Archive for August, 2010

Fotobabble as a tool for photographers

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

There are a lot of gimmicks online for manipulating your photographs.

Fotobabble is no exception. Gimmicks aside, this application actually can be useful for a photographer.

Think of all the ways you could use audio as a tool with your photographs.  I’m not talking about a complete slide show or full video, just a little information to enhance the viewer’s experience. This application, for example, could be very useful in the area of education.

Fotobabble could be used to explain how an image was photographed, who or what is in the image, or where it was taken.

A picture with audio embedded could serve as a valuable tool for business and marketing.  Funny photographs with creative audio have the potential to be viral hits.

The process is easy.  Sign in to Fotobabble.  Upload your photograph. Hit the record button.

After you record, you can share your audio-image via social media or embed it on your blog or Web site. You also can choose to have the audio automatically play during the loading of a Web page or let the viewer press play.

How could you use this application?

Social Media Updates

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Twitter recently announced an easy-to-install tweet button for Web sites and blogs.  It has now added a bookmarklet for easy tweeting from any Web page. All you have to do is drag and drop the button to your browser tool bar.  You can find it here.

Facebook released its own geo-location application called Facebook places.  Although Facebook is being criticized for the move, I think if you are a business you should at least check in and make sure you are listed.

I thought it was interesting to note Facebook uses Bing maps.

Foursquare recently added the name-your-hometown feature. It is useful to help you find new friends and for new friends to find you.

Google and Verizon’s Net neutrality policy is creating a bit of a stir. Mitch Joel has a good post on the topic on the Twist Image blog.

If you are interested, read Google’s post on the topic.

If you see some good information related to social media, please share it in the comments.

New media photographer podcast 115

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

This week: Rosh interviews photographer Chris Sheehan from Shelter Studios

Play

Three Links: Facebook, Ultraviolet light and photo marketing

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Every Sunday I share three links to interesting articles, blog posts, photographs or information.

New – Facebook Places

Ultraviolet light reveals how ancient greek statues really looked

Photofocus – Photography sales and marketing help (more links)

If you have a link to share.  Add it to the list in the comments.

This is the first installment of a weekly series sharing three links.  I will explain more in the podcast.

Rosh

Where should we eat?

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Where should we eat?

More people are depending on their smart phones to figure how where to eat, what to do, and how to get there.

It’s as simple as pushing a button.

Yelp has an application called Monocle for smart phones. All you have to do is point the phone’s camera in any direction and the application will overlay a list of restaurants and ratings. Another click will deliver social media reviews to help you decide.

Over time people will use these tools to find more than just a good restaurant.  The need for good photographs to accompany social media reviews will grow in importance.

If other applications take a cue from Google,  local listings will become more dynamic and will need to be managed.

This will include your client’s business as well as your own. What are you going to do about it?

Rosh