iPhone/Android Photo Tips for Social Media
With new social media platforms springing into the eye of the mainstream each year, mobile users are often eager to make their presence felt. Forms of social media that offer a visual/photo component (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn) have become wildly popular since the days of Myspace Tom.
As we touched on as a class during March 23rd, there are effective and extensively-tested strategies, or tips, to enhance a user’s ability to make their creative photo/video flourish without taking away the essence of what it is they may be taking a picture of. One noteworthy quote that was made during last week’s class; “If you want to make something interesting, don’t show all of it.”
For starters, the Rule of Thirds is a popularized rule of thumb in photography, mobile or otherwise, imploring the photographer to fix their eye on the 1/3 and 2/3 intervals of their image on both the horizontal and vertical plane. It is said that when a viewer first sees and image, they are drawn to these coordinates on their screen (these four spots forming a relative square shape). In short, capitalize on these fixed parts of your photo because they can engage your viewer quickly.
With so much content at our fingertips, social media users are often overstimulated. Your work must stand out in order to register those clicks or KPIs that you’re looking for. Of course, once your photo has drawn the attention of the social media user, the next step is maximizing the amount of time that they will spend on your page.
Formatting and cleanliness are also critical for creating well-received photographs. Other tips for mobile photography include: focus on one subject, embrace negative space, use leading lines, look for possible symmetry and make use of your camera’s focus/unfocus ability.
As we discussed as a class, in the last decade mobile has overtaken desktop computers or any other internet method as the supreme and most popular platform. Because of this I’d also like to add in some other tips which would include: investing in a strong phone case, traveling with your phone charger, being mindful of when you turn off roaming data or location services. I think it goes without saying that should your phone die or break on you then your photography outing is a wrap.
Joshua Payberah, of digitalbrandinginstitute.com , published an online article, “How to Take Awesome Pictures with Your Phone”, a well-written article that incorporated photos and memes in order to help the everyday phone user take their own crisp photos while paying attention to the right things. (link below)
https://digitalbrandinginstitute.com/take-awesome-pictures-phone/
Without sacrificing your eye or stance as a photographer, a mobile user can apply tips such as these to strengthen and draw more eyes toward their work. As our culture moves more towards the infatuation of smart phones the ability to take high-quality photos on your phone will surely be of value in the future. Just don’t forget to take your eye away from the lens from time to time in order to fully experience what is in front of your as opposed to reflexively taking a barrage of blurry pics!
By: Patrick McTiernan