Quick Links
Social
Search the Website
Photo Philosophy

Here’s what you can expect from our photographers this Summer

We pride ourselves on having some of the best photographs in the camping industry. With a 3 person media team that includes professional photographers providing around the clock coverage, we do our best to capture the spirit of summer at Camp Tecumseh.

Our media team understands that these photos are your only window into your child’s Tecumseh experience while they are here, and we take that responsibility seriously. Because we regularly hear from parents inquiring about our workflow and philosophy, we’ve compiled the following to help answer your questions and let you know what you can expect from the media team when your child is here at Camp.

The photos and videos the media team create are not included in the cost of camp.

When the media team was added at camp, and more and more photos and videos were created, Camp Tecumseh did not add this in to the cost of camp. This media serves us throughout the year for marketing purposes, and is an extra feature during the summer.

We can only guarantee that your child will appear in your child’s cabin picture.

Our objective is to best capture the spirit of a week here at Camp Tecumseh. Due to the varying nature of the Camp day, as well as the sheer number of campers we serve during the week, we cannot guarantee your child’s appearance in photos outside of your child’s cabin photo.

We aim to upload images to our galleries 3 times per day.

Our first upload is usually late morning or early afternoon. This includes chapel and sometimes morning activities or clinics. Our second upload is between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM. This includes aquatics time and afternoon activities, as well as Day Camp. Our last upload happens between 10:00 PM and midnight, and includes evening activities. The final closing campfire gallery is uploaded between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM on Saturday morning. Due to weather, or other changes in the schedule, the media team may upload at slightly different times.

There is no maximum or minimum number of images that may appear in a gallery

Our photographers shoot in high-speed bursts. This means they take multiple successive pictures over a short amount of time to capture specific actions. Sometimes, when campers are moving through an exciting action, like catching a frisbee, or jumping off the high dive, we’ll upload the full series. This in no way affects our capacity to take and upload photos of other campers or other camper groups. Gallery inclusion is not zero sum and we have no set maximum or minimum on the number of images that appear in a gallery.

Cabin photos are taken when all campers are present and are uploaded when all cabin photos are complete.

For most cabins, cabin photos are taken on Sunday afternoon after check-in. However, when a camper arrives late, we take their cabin photo later in the week. Your camper will receive a 4×6 print of their cabin photo at the end of the week. We upload all cabin photos to a dedicated gallery when after we’ve finished taking all cabin photos.

We take more pictures of girls than boys.

We have a greater number of girl campers than boy campers (~60% to ~40%). This is compounded by the fact that girl campers (especially older girl campers) are much more likely than boys to actively seek out our photographers for pictures.

We take more pictures of River Village than Lake Village.

This is because we have more River Village campers than Lake Village campers. On some weeks, Lake Village campers will outnumber River Village campers, and in those cases, we’ll take more pictures of Lake Village.

Equestrian photos may be uploaded later than other photos.

Our media team aims to capture some equestrian programming throughout the week, just like all other activities at Camp. We also have an equestrian staff member taking photos and uploading them when she’s available to do so.

We only take pictures inside of cabins on Wacky Wednesday.

To ensure the safety and privacy of our campers, we do not take pictures inside your camper’s cabin at any other time. This includes times when campers are inside cabins due to inclement weather.

There are far fewer photos to upload on days when we have inclement weather.

Unfortunately, we can’t control the weather. On days when campers have to spend considerable time inside their cabins or inside storm shelters due to weather, we won’t be able to take as many pictures.

We capture a wide range of emotions. Don’t worry if your camper isn’t smiling in one picture.

We do our best to capture the range of emotions experienced by campers throughout the week. From the joyful faces at check-in, to the tears of torchbearers at closing campfire. Sometimes this means your child won’t be smiling in photos as they may be praying in chapel, or concentrating on learning a new skill in a clinic. Sometimes we catch a transitional moment as campers move from talking to their friends, to checking out the gaga pit. Just because your child isn’t smiling in a photo does not mean your child is unhappy or upset. If your child is upset or unhappy over an extended period of time, you’ll hear from us.

We can’t fulfill photo requests

We don’t have the capacity to fulfill specific photo requests while maintaining our commitment to capturing the spirit of the Tecumseh experience.

In addition to our campers, we also take lots of pictures of our counselors.

These photos are precious keepsakes for our counselors as they look back on their Camp experience later, are used by them throughout the year for marketing and staff recruitment purposes. They are also viewed regularly by their parents who want to make sure they are safe and having fun. While we limit the number of counselor-only images in our galleries, we do include them.

We regularly upload our favorite images to our social media sites including Instagram and Facebook.

You can follow along at www.facebook.com/camptecumsehymca and www.instagram.com/ymcacamptecumseh

Photo downloads.

You may download web-quality images for personal use for free by right clicking on the image and hitting “save as.” High quality digital images, as well as prints for personal use can be purchased through the gallery. Camp Tecumseh YMCA retains copyrights to all photos and photos cannot be sold or used in any way without the explicit written permission of Camp Tecumseh YMCA.

Questions: If you have any questions about our photography philosophy or Camp’s photo policies, please call us at 765-564-2898.