Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

It’s been a little over a week since Superstorm Sandy hit the northeast US and so many people are still without power and basic necessities like clean clothes, warm blankets, hot food. For those people, just getting through a day is a major challenge. The rest of us who got away with relatively minor inconveniences (a few days without power, some spoiled food) are now thinking of ways to help out those who are still struggling. Aside from the obvious tasks of clearing rubble, distributing donated items and helping with the clean up, I started to wonder what, specifically, could we as photographers do to help. Here’s what I came up with.

Photo by Amsalem Meirav

Offer to recreate (as much as is possible) lost wedding albums or favorite family images. If original wedding attire is no longer available, approach a bridal shop about lending or donating some. If that’s not possible, then offer to do a romantic “engagement” type shoot, or a new family portrait. You can try to partner with whatever photo lab/framing service you usually work with and see if they’ll donate or discount the prints you plan to give the family.

Last year at the Digital Wedding Forum convention in New Orleans, photographers recreated an entire album for one couple who’d lost their album to Katrina, complete with donated formal wear as well as hair and makeup services. Don’t underestimate the value to affected families of having professionally shot, professionally printed images.

Through the miracle of Facebook, I found a friend of a friend (who’s now a friend!) collecting photographers and assistants and sponsors for just such a project. If you live in the New York area and want to volunteer, email: sandyboroughsproject@gmail.com and tell Elizabeth Griffin you want to help out taking family photos and creating new images and memories for families who have lost all their belongings to Sandy.

In this same vein, Help-Portrait was born about 4 years ago as a way for photographers to give back by donating portrait sessions and prints to families who’d never had their picture taken, or not had one in a very long time. The official day is December 8, 2012, but the organization tries to encourage giving back by giving photos any time of year.

What about the priceless family snapshots that can’t be recreated? If you are even moderately skilled at Photoshop, you can probably help to partially restore water damaged prints. There are lots of tutorials online for more information, but if you have a scanner and Photoshop, I can’t imagine you could possibly make the images look worse. I found an article that tells of someone who experimented with “washing” mud and rust off old prints and then drying them out with some success. Fujifilm also has some tips on their website for repairing damaged prints.

There are also lots of displaced pets as a result of Sandy and of course shelters are looking for volunteers to foster/adopt animals. If you love animals but can’t take one in, consider volunteering to shoot images of the animals who need fostering. A clear image of that dog or cat looking cute and snuggly can help in getting them into a foster home. I found this group for animals in Staten Island on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lostand.statenisland (scroll down and contact the shelters listed), and this more non-region-specific page for lost pets due to Sandy: https://www.facebook.com/SandysPets

Photo by Robert Caplin

Finally, if you or an artist you know has had their studio or artworks damaged in the storm, there are links at the New York Foundation for the Arts for emergency help for all sorts of visual artists.

More ideas for photographers to help out? List them in the comments!

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

What’s the next best thing to coming home from a trade show with a new piece of equipment? Coming home with a big ol’ bag of swag! That’s right, Stuff We All Get! Those freebies that vendors keep visible in the booths to entice you out of the aisle and into their waiting arms! Sometimes it’s a small (but welcome!) bit of candy for some quick energy, but sometimes it’s something that lasts longer than a sugar rush. Here’s what we got that’s cool:

Bags: Well, five years ago there were the yellow plastic Nikon bags and not much else. Now lots of vendors have jumped on the “bag-wagon” and are giving out these reusable bags that are great for not only carrying your purchases (or the loads of swag) away from the show, but are very smart to take with you shopping for groceries or other small items. Or you could just use one of them to carry all the other bags home from the show; we counted 16 different bags up for grabs at PPE. Our vote for Best Reusable Bag goes to Adorama. It was by far the highest quality bag, very durable, and even somewhat water resistant. They’re for sale in the Adorama store for only 99¢ too!

Candy! Lots of vendors offer candy, cause what’s better than a little something sweet to carry you through long hours of looking at scantily clad models and a dizzying array of photo gear? Lollipops and hard candy are the most popular for obvious reasons.

Canon: Kudos to Canon for having the foresight to give out small flashlights! I made good use of mine during the two+ days we didn’t have power from Sandy. Sort of makes you wonder if they were paying attention to the long, LONG range forecast when they were ordering these giveaways…

Canon Professional Services was also giving away these USB drive lanyards to their members.

Datacolor: These cute little rubber spiders are the same material as the stress balls, but more fun to squish since they’re all spidery. I asked if they were 50% grey, which would have been sort of clever, yes? No.

Digital Transitions: Lanyards. This is a great idea for vendors to get their name around the show, also love these lanyards for keeping spare sets of keys organized around the house. You could also clip a small flashlight to one and wear it camping or when the lights go out.

DriveSavers: Also got lots of use from this little keychain flashlight from DriveSavers. Actually the one on my keychain now is from last year’s show, but they were giving the same one out this year along with a matching branded screen cleaning cloth.

PeachPit: Yay for temporary tattoos and cute camera pins! This publisher of books and videos for photographers and graphic designers had these items in their booth, as if the fab books on the table wasn’t enough of a draw! The camera pins were cool because they had a variety of cameras represented and you could pick your fave, though I chose mine on the basis of color alone: dreamy blue!

Squarespace: this company offers templates for online galleries and websites. They had some small notebooks, always a good thing to have on hand, as a freebie. Bonus ruler on the edge of the book!

Vulture Equipment Works: This company makes rugged straps for photo gear along with some other accessories. They had rubber bracelets and these badass vulture stickers.

What is your all-time favorite piece of swag from a photo show? List them in the comments!
 

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

Now that summer’s over and the days are getting shorter, it can be much easier to fall into a rut with your freelance photography business and your shooting in general. I started thinking about ways to jumpstart not only your creativity but your bottom line as well. Here’s the list I came up with, if you have any to add, please do so in the comments!

1. Branch out.

Photo by Mark Hirsch

If you’re known for photojournalism, start actively trying to shoot portraits. Take a job as a second shooter for someone you know that does weddings.

2. Volunteer.

Help-Portrait is a wonderful project started by Jeremy Cowart. Vist the website for details on how to get involved. If you don’t shoot portraits, this is a good way to branch out (see #1). If you do shoot portraits, it’s a chance to give back doing what you do best.

3. Healthy competition.

An award or inclusion in a group show looks great on your resume, boosts your confidence and gets your name and work in front of more eyeballs. Always a good thing. Hey, we’re running a contest right now! How about that!

4. Learn something new.

Photo by Brien Vincent

Take a class. Hone your Photoshop skills, learn to shoot food or sports if you’ve never done it, or learn Illustrator so you can make your own logo! Buy a new piece of equipment and take a class in how to get the most out of it.

5. Teach a class.

Photo by Justin Merriman

Reach out to local colleges and continuing ed programs and pitch them a course or workshop in your specialty.

6. Start a blog.

A terrific way to use social media to promote your biz. Post images from recent shoots, talk about topics of interest to you, then link on Facebook and Twitter. Post relevant content that’s exciting and informative. If you already have a blog, inject some new life with a new series where you photograph images of your dog, landscapes, clothes lines, anything random to get you off the beaten path. Be versatile and show it!

7. Join up/Join In.

We’re very social so we love joining online communities and seeing what other people are doing and thinking about. This is another terrific way to mix with colleagues, get answers to business questions and contribute your knowledge to the community. It feels good to give back!

8. Learn public speaking.

According to surveys, public speaking is many people’s NUMBER 1 fear (even more scary than death! This is an invaluable skill no matter what your profession, but for photographers, it can really help us to be more articulate when we need to be (you can’t always just show a picture. We visual types sometimes get tongue tied, I know I do!) This skill can also help you when out networking or socializing. Toastmasters is really low cost and they have chapters everywhere. If there is no location near you, you can start one!

9. Money for dummies.

Photo by Kendrick Brinson

If you’re a photography student, don’t spend all your credits on creative and tech classes, throw a business class or two in there. If you’re already out of school, take a night course in self-employment taxes or accounting or SEO. Boost your bottom line by making your biz more efficient (you can’t believe all the deductions that you can take!).

10. Back to your future.

Remember why you got involved in photography to begin with. Who are your inspirations, who are your photo-heroes? Make a list of the reasons why you want to be a photographer or why you are a photographer, then set some goals for yourself and figure out the steps to achieve them.

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

In this week’s Being Social, I’m going to talk about being social and surviving at industry trade shows. As you probably know, PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo, the biggest photo show in the US, takes place right here at NYC’s Javits Center October 24-27 . If you’ve attended this or any other photography trade show before, you know that these can be exhausting and overwhelming yet really fun experiences. Here’s how being social at a trade show can pay off without leaving you spent!

Pace yourself and plan. First things first. If there are certain booths you want to make sure you have time for, grab a show floor map and plan your route. Don’t try to be a hero and wing it. I’ve seen grown men reduced to tears on day one because they overestimated their ability to walk a trade show floor.

Many shows have online “planners” that you can find out in advance what your favorite vendors are offering as their “show special” and even find other attendees that share your interests. You can use these to figure out your show strategy. If you’re taking any seminars or having a portfolio review, be sure and allow yourself enough time to get to all the booths you want to see, plus wander a bit and make some new discoveries.

Vendors give out candy for a reason! Exhausted people crave sugar, but you need sustenance to last all day and into the night. Try to remember to cram a bottle of water and maybe a protein bar or two into your bag. Food and drink at the shows are pricey, so it’s good to avoid buying everything once you get there, but also remember to balance out your packed refreshments with all the loot and brochures you’ll be picking up. Bags get heavy FAST.

At the booths: Aside from checking out/trying out their gear, if you’re a fan of their products, tell them! Always ask about the show special. If you have a blog, ask about getting gear to review. (If this is your plan, have a brief version of your media kit with you. A snappy infographic on a postcard size is manageable and memorable.) Just remember that everyone is giving and getting sales pitches non-stop at these shows, so make yourself stand out when trying to connect with them by being personable and open and BRIEF. As someone who’s been to a million trade shows as a vendor, we’ve heard and seen it all TWICE. Relate a personal story about how their product helped you out of a tight spot, or why you’re such a huge fan or mention a name of someone in customer service who went above and beyond, then make your pitch for gear for reviews, etc.. Many vendors throw parties where you can hobnob with company staff and other fans of their products while getting your drink on and scarfing up free food. They’ll usually have something in their booth advertising any parties they’re involved in, but if you don’t see anything, don’t be afraid to ask.

Networking
Networking at a large event like this is a lot like speed dating, you need to make a positive and memorable impression in a short time. You want to stand out, but in a GOOD way. (Don’t be that guy.) If you’ve got an “elevator speech” length spiel about yourself, use it when introducing yourself to other photographers or vendors. Who you are, where your home base is and what sort of photography you do/are interested in is a great start.

You’ll want to arrive at the show armed with a supply of biz cards. As creative types, there are a lot of options for style, size and overall look of the card that are available to us. You want the card to represent you, but not be so arty and unusual that it becomes a “thing” all by itself and no one bothers to visit your website or Facebook page. I love, love LOVE Moo cards, and no I’m not getting paid to say this. They print in full color at no extra charge, use beautiful paper stocks and can print a different image on every card up to 100. My favorite size is the Mini, they are small without being ridiculous and a half size Altoid tin makes the perfect size crush-proof case!

So who’s headed to PPE next week? If you see me, be sure and say hello, and let’s trade business cards!

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

So last week when I was writing up the who-to-follow-on-Instagram article, I made an important discovery: there is no “instagram.com,” so without a tablet, there’s no way to look at my or anyone else’s Instagrams on a screen any larger than my Android phone. Or is there? I did a little research and here’s a brief roundup of some of the more popular online programs/apps for viewing your Instagram feed when your phone or tablet screen just isn’t big enough.

Statigram

Statigram is an online program that allows for the standard Instagram activities: viewing your feed, liking and commenting, following/unfollowing and browsing popular users and tags (called “Populars”).

Above and Beyond: Snappy infographics show your Statistics in that tab; overall, last 7 days, and your “scores” based on the percentage of love (likes), talk (comments) and spread (how much of the activities on your IGs are from users that don’t follow you). Also provided are your new follows and who stopped following you over the last 7 days. There’s a Management tab that shows your 5 latest photos and comments, and also lets you send private messages to other IGers. There’s a cool contest tab that shows current and past contests available for IGers to enter, sponsored by brands, many with some terrific prizes. If you want to take your Instagrams off the screen totally, there’s a link to lots of different products from stickers and magnets to pillows and posters, from several different providers. Click on the “Snapshots” tab and you can have images of your statistic summaries sent to you by email; you can then share these facts via Instagram. The “Promote” tab gives you your Statigram link, plus the “follow” buttons you can install on your blog or website, as well as a feed tab for your Facebook fanpage and a profile cover image generator. They also offer an RSS feed.
 

Webstagram

Webstagram is another online program that also allows you to view your feed, like and comment, follow and unfollow, and browse popular (“HOT”) users and tags.

Above and Beyond: In addition, Webstagram has a cool tab with infographics showing the top tags in the most popular photos, the top 100 tags and the top 100 IGers by following/followers. Some great additional tools that Webstagram offers are the “follow” button, an option to create an Instagram Gallery for your blog or web site, Search.Stagram (you can discover cool images or users to follow based on keywords), and DM.Stagram
(direct messaging service for Instagram users). They also have a blog and a user forum. I liked their blog; they have a nice feature called “Websta-Questions,” which are a series of creativity prompts for people who feel stuck or just want to participate in a group project with other IGers. Hashtags identify the images corresponding to each week’s Websta-Question and the most “interesting” images are featured on the Blogstagram.
 

Chrome extension

Chrome extension from 64pixels: This is a plug-in that uses Instagram’s API in your web browser. Of course you can access your Instagram feed, like and comment on pictures, follow/unfollow and browse tags and users, virtually anything you can do with the Instagram app on your phone. There are no extra bells and whistles here but if you love Instagram’s UI, you’ll love this. It’s basically the closest you can get to the smartphone IG experience. You don’t need to even have a smartphone, but you DO, of course, need an Instagram account.
 

Instagrid

Instagrid from Social Print Studio doesn’t allow for viewing your feed, liking or commenting, follow/unfollow or browsing. So what’s it good for? Instagrid, as the name implies, generates a grid (or if you prefer, a list) of your images. Visitors can subscribe to your gallery without having an Instagram account themselves, so it could be good for sharing images with friends or family members who aren’t on IG.

Above and Beyond: You can also print any of the products that Printstagram offers from a handy link on Instagrid. Also create hashtag galleries, or sign up for a digest of who is hot and popular as well as who is hot and undersung among IGers.
 

Instagrille

Instagrille by Pokki (currently only available for Windows) lets you browse without an IG account but you need to have an account to upload. All your Instagram features are here, including seeing your feed, and the ability to leave comments and likes.

Above and Beyond: You can use Instagrille to search, and also to download photos from Instagram directly to your computer. “Popular “and “Nearby” tabs allow you to see what everyone else is looking at, and what people in your hood are posting.
 

Webbygram

Webbygram is pretty bare bones. Like Statigram and Webstagram you can like, comment, follow and browse your feed, but not much else, though the big plus is that the images are larger, and isn’t this why we like accessing Instagram on our computers in the first place?
Above and Beyond: a nifty “suggested user” feature that shows up in your feed with someone who they’ve somehow figured out you’ll like.
 

Pinstagram

Pinstagram is pretty much what it sounds like, your Instagram feed is set up to look like Pinterest, with the “repin” button appearing at the top of the image.

Above and Beyond: They also have a nifty tab called “Channels” which shows you a selection from any one of 12 categories, like Music, Architecture or Animals. They also have a “Products” tab that hooks you up with Blurb, Casetagram, Stickygram and CanvasPop.
 

Ink361

I like that you can adjust the size of the images in your feed, which makes this program, formerly called Inkstagram, a really fun option. You can create and seek out hashtag albums, much like Instagrid, and here too you can click and make magnets, books, stickers, and phone cases in their “Services” tab. Under the “Tools” tab, make an Instagram gallery for your website, or generate backgrounds for Twitter, Facebook or your iPad background.

 
And there you have it! With Instagram’s increasing popularity, it makes sense that more programs/apps like these will be popping up, until Instagram creates one themselves! Give your fave Instagram web program a shout-out in the comments if I missed it, and if you’ve tried any or all of the ones mentioned here, we’d love to hear what you think.

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+ and Pinterest.
 

In this installment of “Being Social,” we’ll be talking about Instagram. While many IGers are undoubtedly using the hugely popular photo sharing app (80 million members, 4 billion images!) to connect/communicate with others in much the same way that Facebook is used, some photographers are finding IG is a great way to extend their reach and connect with their audience through a new channel.

Brad Mangin’s instagrams

Brad Mangin wrote for Photo Brigade back in April that thanks to his camera phone and Instagram he can “finally look at the world with a fresh eye at age 47.” He continued in the comments section of that post, when asked why Instagram was better than other sharing apps, “ I am inspired every day by looking at Instagrams that others have shot via my feed.” If you’re looking for some great other photographers to follow on IG, here’s a (by no means comprehensive and *just* slightly subjective) list of who I think is worth a look. Note that some of the photogs on the list have tons of followers, others don’t, but should.

Sam Horine’s instagrams

@samhorine is a NY based photographer with 189K followers. His IG is photos he makes with his iPhone, a mix of food, places he’s traveled and people. As Horine says in a Business Insider article from June of this year, “a majority of my Instagram is personal” and that’s what I like, for example he posted a snap of bride and groom figurines to commemorate his wedding anniversary a while back.

Ben Lowy’s instagrams

@benlowy is a photojournalist with about 18,000+ followers. His work speaks for itself; especially striking is his instagram series “[blank] at night, his subjects shot in profile with stunning, stark lighting.

NASA Goddard’s instagrams

@NASAGoddard: Because who doesn’t love space? Their Instagram is a mix of crazy amazing images from space as well as things like a shot of Neil Armstrong’s burial at sea and a snap of celestial-theme decorated high top sneakers.

LUCEO Images instagrams

@luceoimages: This photography collective with about 1100 followers was written up in the NYTimes Lens blog as an example of how to do a photography collective. The members see Instagram as a chance to get feedback from fans and fellow professionals alike on new work, one member called it “visual note-taking.”

AMPt’s instagrams

@AMPt is Advanced Mobile Photography Team. This is a feed with 17K+ followers. It’s comprised of a team of just under 30 camera-phone photographers from around the world. Their feed features not only a bit of background on each of the images posted but what the process was in creating the image. (Stand outs for me: annacox and hirozzzz.)

Robert Caplin’s instagrams

@robertcaplin is the founder of The Photo Brigade and a freelance photographer living in NYC. From the personal shots like the envelopes he used to mail in his traffic ticket fines to some street art that he thinks resembles his friend Matt, it’s a glimpse into how someone who is paid to photograph things for a living sees the world as he moves through it.

Marcus Bleasdale’s instagrams

@marcusbleasdale shoots for NatGeo but his Instagram is collection of shots taken while on location and a really cute one of his dog.

Kendrick Brinson’s instagrams

@kendrickbrinson A former member of Luceo, Brinson posts images from her honeymoon, her pets, her husband and partner in crime @davidwalterbanks, as well as shots taken while on assignments.

If you’re curious about my Instagram, you can check me out @ingridspangler.

Ingrid Spangler is a freelance social media consultant living in New York. She’s been snapping pictures since she was a child and involved with social media since before it was called social media. Before going out on her own, she handled the social media for AdoramaPix, the photo lab division of Adorama Camera, for four years. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, flickr, 500px, Google+  and Pinterest.
In the first edition of her “Being Social” column, she answers questions about using Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

Social media is no longer the new black, it’s now a part of our everyday lives and more and more a part of our business and professional lives. But lots of people are still confused. While you might be quite the social butterfly on a personal level, you may not be too sure how to use all those friends and followers you have to further your business. Or maybe when you log in to Facebook you’re confronted with a big, hairy, awkward silence and are wondering if you can still use social media for your business successfully or are doomed to walk the perimeter of all that is hip and happening forever. Maybe you’ve got specific questions about using LinkedIn, or are confused about Google+. Here are a couple questions I get asked a LOT along with what I answer.

“I have a website and a blog, what do I need Facebook for?”

This is a good question and one that comes up frequently. The short answer is YES. It could be argued that if you are doing a booming business with new clients beating down your doors (or website) and regular repeat customers returning to you again and again that you don’t need Facebook. But if, like most of us, you could use more clients, more jobs, more money, then you probably want to use Facebook in addition to your website and blog. Facebook is great for interacting with your clients and potential clients in a way that may not be available on your website. You can respond to posts and have conversations with “fans.” There are cool programs and software to personalize your page, and if someone posts about you on their page, all their friends see it, increasing your reach. You can also drive more people to your website/blog with teaser posts on Facebook, or just share some images right on Facebook and let people comment on them. There’s lots of variables here, but it’s generally better to have a fan page for your business than to just start using your personal account for your business marketing (do potential clients need to read what you had for lunch? Probably not.) Worried you won’t have any “fans?” Start by inviting all your friends to “like” your page, then later consider a Facebook ad. They can be highly targeted so you’ll get not just more eyeballs on your stuff, but the RIGHT eyeballs.

“Ok so Facebook is a no-brainer. What about Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest?”

I tend to think that the more exposure you get for your brand, the better, but that doesn’t mean you should copy and paste the same updates everywhere. You can post on multiple sites about the same blog post or the same new set of images, but change it up slightly if you’re posting to more than just Facebook and Twitter (usually ok to link Facebook and Twitter so whatever you post on your Facebook page automatically gets sent to Twitter). Use a different image for Google+ or a different version of the one you used on Facebook. Using multiple channels of social media also means you need to be consistent with your brand identity across all of them. Use your logo or a good picture of yourself as your icon, preferably the same image across all sites so people recognize you.

Pinterest is a tricky one for photographers, some swearing by it, some swearing at it. If you want to avoid the whole copyright/fair use debate, don’t pin your own stuff, use it to pin things for clients, like ideas for what to wear for their photo shoot, etc. There’s also a snippet of code you can use to prevent people from pinning your images, if you choose to go that route.

Whatever you’re wondering about social media, I’d love to hear it: send your questions in via the comments section, through our Facebook page, @ us on Twitter, or email me. We’ll choose a couple questions (maybe on an ongoing basis!) to answer here so everyone can be a little wiser on social media and how you can use it to market yourself. Face it, there are a lot of convos going on out there via social media and it can be overwhelming, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of it.