Managing Player Expectations on Photography
It has become common, in the international larp space in particular, for LARP players to expect photographers to be present. This is particularly the case if the larp is advertised as such, has high production values or if players are asked to waive privacy rights as part of the ticketing process.
What can be achieved is going to be a function of who showed up and (to an extent) the equipment and lighting available. This is often not something that organisers will know exactly, particularly if photography services are voluntary and have not been contracted. Even if organisers have fully arranged everything and have a photography brief for players to read, it's gonna be one piece of information amongst many and players won't necessarily have absorbed it.
A short, pre-game workshop session, where the photography team speaks to the players directly, can be hugely useful to the process.
Larp Workshop
The script for this is going to vary from larp to larp and should always be based on what, if anything, has been promised or what has happened on prior runs (an implicit promise to returning players) but should always include
Identifying the individual photographers
Describe the “when” and “how” of photography taking place.
Whether photographers will be in character or out of character
If there are going to be any staged photo opportunities or photography specific events in the schedule (examples: Photo-booth, Team/Faction Photo)
Explain how to opt-in / opt out of photography
Share a few tips for having your photo taken
Describe the timing of editing / post-production
Describe any quarantine/take-down process
State acceptable use of the photos
Workshop time is very scarce, but I’ve verbally covered all of the above in five minutes or less.
My number one concern is making sure that players appreciate that it takes time to review, edit and publish… particularly because there will usually be lots and lots of them.
My number two concern is to make myself approachable, so that the player who never seems to get photos of themselves, can come up and ask for them specifically.