
2025 STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Making it Click: How to See and Take Great Photos
Everyone takes photos, but how can you make them more engaging? Learn easy tips for how to identify and take better photos and address common challenges that hold you back. This session will go over photography basics and include a hands-on activity using your phone. These useful tips can help you be a huge value-add to your unit’s communications efforts and as a bonus help you take better pics of your friends and family too!
Learning Objectives:
- Understand basic photography principles
- Improve photo-taking skills
Presenters:

Shannah Montgomery, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, University of Georgia
Shannah Montgomery leads communications for the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. She works closely with the vice president to develop communications strategy and vision to connect andinform internal and external stakeholders on PSO programs, projects and initiatives. Prior to this role, she was the lead photographer and designer for the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Before joining PSO she served as part-time faculty at UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication where she taught visual communication. She started her career in newspapers and magazines and then ran her own photo/design company for nearly 20 years before joining PSO.

Mary Grace Feldman, Digital Media Strategist, Office of the Vice President of Public Service and Outreach, University of Georgia
Mary Grace Feldman serves as the digital media strategist in the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. In this role, she creates content for social media, updates the website and conducts analyses to determine the reach of PSO across the web. She has a master’s degree in integrated advertising and public relations from UGA and eight years of experience in graphic design. Feldman majored in public relations for her undergraduate degree and minored in human development and family sciences.
Session 1 Options
- Balancing Work and Home: How to Thrive
- Public Impact to Posts – Social Media Strategies to Tell Your Story
- Better Together: Boosting Team Communication through Self-Awareness and Feedback
- Managing Your Own Professional Development
- Microsoft Teams – Tips and Tricks
- Integrating AI and GenAI Solutions into Work Routines
- Introduction to Microsoft’s Power BI
- Using Data to Make a Difference
- Fundraising@PSO: An Overview and Guide to Being Involved
Session 2 Options
- Never Not Working: Why Our Always-On Culture is Bad for Business and How to Fix It
- Making it Click: How to See and Take Great Photos
- Conversations that Count: Thriving Through Workplace Tension
- Retirement 101
- How Can I Get the Most Out of MS Excel?
- Integrating AI and GenAI Solutions into Work Routines
- Introduction to Microsoft’s Power BI
- Navigating Change in the Workplace
- Opportunities for Creative Engagement in PSO