By Kaleigh Glaza
To the masses, June 21 is well known as the first day of summer. However, to Social Media Managers everywhere, it’s also National Selfie Day. Did you and your team build National Selfie Day into your content calendar? If not, don’t worry! You still have time to prepare.
Whether you’re aligning your brand with National Selfie Day, Donut Day, Bike to Work Day or one of the many other social media-driven hashtag holidays, having the appropriate photography assets is key — and requires both prior planning and a keen photographer. Thanks to social media and immediate news cycles, non-professional photos of an event are almost more important than the professional ones. As you prepare for your next event, share our tips with your team so they will be ready to take great photos and help you create the image of your event seen by the public.
Take the Perfect Selfie
It should be a simple shot. The selfie. Just taking a picture of yourself can’t be that difficult can it? But it can! And it can go wrong very quickly. Since selfies are the easiest way for participants, volunteers, and staff to show off their event experience, taking a good selfie is a key part of telling your event story. Here are some simple tips to help you tell that story well:
- Angles are everything. Shoot from above wherever possible for a more flattering photo and try to keep the selfie-taker at the center of the frame if possible.
- Remember your surroundings. No selfie looks good with a port-a-potty in the background or a flag flying in the corner of the frame. Keep an eye on your surroundings so you show an interesting part of the event in the background of your image.
- Lighting is more important than you think. Look out for obvious shadows or direct sunlight in the eye. Take photos from a few angles to test out different light.
- Provide a little inspiration. Consider setting up “Selfie Spots” on your event to show your participants the best spot to take a photo of themselves.
Get the Best Group Shot
It’s amazing how often one person in a group photo ends up with their eyes closed or in the middle of a sneeze. For these photos, quantity is key for quality. Take as many photos as you can! Ask your subjects to move around, interact with each other and try different poses. The more natural, the better.
Also, be on the lookout for groups of people already interacting and congregating together. They will be more natural organically.
Shoot Action Elements
Without high tech equipment, action photos can be tough to capture. Consider taking photos in bursts or using Live photos on an iPhone to capture small moments. Or, use an app like 8mm to create videos with a specific look and feel. However, to really capture the action of an event at its best, using a true video camera is the best bet.
Make an Impact
Thanks to upgraded photo quality on your phone, plus apps and video capabilities, event photos can make a huge impact for promotion of your event and your cause. Nowadays, you don’t need fancy video equipment to capture great content! You can do it all on your phone. Some tools you should keep in your arsenal are:
- If you’re an Apple user, use portrait mode on your iPhone. This allows you to take high level photos in an instant.
- The iMovie app lets you add music, transitions and other elements right on your phone to make fun videos to share live.
- Prefer Android? Check out the great Android video apps.
- Boomerang can be used in the native app or on Instagram to create fun, looped videos that provide eye-catching variety.
- Apps like WordSwag allow you to add words onto photos and videos so you can create graphics with copy elements on the go.
- Promo video is an easy-to-use site to create ads and other promotional materials from your on-event photos and videos.
There is so much more to the perfect photo, both on event and in your everyday life. Whether you’re sharing real-time from the event, capturing images for general content, or specifically preparing for days like National Selfie Day, these handy tips will help your staff, Board Members, and volunteers feel more confident as they wield a phone or camera at your next event. With a plan and some practice, you’ll be ready for National Selfie Day and all of the other unique holidays that are #trending.
Feeling like your photos are still blurry? We can help.
Kaleigh joined Event 360 in 2016 to work on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day and has since expanded her role to also work on MuckFest and the Florida AIDS Walk. She is a Chicago native who loves everything about her hometown, even the freezing winters and bad sports teams.
