Take a Risk & Take a Picture (aka Photography with Purpose #2)

As the digital world turns even more social, knowing how to take a good photo is a great asset...well more like a must if you're aim is of a professional nature. Social media posts with photos get more clicks. I know you've heard that statement dozens of times by many bloggers and social media experts.  But what if you had more than the plain 'ol photo for your post or blog? Take a moment and imagine yourself as the author of one-of-a-kind photos no one can duplicate. Imagine how much more engaged your audience could be with your new found authenticity. In a previous post, I discussed photography with purpose where I was speaking to branding with photos and now I'm sharing the second part to that post, which is taking awesome photos. I will tell you why every entrepreneur, blogger and graphic designer needs to take steps to learn the basics of photography. I will divulge the little things I discovered on my little quest to improve my photography.

As a graduate of graphic design, I was required to take a photography course; but it was in high school that I had my first experience with a camera and developing in the darkroom. Since college, I hadn't been seriously interested in photography until I took a free photo class near my 9 to 5. After taking the class a few years ago, I bought my first digital camera, the NIKON 3100 and I'm glad I did.

My Experiment Starts Here

A few weeks ago, I decided to start one of my learning experiments to refresh my photography skills. I volunteered to photograph the talented blogger, Mercedes Sanchez, for her blog BeChicMag.com. My intention was to learn while giving and it worked. I have learned so much in a matter of weeks and here's how I did it.

Each week, I took 15 minutes out of my time to shoot Mercedes. The short amount of time helped me get much quicker at selecting my settings and starting to shoot. I could have stopped there and just do the same thing every following week, however, I wanted to improve. After each shoot, I evaluated the photographs, selected the best photos and retouched them using Photoshop. I've actually improved my Photoshop skills which was an added bonus of my experiment. I tried a variety different filters to make the photos pop as some were flat in the very beginning.

The Learning Curve

On my first day out, I decided to shoot outdoors by a park. Natural light is great and I will tell you that it is easier than lighting indoors. I learned that lighting under trees is unpredictable. I used a semi-automatic setting because it was easier to adjust given my time constraints and lighting difficulty. I completely recommend using aperture or shutter speed priority to those starting out.  I took pictures from high, low, and behind objects. I learned a lot about depth of field and how it affect how objects are photographed.

Outside of taking the photos, I was learning to be prepared for the next shoot. I freaking read the manual, not that I know it by heart, but I read it. I watched you tube videos on posing and read a million online articles about lighting. I took pictures every time I saw something interesting. It didn't matter whether it was good or bad but I did just to see the outcome. I practiced with my little family. Thankfully, they still love me.

You Can and Should Do This!

I can'tell you enough how much photography is important to your personal brand and getting your blog or business off the ground. Just take a look at your Instagram feed, paying close attention to the people you follow and try to evaluate their photography. Photos are especially important if you're not a celebrity. If your blog is your money-maker then photography matters. The more attention your photography gets, the more eyes you get, the more exposure and income you will have. For me, having this experiment has made an impact on how I see the world around me. As a graphic designer, it has opened my eyes. I can see the details even more than before. I can notice things in an instant. It's very helpful because it saves time and headaches. I know my faults though sometimes I accept them and move on because of time constraints. So take a risk and take a picture, it's worth it and you won't be disappointed.

See my progress on Instagram @may.wonders

Are you a professional photographer? Do you have any tips for me? I would appreciate your comments below.

5 Designer Tips for Photography with Purpose

Yeap this is my selfie. And if you came from my social media pages
 you would know this is me in disguise, I'll explain this choice later....keep reading.

I wonder if every graphic designer has the same process for choosing photographs so I decided to share my personal process.

With the birth of Instagram and the affordability of SLR cameras some people might think they know photography. And everyone has an opinion on what makes a good photograph. Although I've been properly schooled, I'm not an expert in photography. I am not a photographer. I am sharing my experience in choosing the right photographs for you.


Search online and you'd see that most blogs discuss the subject of photography focus on the technical aspect of a great photo. And although I think it's important, I don't think that should be sole focus when choosing a photo. In my opinion, choosing the right photo is both a combination of your needs as a designer in terms of layout, technical adequacy, and tatatatam....brand personality.

It's about choice making whatever your choice on purpose or with purpose. I don't agree that every photograph has to be technically correct to fit your needs, with that said here are my tips:

1. Determine the personality 

You have to dive deep into your company's/organization to study the mission/goals and find what makes you special. What is it that your organization is trying to project to an outside audience. Your company should already have this so ask a few people.

2. Guide Photographer

In order to get the right photograph you must be able to articulate your needs. Be very specific in what you're looking for. I created a document which I will share at a later time that can be use as a template for you.

Here are some questions that you may want to ask yourself based on what you find about the brand personality:
Do you want close ups?Groups?
Smiles? Dark setting ? Lighter photographs?.

Be brave. Ask for something atypical! Make sure that whatever you choose conveys the emotion you want to portray for your brand.

I know some of you may not have the budget for photography so go with stock photography. You can change this at a later time. Be sure to go to the smaller stock photo companies because there might be less likelihood of your photo showing up in someone else's brochure.

3. Sort and Organize

Once you have the photos from the photographer, you'll see that you have more than you need or that you need other photos. It's important to sort and organize what you have to determine whether your photographs tell the story you want to portray. Look at them together. Make sure you choose based on personality first then technical adequacy (meaning contrast, composition, etc) Do you have have everything you need? Vertical shots, horizontals, wider angles at a variety of locations, with different groups, if not, it's time to reshoot.

4. Test Your Theory 

Now that you have everything you need and it's well organized you can test your brand photographs. Yes, I said it. Use photographs for meetings, social media, and other forms where you won't lose capital. Test out the photos in combination with messaging. Do people respond to your brand? Do you think they tell the story you want to portray?

Currently, I'm working on my personal brand and for that reason I'm using the photograph at the beginning of this post. My brand is opinionated but easygoing, colorful, creative, has a conscience. Basically it's me, but does it really come true in my photograph....well you tell me.

5. Roll out 

Let the fear go and roll out your product using your photography. The job is not done. You have to keep shooting to make sure you capture changes in your brand.

Agree or disagree with this post. Write to me in the comment section below!

How to Optimize Images for the Web Using Photoshop

I wondered if everyone literally wrecks their brain every time they have to create a Flash animation and it can only be 40k. Is it just me? 

The lucky in my eyes are those of us who have to create ads with flashy content/video served at third parties. I have spent hours finding the best way to get Flash files to look their best at the lowest resolution possible. I will show you how to optimize images but I must note that there are also best practices to follow in order to have the best possible ad at the lowest possible resolution and in this post I will advice on both. I know I know Flash is going out of style but these practices can be used for your website, blog, and it's just good information to know.

Here's the deal in step by step:    

#1 Planning 

Take a few minutes to sketch/thumbnail your idea for the ad. Keep in mind that the simplest message might be the easiest to deliver and may give you the greatest number of clicks. Also, make sure that you think about the placement of text over the image. Most online advertisements specs are for small-size ad, which means that you cannot have very complicated/colorful images if you're going to have text over them. Believe me I know from experience.

#2 Resize your images - 

Using thecrop tool resize the images you're using to your desired size.

#3 Go to File > Save for Web

#4 Last Step is to adjust file size using the Save for the Web option

Here's how to make it small: 

JPEG/GIF/PNG OH MY!!!

You will need to experiment with these to decide which one makes your picture look the best. In general photos look better as JPGs though they may not produce the smallest file size all of the time. I do use them for photos  and change the compression to smaller. Also you have the option of blurring the picture which makes it look better because of interpolation of the image.

GIF/PNG Generally these two options are better for text. The text look clearer than using a JPG for text heavy images. You're able to set the number of colors. The lower the number of color the lower the size of the image. Watch out for some images don't look better with less color. I prefer PNG to GIF because of their size but some e-mail systems do not support them. 

QUALITY: The best option ever invented from Photoshop it tells you exactly what to do. Bicubic smoother or bicubic sharper are the two options to pay attention to. Smoother for photos and sharper for pictures is what I generally use.

And that's it you have the photo you want. The best advice I could give anyone is to experiment with the options available. There's a lot I didn't show because these are my best practices. If you have a tip you'd like to share, please fill the comment section below. See ya next time!