Techniques 34
Photography News Issue 44 absolutephoto.com
Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Whether you’re completely new to social media, or have taken the first steps by setting up an account and making a few posts, there’s much more that you need to know. Why? Because it’s a great platform for sharing your work and gaining more exposure, which could lead to more opportunities and paid work!
your personality too. Nearly all my work opportunities have come from people who’ve come across me via Facebook or Instagram.” David Cleland is a landscape photographer with a following of 14k onTwitter. “I tend to engagewith Twitter the most as there is a good level of interaction and discussion. Twitterwill bemy default port of call and I check in on the other platforms just once or twice per week,” he says. “I find I see growth when I post my photographs and others with large followings share the image. “I focus on making connections with others who love photography. The best connections are those that you make posting photographs and sharing about the art of photography. Post about what you love and post your images with no expectation! Don’t be jealous that someone has 50 retweets and your photo only had two. If you see a photo you like then tell the person. We all know how great it feels to be encouraged and it can be equally rewarding sharing the positive!” To create a Facebook page follow these simple steps: Log in to Facebook Click the arrow in the top right-hand corner and then click ‘Create Page’ Select which type of page you want to create. Choose ‘Local Business’ if you’re a pro or thinking of going pro, or if it’s just a hobby select ‘Artist, Band or Public Figure’ and then choose ‘Artist’ Enter a name for your page and then click ‘Get Started’ Add a profile picture (which will be displayed at 170x170) and a cover photo (which will be displayed at 820x312 pixels) Click the ‘About’ tab on the left- hand side and then fill out your bio information and include your website if you have one Click ‘Home’ on the left tab, then click the ‘…’ symbol and ‘Invite Friends’ to invite friends to your page Now you’re ready to create a posts Create a page
AdamElmakias @elmakias elmakias facebook.com/ adamelmakiasdotcom
Jargon buster
Written by Jemma Dodd
Tag/tagging Mentioning another person, company or brand within a post by linking to their profile. In Facebook and Instagram this is done by typing an @ symbol and the name, then selecting a page from a drop- down box. On Twitter tagging is done by including a handle. People can also be ‘tagged’ within an image, which allows the image to appear on their Instagram or Facebook profile (subject to privacy settings). Handle A person, company or brand’s taggable username on Twitter, which follows an @ symbol eg. @PhotonewsPN @Photo24London @jemmadoddphoto Hashtag A key word that follows a # symbol eg. #PhotographyNews #Photo24 #Landscapephotography Status/post A piece of text, images, videos or other content that is created on Facebook or Instagram. Tweet A post that includes text, images, videos or other content on Twitter.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are some of the most popular platforms used by photographers. They may look scary at first, but once you’ve got the hang of it you’ll be posting away. Music photographer Adam Elmakias has over 132k likes on Facebook, over 184k on Twitter and 461k on Instagram and he has this to say: “Social media is a good outlet and a way to get in. If you’re starting out it’s so much easier to take a good photo and be able to show people.” Fine-art photographer Bella Kotak noticed that her following grew the more consistently she shared her work. “It really was as simple as that. People like checking in daily on their favourite artists and once I began to sharemore I attracted more attention,” she says. Bella now has over 57k likes on Facebook, over 56k followers on Instagram and 1.8k followers on Twitter. “An online presence puts you in front of clients and is a great way to share
BellaKotak
@bellakotak bellakotak facebook.com/ bellakotakphotography
DavidCleland @flixelpix flixelpix facebook.com/flixelpix
Feed A list of posts/tweets by other users.
Follow Photography News on social media: @PhotonewsPN on Twitter or visit www.facebook. com/photonewspn and give us a ‘like’.
You might be reading this and already have a Facebook account that you share your photos on, BUT do you have a Facebook page? Signing up for a normal Facebook account lets you create a profile, add friends, comment, send people messages and upload photos; a Facebook page on the other hand gives you an open platform to share your photography work with the whole world of Facebook.
Tips
My page is simply ‘Jemma Dodd Photography’; you may want to include your name or create a brand name. Your profile picture could be a picture of you or your logo, and for your cover photo you may want to show off one of your best images. If you’re handy in Photoshop you could create a tiled image to show off several images. If including a logo or text on these you may get better results by saving your images as a PNG file.
Powered by FlippingBook