Social media breakdown: 3 sentences on the channels I use and their value

Bejeweled spider webs: Bristol is so frosty this morning.

I’ve seen others break down their methodology on various social channels and thought it would be interesting to evaluate what I’m using, how I’m using it and the value therein.

I hope this gives you some ideas for new ways to use these networks, and I encourage you to share your own breakdown in the comments.

Also, I plan to do a post like this every year to see how the industry, and my participation, is progressing.

And to keep me from getting too long-winded or granular in my evaluations, I restricted myself to three sentences on each topic (inspired by a great creative writing blog called Six Sentences that you should subscribe to).

Continue reading Social media breakdown: 3 sentences on the channels I use and their value

Something Baked Cookie Collage

C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me!

Samples from a tasty shoot for my cousin’s cookie business: Something Baked. The photos will be used on her website, and were featured in a recent review on a local food blog: Phoenix Bites – Get Baked.

Notes from the shoot:

  • I still haven’t perfected the white balance settings when using the light tent. I used a gray card this time to help, but still found myself adjusting lighting and tone in photoshop afterwards. It was an improvement, and required less editing time than my first attempt, but still stands to be streamlined.
  • Arranging the collage also took some trial and error and getting the borders even remains tedious. I think if I used the stroke effect on the layers more effectively I’d save myself a lot of time and the borders would be more aligned and proportionate.
  • Otherwise, I’m generally pleased with this final product. And as good as they look, they tasted even better!

Goodbye

Alternative titles:

  • Inception 2: Sweet Dreams
  • Toki-Doki‘s last treat
  • Goodbye sweet world
  • Death’s favorite cookie
  • Fatal attraction

Photo details:

  • Exposure: 0.6
  • Aperture: f/25.0
  • Lens: 100 mm f/2.8 macro
  • External flash
  • Light tent with two external lamps

8 social media FAQ, answered in haiku

Last week at work, I showed some nonprofit organizations a few best practices and tips for social media.

Most of the discussion focused on how an organization would best operate Twitter or a Facebook page, but some of the takeaways can be applied to personal use as well.

For this blog post, instead of hammering out a long-winded explanation of the social media tips that were imparted at the workshop, I responded in haiku to some of the most frequently asked questions from the workshop and other recent, related conversations.

Granted, I could say a lot more than 17 syllables in responding to these questions, but my goal with the haiku format is to cut the fat and give you a quick, easy and cadenced look at the most important tips. Here they are:

Continue reading 8 social media FAQ, answered in haiku

All Star

“Hi, I’m a Con.”

I chose one my favorite shoes to expose as the first subject in my new light box. A light box (or light tent) eliminates the unwanted shadows that you often get when shooting objects like this, and comes in handy for displaying products for promotions. Light Boxes can be made at home for cheap, but ever the wannabe handyman, I had a gift certificate to Tempe Camera and went the really easy route instead: an SV Imagemaker Plus Light Tent that included some backdrops and two external lamps.

The main issue I’ve identified after my first session with this equipment is that it’s very easy to overexpose the photograph. Adjusting the white balance manually makes a big difference and is something I’ll do every time from now on. Also, it is possible to get good lighting without external lamps, but I was very pleased with the way they worked together when placed on opposite sides of the subject. Finally, the most important pick-up I’ll need to make before my next session is some write-on / write-off poster board to give the backdrop and surface a cleaner and more continuous appearance. I used white fabric in these shots and many times the patterns appeared in the background and detracted from the image.

Still, love how my shoe turned out in these shots.

Click here to see these photos up-close

Equipment used:

  • 100mm – f/2.8 macro lens
  • SV Imagemaker Plus Light Tent
  • Two external lamps
  • Speedlite 580 exii external flash
  • Tripod