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Why You Need To Embrace Social Photography
We love Clixtr!
With the ever growing popularity of instantly sharing of images with friends and family, coupled with the global emergence of social tools like Facebook (now with 600 Million users), Flickr, Animoto, and new kids on the block – like Clixtr and Instagram - has created a whole new category of modern photography, called ‘Social Photography‘.
8 times out of 10, we find that our clients that are here in Wilmington, NC, for Oceanfront Weddings, they always ask about Facebook, which we are, as well as Twitter. We have found this so powerful for opening our sessions up to our clients and sharing the whole experience collectively, it has enriched our relationships and taken them to a whole new level. Oh yea, along with helping our business four-fold!
Throw in the fact that so much of this can be done with a mobile device with HD camers, 5-8MP cameras built right in, we are seeing an explosion in ‘Social Photography‘, and it’s just getting started. It goes without saying, that we are daily, actively looking for ways to become even more Social in sharing and engaging the experience with our fans and clients, to take the “I” out of Internet, and put the “WE” in to the Social Web.
What are some of your favorite ‘Social Photography‘ tools or tips? We’d love to hear your creative ideas!!
Social photography is a subcategory of photography focusing upon the technology, interaction and activities of individuals who take photographs. Digital cameras, photo sharing websites and the Internet have enabled new tools and methods of social networking[1] while consumer trends such as flashpacking and adventure travel have led to a worldwide increase in socially connected photographers.[2]
Some extensions of social photography include geotagging and online mapping, while online social networking destinations like Facebook have led to an increase in the popularity of technology employing the real-time transfer of images. Where Facebook allows for users to instantly upload a picture from their mobile phone to their profile, there have recently been a number of services sprouting up that allows users to create real time photo streams. Clixtr is one such service allowing their users to create geo-tagged events, then upload photos through their mobile phone and write comments within that event, thus creating a photo stream.
The proliferation of easy-to-use open source blogging methods, inexpensively-priced equipment and content management system applications has led to an increase in photography for social change[3] and amateur photojournalism[4].
Where Clixtr allows users to upload photos to an event stream through their mobile phone, a wireless digital camera enables photographers to connect to cellular networks or other hotspots to share photos, print wirelessly and save photos directly to an image hosting website[5]. Geographic areas serviced by outdoor WiFi networks permit extended applications for geocaching which can include the use of Global Positioning Systems and smartphones.
Related Articles
- Where Photography Meets Social Networking
- PicBounce – Clixtr (itunes.apple.com)
- 4 Awesome Photo Sharing Alternatives to Flickr and Facebook (mashable.com)
Facebook Places is “Sweet and Sour”
The start of something big?
We were able to claim our Facebook business listing for Wilmington NC photography and Ocean front wedding photographer here in our area. Fair warning – yes, it is a chore – here are the Facebook instructions on how to do it for your business, if you decide to do it. I thought I’d share the Sweet and Sour so far….
SWEET: There are numerous benefits, with being able to offer mobile deals (ala Gap and free jeans - “Thanks Gap”- we got a pair), offers, and promotions. The Facebook Deals functionality is effortless and super simple to setup. As more and more people access Facebook through their mobile, we are seeing huge spikes in people “checking in” nationwide, even preferring this over the original location based competitors Foursquare and Gowalla. Once you apply and have been authenticated by Facebook – they will email you directly – you will have the option to merge your Places listing with your Fan Page, which is what we did with our Moore Photography page. As the page admin, it gives you a different look and the navigation around your page looks pretty different. (this is where the SOUR part peeks in)..
Here is a screenshot of what ours looks like…
Our merged Fan Page with our Places page
SOUR: While the Places functionality is nicely integrated with Bing, you will lose custom application tabs (this really stings). Many are finding it difficult to navigate around the page and wish they had left them seperate. In fact, this is has been such an unexpected adjustment for some and their Facebook Marketing strategy that there is now a Fan Page for Unmerging Places (and a Twitter account too, @Unmerge).
Overall, as with most new releases, Places is being seen as a poor design (so far) and is causing many users to “bounce” from a business page once they are presented with this new “Merging of Places and Business Pages” - this is what is causing so much of the outcry. The design almost makes conversation on the wall impossible for the average user. You have to navigate to the “Wall” from the tiny icon on the left and then click “Post” in the top left to then be prompted with the comment box. The average person is going to get confused, lost and give up. Look for Facebook to address this sooner rather than later.
BOTTOM LINE: If anything else, this post is a good heads up if you are just beginning this process. We suggest you think this through, especially if you have spent marketing budget on a custom application. Personally, we don’t like this. We prefer the custom application pages which creates a rich, unique experience that sets you apart from everyone else. At the same time, 80% of our time on Facebook is via our iPhone’s, so we see the value of this – we are just paying the price as early adopters. Since there is no current way to undo the merge of both pages, we just have to work that much harder to create engaging content that people like to read and share.
What are your thoughts on this? Was this helpful to you?
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Mobile Photos
Don’t underestimate the ability to shoot great shots with your mobile device. Remember, it’s the person that takes good photographs, not the camera. Tim is excelling in this aspect, check out a shot he grabbed this weekend with his iPhone 4 while we were heading to the hospital to visit a sick friend. Feel free to post your favorites on our Facebook page.
Related Articles
- iPhone 4 Used to Shoot Stunning Photos of Flight Over City (techeblog.com)
- Facebook Places + Photos Makes Sense… It’s Now Here (ryanspoon.com)
Mobile Phone Photo of the Week
As mobile technology advances faster than Summer disappeared, the advancements in the built in camera’s is really getting impressive. Some phones are touting up to 8MP camera’s with a flash. Throw in the Photoshop App for the iPhone, and we are doing things on our mobile phones now that we never would have imagined just 2 years ago.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day here on the coast in Wilmington, North Carolina today. Tim and I went to see a movie and he snapped this shot just outside the movie theater…
What do you think?? Not too bad huh?..
Related Articles
- Facebook To Partner With INQ Mobile On Smart Phone (allfacebook.com)
- Voice-Powered Mobiles – Next Generation Mobile Phones to be Powered by Talking (trendhunter.com)
Is HDR Too Much?
Image by shoothead via Flickr
So, are you a fan of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography? We do like some of it, but are not big advocates of relying on Photoshop to make your images worth looking at. Call us old school, be we still believe the real photographer is the one using the camera, lighting and capturing the subject just right!
(Getting off soap box now.)
Ok, with that being said, some of these HDR images are stunning, no doubt about it. In fact, Tim loves HDR. How about you?
Now, you are even able to do iHDR. Yep, right from your iPhone (and the Droid too – see links below). Have you seen this yet? Who’s tried it out? If you have some uploaded to your Flickr account, please share the link with us all.
What are your takes on HDR? Take it or leave it? Chime in, we’d love to hear your opinion.
Always FREE Consultation – 910.386.8630
Related Articles
- How to Enable HDR Photography on Your iPhone 3GS or iPod touch [Downloads] (lifehacker.com)
- The HDR race continues as TrueHDR gets updated (tuaw.com)
- Pro HDR brings HDR photography to iPhone 3GS (reviews.cnet.com)
- Make HDR Photos on Android Phones (howto.wired.com)
Use iPhone to Update Your Blog
iPhone Updates from WordPress – Prologue and Mdot
If you’re an iPhone user, the latest updates are for you, as the new iPhone 3G is rolling out [CBS News reported this morning on The Early Show].
First WordPress has updated their mobile interface, which you can reach at m.wordpress.com, to be much more iPhone friendly. It’s still not sexy, but it’s quite snappy and is great for checking your stats, posting an entry, or posting a bookmark on the go. Perfect for the on the go photographer, who still wants to keep their blog relevant.
Second they have updated the Prologue theme to be much friendlier to iPhones both for browsing and posting.
I think the iPhone 3G (combined with these new WordPress tools) is a pretty exciting new platform, and I think as professional photographers we can do more to embrace these and look to use them in the future. [I am actually developing a class on this, let me know if you have any interest in attending.] Having such a powerful browser available on the phone really opens up what you can do.
Other carriers have started introducing all kinds of touch screen phones to mimic the iPhone, however, when you compare them side by side (all compared this morning on CBS News The Early Show by CNET’s Natali Del Conte) compared to the iPhone, the web experience is terrible! This is onOnce you get used to that iPhone touchscreen, it’s hard to go back.
Another business point to keep in mind is that, according to a survey from Vodafone released yesterday, July 10, 2008, “Business professionals have only 30 minutes to respond to business emails if they’re not to disappoint their customers.” Read the entire story here…
Here are two snapshots of the above mentioned features for updating your blog from anywhere via your iPhone:
Life in this technological world is changing, certainly getting faster. I look forward to seeing you at one of my classes on “Technology and the Professional Photographer”.
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Cell Phones Are Growing As Camera Of Choice
I was reading an article today in the June/July 2008 issue of AfterCapture magazine about Apple’s new iPhone 
3G, that will be available this Friday, July 11, 2008, about it’s growing capability (along with it’s integration with iTunes) to be a precursor whereby photographs are ‘registered’, purchased, and payment received (transferred via iTunes and PayPal, for example, directly into your bank account) all via your iPhone by a press of a button. Wow. [Really, Google's emerging Android mobile platform would also support this kind of growing ability where the common cell phone is no longer 'common', but rather a powerful mobile computer with broadband, full-functioning access to the Internet.]
The AfterCapture article also intrigued me as it spoke of the iPhone’s growing capabilities as a “work horse” computer with a 2.0 megapixel camera (albeit somewhat limited with no zoom or flash). So, I did a little search and found that cell phones are now entering the market with 2.0 – 3.0 megapixel camera’s standard and rumors of much larger capacities by this 2008 holiday season. Unthinkable just a few months ago.
Additionally, Wirefly.com released the fascinating results of its new behavioral survey on consumer camera phone usage, showing significant penetration of cell phones as the camera of choice for young adults in the U.S.
Compiled through a survey of thousands of adult cell phone users in the U.S. (some highlights of the survey details below), the survey illustrated the growth and increasingly diverse uses of cell phone cameras. 45.9% of respondents report using their cell phone cameras at least once a week – with many saying they snap a photo with their cell phone every day.
Other interesting results from the full pool of respondents include:
- A whopping 96.3% of adult cell phone owners report that they have a cell phone with a camera.
- 19% of adults prefer to use their cell phone as their primary camera for all photography.
- 77.2% of photos taken remain stored in the phone, 45.4% are used as wallpaper and 38.6% are sent to friends via MMS.
- 20.2% of respondents say they have snapped a photo of an attractive man/woman, and 7.5% have photographed an unsuspecting stranger.
- 46.4% of all adults and 2/3 of adults age 18-30 say that they use their cell phone to snap self-portraits.
- 19.8% say they have snuck a picture while pretending to do something else.
“Camera phones are taking over, and it’s being driven by young adults,” said Scott Ableman, Wirefly’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. “High-quality cell phone cameras haven’t been around that long, yet nearly one in five cell phone buyers tell us that their cell phone is their primary camera.”
“Sharing and social media are the drivers,” said Ableman. “Fifty-eight percent of adults age 18-30 tell us they use their camera phones to document nightlife, and one in five say they’ve published camera phone pictures to a social website or blog. It’s a more spontaneous kind of photography that’s perfectly suited for the cell phone, and as more low-priced and free phones come with quality cameras and high-speed internet connections, all barriers have been removed.”
Incredible. What do you think about all of this? How about a 10 megapixel cell phone with flash?
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