide an edited image gallery to the host department.
• Photographer will not take large group photos.
• Events covered would include, but are not limited to, university commencement (not individual college ceremonies), move-in day, Faculty Excellence Banquet, convocation, etc. as deemed necessary by UMC and university leadership.

To request photo coverage of an event, please fill out the photography request form in Lytho. Completing this form does not guarantee your project will be accepted. If a project is denied, you will be provided with a small list of potential freelance photographers. It will be up to the requesting party to contract with a freelance photographer directly. UMC will not schedule freelancers to cover events.

Photography Services is the primary source of images to enhance the main pages of the university website and UMC-managed social media accounts. Photography Services maintains a SmugMug account of university images that colleges and departments may access for use on their web pages and social media accounts. Colleges should check with the main program assistant or secretary for SmugMug login credentials for the college. Departments should contact Lisa Aust for access to SmugMug.