master class: mobile photography - tips, tools, and future opportunities

Master Class: Mobile Photography -Tips, Tools, and Future

Opportunities

by Jenifer Hanen

Social Media Week Los Angeles - 09.25.13

Who is Ms. Jen?Mobile Maker :: Designer, Developer, Photographer

blackphoebe.com/msjen @msjen

Unless otherwise noted all photos are taken by Ms. Jen with a Nokia camera phone

Who are you?

Social Media Guru? Creator? Blogger? Photographer? Filmmaker? Brand Manager? Community Manager?

4

In the Beginning :: December 2004

My Happy New Nokia 7610 Phone :: http://www.blackphoebe.com/msjen/2004/12/my-happy-new-no.html

Bird Refuge

http://www.blackphoebe.com/msjen/2004/12/bird-refuge.html

And then I fell in love...

6

Pink Furry Shoes

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barflies/6054643/

The Thrill of Sharing!

7

What does this mean for us now, nearly a decade later, when we all have mobile camera phones and share photos & video?

http://instagram.com/p/cO0ZQ_ybGU/#Photo creatively directed by Jason Goh @smashpop

This can be our mobile camera world, if we so choose.

Each of our points of view, a few billion shared photos at a time.

Photo by Ms. Jen, not creatively directed by J. Goh.

Tips, Tools, and Future Opportunities

Let's start with a few mobile photo tips...

There are lots of tips and tools out there, but the two most important are your eye and your brain.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_brain.png

The best photography is not about the best gear or apps, but about using your brain.

... and your heart

All the public domain photos of hearts were SO cheesy, that I couldn’t do that to your poor eyes.

Content

WAIT, before I get all cheesy on you, let’s toss out the word:

Instead, let's use Subject and Object.

Or Person. Or Landscape. Etc. As you will.

Move: Forward, Back, around. Don't be afraid to change your perspective.

Start walking, Keep Shooting

Digital is cheap, you can delete, so take several from different angles

This is the photo I wanted.

Think about Framing

http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/09/25/using-zoom-and-reframe-in-nokia-pro-camera/

The Rule of Thirds

Move and shoot until you see in the camera what your mind's eye was entranced about the scene. Or wait.

Don't always shoot dead center or on the 3rds lines.

Better to get the composition right as you are taking the photo than cropping later

DFW people mover/tram: windows are dirty & it keeps moving, waiting for no photographer or passenger

Or maybe I should have cropped later...

But... children, birds, and animals move fast, shoot with the best framing possible, and crop later, if at all.

This photo is brought to you by panning.

There are a lot of prescriptions for photography, many of them contradicting.

Follow a few and then break most of them.

Turn off your flash unless you really need it.

The Flash Type Object : Turn it off

Move around until you see light that will work. Or get creative with your lighting.

If it is too Yellow or Blue, Change your White Balance

Don't like the color? Choose a non-auto White Balance selection and try again. Mixed lighting situation? Try both sunny & cloudy or fluorescent & incandescent lightbulb.

Shoot often, delete often.

But... Also do slow down, wait, consider, and save.

Tips, Tools, and Future Opportunities

Let's talk about a few current tools & challenges

Is it Dogs & Cats all the day way down?

Whether you are sharing for personal or professional use and you want to get better, consider doing the 365 Project or similar to get in the habit of shooting daily. Even if this means lots of dog/cat photos.

Post one photo a day to your blog, to Twitter/Flickr/Instagram/Tumblr/Weibo/FaceBook/RenRen/Qzone/Pinterest/Google+/Snapchat/Wherever. Just do it, even when you think you have nothing to

photograph or that your friends/followers will be sick of your dog/cat/self.

Take daily photos & post daily photos. Do it daily.

Then Share it. Share it daily.

Take heart, be kind to your friends, family, and followers. Spice it up. Take at least 2 photos that day.

Don’t cross post the same photo to every social site.

Don't assume what you, your family/friends/colleagues use for sharing is what everyone else will use. Dependning on your goals, do your research on which sharing service you

want to use for greatest impact.

I resisted Instagram for years, but am now using it tentatively, but I still get the most interactions with my Flickr /Twitter

combo.

Social Media and Sharing, a small note:

Let’s Briefly talk about:Ephemeral shared artifact vs. photo for keeping

33

Shared Ephemera

Lunch to Instagram

Shared Keeper: The morning before Grandma left to return homeThese photos shared to Sabine’s iPad before she departed

Make sure you have permission of subjects before posting.

If in public, in most places, you can take photos. But if you are using the photos on a brand site or

licensing them out, get a photo release. If for personal, make sure you family & friends &

colleagues are ok with you posting your photos to online services. Don't be afraid to wipe GPS/

mapping data from the copy to be used online.

If using commercially, get your licensing right.And be respectful.

http://petapixel.com/2013/09/22/model-sues-getty-seeing-hiv-positive-advertisement

Tips, Tools, and Future Opportunities

What about the Future of Mobile Camera Phones and Social?

Social Media 2003 v. 2008 v. 2013 v. 2018

Web 2.0 was about sharing....

"The last decade was about sharing. The next decade will be about protecting." - Jason Kottke

http://kottke.org/13/09/my-voice-is-my-passport-verify-me

Mobile 3.0 may be about protection. This does not have to be dire

40

A small slice of the mobile photo future: WhatsApp groups to share photos and thoughts, many in a protected space.

A small slice of the mobile photo future: Challenges and opportunities for developers and creators

Does your social service or mobile app have a way for the photographer to claim their data? Download their data? How do we protect our content or do we care?

42

Your data? It is in the cloud...

Cloud schmoud. Back up & future proofing is not fully solved, not for the average non-technological person. How do we archive, print, future proof our mobile photos & video?

Think about it, discuss and create new solutions.

Thank you.

Jenifer Hanenblackphoebe.com/msjen @msjen