Feb 9, 2017 / By: Alex Byczko / In: Marketing, Sailing, Photography / 0 Comments

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Your social media offering is double pronged attack. How is it double pronged? Well, firstly, it has become one of the main ways brands and businesses engage their current audiences outside of the face to face that one might get at a storefront.

The second prong, and the more important one, is that it is your gateway for your prospective audience to get a feel for what it is you do. How many of you out there do quick Google searches on a brand or business before you buy their product or engage their services? This is just good due diligence on the part of the customer. But when planning and organizing your social media platforms you need to consider what will push that consumer from Google searcher to part of your audience. There are a lot of variables but a portion of it is high quality photos. Adding in a great shot will bolster any medium you’re presenting whether that’s a blog post, video (adding a good thumbnail), twitter update, what have you. Wise man once said a picture is worth a thousand words so let’s discover as to how you can turn your instalame into instagame.  

Here are 5 ways to produce high quality photos.  Specifically, 5 ways to produce high quality sailing photos.

Once you found yourself in sweet moment of blissful beauty, take pics and lots of them.

INTRODUCTION:

I didn’t start with professional photography equipment; it was only when I started getting some good looking shots on my Samsung S5 that I decided to steal my girlfriend’s Nikon. At this point, I am just learning how to take well composed manual shots with a DSLR, but that’s a whole world onto itself. Chase Jarvis captures the spirit of this article best when he said “the best camera is the one you have with you.” Whether it’s your cell phone, GoPro, or point and shoot, you’ve got the necessary stuff to get your inner Annie Lebowitz on.

The technology has come so far that even within your cell phone you basically have your own professional level camera, and to be honest, it’s way more about capturing those moments, sights, or actions than it is about the equipment, for me at least. So embrace the tech you’ve got on hand because like my boy Michael Jordan said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and look at all the awesome shots he’s made!!

Famous photographer Henry Cartier-Bresson coined the term “The Decisive Moment,” a combination of capturing the significance of an event and expressing it as true as possible but also having the intuition to know how to compose the photo and when to click the shutter.

Although, this still reigns true for those that are invested in the craft of photography, let’s recognize that we are in the digital age and we are no longer limited to the number of shots a canister of film can take.

You can take hundreds or thousands of photos to find your “Decisive Moment.” Out of that lot you may select 1- 5 photos that are the best, those are the ones that make it onto your social media offering. Nobody needs to see the bad ones, that’s your little secret.

Let’s go back to Mr. Cartier-Bresson, when shooting these photos you should keep in mind what you find interesting and what your audience will find interesting. Having an eye to select a great moment is key, just like our boys “decisive moment.” However, throwing another photographer at you, Ansel Adams says there are two people in a photograph, the photographer and the viewer. Considering your viewers interest may help guide you in developing your content. 

As many of my photo’s are within the sailing sphere, capturing sunsets, boats, athletic performance, speed, splashes, or the natural environment are at the top of my list for interesting moments my audience likes. I like to think that when you can capture the viscera of your sport, you are essentially opening a door to a place many people have not seen. I think trusting your perspective mixed with what your audience likes should provide a strong barometer for good content.

The best tool and easiest way to pump up your photo game is to use the grid lines most new cameras will have. These lines set up 9 squares that break your screen into vertical or horizontal thirds, where these lines intersect are called points of interest.

Lining up some action or your subject on one of these intersections will make your photo look more interesting than having your content front and centre. If you want dive a bit deeper into these grid lines, look up the “rule of thirds,” this will help you line up the content of your photo in ways to make them more interesting.

If your content isn’t necessarily interesting than change up the angle of your photo. Eye level photos are great but aren’t necessarily the most interesting perspective. Getting down to the level of your subject immediately changes the feel of that photo.

For some artistic feel, consider using some of the the environment to frame the subject of your photo. This can be anything, tree trunks, dock pilings, fencing, you just need something that will occupy the foreground around the edges of your photo or along the side/sides.  Another great idea is to setup an angle where a ton of action will take place, set your camera to timed continuous shot and start collecting those moments of activity. This is more my Go Pro strategy than anything else.

For me this is my second favorite part of the process, after actually composing the photo and snapping it. Having colors or objects in my photos pop is what draws people to engage with my shots. These days, post production is essential! As a method of gaining a larger following on Instagram, Tipsters suggest using some of Instagram’s prepackaged filters to add to your photos appeal and this is totally legitimate, if not noticeable.

If you are looking to subtly step up the look of your photos like Botox injections, then pass on the Filters and go to the edit function in Instagram. Here you can tune your image with the greater control and spit something out that is more to your flavor.

You will eventually grow beyond the measly tools of Instagram and find yourself looking for a tool that’s more precise than a spoon to dissect the colours and perspective of your photos.  Enter Snapseed, a free app offered on both the Apple and Android platform through their respective stores. This is an amazing app to have in your photographic arsenal. With the capability to fine tune your photos with a wide variety of tools, while also providing several really strong filter options; one does not simply Instagram without it.

Like I said in the beginning, Instagram is a great tool to market your actions to your audience. To find out more about free ways to pump up your marketing game on social media, check out this article on free ways to market your sailing school.

CONCLUSION:

Here you are standing on the precipice of becoming a full fledged amateur photographer.  Now, you’ve got the power, the touch, and some tools to transform your regular social media posts into epic nuggets of content gold. Get out there and just shoot! And while you're at it, tell us what you think about some of these strategies in the comments section. 

 For some examples of the photography techniques I described in this article, check out my Instagram.

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