The Best Practices for Social Media Photography
By: Michael Grecco
There are millions of people who use social media every day. Whether you are the proud owner of a blog, or you are part of a company’s social media team and use social media to reach out to your customers, a common and very crucial part of that is photography. Many users of Facebook and Instagram, like myself, are scrolling through to see any fascinating photos, or for things we follow most on social media, we are looking for new content. Speaking from experience, I am attracted to a company or blogger more if their photos are eye-appealing and overall pleasing to look at. There are some tips out there that can help you out, and I have listed some below.
First and foremost, you need to capture photos that pertain to your topic. Meaning, if you are in charge of a flower shop’s Instagram, you need get creative with the photos you take of flowers. If you own a blog about food, you should post photos of the food you are eating. An article posted for ExpertPhotography by Anabel Dflux and Dora Jokkel talks about a “niche appeal.” Dflux and Jokkel define that as, “meaning creating a brand that appeals to a particular demographic.” Both authors note that this can apply to a color scheme, a certain style of photography, or a special subject matter. And, along with posting your photographs, your hashtags should be relevant to the post and the overall messages of your photos.
There are some things to keep in mind while taking your photos, or just before you take one. An article for QuickSprout lists a few things to think about as you are out on your photoshoot. The first is to find symmetry. The article mentions that “symmetry is a visual element we are naturally drawn to.” Finding or standing where your photo is perfectly lined up and symmetric on both sides is part of the recipe for success when it comes to taking photos for your social media. Another tip is to look for “natural frames.” Meaning, if the subject of your photo is in a perfect position within something else, it is a creative way to act as a border and requires little to no cropping. Spinning off this concept is to look for reflections. Sometimes, the best photos are those that require the most creativity and are hidden for some. The article gives an example of capturing a sunset on a beach from the windows of a tour bus in California. And lastly, shooting repeating patterns is a great way to capture your customers’ or followers’ attention on social media. Whether it is multiple people wearing the same clothes or the same cars parked next to each other, this repetition proves to be a game-changer when it comes to taking your photos.
So, you have taken your photos you need for your social media. If you are feeling bold, you will post that photo as is, no editing required. While in some cases that proves to be effective (and it is common for those photos to be hash-tagged “no filter”), most times some touchups will be needed. Morgan Timm for Teachable:blog lists some common yet effective tips for posting photos to your social media feed. Those being, to wipe off your camera lens, no matter if you are using your smartphone or an actual camera, to focus the camera on your subject to avoid any blurs, improving the lighting if needed, and to shoot photos from multiple angles. Mainly, Timm’s article lists some of her favorite post-photoshoot apps when it comes to editing, most of which can be downloaded onto your smartphone. For example, Facetune is a very popular and powerful editing app that Timm mentions. That is used for models on Instagram, with many body and face touchup features. If you are a model for a clothing brand, you might be using this app to help keep the brand’s posts flawless and appealing to customers.
If you do not feel like taking the time to figure out how to use a photo editing app, then there are some features built into your smartphone’s software and camera that can help you. An article published by Kate Wesson for iPhonePhotographySchool.com explains how to edit the photos you just took on your iPhone. Before she lists her tips, she gives a pro-tip. That is, to “duplicate your photo to preserve the original.” After you edit a photo on an iPhone for example, if you undo those changes, your lighting, cropping, and touchups will be deleted. But if you made a few copies of your original photo, you now have some more to edit on. One hidden feature on iPhones that proves to be quite effective and always improves when Apple updates its software it the Auto Enhance feature. Basically, your iPhone can determine the necessary adjustments to the photo depending on what the shot is of. If you are in a rush to get content on social media, this feature might help you out.
Sometimes photographers are focused solely on how the photo is taken, not what the photo is taken with. There is some great equipment for your smartphone or camera that can make taking your photos much easier and worry-free. An article on B&H, published by Allan Weitz, provides a list of essential gear that you might want to consider using while you are out on your photoshoot. An obvious choice, and Weitz’s first, is a sturdy tripod. These are very useful in making sure you have a steady shot or could be used for taking “formal group shots” as Weitz mentions. Another no-brainer is to pack some backup batteries. Weitz says that “when you run out of juice, your world basically comes to a halt.” As a photographer, you usually are taking multiple photos at once, and sometimes once you check out how many you took, the number is quite big. Having a hi-speed memory card as Weitz mentions allows you to not worry about storage and is better suited to taking 4K and RAW images.
To wrap things up, there is a lot that goes into taking one photo, or multiple. Bloggers and companies want to keep what they put on their social media professional and appealing to new customers or followers. Keeping some of the tips I listed above in mind can set you up for success when it comes to capturing photographs for your platforms.
Sources:
· https://teachable.com/blog/photos-social-media
· https://expertphotography.com/social-media-tips/
· https://iphonephotographyschool.com/how-to-edit-photos-on-iphone/
· https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/essential-gear-working-pro